Teaching yourself to ride motorcycle?

Question

So my friend is buying a motorcycle and is going to teach himself how to ride it. He thinks its going to be super easy to learn on his own. I think that sounds ridiculous but ive never driven a motorcycle so i wouldnt know. He doesnt have a manual or anything... so for experienced riders,

am i right or wrong to think this? why?

Answer 1

>>  is going to teach himself how to ride it.

It can be done.  But why?  Take the MSF course AND get a license when he completes the course.

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I basically taught myself (I already knew how to ride a scooter and a stick shift).  But if I had a MSF course option back then, I would have taken it .  There's  a difference between riding and riding safely.

http://home1.gte.net/res0ak9f/bike.htm

Good Luck...

Answer 2

Does he have any friends who are riders? I taught my ex girlfriend how to ride, and it wasn't too tough. I just think spending a minimum of a few hours with someone who has some experience would pay off really well. h**l, if he lived in Milwaukee, I would take some time to give some lessons. Lots of guys who ride would take time off to show a new rider the ropes. The MSF class is the best bet, but it can be done pretty well with someone who knows the deal. I would have your friend look on various web-pages and discussion groups and see if someone would volunteer a little time.

Try www.badweatherbikers.com and go the the riders assistance network. I will bet there is someone there who would be interested.

Good luck to him.

A friend taught be to ride when I was 18 and have been riding for 22 years without (knock on wood) being down even once.

Answer 3

the problem with teaching yourself is that it's a dangerous thing to use trial and error with.  Unlike a car in an empty lot, there are a lot more opportunities to crash into something hard.  like the ground.

If he insists on going this route, make sure he knows the mechanics of what to do really well, and that he knows where all of the right things are.

It would help if he put it in neutral and practiced pushing the bike around an empty lot, getting a feel for braking before he did anything with the transmission.  Being able to brake and get your feet down in time to stay upright will be essential if he stalls out or gives too much gas on a shift and needs to panic-stop.

Answer 4

its pretty easy if you know how to use a manual transmisson

Answer 5

Learning to ride is very easy, But learning to ride safely is much harder. A bike wants to stay up and moving in a straight line, so ridings easy. But your friend needs to take a safty course. Does your friend know how to counter steer? What about going through gravel? Oil on the road? Does he know how to conserve traction through a turn? Riding is easy, doing it all correctly and safely is something else.

Answer 6

You have a good point.  Tell him to go to the internet and pull up a search engine like google. Type in how to learn how to ride a motorcycle and some good sites with good info will pop up and READ them.

Answer 7

Can be done, but not a good idea. Take the rider safety course first, and save himself some grief. Why crash your own bike when you can crash their bike for $300 and walk away.

The course does teach you things that you may or may not learn on your own, under 3 sessions. Like using the rear breaks to stabilize when crawling at 2 MPH in traffic situations.

Answer 8

I taught myself on an xr 80...when I was 12 or 13. I dumped it a few times but that was after I was confident on it. We all do stupid things.Rode various other dirt bikes off and on through the years but kinda got on an atv kick so was off the  bikesfor quite awhile. I just started riding again with an old cruiser. Ive never had one before, and it is alot different than a dirt bike. If hes never ridden a bike ever, he should probably get some lessons at least from someone local who can help him figure out how its done if he cant or wont take a class.

Answer 9

it is easy...

i knew how to ride a bike and i knew how to drive a stick shift car...

never rode a motorcycle in my life... as soon as i actually learned the gas-clutch ratio (about 3 minutes max) it was just natural....

i can't say whether it's just as easy as riding a bicycle or not but i will tell you this.. driving a stick shift, even a perectly running one, is MUCH harder then a manual motorcycle is.... so it probably is just as easy as picking it up and riding it.....

Answer 10

Search Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPWxX4gs_...

Answer 11

your friend is going to die.