its a used 2004 Kawasaki ninja 250 and it looks like its in great shape. i have heard that is a great starter bike and the only reason i am buying it is to go to school and back. my wife takes the car to work so i need something cheap that will only take me to school. i am 20 years old. in Texas its required to take the class before getting your motorcycle license so im going to take it soon. can yall give me advice on the easiest and best ways to get better? i have very little experience. i am going to avoid highways for awhile till i get some experience.
Watch Twist Of The Wrist 2, it's pretty useful info. My favorite tips from the DVD are to keep your arms relaxed and hold the handlebars lightly, use the throttle to get around bends, never fixate your eyes on something you are trying to avoid and ride at about 75% of your ability to learn and improve. Also, take note of the kind of hazards you are particularly likely to encounter in Texas and look them up on the internet to find out how to deal with them. Where I live there are a lot of back roads being resurfaced and they're covered in temporary road-dressing material (aka grit) which is evil, evil stuff when you are on two wheels; 1st gear will make the bike slide out even at 15mph so you have to use a higher gear to reduce traction.
Congratulations - it sounds like you have done everything smartly so far (used bike, small bike, realizing you don't know it all). Take the safety course before you start riding! Don't know about Texas, but in some states you have some time (30 days or so) to get your license - IMO you should not leave your driveway until you've had the course. After that, the only way to get better is to ride. If you can, ride with experienced safe riders and watch how they behave. As you ride, learn to anticipate what drivers will do. Watch their faces - are they looking in your direction? Do they see you? Assume they don't and always have a backup plan. I always think, If that guy pulls out, what am I going to do? Gradually learn your motorcycle's capabilities, don't test the limits right away. How does it accelerate? How does it brake? How does it steer? Most beginner accidents happen because (1) the rider knows how to go fast but not how to stop, and (2) the rider does not anticipate problems and has not developed automatic responses.
Learning to ride a motorcycle is not that hard. The training course doesn't teach you to ride, you learn to ride by riding. The course teaches you some important safety habits to keep you safe while you learn on your own. Basically you want to ride around a quiet residential neighborhood (or uncrowded country lanes) until you have all the controls 'memorized'. So you don't have to take a second or two to think 'Hmm, now which of these doodads is the brake?' The slower you go, the more time you have to make decisions and react to situations, so keep it down around 20 mph at first, like 2nd gear. Have the controls 'automatic' before you venture out into traffic. Actually the highway is not as dangerous as you might think. Everyone's going in the same direction at about the same speed, each in his own lane (most of the time). Nobody is backing out of driveways without looking or trying to exit from the center lane. Accidents at a higher speed have more serious consequences, of course, but they are less likely than on city streets.
