New rider comments....

[gryhound89]

Greetings....

just wanted to say hello to everyone out there.  As a newbie there is not much advice I can give anyone, but I wanted to direct this post towards anyone who may be thinking about buying their first bike.  It's my way of trying to repay others for all the information I've gotten from this website and others like it.  
after a few years of wanting a motorcycle, I finally bought a '91 GS.  I picked the bike because of all the posts I read on websites like this one, which all recommended a smaller bike over a 600 cc sportbike.  the first time I was serious about buying a motorcycle I was denied financing because I was also paying on a car, which I can see now as a blessing; the bike I had my heart set on was a Speed Triple....so fast forward a few years, I'm better informed and now own a '91 GS500.  I have owned it for about four months now, putting close to 3000 miles on it.  This may not seem like a lot of miles to some people, but unlike many I work about 5 miles from my home, so most of my riding time is spent riding just for riding's sake.  I can't give much advice because of my limited experience, and I won't try to offer any thoughts on technique, but I can say this:  the gs is an excellant machine.  It is very easy to learn to ride on one of these, and looking back I can think of several times in the first few weeks that a more powerful bike with extremely sensitive brakes would have gotten away from me.  I don't know anyone else that rides, so I had nobody to teach me, but I am mechanically inclined, and already knew how the basic controls worked.  I just hopped on and figured the rest out.  It sort of came naturally to me, I don't know if this is just me or if riding is like that for everyone.  I haven't had any crashes, but I have had a few close calls due to other drivers....I try to keep away from other vehicles as much as possible.  So if anyone out there is on the fence about buying a motorcycle, has that little voice in the back of their head saying "bike...bike...two wheels...buy one...", just do it.  You won't regret it, it is so much fun it should be illegal.  I've been playing with cars my whole life; the money I had saved towards a motor for my beloved '89 mustang went for the GS, and I don't regret it at all.  I realize even after only a few months that this is something I will do for the rest of my life, don't be discouraged by people who have never ridden that try to talk you out of it.  That was just my .02, I hope it helps someone make up their mind.  Ride safe and enjoy it.

[Ed_in_Az]

Welcome to the world of motorcycling.

It sounds like you are one of us that is mean't to ride. Some people don't like or want a motorcycle. Some are afraid of them. Some buy them and then realize they made a mistake. Then there are those that enjoy riding, maybe even NEED to ride. It's fun, it cheap(gas wise), it's exhilirating, it's relaxing. Ah, the Yoga of motorcycling! Being at one with the machine. Two or four doors and a roof just isn't the same.

[96gs]

Motorcycling, some would say as addictive as, well probably a drug, but the good kind of drug, i dunno maybe an anit drug. whatever it is i like it.

[davipu]

welcome, posts 1 is a great thing to see,  so whare are you from, and what do you do?  and feel free the ask as many noob questions as you want.  just remember the only dumb question is the one you ask before you searched.   use the search function, it is there for you to use so please use it, and then if you didn't find the answer you were looking for post a new topic, thanks.  and welcome to the board.