This is my first post to the board.  I've been reading it since I got my 96' GS500E just after Christmas. (6,000 miles on it and in great shape)
The first motorcycle train course doesn't start until sometime in the middle of March.  I'll be at the first class.  Until then since I have little patience I've been taking my bike down to the local fair grounds and been practicing in they're large empty parking lot.  I've put on about 60 miles of figure eights, weaving around the parking lot lines, emergency stops, smooth starts, and little bitty circles.  I'm 29 and have never been on a bike before in my life.  I read a book called "Proficient Motorcycling" I can't remember the name of the author.  My ultimate goal is to be able to make my GS500 do exactly what I want exactly when I want it.

This bike has been a total hoot.  It never fails to paste a big stupid grin on my face.

Oh before I got the bike I got the leather jacket, chaps, and a full helmet.  I must have tried on 25 different helmets before I found one that was comfortable to me.  Because of that experience I don't think that I will ever be buying one online.

So now I am going to tap into the experience that his board offers and ask for suggestions.  What other types of exercises would/should I be doing?  The bike is still a lot of fun but I am looking for other things that I should be learning to do on it. 

Thanks for any advice.

welcome 
I started riding late too. (at 25) here is an interesting site you can read:  http://www.msgroup.org/DISCUSS.asp

Glad to see you have already thought about the MSF course. You will not regret taking it.  I wrecked twice before I took it, and they taught me things that would have helped me avoid those wrecks. Pluss it was fun.

I am sure you will find plenty of help here. Be safe and keep the shiney side up.

+1 on the book Proficient Motorcycling.  The Author is David L. Hough.  I've read it several times.  The skills represented in the book are very similar to the ones you'll learn at your MSF course.  You need to keep riding the bike off road at parking lot speeds untill you become comfortable enough to manipulate the controls in traffic.  If you're not there yet, stay off road.  If you feel confident enough to ride on the street, then do it.  Nothing is more valuble than seat time.  Get licensed first of course.  I still recommend that you take the MSF first chance you get.  60 miles is not too shabby for parking lot cruising.  Also, you might want to consider trading those chaps in for some riding pants.  At the very least, buy some knee armor.  Don't forget to complete the outfit with gloves and riding boots. 

I'm also a new rider as of late last year, and my only advice is ride like you are invisible! People barely pay attention to other cars, much less a motorcycle. Also, my much more seasoned riding buddy went down a month or two ago. He locked his rear wheel when he panicked in a turn and stalled the motor. Neutral is your friend in a panic situation, pull that lever! Happy and safe riding!

Yea all these guys are giving you good advice (I think, I didn't read them) ...
But My advice is ... work on it yourself. Shops are terrible in general, and even if you found a good one, it doesn't help you when one fine day 100 miles form home your bike gets weird.
Cool.
Srinath.

Ship it to Srinath. He'll do it quickly and for free.  

And welcome to GSTwin! 

Quote from: pandy on January 23, 2007, 03:21:52 PM
Ship it to Srinath. He'll do it quickly and for free.  

And welcome to GSTwin! 

Srinath takes living birds in trade for GS wrenching.  Birds or POR15 kits, you decide. 

New rider here myself (took MSF at 47 -- rode mini-bikes as a kid).
Control is the goal. Defensive riding is necessary. Assume they all want to kill you.

Hey Pandy! 

Quote from: starwalt on January 23, 2007, 03:28:39 PM
Control is the goal. Defensive riding is necessary. Assume they all want to kill you.

They *DO* want to kill us! I've looked directly into the eyes of folks who've then turned in front of me as if I weren't there. We truly ARE invisible! 

Quote from: starwalt on January 23, 2007, 03:28:39 PM
Hey Pandy! 

Hi starwalt!!! 

Quote from: pandy on January 23, 2007, 03:31:37 PM

Quote from: starwalt on January 23, 2007, 03:28:39 PM
Control is the goal. Defensive riding is necessary. Assume they all want to kill you.

They *DO* want to kill us! I've looked directly into the eyes of folks who've then turned in front of me as if I weren't there. We truly ARE invisible! 

I have looked into their eyes as well. Even reached down and punched a guy's mirror once.

Welcome to the club. Its good to hear your taking all the right steps to becoming a great rider. I cant stress enough on getting good quality gear if you intend to ride every day. It saved my life and I don't regret spending about 1k on it because it did its job. Take care and ride safe.

fairly new rider here as well, 1 year experience

+1 on the ride like you're invisible, I've already had about 3, 4 incidents where cagers either pull out from the side of the road right infront of me, or change lanes right into me.  I ride in Philadelphia, and once I even had an @$$hole try to squeeze into the same lane as me from behind....lane splitting ain't legal here!  (I was riding close to the right of the lane because there was a rail track in the middle and the left side was very bumpy for some reason)

Not sure what the veteran riders have to say about this, but I always keep a finger or 2 on the clutch and front brakes.

I just started riding too, started at the beginning of fall. Parking lot and slow maneuvering techniques are great things to master, because otherwise places you park would be dictated by how crowded/packed it is. Riding on the street, though, is a totally different experience; I took things slow and gradually built my comfort level up. Best advice probably is to ride safe and often on the streets, to build up that experience and skill.

A thank you to everybody who has responded.  The highest temperature it has been here in about three weeks is 30 degrees.  So I always wear gloves.  I also have a couple of pair of steel toed work boots that I wear at, well, work.  They should be okay.  As for the knee pads, do you where them under or over your chaps?

As for everyone who recommends to ride like your invisible I have a little story.

First off I live in Grand Junction, CO.  If anyone is from around here they will know what I am talking about.  I drive everything (cars, pickups, semi's) like I am invisible, because around here you are.  This is a retirement and agricultural community, so there are lots of 90 year old ladies who literally can't see over the steering wheel, and lots of migrant workers who can neither read nor speak English. Or have drivers licenses.

About two years ago I was driving down a four lane split highway when I notice to older gentleman behind me.  Their combined ages probably came close to 160 years old.  I had just passed the one in the left lane which is why I was in front.  I noticed the other fella start to pass him on the left hand side.  So in my rear view mirror I see these two seniors driving side by side for a bit.  Then for no apparent reason the guy in the right lane decided he wanted to be in the left.  Calm as could be, he turned on this left signal and pulled the wheeler over and ran the guy, that had been next to him for the last half a mile, off into the median.  He never turned his head or shifted his eyes, just turn into the left lane.  To this day I am just amazed by that incident.

This little story is just to illuminate why I am always watchful.  No matter what I am driving.

Quote from: colobluefox on January 23, 2007, 09:14:37 PM
As for the knee pads, do you where them under or over your chaps?

Though you can get knee pads, what everybody here is suggesting is an entirely new set of pants lined with foam (ish) armor. I'm currently considering a pair of these: http://www.newenough.com/moto_gp_alpine_wp_pants_page.htm

Chaps are better than jeans, but they lack armor and butt protection. I'd suggest investing the $80 on some better quality stuff.

Quote from: colobluefox on January 23, 2007, 09:14:37 PM
so there are lots of 90 year old ladies who literally can't see over the steering wheel, and lots of migrant workers who can neither read nor speak English. Or have drivers licenses.

A soldier in flight school here in Ft. rucker was killed while riding his HOG. An 88 yr old ladie pulled out in front of him. he was on hwy 84 going about 70MPH. He never had a chance. His wife was in a vehicle behind him. Good thing she only witnessed the aftermath, I guess.

What gets me is that it was a beautiful clear day, and her line of sight was almost a mile. the only two causes could be her AGE or just innattentiveness.

Makes the term "drive as if invisible" hit home.  If you see a car perched on the side of the hwy, change lanes.

.

Stay away from the foam padded pants. It will help but not in an accident that goes clean through denim or other non kevlar,leather ect lined pant. The icons will fit under most jeans and you want that hard plastic ext protection for superior abrasion resistance not to mention the pad for your knees. my .02

Thanks for all the support.  I am headed over to the parking lot this afternoon.  I stopped at the local dollar store and got some cheap road cones.  I'm going to go set them up and try some weaving stuff.  I guy I work with took the riding course last fall and gave me some ideas to try out.  Going to make a small box and try to 'figure eight' in it.  and try some swerving.  I'll let you know later how it goes.

on the topic of geezing drivers - they should be sent to f%$king jail.

luckily when one went right thru a red light and smashed into me with a damn volvo, it was before i started riding.
i was in a cadillac, so i walked away unscratched and his 80 year old ass had his head smashed onto his mirror.
if i had been riding, i would be dead.

that car was my dream car, and to this day my favorite car ever. and i only had it for 3 months before that f%$k smashed it.

and to make matters worse, while i was wasting my time calling an ambulance for the @$$hole, any potential witnesses left. so a day later, in the hospital, the 80 year old man with a head injury CLEARLY REMEMBERED having a green light. so its my word against his, no fault is ruled, and my insurance skyrockets because they have to buy me a new car. and he lives to drive another day, and eventually really hurt sombody, not just destroy my dream car.

we hear it crammed down our throats 24/7: "dont drink and drive". we all know why : impaired motor function, depth perception, and most of all reaction time. what the hell do you think happens when you get old?

old people driving are just as dangerous and reckless as any drunk driver, and should be prosecuted with the same vigor as we prosecute drunk drivers. throw them in jail and let them rot, who gave them the right to endanger the lives of everybody else on the road? how are they any different?

so yea, moral of the story - if a geezer hits you, let his ass bleed out on the road until you get a witness.

sorry to go on such an off topic rant. people that are too old to drive but still do just make me sick.

Quote from: jdanna on January 26, 2007, 12:04:00 AM
on the topic of geezing drivers - they should be sent to f%$king jail.

luckily when one went right thru a red light and smashed into me with a damn volvo, it was before i started riding.
i was in a cadillac, so i walked away unscratched and his 80 year old ass had his head smashed onto his mirror.
if i had been riding, i would be dead.

that car was my dream car, and to this day my favorite car ever. and i only had it for 3 months before that f%$k smashed it.

and to make matters worse, while i was wasting my time calling an ambulance for the @$$hole, any potential witnesses left. so a day later, in the hospital, the 80 year old man with a head injury CLEARLY REMEMBERED having a green light. so its my word against his, no fault is ruled, and my insurance skyrockets because they have to buy me a new car. and he lives to drive another day, and eventually really hurt sombody, not just destroy my dream car.

we hear it crammed down our throats 24/7: "dont drink and drive". we all know why : impaired motor function, depth perception, and most of all reaction time. what the hell do you think happens when you get old?

old people driving are just as dangerous and reckless as any drunk driver, and should be prosecuted with the same vigor as we prosecute drunk drivers. throw them in jail and let them rot, who gave them the right to endanger the lives of everybody else on the road? how are they any different?

so yea, moral of the story - if a geezer hits you, let his ass bleed out on the road until you get a witness.

sorry to go on such an off topic rant. people that are too old to drive but still do just make me sick.

Honestly about 45% of all drivers on the road need to be taken off it.

Tests should be mandatory. Period, all ages.

And MUCH MUCH more difficult. I mean really passing after blowing two stop signs and lane straddling like the girl before me did is total horseshit.

Until such time I assume that everyone out there is a bloomin IDIOT.