Howdy all!  I just thought I'd share my first actual riding experience since my MSF class last August.  All I can say is it was an experience of absolute thrill, and a bit of fear!  But still fun nonetheless!    

This weekend felt like the first touch of spring hit Michigan.  Saturday and Sunday were beautiful with temps in the mid 40s to low 50s.  I knew I wanted to get out and try my new (to me anyway) bike.  I completed the MSF course last August and bought my 1990 GS500 in January.  Since then I've been itching get her on the road and do something besides friction zone excersises in my garage!    

I decided since I really don't have any experience to just drive around my sub-division to get a feel for the bike.  Compared to the little Yamaha 300 I drove in the MSF class, the GS500 has some pretty good kick!  My GS500 is more than responsive in terms of throttle and brakes - sweet!  

I drove around pretty cautiously because of the road conditions.  There's still new homes being built in our sub and the road has some dirt on it.  Overall the experience went well with only one small incident.  I was doing  U-turn in the road and was running out of, well, umm, road.  So I quickly pulled in the clutch and also pulled the front brake . . . . without straightening the bike first.  Well, the front tire stopped, then continued to skid - remember the dirt on the road?  I could feel the bike starting to lean heavily.  So quickly I threw my foot down to stop the bike from tipping - whew - close one.  Luckilly the GS500 is light and I was strong enough to keep it from going all the way down.  Besides that, it was great!!  I can only imagine what would've happened if it were the YZF600 I THOUGHT was going to be my first bike.  With stronger brakes, my guess is *CRACK*!    

Well, I didn't mean to babble on this long, thanks for reading.  Even though I almost dumped the bike, I learned from it.  I can't wait to get back out there and practice, practice, practice.  Have a great day - see you on the road!!!

Its funny the same exact thing happend to me. It was my first time out on a street bike EVER! The only differece is that I was a bit two late with the brake and ended up in a 3 foot deep ditch. haha. Oh yeah and it wasn't my bike, it was my friends brand new limited edition R6! Yeah I never told him about that one. I eventually got it out of the ditch and wiped off all the grass and dirt. Then limped it home with only my broken pride.

Practice doing u-turns. I have to make a 180 u-turn to get into the back of my shop where I store my bikes and can turn at full steering lock in the grass on my TLR at about near stopping speed. Just takes practice and balance, leaning to the outside of the turn helps.