Two Wheel Tales

Stages Of Riding

The advice you've read, for the most part, comes from direct personal experience. We wouldn't be warning you against a 100+ hp bike if we weren't genuinely concerned that you'll get whipped by it.

See, there are several distinct stages to motorcycling maturity, as seen firsthand by me.

1. New bike nervousness. This is a survival stage, where your fear keeps you in line. If you bought a helmet and planned to wear it, you will. You'll either do fine during this stage, or do something dumb and dump it, like I did. At this stage, you'll likely put more interest into straight-line acceleration, which made you buy the bike you did in the first place.

2. False confidence. At this stage, you've learned the controls and the feel of the bike. This leads you to believe that you're a fairly skilled rider. You're not. It takes years and thousands of miles, not to mention some actual study of those who do have skills, to become a talented rider. Also, this is the stage where you decide that your risk is low, and you stop wearing your helmet and start posing. The fact is, this is probably your highest risk stage. Your false confidence is leading you to try new things, some of which you aren't ready for. And since you may not have had an accident yet, you aren't paying enough attention to the world around you - namely the idiots in the cages out to flatten you.

3. The wake up call. This will either come in the form of a bad experience, like a crash, or news of a friend's crash (or death, or paralysis). You realize that you're not the rider you thought, and wake up to wearing proper gear, and doing some learning. You might buy a book or attend a track day, and you realize that motorcycling satisfaction might just come from handling the curves, rather than rocketing ahead in a straight line. I have forums like this one to thank for my wake up call. Reading posts from anonymous friends has changed me as a rider, only for the better.

4. Maturity. This doesn't mean invincibility. It means that you've studied and practiced emergency maneuvers. It means you know what the moron in the minivan will do before he does it. It means you ride for yourself, and the feelings you generate, rather than to impress anyone else. And it often means you give up the race-replica squid bike for something more appropriate to your skills and usage.

We aren't telling you to start small for our benefit, but because many of us have been there and done that, incorrectly. Your results may vary.

-Clint

P.s. There will be plenty of people willing to buy that SV650 from you when (if) you outgrow it. Don't worry about that.

Clint aka RowdyRed94 is a Forum Moderator over at

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