SECTION I - PREPARATION


1. Wear Your Gear, Be Safe, and Practice, Practice, Practice No other explanation necessary. Don't push your limits - ease into them. Learn at your own pace. You're into sportbiking for the long-term, right? Don't make it a short-term stint (ie, wrecking). I've been in 2 motorcycle accidents, both of which I believe could have been avoided if I had either had more experience or better judgement at that time. Luckily, I've survived and learned from it.

If you're not a "gear wearing" kind of person, then in my opinion, you have no business being a "knee dragging" kind of person. Case in point. Besides, wtf you gonna do after you drag knee in your jeans and rip a hole through them and/or your kneecap?

Being safe means a LOT of things - knowing your surroundings, knowing the curve of the road, knowing your limits, etc. It's a combination of situational awareness that sums up to one statement: "use some common sense". You're doing something dangerous just by being on two wheels. Anything you can do to minimize the additional danger involved with taking corners fast is a good thing. This includes going to a track and keeping it off the street, which I highly recommend if you have the ability to do that. However, if this is not possible or very impractical, I urge you to make damn sure you do not do anything that will endanger anyone else sharing the road with you.

I recommend riding with one or more people as long as they are aware of the safety issues and are not idiots. If someone does go down, there will be someone else to assist or find you if need be. If you do ride with others, don't forget the golden rule: Don't allow yourself to struggle to keep up with the faster rider. If you're slower, just be slow. A respectable rider in the lead will either slow down or wait for you down the road. Trying to keep up will get you into SERIOUS trouble.


2. Confidence / State of Mind If it feels unsafe for you, it is. If you're just not "feeling it" at any point, stop pushing it. Go cruise, or go home. That simple.

Get the BEST tires you can or can not afford. Pilots, Qualifiers, or Diablos, or at least do some research here first. This is not a "What's the best tire" thread, but suffice it to say, you don't want to be slipping and sliding around when you are still learning the basics. Having confidence in your bike and your abilities means you won't freak out when something unexpected happens, and I guarantee you, it will happen eventually.


3. Find a good practice corner. What to look for:
constant radius
good smooth road surface
good visibility throughout the entire corner
not too tight, not too sweeping
the longer the curve the better (more time in the corner)
uphill is usually easier than downhill
Also, note what is beyond the shoulder of the road in case you lowside. Flat gravel / grass = good. Anything else = Bad. Anything embedded into the ground = very, very bad.

Now, if you have the right equipment, the right corner, and you're feeling good, it's time to practice...