Jim Davis says:

Well, exactly where are you going on a bike you’ve never ridden before? That’s a good thing to know.

Think about the route you plan to take. Keep your route as simple as you can and try to stay on streets where you generally know what to expect.

Visualize it — figure out in advance how to get into the correct lanes for your turns and exits.

Mount the bike and sit in the saddle.

Get familiar with the instruments and controls with the engine off.

Practice lifting the bike off the side-stand. Kick it back out of the way, and  get a feel for the bike’s heft.

Find the side-stand, and push it down into place, being sure it’s locked. Use your eyes to do this! Don’t rely on the feel of it — especially before you lean the bike back onto the side-stand. Use your eyes to confirm that it is properly in place and locked there before you let the weight of the bike rest on it!

Squeeze both levers and ‘work them’ (in/out, in/out) — with the engine still off — to get a feel for how much pressure your hands must use and must get used to.

[Honest, you may be a 250-pound Mr. America, but by the time you get home from your first ride, your hands (especially the left one) will ache! But that will quickly pass as your muscles get conditioned to the controls.]

Put the transmission in neutral and make sure the side-stand is UP. 

Start that engine. Squeeze both levers and hold them hard.

Notice, pay attention, believe that because you have both levers squeezed, you’re in complete control and not in any danger. Notice, pay attention, believe that no matter what happens out there on the road, if you don’t know what to do next, you can always squeeze both levers to get out of trouble (or at the very least, minimize it).

[Remember what you were trained on?  The MSF primarily uses 250cc bikes. They’re tame and easy to maneuver. If this is your first ride on your personal bike, it will almost certainly be more powerful — and heavier. That means that the little “muscle memory” you developed during your BRC class will not be appropriate or adequate. You must learn all over again.]

Learn exactly where your friction zone starts.

Ease the clutch lever out until it just enters that friction zone and the bike tries to move forward.

Allow the bike to move forward slightly, then squeeze that clutch lever and use your legs to pull the bike back to where it started. Do this again and again until you know where that friction zone is.

This is really important — because slow speed control is almost entirely in the left hand as the clutch is determining the friction zone. You can only steer at very slow speeds — such as when you’re leaving the dealer’s parking lot. And if you’re in a slow speed turn, the odds are good that you will want to be in the friction zone, using that to control your speed. Not the throttle.

It’s also vital that you remember this:  Once you’re moving at about 10 mph, a fast walking speed, you can only counter-steer.

You learned “Push right, go right” in your BRC. That probably got stuck in your brain, and that’s good. From now on, above 10 mph, that’s how you steer. So if you ever think, “the bike feels like it’s fighting me” or “it’s not wanting” to make the turn you want it to make, then you say to yourself “push right, go right,” (or left) and believe it. You’re fighting yourself, not the bike.

Keep your eyes up and away from your instruments while riding to look out for hazards. Listen to how the bike sounds as you ride. You’ll soon learn how it reacts to the throttle and to using the brake.

To sum up, all you want to do is control the scoot and avoid dangerous situations. Once you’ve gotten acquainted with the unfamiliar bike this way, you’re going to start to feel good riding it.

Read the rest of the tips about that first ride on an unfamiliar bike. You’ll be glad you did if that inner voice says you found the one you’re meant to own.