Re: Motorcycles
I'll third Tim and Rob's suggestion to take the MSF course. My instructors were great guys. Very helpful. When I took the course about 8 years ago I had never ridden at all. They had everyone in the class fairly capable in about 2 hours. Once we got to the tougher stuff, they could point out EXACTLY what I was doing wrong, and fix it in a snap. My dad and I both took it, and it was a lot of fun. It's worth it even if you are never getting a bike.
I dropped my bike once, and nearly tore my forearm muscle to keep it from rolling onto the pipes. Luckily I was with another more experienced rider who quickly dismounted his bike and helped me get mine upright... all because some lady couldn't wait her turn in a parking lot and cut me off. Rule numero uno with respect to brakes... DON'T hit the front brake with the wheel in anything other than the straight position. Even at 0.5 MPH in a parking lot. You *will* drop it. Unless you built like Hulk Hogan circa 1985.
The 800 I had was a little too much weight to start out with, looking back. However, I'm 6'1" and I got cramps after about an hour or so of riding. It was always worse at the beginning of the season but I never quite got used to that. A bike with a more upright position may help, I wanted a cruiser so that's what I got.
