Hello,

I recently got my motorcycle license and have never ridden before. Upon shopping for bikes I really liked the street glide. I asked many different folks if that were too much of a bike to start out with and I got pretty much the same answer of "It will be a good bike to start with. You will do fine." I talked to friends, experienced riders, salesmen, etc... So I bought a newer street glide and well I have to say I suck at riding it. I am having a hard time with turns, mainly 90 degree turns from intersections. Also have a hard time getting used to the clutch work and shifting. I fit the bike well (Fleet flat on ground, arms not locked out, etc…) but just have a hard time controlling it.

Any tips would be much appreciated. I was really excited to begin this new hobby but have since lost the excitement and have become discouraged. I’m also thinking maybe I should not have started out with a street glide but I’m hoping maybe it is just fundamentals.

Thanks

 

I would have suggested a sporty or dyna, something more lightweight, but since you pulled the trigger on a bagger, I would suggest a new rider course. Check with your local dealer, or Community College. They both offer courses. Hope it works out for ya, and welcome to the biker world!

 

Congrats on the new bike. I would find an empty, large parking lot or something similar and practice whatever you feel you need practice with.
Don't feel rushed to improve. Concentrate on what you need to do to perform a task like a 90 degree turn and practice 10 of them in a row. Get off the bike and take a break.

It will come to you sooner or later and you probably won't even realize that you've done it. It will be second nature.

Good luck and take care,
Dave

 

+1 on the riders course. I took one to originally get my license. You will learn to properly turn, shift up and down till your hands hurt, stop, swerve, ride over 2x4's and various other vital skills

 

It's definitely a big bike to start off on. I would suggest riding it around non congested areas for awhile and take routes that don't have tight turns at intersections.

You could also take a local riding course and follow it up with advanced courses if available. You may even find a class that provides smaller bikes during the course so you can get some practice with them.

Once you get comfortable, you'll be able to ride your bike anywhere.

 

Take an MSF course. It's the foundation everythnig else is built on.

Drop me an email at:

MotorLessons@hotmail.com

I'll email you a PDF of a booklet I've written that will give you some things to practice.

Harris
Denver, CO

www.youtube.com/conedown

 

Just to clarify I did take the new riders course through MSF.

 

I also would not have recommended a SG for a first bike, but like already said you have it now. I think they offer an intermediate course that you can take on your own bike. You should take that if you can.

 

IMO when you come to a stop plant both feet on the ground and stop all the way. Ready to takeoff do it no halfway stuff. thats where the trouble is. slow turns in a big parking lot slow as you. it tkaes some time.

 

Unfortunately, you received some poor advice on your initial purchase. Should have gone with a smaller and lighter bike to start out.

With that said, as others have pointed out, if you are stuck with this bike, you need to find a nice large parking lot and practice all of those maneuvers that you learned in the riding course you took. I'm assuming that you used a much smaller bike to take the course, but now you are going to need to adapt to the larger bike. Don't become too frustrated that you can't do the same things you may have done on a smaller bike during your training. The larger bikes are not suited for those same maneuvers, so you need to learn to adapt to some handling differences.

Good luck and welcome!