Originally Posted by worm696
I agree with just about everything that has been said here. I haven't been riding long, but safety first. Safety classes are a good idea, I did'nt have the extra money and needed a gas saver. I have been very cautious and have been fine. I would suggest some parking lot riding if nothing else, to get familiar with your bike and riding in general.
I agree -- parking lots = great. I also went riding on sunday mornings and what not when there were not very many cars.. but there was still the stop lights and what not to get used to, just less pressure. When theres people around you theres a lot of pressure to put it in gear and go and sometimes you might gas it to early or go around a corner the wrong way or something just because you are too worried about your surroundings before you have the bike 'learned'