How Long Have You Been Riding? Keep the posts coming!

[Cuky_Monster]

I have been riding for one year now, not sure what I was doing before...it has taken over my life (in a good way).  Learned on a Suzuki Boulevard S40 (Suzi Cakes) in an alley behind my apartment because I was so afraid of dropping it.  I thought that a 650cc engine was sooooo big and was fraid I would lose contol of it!!!  haha  It wasn't long before I made it to the street and my commute to work which is about 30 miles on a congested freeway on Los Angeles...ugh. 

The S40 was a great bike to learn on but I grew out of it at about 300 miles.  When I hit 5000 miles I started researching motorcycles and which would be the right one for me.  I am vertically challanged so I knew I was limited on my selections.  I looked at all sorts of cruisers but I knew I would not be happy with one.  When the motorcycle show came to Long Beach I demo-ed the Buell Lightening Csg -- loved it but knew I would kill myself with that much power.  Whoa, that bike likes to go.  I also tried the Ninja 250 and 650 and was not impressed.  I was very disappointed that Ducati was only demo-ing the Hypermotard. 

When I took a trip to my local dealer and they had the 696 in stock and I feel in love.  With all of the bikes I sat on and tested this one fit me.  I didn't know how it handled, what it sounded like, didn't even know anyone who owned one.  All I knew was this was the "one"...my forever motorcycle.  That sounds pretty funny but I think its true.

Unfortunately, she is in the shop being repaired and I won't get to ride her for the next month or so...just as I was getting used to riding it...someone decided to run a red light and run us over.  Just glad its not totalled by insurance and I am uninjured. 

I love my Monster.

[DucMouse the Mighty]

yo yo chickas,

i have been riding for over 4 years now. my uncle was the one that got me into bikes, i was raised around dirt bikes but just never got on one. then one day i figured i wanted to do something new and fun and different and i got a 250 ninja...which i only keep for 8 months after i got use to it not having any balls then my uncle suggested a get a duc...i had no idea what the who-da-ha-da it was. but when i stepped into that store i was in love. it made it even better that they could lower it for me since im a midget so i got a red 620. did all kinds of small mods got use to and had that for over 2 and half years. then i got into an accident and he was totalled! now i got a red s2r1k that im totally in luv with...it is my dream bike and have only had it for 6 months, Spankin times will be had this summer....

ps. when i first started writting, i actually had a guy tell me that i couldn't such a machinery  but if i ever run across a putz like that again he will be eating my duc dust  but now i get some the best compliments...a girl and duc "Now thats Hawt" 

[Stella]

You, my girl, are hysterical.  When are you coming back out to Denver for another night at the Horseshoe?!?

 

[DirtDiva]

My dad had me on the back of his bike at 6 yrs old.. we lived in SoCal, so it was normal to have a bike there!
FF to high school, in PA and loved riding on my BF's bike.. and in his cj7, he ended up serving our country and still rides.. and i think he must have gotten me addicted.

I was going to move to AZ to attend ASU and decided i'd take a course to learn how to ride so i could have a bike there. Made more sense to have a bike in a sunshiney state.. or so i thought. But i never ended up attending ASU.

I'd always been obsessed with bikes, when they passed.. i desperately try to see what kind it was.. always sportbikes though, never cared much about cruisers..
That remains the case to this day.. my head snaps around to see what bikes out there! .. anyone else do this? i mean.. i ride a bike now, have for years.. and i still whip around to see whats riding past!

So, i randomly ended up at Daytona bike week in 2006
that is where i saw girls riding sportbikes.. girls like me.. well.. that was it. i decided if they could do it so could i.

I came home and April of 2006 passed the MSF with no points deducted. Had a friend ride my newly purchased 02 sv650s to my house. And started riding around my development trying to learn this new gigantic bike.
I remember the shakes i had the first day i rode it into work at lunch time. Cages and lights and intersections are scary!!
I put 8000 miles on that year and even had toys strapped to my back seat during the winter for the Toys for Tot's rally. Then i spent a partial season on a Daytona 675 and had one track day before the highway took her away from me. When i could get back on a bike i decided.. Ducati or bust! i love the sexy Italians.. both men and bikes!!

this season starts my 4th.. on a beautiful Monster! she's a handful but i respect her and adore her raw sexyness all nekkid. Nothing better than a trellis frame IMO.
But i love the new Aprilia doseduro too! I'm addicted for life i think!

[gwendy]

I love reading this thread

As some of you know I have been riding for almost 2 years. Although only in Spring and  Summer.
I rode on the back of Statler for about 15 years, 13 before I got my bike.  I actually enjoyed riding on the back.  And I still enjoy riding on the back maybe even more now than I did before because I appreciate his riding and the freedom to relax because I trust him.  I trust his riding more than mine still.

I am learning and getting there as some of you have followed.  I did a little dirt bike as a kid but never regularly.  But long before I  knew how to be afraid of it or what I was really doing.

[Ducgirl]

Hi Gwendy,
And I love reading your thread! I also have been riding with my hubby for about 10 years and still very much enjoy it. I'm also a new rider and haven't gotten as far as you have, but I am experiencing the same trepidation I think! It's fun but still very nervous. I think I will feel better as soon as I am more comfortable riding the bike; I feel it still is "riding me" in a way....I would like to be more in control I guess. I love my bike tho and know I will get better. I can only ride in the summer too as we are in snow in Idaho.

[River]

Hi Gwendy!  Nice to see you here!  Did Statler make you laugh today???  Tell him he must: it's a moral imperative.   

I have been riding for a year now if you count the MSF course I took the last weekend in May, 2008.  My very first bike, and the one I still ride, is an '06 M620 which I absolutely adore.  She is perfect for me and I plan to keep her for as long as I'm on this earth plane we roam.  I love everything about her, and almost dread the inevitable day when I will ride a bike with little or no torque in comparison.  SERIOUSLY--I love that you can be off the line quick AND that you can slow down easily using only the throttle.  Fascinating!

And I love reading this thread too! 

[Shorts]

Time past since license, 2yrs.  Actual riding season, not as much - thanks snow! 

I got my first bike in summer '06, modified it and got licensed at MSF as soon as season opened the next spring.  Rode the last two years on a '00 Honda VTR250 in Japan.  I sold it to move back to the States (DH is Navy) and now I'm shopping for my second bike, eyeballing Monsters 620-750.



Before "real bikes", years ago I tooled around grandpa's farm on dirt bikes .

[AkLiz]

Hi all :  I'm new here but have been riding for 3 years.  I'd ridden pillion once with a college friend before I met my husband - he's been riding for years.  I started because I got tired of listening to my husband and his guy friends go on and on about bikes and trips so we made a deal - if I passed the MSF he'd buy me a bike.  I did and he got me a BMW F650GS which I still have and will probably never sell - it's a great travel bike (we prefer to take long bike trips as our vacations).  I've always adored Ducatis though and am finally at a point where I feel ok having two bikes to rotate between so in the spring I'll be buying a M1100S.  I can't wait!!!

[mrs.darkside]

I have only been riding for about three months total now  . My husband purchased the Ducati Monster in the Med. Blue (love that I have a blue Ducati  ) for me as well as the MSF class as a surprise anniversary gift this past July. I have been trying to get out on her as much as possible before the weather turns. Love the Monster, great beginner bike I think. Perfect fit for me  I am hoping to get comfortable enough to go out on the freeway more and the twists  [moto] !!!! I actually just went on my very first girl group ride which was a blast  . Looking forward to meeting up with more women riders in the Bay Area and going on some more rides.   

[somegirl]

I have only been riding for about three months total now  . My husband purchased the Ducati Monster in the Med. Blue (love that I have a blue Ducati  ) for me as well as the MSF class as a surprise anniversary gift this past July. I have been trying to get out on her as much as possible before the weather turns. Love the Monster, great beginner bike I think. Perfect fit for me  I am hoping to get comfortable enough to go out on the freeway more and the twists  [moto] !!!! I actually just went on my very first girl group ride which was a blast  . Looking forward to meeting up with more women riders in the Bay Area and going on some more rides.   

There's enough of us here, maybe we should plan some sort of event/ride for us sometime?

[mangeldbug]

I met a guy in 2002 who rode a motorcycle - the first person I ever really knew who rode.  We eventually began dating and I would ride on the back with him quite a bit, but I never really had any interest in riding myself.  My parents were always really against it for some reason and maybe that influenced me.  My boyfriend got me a secret birthday present in 2004 - a 1981 Honda CB400T to learn on.  Oh God was I terrified, and very frustrated after a few tries in the parking lot.  I took the MSF class in 2005 and found that I really loved riding and two weeks after I got my license for the street I was on the track on a friend's YSR50 racebike.  That wasnt a fun conversation with my parents...lol.  

I rode the CB for one season - until I started scraping pegs (if you look at pictures, you can see this is NOT hard to do on that bike) and was constantly wringing the heck out of it to barely keep up with the "big boys" on the back roads.  I got my Ducati in early 2006, and I am going to keep it forever.  I love it so much!  And I still race YSRs with the Ohio YSR League.   [moto]  

Oh yeah, and I married the guy who introduced me to motorcycles in 2006

[maillotpois]

There's enough of us here, maybe we should plan some sort of event/ride for us sometime?

I think that would be great! 

I'm free 10/24, by the way...    (It's really hard for me to plan to do rides often because of my daughter's sports schedule, but that happens to be a free date.  May be too short notice.... ) 

[somegirl]

I'm free 10/24, by the way...    (It's really hard for me to plan to do rides often because of my daughter's sports schedule, but that happens to be a free date.  May be too short notice.... )  

Maybe we should start a new thread and see how much interest there is.

ETA: http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=30728.0

[badgalbetty]

I started riding around Sept 1979.First bike I rode was a Malagutti Cavalcone........a very long time ago.
I have had several bikes, about 18 or 19 bikes from BSA Gold Stars to Triumph Daytonas,  a 1938 Royal Enfield to a Ducati s2r.