This is
perhaps a
condensed version of the advice above,
but it has
served me
very well through the
years.
When I bought my first
street bike at the
tender age of
seventeen my
father, an
avid cyclist himself, knew I was already
fairly adept at
motorcycle operation from
years of
enduro riding. He made
certain that my first
road machine was a small,
forgiving bike, and spoke the following
sentence, which I keep in
mind when operating a
car,
motorcycle, or
bicycle:
"Assume that everyone you see will try to kill you, and ride accordingly"
After that, he turned me loose.
So far, so good. Paranoid? You bet, but I've still got all my original parts.