[alanmcorcoran]

I must confess that I felt a little joy to know there is a place on Earth that is more bureacratic and expensive to get started with a MC than Southern California! My insurance on a brand new '08 GZ was $300/yr and has gone down since and, I could legally ride mine, solo, as soon as I passed a written permit test, which I took on impulse one day, five minutes after driving over to the DMV. Although I got my license about 6 weeks later, I could have ridden the bike on the permit for a year as long as I stayed off the freeway and parked it after dark.

(Of course, it may be little harder now, what with the state having run out of cash and I suspect the DMV's are on reduced hrs.)

Get yourself a copy of Proficient Motorcycling and read it when you aren't tinkering or riding. (I bet one year from now you will have a bigger bike.)