some tips to keep you from dumping the bike.

[dannylightning]

1 never try to skid your back tire and jam on the front break instead of the rear breaks haha :tongue:

2 be really careful when backing up, that seems to be one of the easiest way to loose your balance, always stay flat footed when backing

3 ( EDIT) once you stop be very careful when you start out from a dead stop with your bars turned at full lock (till you get the hang of it), i almost dumped a bike a few times doing that my fist month or two of motorcycling

4 don't think you can put your feet down to stop like your on a bicycle, its too heavy for that (i had a tendency to try and put my feet down to stop when barley moving like i always did on my bicycle) don't put your feet down and plant them on the ground firmly till the bike has stopped moving completely (after all those years on a bicycle it was hard for me to break this habit) it would be quite easy to loose your balance doing this.

5 don't do wheelies :neener:

6 when you need to slow down fast down shift hard and break hard but not too hard or your gonna skid out. i use my clutch to slow down way more than i use the breaks, unless i have to stop fast than ts down shift a few times fast as possible while breaking. (please see explanation posted below)

7 when stopping with your bars turned at full lock you can easily loose your balance, especially if you hit the front break hard (that almost got me a few times my first few months of riding)

8. put your bike in gear and chock the wheels when you are doing any ting to it. if the bike rolls forward a little the kick stand can move and the bike will fall.