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My 110 5'2" wife started on a Yamaha SR 500 higher seat than the S40,Her buddy help her learn,Me,40000 miles never went down,Most miles in a day 500,On a GR 650 Suzuki. [/quote]

I tried to teach my wife to ride on a Suzuki TY80 last year in my yard.  She got confused and while turning applied front brake and squeezed throttle on at the same time.  She ended up against a tree, upside down, in a pile of lumber and metal stakes for the outdoor shower I was building.  I am afraid that if it had been a 350 pound, 650cc motorcycle I would be a widower now.  I will never again start someone out on a bike with a clutch for their first ride.  Once they can gracefully drive a scooter or minibike.....then we can move on to a bike with a clutch.

I was in your same shoes back in febuary. I am 30 years old and before febuary I had never ridden any type of motorcycle. I never rode dirt bikes or anything even close. I took the MSF course for beginners. It was the best $175 I ever spent. I went into the class knowing nothing about motrcyles and being a little intimidated by them and came out full of confidence. I shopped around and got a great deal on a new Suzuki S40. I rode it home and have been riding back and forth to work everyday since then. I am 6'2" and 200lbs and the bike is a little on the small side for me but is still lots of fun to ride. I feel like I started out on the right bike. I proboly could have started on something like a 800cc or even a little bigger and still been ok but this bike is very economical. It inexpensive to buy and to maintain. Its very reliable according many reviews that I have seen. I have had the bike about 6 months now and never had a problem with it. Eventually I will proboly move up to a bigger bike for cross country riding but will keep this bike for in town and short commutes. All in all its a great bike to start on.

bill67 wrote on 09/07/12 at 08:44:22:

No, it's not. Not even close. Especially in America with the front-brake lever on the wrong side.

Most people that ride bicycles don't even realize that they have to steer the opposite direction to turn the bicycle because shifting your weight can usually get the job done. On a motorcycle, you weigh 1/3 of it instead of weighing 3x it. Your inputs on the handlebars are far more important because a motorcycle weighs a lot more and the faster-spinning heavier front wheel has much more gyroscopic effect.

Riding a bicycle is NOTHING like riding a motorcycle. If there is anything you need to remember about riding a motorcycle it's that if you're going around a turn and it feels like you can't turn enough and are about to run off the road, force the handlebars in the opposite direction.

All there's to do is make sure the front wheels faces where you want the bike to go.

Well, typically when I steer left it goes left.

Well, at higher speed it's pretty much all leaning, steering is minimal. But with my little slow poke bobber at less than 300lbs I dont think I get enough speed that would require counter steering when drifting. I dont know, maybe it's instinctive since I never wiped out.

The trick to counter steering is to look in the direction you want to go. It makes pushing on that side of the handlebar instinctive.
Several times I have miss-judged the sharpness of a curve, or it has "sharpened" more after I have gone into it, and looking to the inside and gentle counter-steer has saved me from going into the on coming lane. Also leaning does the same thing as counter-steering. You start a lean by counter-steering, whether you realize it or not.
Read "Proficient Motorcycling". It explains it better than I can.
Also "drifting" occurs when you break the rear wheel loose and steer with the throttle, as you do in flat track racing. Difficult, but not impossible, to do on dry pavement.

i passed the MSF class last weekend (most fun i've had for $250 in a long time!).  will probably be picking up an s40 this weekend.  it's a wee bit small for me (6'1" and 270 lbs. currently).  so i'll be doing the seat mod 1st, learning to ride this particular bike and then think about forward controls.

so i'm HOPING it's a good 1st bike for me lol.  just don't fee like i'd enjoy a rebel or what-have-you as much.