How old is too old to learn to ride?Just got a LS650

Thanks

No your not too old.  Like youzguyz said take the MSF course, by all means.  I am 53 I took the MSF course this past July and I bought my 06 S40 in July also.  
I even rode to work this morning..33 degrees!  I've put 1500 miles on that bike in 4 months..probably not many to some standards but I've got the bug bad and I ride my Suzy every chance I can  

I'm 62 and relearned last year, have several medical issues, but have put 6,000 miles on the bike since then. Unless you are riding with a group that rides hard and fast or riding 300 miles in a day, both of which I do, it's not physically demanding except, as others have noted, for paying close attention to people in cars.

And it's a blast!

I highly recommend the book Proficient Motorcycling and the MSF course. Although I skipped the beginner course, I have taken the advanced one and found it helpful.

youzguyz wrote on 11/04/13 at 11:11:55:


+1.
Started last year at 62 myself. Took the MSF course and then put over 5,000 miles on a S40 last summer and fall. Moved to a C50 this spring and have logged about 4,000 miles so far. I wish someone had hit me with a big stick and told me how much fun this is 40 years ago.

Good luck and keep us posted

Age is just a number.   I have met, and talked to a lot of older bikers, that were between 75 to 90. Not all of us will reach 75-90, with the same fitness, health, and mental awareness.  If you feel you're capable of riding, then ride.  First get to know your bike, by sitting on it, getting to know where all the controls are, get the feel of the weight, and try it out in your driveway, or laneway before getting out on the roads.  Motorcycle courses are out there if you feel you need help.  I quit riding back in 1973, when I sold my 750 BMW.  I just started last year at 65, after not riding for over 40 years. I ride an 1983 1100cc Goldwing Standard, which is a lot heavier than my wife's LS 650.  I'm sure you will do fine, if you don't rush at it.

Recently I made attempts to get my wife to learn to ride, and it did not go too well.  We may have made the jump from riding around the yard in first gear.....to shifting and riding in second a bit too soon, as she crashed pretty hard.  She was attempting to slow down and turn at the same time, and the coordination had not yet become familiar to her.  She applied front brake and throttle simultaneously.....not a good combination on any motorcycle.  The good news is that it was just an 80cc bike and other than a few thorns in her hand....she was fine.  The bike hit a tree and needed more repair than she did.

In hindsight......she should have done far more learning on the clutch, brakes and throttle at slow speeds before we got to the shifting process.  My wife is also not all that comfortable on a bicycle.  When we go for rides she does fine pedaling down a straight and level road - but when we get to a place we need to navigate around an obstacle, cross an uneven pavement, climb a curb.....she has to concentrate and work hard at it.  She does not really know which brake is front and which is rear and she just grabs them both, and she struggles to adapt the gear shifting to the hills.  A motorcycle is a huge leap for her abilities, she is just not a "natural" on two wheels.

We have come to the conclusion that my wife would not be safe on a motorcycle...regardless of her age.  She is not comfortable on one, she is not horrible strong, she is fighting osteoporosis, and her reflexes are not wonderful.  So.......all this rambling is to say that although age most certainly will be a consideration at some point - so is natrual ability.  We were a at a party visiting with some old friends, and the subject came up.  His wife has a horrible limp, and we found out that it was because she tried to learn to ride a motorycle later in life, and she had a crash that sent her underneath a guard rail while her leg folded up over the guard rail.  The man was obviously very sorry that he had let her attempt to learn so late in life....he claims that she was just not a natural rider and they learned too late.  She was just going around a simple corner and a normal speed she lost control. He still has a lot of guilt for not recognizing that they may have hit the open road far too soon....and that he did not recognize that she was not yet in control.

I also believe that the Savage is not a great bike to get your first lesson. It is a bit heavy when compared to a smaller bike, it has a bunch of torque and if you twist the throttle a bit too much....things can happen very fast.  Those first couple of hours while you are learning the clutch/throttle/brake/balance functions......would be far easier and safer on a smaller and less powerful bike.  When you grab a bit too much throttle on a small bike....you have a far better chance of surviving than you will not a big torquey single where things can go wront realy fast.  My wife may no longer be alive if she had done the same thing on the Savage that she did on the 80cc bike.    

Here's how I re-learned (except I didn't take the intro MSF course), and I think it's a pretty good method.

1. Start out in an empty parking lot and just drive around in first gear until you are comfortable with turning, countersteering (see Proficient Motorcycling), braking with both brakes, starting and stopping. Then, progress to first and second gear and do the above in first and second until you are comfortable with shifting between the two, including downshifting when you slow to a stop. Then third, same drill. At this point you can go 30+mph, which is about as fast as you can probably go in a parking lot unless it's very big.

Practice quick stops and slow-speed figure eights until you can do them comfortably.

Take a break, or wait until the next day.

2. Next step is to find a "practice road," that is, a road where there is almost no traffic. Ride the bike up and down that road at varying speeds until you are comfortable doing that.

Take a break, or wait until the next day.

3. Identify a low-traffic neighborhood where you can practice checking for danger signs, stopping at stop signs or red lights, making left and right turns. Ride in that neighborhood until you are comfortable doing all those things.

Take another break or wait until the next day.

4. At this point, you are competent enough to actually take the bike place, building your skills as you go, never exceeding what you feel comfortable doing. If you can find a local Meetup motorcycling group that has rides for beginners, go on one or more, as then you begin to see how other riders ride and they can see how you ride, and if something does go wrong, they will be there to help.

Have a blast!

David