First time rider, Think i'll get hurt

[Kevin'76]

Fist off I'd like to say hi to you all and sorry for the spelling mistakes. I was orignaly from Mississauga but had to move to Nova Scotia. Huge bonuis thoe the insurance cost is way cheeper here, 1 month in Ontario pays my full year here

Ok hears the scoop, I'v been intrested in geting a bike for years now and finaly got one. A cuz of mine sold me hi 84 Honda V30 Magna to me. With only 500cc motor think this is a good bike to start with. Now for the BAD part. The only corse around for me is at least a 2 hour drive from home and go's for 3 days. Then to top it off I live in a aira that all the roads are gravel. So here go's nothing.

Least I have a helmit, jacket and boots.

[dmartins]

Good luck! Gravel actually isn't that bad. Just take it slow and stick to the hard packed stuff!

[ViperZ]

Wouldn't a dual-sport be better for gravel roads?

[Rotten_Ronnie]

Taking the course is worth it. It is equivalent to six months riding experience, and in addition. The Hurt Report that studied reported motorcycle collisions attributed a shockingly large amount of them to riders who were taught by family members or self-taught.

Congratulations on the bike! If you plan on riding a ton of gravel roads with it, you may want to consider crash guards and perhaps some aggressive tread tires for it. Taking the corners slow is going to help keep you rubber side down and shiny side up.

Where is the course? Halifax?

[cknowles]

I used to ride on gravel all the time as a teenager. I always thought it was more fun than pavement!
Stick to the packed sections, and avoid the gravel piles at the edge of the tire tracks. If you need to cross the gravel
patch, do it on a straight portion of road, don't make sudden moves and you'll be fine.
If you go into it with the expectation of hurting yourself you won't be disappointed.
However if you plan to ride cautiously and slowly at first until you gain confidence you'll do fine.

Take the course it'll do you a world of good. If it's 2 hours away, consider staying in a hotel over night...you're going to be tired

[Kevin'76]

Where is the course? Halifax?

Bridgewater is where the only avalibul course is. All the local offerings are booked up till October. Also as far as courses go in Nova Scotia there is a graduated system like Ontarios. I'm not shoure about there but here to get your full class 7 (M equilvant) you have to take a advance skills course and pass. Tho it is not required for the LM licance (M2 equilvant). So sooner or latter ill be doing it.

[skip]

Take a browse around advrider.com Don't be afraid of gravel

[sunnyss]

I concur with the suggestions about getting a dual purpose.

Ps. I accept your apology (regarding spelling)

[TdotMurderer]

Ummm so why is it you are so poor at spelling?