The recent death of a new rider practicing in a parking lot does not sit well with me. It's not clear what exactly happened, and I am not looking to blame them for the outcome.
I just wanted to say this, for those who would like to practice first. When I took motorcycle training, there were a few exercises that happened before you were given the green light to use the throttle with the motor on. The first one was (sneakily) wheeling the bike from the storage area to the practice/teaching area - it introduced you to the mass of the bike and the center of gravity. After they review what the controls are, the second one was taking turns pushing the bike around while the rider would turn and stop with the motor off. I *think* there was one where you finally got to start the bike, but moved it forward using only the clutch. I'm pretty sure there was one where you had to navigate some pylons while idling the bike but without feathering the clutch or using gas (I remember an instructor taking a pair a vice grips to the bike I was riding and making the clutch lever very sloppy to discourage its use). THEN, finally, you graduated to using the throttle to accelerate.
Despite all this I remember some people (dramatically) still struggling with the controls. Nobody is born riding a motorcycle, the controls can feel pretty alien if you've never used them before, and some people need a little more time to get used to them than others. Even if you can make it around the block or onto a parking lot, once you start doing two things at the same time operating the bike might get confusing again. Just take it easy at first.
I just wanted to say this, for those who would like to practice first. When I took motorcycle training, there were a few exercises that happened before you were given the green light to use the throttle with the motor on. The first one was (sneakily) wheeling the bike from the storage area to the practice/teaching area - it introduced you to the mass of the bike and the center of gravity. After they review what the controls are, the second one was taking turns pushing the bike around while the rider would turn and stop with the motor off. I *think* there was one where you finally got to start the bike, but moved it forward using only the clutch. I'm pretty sure there was one where you had to navigate some pylons while idling the bike but without feathering the clutch or using gas (I remember an instructor taking a pair a vice grips to the bike I was riding and making the clutch lever very sloppy to discourage its use). THEN, finally, you graduated to using the throttle to accelerate.
Despite all this I remember some people (dramatically) still struggling with the controls. Nobody is born riding a motorcycle, the controls can feel pretty alien if you've never used them before, and some people need a little more time to get used to them than others. Even if you can make it around the block or onto a parking lot, once you start doing two things at the same time operating the bike might get confusing again. Just take it easy at first.