I've been riding for going on 40 years now (street and dirt) and there is still nothing I enjoy more than rolling that Harley out of the garage and going for a ride. The wife won't let it go out the driveway without her on the back which is fine by me (it is true though about how women act around them). I live in a very rural area and I am always as concerned about deer as I am about other drivers. One of the key things while riding is to always look as far down the road as you can see. I have gotten to the point though where I won't ride at night. I like to see further down the road that than headlight will illuminate. I have attached a pic Sue took while riding down the road a couple years ago. We both love to ride.
In regards to starting out with small cc versus larger. Can you ride at all? I took my first m/c riding test (for drivers license when I was 16) on a friends, kick start 1972 1000 cc Sportster. If I had owned one of those "crotch rockets" back when I was 16 -18 years old I would be dead now. I enjoyed spirited driving back in the day. Now I just cruise along
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