It's admirable that a new motorcycle enthusiast is respecting the wishes of the family--it shows that they've done a good job of raising you, at least in this regard.
Street riding is a lot of fun, but it really does put you at higher risk of injury the whole time you're out there. Doing a Google News search on "
motorcycle fatality" for the past thirty days should confirm that. Or you could take a look at RippinKitten's blog post with pictures of the
aftermath of her hubby's motorcycle accident. It's not always about how much restraint or skill the rider has, sometimes stuff happens, and when it does, you're usually much better off in an enclosed vehicle with airbags and seatbelts.
I feel the same way as eidian; I don't regret waiting to get my bike until I'd gotten the speed demon out of my system. The temptation to crank the throttle open and tear arse all over the place would have been too great when I was younger.
Sure, the temptation is still there, but there is a lot more deliberation and situation analysis going on, with the result being that I don't exceed posted speed limits by that much, especially if I'm riding unfamiliar roads. Even when I'm riding in familiar areas, I buy myself response time by keeping a lid on the speed--it's bad enough that motorists have a hard time seeing bikes without us making it worse by "popping out of nowhere."
Anyway, starting out by
riding a dirtbike should help when you start club racing and you're used to sliding the rear.
It worked for John Hopkins and Colin Edwards (at least in World SBK).