Hello all, I'm new here

[Thrash1982]

Yeah, that Katana was definitely a heavy bike. Much more than I should have hopped on as a noob. I'll have to remember to keep the revs up next time I'm on it. I managed to kill it a couple times and had to kick start it in the middle of the street. Fortunately I was just tooling around his neighborhood so there was pretty much no traffic. I was getting a bit better at counter balancing my weight before I stopped last evening and was able to do a U turn in the width of the street. Definitely going to have to get a better feel for the clutch though. I tend to either let it out all the way when I'm going slow and lurch the bike or tense up and pull it to far in and loose power.

[Thrash1982]

And now the pics. I finally got my Ninja! Rode it around a bit with a couple friends today but it was pretty chilly so we didn't go far. I'm loving it! Unfortunately I'm going to be gone on a business trip for about the next week so I wont be able to ride my new baby .

[roxynoodle]

As far as shifting goes, let the clutch out slowly to avoid the jerkiness. If you just let it go shifting with seem clunky. Bear in mind the MSF bikes have been abused and they shift badly because of it. I already had my own bike when I took it so I realized it was the bike I was on during the class and not my shifting. My MSF bike had a heck of a time shifting into 2nd gear.

Use your rear brake to slow in turns like they taught you in MSF.

A 250r will be a good bike to learn on. Just relax and you will be fine. It will shift easily.

[keyda81]

Just take your time learning, you'll get it down in no time. Goodluck!