Sure you want to ride a motorcycle?
Riding a motorcycle involves a lot of work and exposes you to a higher number of risks than driving a car. Mostly, other cars.
But, you really want to know how long it takes to learn how to ride a motorcycle properly, right?
The mechanical aspects of learning how to control the throttle, clutch and gear lever can be learned quickly and safely in a large empty car park at low speed. In other words, learning how to control a motorcycle will take less than an hour if you have the guts to use the throttle when you are supposed to and use the break when needed.
Then you can cruise around the parking lot for half a day to learn how to ride on a motorcycle. So, if you really want to get after it, you can be riding on a motorcycle in a day.
But riding safely, for the long-term is completely different. Riding in heavily congested traffic is a different matter. Some say that to learn how to operate a bike doesn’t take long but learning how to really ride and to do it safely is kind of a lifelong process.
The process of learning to ride safely on a public road is a real challenge for a new rider. It will take weeks, months and years to accomplish. Why? Before you can ride in a public road, you need to acquire the necessary skills on how to properly control the bike and to achieve a certain amount of confidence on your driving capacity. How can you achieve this? Take the MSF course and take any extra training you can afford until you are confident.
You may learn how to ride from friends but it is best to get proper training and guidance from professional trainers. Every state of the U.S. has motorcycle riding schools approved by the MSF. Taking a riding course from one of these schools is a big step in making you a safe and competent rider. The course will provide you with skills and pointers that will help you every minute on the road. Through a motorcycle driving school you will learn details about how a bike works, how to balance on a bike, how the brakes work, the proper riding posture and how you get to work on numerous riding techniques that your friend could not have taught you. In other words, a professional can turn your riding style to virtually instinctive which may go a long way in the future.
So, if you’re going to ask how long does it takes to learn how to ride a motorcycle, it depends on your willingness to learn and the kind of training you get.