[BlueNinjaF18]

After selling my bike over a year ago, I honestly thought that I would never attempt riding again. I had zero experience or training with sport bikes, and the entire experience was awful. The bike I bought ( 04 Ninja 250) was not in sound mechanical condition. The seller lied about the maintenance on the bike, and I was looking at a small fortune to get it back to spec. In addition, I crashed this bike three times while trying to learn to ride, including tearing down the porch railing! So yeah, it was not fun.

After I learned about the MSF new rider course, I was excited to go until I discovered the cost was almost as much as I paid for the bike. In over my head, and with no one to turn to for help, I sold the bike and walked away. I was extremely discouraged, and received a lot of hate from family and others online. What I needed was someone who could work with me one on one until I felt confident enough to get on the road.

I spent several months practicing on my neighborhood street, and I quickly learned the basics of counter steering and braking. What I did not learn how to do well was downshift, and I was extremely afraid of tire hopping. I learned that the older bikes like mine were prone to this if I did it wrong, and the last thing that I wanted was to visit the ER a second time. I discovered that not being confident in my ability created doubt and fear, and neither of those leave any room for error on a bike in open traffic.

Now, after spending almost a year away from touching one, I'm finding myself wanting another go. I have the same thoughts that I had in the ER when I crashed the second time, that if I walk away and never learn to ride, that I will never be able to live with that decision. I have also gotten a lot of flak because I have high functioning Autism, and there have been plenty of people who have laughed at me when they learned that I crashed, and said that I was going to get killed riding. I guess if you hear that all day, then you probably will set yourself up for failure. I even considered buying one of those Tao tao racer scooters as an alternative before buying another bike, but I quickly ruled that out.

I think for me my best option is not spending a fortune in the local MSF course, but finding a rider who is willing to train me, even if I have to pay them. It's a lot easier for me to learn one on one, without the added stress of a crowd of people. I also would not be under stress to pass the test, and risk failing it. I think that would be a waste of money. If you have serious input that could help, I would greatly appreciate it, as I am open to suggestions.