How easy is it to shift gears on a motorcycle?
I've been riding motorcycles for 65 years and it's easy for me to say it's easy. I would suggest that practice is the best teacher. You need to develop muscle memory so you coordinate the clutch, shift lever and throttle to accomplish the gear change, both up and down. It's probably best to find an abandoned road or an empty parking lot to practice in. Also, a lot of community colleges offer motorcycle training classes you could take advantage of. Remember, there are three types of motorcycle riders; those that have been down, those that are going down and those that are staying down. You don't want to be the last one.
Doc, you are SO right!
My first bike was a Yamaha two stroke 250. What a screamer! I knew NOTHING about working a motorycle and it took awhile to learn. Thought after riding for 2 moths, i knew it all. Until I layed it down on a busy street in Chicago!
Yeah, I've been down a couple of times myself. Most of them were not my fault, ie, people seem to like to turn left right in in front of you. Another time, I got into the marbles on the side of the road and laid it down. Lesson learned.
As @Doc said, a riding class would be beneficial. Start with a light weight and low to ground motorcycle and practice a lot before riding on a road.
I highly recommend the Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses - they conduct them all over the country, they are reasonably priced, and they cover everything from what the parts of the bike are to fairly advanced skills (in separate courses). You can start with some online courses.
