Many, MANY years ago, in my 20s, I decided to get a motorcycle. I figured I'm grown up enough and can ride a bike despite my parent's disapproval.

So when I moved to FL and researched what a good beginner street bike would be. I bought a brand new Kawasaki Ninja 250R (as though the "R" would add another 20 hp and make it faster) and practiced on it. I basically knew the principles of clutching/upshifting/downshifting/rev matching, etc. because I had a Honda XR200 dirt bike I tooled with in the woods. Anyway, it didn't take me long to get the hang of riding out in the street with vehicles ready to run me off the road, and not long after I bought it, I took the motorcycle riding test offered by the Florida DMV, which I passed with flying colors the first time.

I remember during one part of the test, we had to weave through a series of cones about 10(?) feet apart in an "S" pattern. With my small, nimble bike, I easily whipped though that test like Ingemar Stenmark on a slalom course. When I was waiting for others to try it, there was a guy on HUGE Harley bagger ready to try his luck. He made the first turn, then struggled to make a second turn, and by the third turn he hit a cone and dropped his bike, which resulted in an instant fail.

When I look back at my first bike, I didn't realize that I would easily "outgrow" it. I should've gotten something bigger in the 600cc range as my first street bike ....