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New rider in SF

B

_bay_rider

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2026
Moto(s)
TBD
Hi bay area riders,

I recently completed my beginner's training with BAMT. I am in the process of getting a bike. I grew up in Pakistan, where I rode a motorcycle, but I have not been on a motorbike for almost a decade. I am extremely excited to get back into biking and ride around in this beautiful part of the world. I am curious if you have any advice on how I can get some safe practice on the streets and build up to riding on the highway. One option would be to find a street instructor who can join me on a ride and guide me through it. I am curious whether anyone here has advice on how to safely start practicing on the street (or in a real setting that isn't a parking lot) and/or if there are riders here with experience guiding others. I am, of course, happy to properly compensate for street instructions.

Anyways, super excited about this new chapter in my life and hoping to connect with like-minded folks.

Ride safely,
 
Welcome.
My advice would be to practice on the street early in the morning when traffic is light.
Nothing beats seat time so ride ride ride.

Also, invest in the best gear you can afford.
Helmet, jacket, gloves, pants, boots and an air bag vest if you can afford one.

Don’t ride at night or in the rain until you get more experience.

Think ahead when riding. Anticipate the car next to you suddenly changing lanes, or a car signaling a left turn who might not see you.
 
:newbie

Hope ya find a spot that feels good.
Not sure where you are so can’t point you to anything other than a parking lot.

:ride with a :teeth
 
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You might want to share where you are located for specific recommendations. I would suggest practicing slow speed maneuvers (slalom, u-turns, start-stop, figure eights etc.), emergency braking and swerving in a parking lot away from traffic. That way you can really focus on the drills without worrying about traffic. You want to get these burn the basics into muscle memory so you don't have to think about them. Many of the community colleges have empty lots accessible on the weekends.

When out of the road, drive defensively staying well within your capabilities. Keep in mind that your confidence will increase much faster than your skills. Your probably most vulnerable about 3-6 months after first starting to ride due to the confidence-skill gap that widens. Being aware of the situation is the first step in managing it.
 
Welcome to BARF! There is a vast wealth of knowledge and many lifetimes of experience here. Stick around, ask questions, and have fun! :ride
 
Early weekend mornings through commercial/industrial areas are great for practice. Usually commercial and industrial streets are wide and on weekends, very light on traffic. Then you can jump on a freeway for an exit or two, to get your feet wet on the highways.

Enjoy!
 
Hey, welcome to the US moto life. You grew up in a beautiful country and based on my admittedly limited experience, if you were able to safely ride there you'll be fine here. Biggest difference is the higher overall speeds on the roads here along with the own the road entitlement many motorists have.

When I was newish to riding and new to SF I'd take Lincoln to the great highway (a bit trickier now that it's a park but there are better options anyway like Sunset BLVD or 19th (19th is kinda busy though) and then I'd ride north or south on one depending on where I wanted to go. South you can get a nice ride in without any real highway if you stay on Skyline to Sharp Park, you get on 1 where it's a highway but it stops being a highway a few hundred yards later.

Just riding around SF can be good practice too, I used to ride roughly the perimeter of the city and there are some nice roads in the Presidio. Doc Wong has some group rides that, when I did them, were pretty chill and good practice for new riders. I also made it a point to take some sort of riding class every year. Z2 has some they run out of Sonoma once you are comfortable enough to ride the highway there.

As others have mentioned, early morning on the weekends (or mid day during the week) are good times to try out the highway with lighter traffic.

But also, the posters before me are all failures for not asking about your bike, so what are you riding? Show us a picture if you have one :thumbup
 
I went through this not too long ago. Was scared to go on street and highway for a while.

I live next to a very small parking lot so I would practice there. I would then practice riding around my neighborhood side streets.

I then moved on to waking up at sun rise a few times out of the week and go ride on actual streets. Eventually did the same thing for high way.

For all of it I would start with small amount of time/distance and progressively increase it. It also helps to familiarize yourself with the route at first.
 
Hi all -- thanks for all the recommendations and the kind words of encouragement. I ended up getting a Rebel 500 (the least rebellious thing one can do, hehe). I am loving this machine, and I've been taking increasingly long rides around the city. I am also taking some lessons with Evans from Monkey Moto, who has been so helpful. I live in the Mission and am happy to meet up with folks for short rides around the city during low-traffic times. I am so grateful for this community :)
 
welcome to San Francisco and BARF from Lower Haight. Hope to see you at one of our regular social gatherings here in SF … :ride
 
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Welcome! You know you can get a one on one practice session with a coach if you think that would help. These guys have been doing it for years https://www.motoclubsf.com/
 
_bay_rider said:
Hi all -- thanks for all the recommendations and the kind words of encouragement. I ended up getting a Rebel 500 (the least rebellious thing one can do, hehe). I am loving this machine, and I've been taking increasingly long rides around the city. I am also taking some lessons with Evans from Monkey Moto, who has been so helpful. I live in the Mission and am happy to meet up with folks for short rides around the city during low-traffic times. I am so grateful for this community :)
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Welcome! Hi from the Lower Haight and/or Southern Oregon depending on the day. Come to one of our social meets. We're nice folks.
 
I am planning to head out to the community college parking lot this weekend to practice skills. If anyone is interested to join, please let me know :)
 
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