Hi, I am new to motorcycling in general, i've been riding for about 4 months now, and i've noticed and felt much more confident about my skill on my bike and the mindset that i have created while riding, attentive, quick, agile, and in the zone. But I think that even with a good attitude and a good opinion of yourself you still have to commit to the truth that riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous, and anything that can and might happen to you is possible, and you have to live in that zen appreciation of that fact, every minute you are out there riding.
I haven't been involved in an accident, but a couple of weeks ago, i did drop my bike. It was something so stupid and careless and small, but it had a great impact on my appreciation for what it is i'm sitting on top of, and the lessons it can impart.
I was in a grocery store parking lot, waiting for my girlfriend to run in and get something, one of the few times she is riding on the bike with me, and i had parked facing in a parking spot. When she came out, we both got on the bike, and i just backed it up power walking a bit in reverse, and then foolishly turned my wheel all the way to the right, to make a little half circle and then be on my way. I neglected to realize how different the weight is when you have someone else on the bike, and I wasnt giving it enough throttle to make a good escape at that angle, and I started to tip to my left with my lady on the back. I tried to give it more throttle and lean in the opposite direction to right it self, but i kind of futzed it and ended up just reversing my tilt until the point that i dropped to the ground on the bike, taking my girlfriend down with me.
My injuries and those of my girlfriend were minor, a little scrape on my knee and shin and a slightly swollen knee, and she had a little tini tiny scrape on her elbow, but I couldn't help feeling like less of a person, a moron, an idiot, shaken, unskilled and not myself. And more importantly it whammed home the responsibility that you carry while someone else is on the bike, how your decisions, either wise and conscientious or reckless and wanton, can decide the fate of yourself, and someone you care about.
I felt all this afterwards, and felt like i had ruined something for myself and my relationship to bike and lady, feeling like the romance of that life had just been literally dropped from everything, and said basically as much to my girlfriend, expecting a reprimand or at least a hell ya you idiot! but what i got back from her was something like this, " yea, well, it wasn't the smartest thing, but now you know one more thing about riding, and now you can see to it that you don't make the same mistake twice." And since then we still go riding, albeit a little more wary, but better for it.
And I realized that this is part of the essence of riding a motorcycle. Its a learning curve. The more you ride, hopefully, the more you learn, and if you keep that in mind, although sometimes the risks can seem overwhelming, or the prices you pay too much for some of the consequences that come with it, they are worth it in the end for the things riding can teach you. I know this might sound a little over dramatic, but It was stuck in my head and i thought i might share my thoughts.