yah, i myself drove for 2 years (im now 17, just got a 500cc ninja)...and one of my friends got his when he was 14(he was a year younger than me...)
basically at a younger age, if your male, you WILL want to show off...hell i even want to do it, im not going to lie...but i know the truth(not to scare you, but) whether its your fault, or the other guys fault...you will always loose.
what they are also saying is that if your new to the road...you dont know those other drivers, and you dont have a
feel for the roads you need to take...
my younger friend here, he dropped his bike more than 4 times, and it was a 250cc Suzuki i think...basically he paid almost 2 times what his bike was worth bran new...and in a 3 month period!
Now im not the best example...but you know, you can always buy a car and just sell it in a year, and still get the bike then, hopefully you have a job and will save the difference in depreciated value in the car. (i "stole" my moms car from her for a whole year
)
And not to brag, but i myself learn incredibly fast...first time on a bike, even touching one, perfect riding test, 325 miles on m 500cc and still no drop. Just give it time...that bike will wait for your next birthday, it wont just ride away. (i learned on a standard car, maybe you might consider buying that type instead, so you get the feel of a clutch/gear setting)
OVERALL:
1. Drive a car-if anything just until the next riding season...(maybe you could get the bike for Christmas instead!)
2. If possible, try to get a standard car, it DOES help you(since you use your left leg during both motorcycle/car!)
3. If you have a regular bicycle, go ride it and learn what happens when you do what(when you lean instead of turn the bike, when you skid on your brakes, and my favorite, learn how to balance it while going EXTREMELY slow![as this helps you with slow maneuvering, and it tells you that you need to trust you and the bike...when you give it power, its easier to control-most people forget this and try to stop when they feel they are going down in the coarse] but dont mix up the light weight of the bicycle, with the much heavier motorcycle)
4. DON'T get anything to powerful if you decide to just ignore all of this-please just put your ego aside...dont think that were all here to turn you away from riding, far from that. ALL of us would like to see you on the road-just not...ON it
What ever you choose...drive and ride safe!:71baldboy: