Order of the Stick is one of the few sites that I go to daily to check for the next update.  I love it.

I got a Ninja 650R in June.  Take the class.  I was dumb.  I bought the bike 3 weeks before I took the class with the intention of waiting to ride it until after the class since I had not ridden before.  Only bought the bike the day I did cause 2 friends were buying the same night and we got a great deal on all three.  However, I couldn't wait to take the class and decieded to try riding.  I am an idiot.  I just wanted to ride around the neighborhood.  Kinda get a head start on class.   I ended up going about 30 feet, locked up the rear brake, and went down on the right side hard.  Luckily I had on all the gear and only ended up with my hand broken in 4 places.  Not fun.  Also made the class very hard to get through as it was my clutch hand.

Anyway, I think the best advice I can give, and what really worked well for me and my friends is this:  take the class and then spend a couple days riding around neighborhood streets, slowly working yourself up to bigger streets.  It took me almost 3 weeks after the class to get on the highway, but now I feel confident and comfortable.  Taking the MSF class was the best thing overall though.

I was able to see Phantom 7 years ago in San Francisco.  It was actually what my group of friends decided to do instead of going to our senior prom.  I had a great time, and would really love to see it again.

I've not really posted much here, but I've been reading GG and CG since about 2000 or so.  I managed to get on the server last night and had a great time.  I've emailed Hard, and am willing to donate to the funds.  I'll be on the server as Spankmeister.