The dealer with the bike was on the south side of Jacksonville, just around the corner from the Navy base. It's about a 50 min drive down the interstate and one 4-lane highway. No chance was I going to get on the interstate, so I took time to find the best possible route for me to take, preferably with little to no traffic. Unfortunately, this is Jacksonville so that's not that easy.
From the dealer, I had to get on a 6 (3/3) lane highway and run that up to a point I could turn into some neighborhood 2 lane streets, then back onto a another 4 lane city road (2/2) in the middle of town, followed that all the way to a 2 (1/1) lane county road, which then merged onto another 4 lane highway, and then a turn on to another 4 lane highway the rest of the way to my subdivision.
In the end, I made it home, no wreck, no major incidents of any sorts, I think picking the mid-morning was a good decision for the sort of ride I had to make, to get the bike from south JAX, home. I stalled out about half a dozen or so times, trying to start moving at stop lights or stop signs. Part of this was due to the difference in clutch and throttle from the bike I had been riding in the safety course, another was the size of my new bike. I bit more broad, the pegs and such are placed differently, just really getting used to a completely different bike altogether.
So yeah, I stalled a good bit in the beginning of the ride, one particularly embarrassing stall even made me drop the bike, though not hard, I was holding the handle bar so it was more like a controlled drop, luckily only landing on the right peg, I was able to pick the bike back up and get going but I'm sure the traffic around me was like, "wtf is this dude doing".
After that, I manged to get going ok, I slowed down my overthinking and relaxed more, feeling out the clutch so I could get the friction zone right, and then I was able to clutch and throttle from stop to start with much more efficiency. I got lost at one point, without my phone and GPS, I had to memorize the route and then use the good old fashion street signs to navigate, but somehow I missed a sign and turned onto the wrong road. Stopped and got off, check my phone, saw where I missed the turn and then back tracked. Got going on the right road, had one car honk at a light because I guess they were in a hurry to get in front of a semi that was turning on to the interstate, but I was taking my time, eff 'em, not risking my neck for someone's hurried driving.
I had to get into the habit of turning off my turn signal or making sure I wasn't accidentally hitting my hazard switch. Had one guy in a pickup let me know my turn signal was on, that was cool. Driving on the county road was really nice, little to no cars, was able to get up speed, had a few wide curves to take. By the time I got to the 4 lane highway, I was doing pretty well, I had figured out my clutch a good bit and was able to turn and start with much better control. Once I got onto the final 4 lane highway headed home, I was able to open up a bit more, I think the fastest I hit was just over 65, the bike really does best under 75, so I felt good riding. The only downside was while on the 2 lane country road, I somehow manged to get a pair of Love Bugs up, under and into my helmet. That was annoying, but thankfully it wasn't a bee or something. They crawled around a bit, eventually I think they got squished or something, didn't hinder my eyes or cause me to stop. I'm glad I had a full face, helmet on, a number of love bugs smacked into the visor and without that, I would have taken some hits to the face.
I definitely have a lot more to learn and practice, but for my first non-course ride, on a bike that I didn't practice with, I think I did fairly well, even if it was a minor annoyance to a few drivers. The entire trip was over 50 miles, so I think that's a pretty nice run for my first time out in traffic of a major city. I'm sure driving around my neighborhood and out here in our area will be a wee bit easier.
