Well, before anyone starts harping on me, just know I am fully aware of how dangerous that decision is.Anyways, so I am a beginner rider. I took the MSF course just under a month ago, and I bought my first bike 2 days ago. It's a 2001 ninja 250 which I picked up for $1200. I wanted a cheap bike that I could learn on properly, and would be cheap enough so it wouldn't be too terrible of a loss if I drop it and break shit.Well, long story short, I went to look at the bike and it hasn't started raining yet. But the second I decided on buying it, it started to pour. Of course. So, initially, we (myself and the private seller) agreed to keep the bike in his garage until the rain stopped, since I'm inexperienced. So we did, and I left without the bike that I had just bought.Fast-forward several hours later, and the rain had mostly stopped. It was about 11pm by now, so it was dark outside. The ground was still a little wet, but I told the guy I'll come over to get the bike before it starts pouring again.I got an Uber to his house so I could bring the bike home. I thought I could do it before it started raining again. That wasn't the case, and it was already full-on pouring again by the time I got to his house.By the time I got there, I was contemplating whether I should just go home and get the bike the following day. "Are you really going to ride this bike in the pouring rain, after only riding a motorcycle in an MSF course, having NEVER ridden anything other than a moped in the street before?" I asked myself. "Are you really that stupid? The second you drop the bike in the middle of the street, in the dark, in the pouring rain, with a lineup of cars behind you, you are going to regret this... What makes you think this is okay?"And not only that, but I forgot my jacket too. So here I am, in non-motorcycle specific jeans, a t-shirt, shitty gloves and boots (all also non-motorcycle specific), about to ride this bike home. I DID have a helmet however (both DOT and SNELL approved), so that's good. I might be dumb, but I'm not dumb enough to ride without a helmet. I will be ordering all the rest of my gear shortly, though.So I decided to ride the bike home. I figured I'd ride the side streets most of the way, so if I dropped it, at least there wouldn't be other vehicles involved.I rode the side streets for a bit, then went out to the main road when the speed limit was lower. The speed limit on the main road over here is only 25-30 mph depending where you are, so it's not real fast. If it were 50, I probably wouldn't have rode the bike home. But it's a bit slower, so I said screw it.So, yeah. Really should have just played it safe and waited til the next day to bring the bike home. But I made it home in one piece, without ever dropping the bike. So I guess that's all that matters now.I spent a few hours riding around town yesterday. I started out in the subdivision so I could get a good feel for the bike, how it shifts and stops and what not. Eventually I went out on the main roads, took a cruise downtown. I'm not real timid and seem to have been learning this pretty quickly, so I felt confident enough to do this. But, simultaneously, I am also generally very aware of where my skillset starts and ends, so I am not the sort of person who is going to be ripping wheelies down the freeway at 80mph a week (or a month, or 6 months) from now.Anyways, I look forward to being a part of the motorcycle community, and will be sure to play it safe from here on out. Cheers via /r/motorcycles https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/cesh81/my_first_time_ever_riding_a_motorcycle_outside_an/?utm_source=ifttt
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