Seriously, find the local riding groups. Honda Sport Touring Association and BMW riders groups. They'll know the roads and they won't be squids that will lead you down the path to furry gas tanks and freeway wheelies.
ATGATT.
It's on the to-do list. I had to go right back on shift after I got my class M, which books my nights with work and days with sleeping and my weekends with 13 hours straight of work. And right when I get off shift I'm headed to my friend's house 180 miles away via a nice, rural, low traffic scenic route to catch all the fall colors. I also have a GoPro coming in, so I should be able to catch some nice footage between that and my SLR. I did catch up with my old boss who rides with several people and a club, but they're mostly seasonal, fair weather riders whereas I [am planning to] ride year round.
And in this single week I've been in umpteen different not-so-good situations. Nearly ran over by a bus, cars cutting me off, plastic tarps in the road (go-go MSF quick swerve), flash downpours (oh-so-much-fun when the bike goes squirrely over freshly rained-on metal plates), waterproof gear that really isn't waterproof, and cars that just dont' seem to see me even though I'm wearing a white riding suit and a day-glo orange vest with photoreflective piping and stripes.
I'm pretty much AGATT -- I did ride with jeans instead of overpants for two days until my proper overpants and pants came in. Still trying to get a decent second pair of gauntlets. The first cheap-o pair I got actually have been the best. Little fatigue, exterior seams, very flexible, full leather. But they got waterlogged and take forever to dry, only have some minor padding for armor, and my only backups are unarmored paper-thin "police" style preforated leather gloves (which fit awesome and have tons of palm gel padding, but are only a step above a bare hand).
kamikazekyle glad you like the bike. Don't go big to fast for no reason.... Mine is "only a 250" but its fuel injected VERY low maintenance and hell it will do over 100MPH and is fun as heck
75% of your riding you picked a perfict bike to learn on and you have great MPG, low cost insurance and no way in hell you will out grow it in a month.
I ride with friends with bigger bikes and we have a great time and they are never waiting on me and we are riding on roads that you are talking about. If your on a 45MPH road with a CBR 1000 and you are on your 250 you will keep up unless they have a very big wallet.
I am enjoying the 250. Finally filled up yesterday after 100 miles and it only cost me just over $6 for 1.89 gallons. I didn't need to, but was running the bike after some chain wax and figured why not. Also enjoying the insurance, though freaking Uninsured Motorist is god-awful. 25k/50k Uninsured Motorist is costing me as much as 100k/300k liability or nearly as much as my comprehensive/collision coverage. It's rediculous.
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