short of wrecking, rites of passage from moto-newbie to being 'in'

[Louv]

On the track... I found that authentic scraped up knee sliders give you the "in"... at least when I did it the first time... they all congratulated me and said I was "in".... of course... it didn't make me any faster.

Cool, so all I need to do is bring some sandpaper, scuff up my gear, and I'm "in"?  Sweet. 

Does this apply if I drive a car on the track too?   

[Jetbrett]

  From a fellow noob....I got my 695 in April:  [moto]  The following events were preceeded by a strong sence that I was "in":

1. When pulling off to the side of the road to wait for your wife (on the same day you passed the motorcycle safety course), looking in the mirror, and hitting sand/gravel while gradually braking.  No damage to the bike, but it is no fun wearing a hole in your boot because you are riding with a broken off shift lever.   

2.  Practicing u-turns on a sloped driveway, tipping, and finding that perfect point where you are stuck holding it up, but can't lift it back up without getting off.   

3.  Having to develop the flexibility of a circus acrobat in order to reach back to use your garage pass card while pulling forward in order to trip the magnetic sensor for the gate.     

4.  Constantly killing in your first month of riding while pulling out of a steep garage while the dismounted motorcycle cop waiving you on laughs. 

5.  Thinking to yourself that you are hot sh$t because its been months since you stalled it only to find yourself stopped on a steep hill with the very same motorcycle cop following behind you on his bike laughs as you stall it again.      

6.  Hitting a well hidden and unmarked dip at the apex of a tight (15 mph turn) leaned over and pushing it, being thrown totally off your line, noticing a ditch rushing up to you, fixating on the ditch....and riding right on in.  (thinking to yourself that flying over the bars and tumbling down a water filled ditch feels a lot like skiing).   

7.  Backing into a parking space in the parking garage of your office, stepping on oil which was perfectly hidden by the lot number paint, having your foot go shooting out to the side while you try to figure out what the hell is going on.   

8.  Tying hard (and failing) to be cool blipping the throttle as you downshift while coming to a stop light going up a steep hill....and forgetting to clutch.  ( :oSo that's how you get a 695 to wheelie ) 

9.  Relying on the weather report (cloudy but clearing later) and deciding to riding from Seattle to a business meeting in Ellensburg (about 1.5 hours through the mountains) on a very overcast morning without rain gear only to find steadily increasing rain to the point of a total washout just past the point of no return....Upon arrival, I couldn't have been any wetter if I had jumped into a pool or colder if I had spent the time in a freezer.   

10.  Noticing that women on Harleys and never waive back and guys on custom Harleys give you the stink eye when you waive to them. 

11.  Riding out on a bright sunny day with a mirrored visor, staying out way later than planned (well after dark), and then remembering that you forgot to bring your clear visor.    

12.  Catching a leg cramp after leaving the gym and while on the interstate. 

13.  Thinking that you scrubbed the last bit of chicken strip off your tires taking a sweet, traffic free on ramp at speed   [evil]only to find that you still have got a ways to go ....wondering much later if you were close to hitting any hard parts. 

Over six thousand miles later, despite all of the above, and the fact that most of the foregoing was witnessed by a fellow biker or a really hot random girl:-[  I still grin from ear to ear every time I climb aboard and start it up, don't want to get off when I arrive, and get depressed on those days when I can't ride.  I'm not sure if this makes me "in" or "out" but whatever it does, I'm having a blast.   [moto] 

[Le Pirate]

I rode my 620 pretty much down to fumes today and only got about 155 miles. My 2 cents.

I regularly put 180 miles on a tank commuting to work