There were early heartbreaks and humiliations. My first year riding, I dropped my bike while navigating the bumper-car ride that is the Griffith Observatory parking lot. My second bike, a BMW, met a premature demise on Angeles Crest. A driver didn't see me and pulled out to turn left, and I didn't swerve far enough around him. For a car, this would have been a slow-speed fender bender.
Motorcycles are an expensive hobby.
Still, they're a cheap luxury. For a year or more, I dreamed about the Honda Hawk. I read about it on the Internet and in old magazines. The bike, imported only from 1988 to 1991, was considered too expensive and didn't sell well, but it was slightly ahead of its time in terms of style and technology. Hawks are fairly difficult to find.