The three first causes of bad to deadly problems on bikes are :
1) Not being ready to react to and or having the skill to get out of the way of people on the roads not noticing you are there . Think of yourself as the soccer ball in the World cup and you dont want to get kicked !! SKILL SKILL SKILL . Stay away from crowed roads for a long time !!! 2) Not keeping up the bike : preparing for mechanical problems. I lost a friend who changed his own front fork oil . Good brakes good suspension great tires !!! . 3) Physical exhaustion from not waring the proper clothing (leading to problem #1). Get a good rain suite and ware it . Gloves and leathers . ( Roads when they have just gotten wet have a mist of oil on them like no other time... Careful )
Learn how to stop on: sand , oil and ice . Stopping straight Stopping on a curve
Im with Spaw .. A 750 800 is a great size to start with but no bigger .. BMW is Aluminum so the dry weight is lower (480 pounds ??) .. Lots of torque in the little 883 Harley . Learn what that means ..
Riding a bike is dangerous even for someone with 40 years and 500,000 miles . The more you know the safer you will be but there are always moments of split second reactions .. I would have a test on how fast your awarenesses are ..Bikes are like riding on the back of an eagle . It makes no sense to those who haven't done it . It is as exhilarating and as life threatening as flying that eagle . Life is perilous and life is choice .. Blue skys !!!