I thought:

- That it would save me money.

It did. However, not much. Motorcycles require quite a bit of maintenance; much more than a car. A lot of the maintenance consists of things that you wouldn't expect, too. For example, on my bike, tires were supposed to be changed every 5000 miles, vs 5-10 times that on a car (at least). Also take into account that the usable life of a motorcycle is much smaller than that of a car. From what I read on forums, my bike could be realistically expected to last about 50-70 thousand miles. Most people get double or triple that out of a car before it gives up. Anyway, a lot of that stuff offsets the few hundred dollars in gas that you'll save.

- That it would be convenient.

This was the biggest downside for me. I thought it'd be great to jump on the bike, go where I wanted, park anywhere, and be done with it. However, this is not at all the case. If you want to be safe, you need a crap ton of gear. Unless you buy a huge bike with locking saddlebags, there's nowhere to put that gear. I couldn't even ride the thing to class without lugging around a full suit of padding. Furthermore, the actual parking of the bike itself is an issue. Bikes are easy to steal. The standard wheel lock is easily broken, and you have to buy a very rugged lock to keep the thing secure. And even if you DO lock the wheels, thieves can still take small bikes just by picking them up and putting them in the back of a truck. Call me paranoid. *shrugs* If you want to be safe though, you have to find a good place to lock up every time. In short, I didn't find a bike at all convenient.

- That it would be cool and fun to ride.

I thought it would basically be a bike bicycle. Swing up, zoom around, etc. Fun! It wasn't. Firstly, you have to have perfect weather for it to be enjoyable. If it's raining, no matter the gear you have, you will be wet to some degree when you arrive. If it's hot, you're sweaty. I bought nice mesh gear to stay cool, but as soon as you stop for a traffic light, you're sweaty. Unless the weather is perfect, you'll probably arrive at your destination in a state that you don't really want to be in, which is particularly bad if you're commuting to your office. Aside from weather though, it's just not as enjoyable to commute on a bike as it is in a car. Like anything, riding a bike becomes old hat before long, and you really start missing those audiobooks you listened to in your car, and savoring your morning cup of coffee in your climate controlled cockpit.

- That it wouldn't be dangerous.

I'm a super careful driver, I've ridden bikes before (my dad's, and friends' dirt bikes and whatnot), I bought all the right gear, didn't drive in dangerous conditions, etc. Just a month or two after I had the bike though, I crashed it. It wasn't bad. I laid it down at about 20mph and skidded into a ditch. What got me, though, is that it wasn't my fault. I'd done everything right. I was going around a corner, taking it slow, not going too low into the turn, etc. However, there was another car coming, and it crossed the yellow line. Not much, just a foot or so over. Everyone's done it on sharp corners before, but it forced me to the edge of the corner, there was gravel, wheels slid out, etc. The bike landed on my leg, and while I made it out with scrapes and bruises (because of the gear), just a little harder impact and I could have broken the leg. A little farther over the line on the driver's part, and I could be dead. Every mishap you have in a car -- hitting an animal, going onto the shoulder and having to swerve back, slamming on your breaks when a car ahead of you doesn't signal, etc. . .that can all end in serious, serious injuries on a bike. I didn't really believe it till I crashed myself, but it's true.

Anyway. Long story short, I'm selling the bike. It's not very convenient, it's not nearly as fun as I thought it would be, and, in particular, not fun enough for the risks I'd be taking.

All that said. . .wanna buy an '08 Ninja 250r?