Practice and lots of it. Just riding around casually won't usually generate the correct automatic instincts, but pushing a bike to your limits will. This isn't something that should be done on the street, see below. ​

I think these two really go together. Riding a motorcycle well isn't particularly natural or easy for most folks. Worse, its virtually impossible to learn to ride a motorcycle well on the street. You'll rarely have an opportunity to push your limits or the limits of the machine and when you do it probably won't be a safe or predictable environment. I'd strongly recommend picking up a used dirt bike and learning to ride it well. The basic bikehandling skills transfer over nicely and you'll learn in a week of dirt riding what others won't learn in a decade of street riding. ​

An alternative to dirt that works well, but is more expensive is learning to ride well on a road race course (track), then making the transition to the street.

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I really doubt you'll be able to become a good rider on the VTX. Its a big heavy bike that was desinged around a certain look with function as a secondary thing. Its a fine bike, just not a great way to learn to ride well. Again, a dirt bike would be a great way to get the basic skills and reactions down. After that you'll probably be fine on the vtx. If you wanna stick it out on the street a small, light standard bike would make things a lot easier on you, but you'll still need to overcome troublesome instincts. ​