hey! for sure you can ride a bike. i do motocross, race my quad and snowmobiled all winter no probs. the only suggestion i would have is to buy a bike where you sit more upright then curled over the gas tank. perhaps a dual sport like a kawasaki KLR650, suzuki DRZ400, yamaha WR250, or aprillia supermoto SXV550, ktm 950 adventure. if you want a real bike i'd suggest checking out the yamaha fz6, kawasaki 650R and suzuki v-strom650....they all sit upright and don't "squish" the bag
personally if you're going short distance i think the WR250 is the way to go, long distances the FZ6
--matt