- This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 11 months ago by Munch.
700 miles
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May 23, 2009 at 8:47 pm #2881ronkoreParticipant
700 miles in on the ninja now, just thought I’d report on how everything’s going with it so far. Love the ride, and the perks that come with being on a bike (like parking and lane splitting). For me the power is good, there’s been a few times I’ve wanted better acceleration but I realize on this bike I can get to above legal speeds pretty fast (when speed limit is 45 or below), so on a faster bike that’d be even more of an issue. I like and dislike utilizing all the gears. Like because I can use the bike to its full potential gearing wise, dislike in situations where traffic is stop and go (one red light after another).
Been practicing my cornering up in Angeles National forest (ANF), which has twisties galore. I go up there about 2-3 times a week to get better at it. It’s only about 7 miles from my place so not too far out of the way. Ride at my own pace, and during the week there’s hardly anyone up there so no pressure from tailgaters. I have to say I’ve been surprised at the awareness of drivers around here, I’ve only had a couple times when someone didn’t see me. Most drivers are aware of bikers and give us the room we need. Since riding season here in so cal is a majority of the year, that’s probably a contributing factor. There’s also plenty of other riders out, so I get the wave every time I ride.
I really didn’t think I’d be riding on the freeway for a long time, but it turns out I do it regularly now. It wasn’t as bad as I initially thought. It’s pretty much a necessity here to get anywhere that’s more than 5 miles away. Lots of challenges on the freeway to deal with such as trucks, 4-5 lanes to worry about, potholes, and grooves. The wind has been the biggest problem, if it’s strong I can get blown about even when correcting for it by leaning, etc. It kills my mpg too since the 250 has to run high revs all the time. However, freeway riding overall isn’t as bad as I expected, especially when I can get into the HOV lane which cuts down on the lane changing issues. I tend to not lane split on the freeway even though it’s legal here, just a bit too paranoid still, I suppose. The one time I did it was when traffic was pretty much stopped, so my speed wasn’t that high.
My mpg is a lot lower than I expected, about 45 mpg. I am guessing this is from the bike still being broken in and running it at higher revs. I’m going to experiment with keeping revs lower on the street and see if that improves it any. After I get my first service which is due, I am going to swap out the front sprocket for a 15 tooth one, which I hear greatly improves first and sixth gear as well as freeway rpms. This will help a lot with mpg on the freeway. Though I’ll need to sink some dough into a torque wrench, breaker bar, and rear stand in order to do the swapout.
I’ve had one close call where I almost went down, on a corner in ANF that had sand on it. Front tire lost grip and slid sideways. I was going slow enough where I put my foot down to correct for the resulting imbalance and managed to recover. Glad I didn’t bite it, but it’s set back my learning to corner a bit since I’m paranoid of the front tire losing traction on tight turns now, so I don’t lean as much as is required. I’ve also locked the rear tire a couple times, it’s surprisingly easy to do.. keep that foot off the rear brake when downshifting! No bad consequences resulted from my screwups there, since I caught it and recovered right away, but it gave me a better idea of what the limits are to rear braking pressure.
Haven’t seen many fellow 250 riders out, seems everyone’s got a gixxer or R6/R1. I even met a guy up in ANF who had bought a used GSX-R 1000 for his first bike! Rode it off the lot and everything without any prior riding experience. And apparently hadn’t dropped it yet either. Was pretty surprised at that, image here trumps safety, but it’s so cal after all.
Overall I like the bike and plan on keeping it until I get a lot more experience and skill (probably at least 8k miles). At that point I might “upgrade”, or might not, depending on the factors at play then. The only pet peeves of the bike are the front shock (especially when applying the front brake), and the occasional difficulty clicking into first gear from neutral.
May 23, 2009 at 10:53 pm #18876MunchParticipantCongrats on the 700 . Definitely be careful about putting that foot down… it’s safer to try and straighten up, had you been going faster we would be reading about a shattered ankle.
Other then that glad to hear your enjoying yourself !!!!May 24, 2009 at 2:14 am #18880ronkoreParticipantThanks. Damn, didn’t know that you could shatter your ankle doin that.. though I guess it makes sense. It was an instinctive reaction to the situation. What’s the best way to recover (straighten up) in that situation? They didn’t go over that scenario in the MSF course.
May 24, 2009 at 3:32 am #18887SantaCruzRiderParticipantCongrats on your first few hundred miles. Sounds like you’re really getting a nice taste for riding.
A couple of quick comments:
MPG: It typically is off a bit when the bike is new. But on many bikes (not all), it’s very dependent on how you ride. I would recommend not focusing too much on it now, get used to the bike, get through your breakin period, etc… In a few months, you’ll find that you encounter times when you can stretch the mileage (freeway or Hwy 1 mid-day) and then there will be times when you don’t care (Las Tuna or Topanga).
FREEWAYS: Yeah, they are spooky at first, but then you quickly get the idea that they somewhat limit the zones of danger.
SAND: Sucks and it never gets easy. A month ago, I encountered a dropped bag of sand on a sweeping mountain curve that is part of my weekday commute — and it prompted significant sphincter tightening. Sounds like your response worked, but Munch is right that the dirt bike foot down response can be very hazardous.May 24, 2009 at 3:33 am #18888eonParticipantYeah, be careful with the ankle. There is a reason why ski boots lock your foot into position. I once saw a girl twist her foot 90′ by just turning and her foot did not (wearing cleats on a soccer pitch). Not a pretty sight.
I would think the correct thing to do would be to ride out the slide. Hopefully your tire would gain traction once its moved off the sand it’s sliding on. But, that’s just my beginners opinion. I could well be wrong.
May 25, 2009 at 12:35 am #18921MunchParticipantIn the moments I have had…. and yes theres alot of ’em as I am a die hard country boy the best thing to do… if conditions allow is to try and straighten the bike back up. Just like doing a stop in the middle of a turn… get the bike back upright then slow or stop….. riding out the slide might result in a save but leaves too many variables open to going down. Regaining traction instantly could be a bad one….. ever hit a patch of grass in a field while doing doughnuts on a 4 wheeler? Or momentary instantaneous brain fart on how much pressure you were using on the handle bars and going from a mild turn to a harder angle and shifting the CoG far enough to force a lay down.
edit: I guess I should also the conditions vary…. slow speed minimal sand…yes you can ride it out…. higher speeds… wouldn’t recommend it..especially if you got more sand then turn.
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