- This topic has 9 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 4 months ago by Ixecapade.
Getting Acclimated
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November 26, 2009 at 7:25 pm #3591IxecapadeParticipant
So my question is how does one get acclimated to riding on real roads?
And I know that sounds very simple of me to say, cause the obvious answer seems to be ” just do it” but I’ve been trying to be as safe and smart about riding as possible knowing several things
-bikes are dangerous and even more so when you add cars and shoddy roads.
-I have a lot of bike under me (and please don’t chew me a new ass for buying a 600 for a first bike- I weighed my options and made my choice for a reason-I know its a LOT of bike but I’m trying to be as slow and responsible as I can)
-and I have a lot of non-experiance
-and I live in a state that does not love bikes, and really hates sport bikes and is super congested with traffic.So my riding history is MSF course and as much parking lot time as possible, practicing a lot of stopping (regular and quick) and starting, cornering (smooth as well as from a stop) but I can’t stay in there forever.
I have made one trip down the ‘main’ road with my best friend following me in her car as sort of a ‘safety net’ (funny thing we went down to get fuel and couldn’t get the W@#$#$ASd tank open had to come back and work on that- but problem solved) and that went okay. The two do 10 or so minute rides through the condo neighborhood off main roads but thats about it as far as real riding goes.
So I would like to know some more experianced thoughts on actually making the transition of riding out on the roads from the parking lot. (I’m 3/4 of the way through Proficient Motorcycling and polished off Motorcyles for Idiots but I wanted to talk to real people not just read a book)
and thats my question!
TIA
November 26, 2009 at 8:53 pm #23547WeaponZeroParticipantYou may not have the option to do this, but….
My father (an experienced motorcyclist who has been riding since the 70s) followed me around in a car while I rode around a residential neighborhood once I was comfortable enough to leave a parking lot. He made sure that cars behind didn’t try to pass without me knowing in advance, and basically acted like a “pace car” for what little traffic there was behind me.
November 26, 2009 at 9:14 pm #23550IxecapadeParticipantOkay thats good to know- I don’t know how often people do that. That was what my roomie did for me on my first trip. I’m sure I’ll be helping her on her trip out too. I suspect it will be more often than not for a while. Thats reassuring its an acceptable option and we aren’t the only ones doing it!
I actually manned up and went out on the big streets (hit over 40 once or twice too ) seeing as how its right about turkey time andfewer people would be out on the street. Did a 8.5 lope with a stop at the gas station.
Only had three issues of note:
-I’m not nearly as smooth as starting on the street as I am in the parking lot-I had two cars pass me over a double yellow so I think my speedometer is not working quiet right cause speed limit was 45 and I think I was doing just under at 42 or 43. that or they are just really that assholeish. Had one or two tailgaters too.
-And the little 2″ curb from the road to the gas station makes the bike wooble expectedly. And I wasn’t thinking fast enough to process 90* instead of the angle I was at till the very last second. So that was rough and i need to process that faster and sooner.
November 27, 2009 at 12:32 am #23554MunchParticipantOkay , going with the assumption that you ride horses…..
1st) Think of your bike as your horse…. it was fun playing in the round pen learning balance and turning, but once you got out into the field you got excited and nervous. Use the same principles that got you out in the field……relax it’s the same movements.
2) Most bike speedo’s are off some as little as 3% some upwards of 5% so yea, you were chugging a lil slower then speed limit. Plus likely most of them were trying 5 or more over. No worries there. Just always be aware of who is where in your mirrors so there is no surprises.
3) Like horse back riding you have to keep you mind on where you want to go and what it takes to get there. If you ever rode in rodeos and done barrel racing or anything like that you can understand easily the concepts of hitting the pocket and getting set up for the next barrel. Turns and obstacles are much the same way on a motorcycle.
November 27, 2009 at 5:21 pm #23560SantaCruzRiderParticipantGo out early morning when most sane folks are still sleeping and just ride.
Your learning curve is going to be long and steep because of your poor bike choice, but thetrade off will be the warm feeling of knowing that you got the bike that fits your fantasy/dream. But everything can be learned, the trick is to avoid getting hurt or scared before you are able to gain even the most basic skills.
On your specific issues:
Start/stops: It’s all about practice and finding that friction point. I’d find a parking lot and do about 50 starts and stops (you’ll want to stop at 10 and will think you’ve got it, but you wont and it will go out the window as soon as you encounter your first intersection). Then progress to some residential streets and do it again. Now ride home and plan on doing it tomorrow.Getting passed: Like Munch said, speedos typically read high — so you’ll need to ride a bit faster. Also, I STRONGLY advise not focusing on the rear view mirrors, as most of the danger lies in the forward quarters. But, if you see someone on your butt, pull way over to the right and let them pass. You gain nothing at this point by being pressed to ride faster than is safe for you or in staring in the rear view.
Road surfaces: There are just places that you don’t want to ride or that require a different approach. These include speed bumps and curbs. Pay attention to the road and watch for these traps.
Best of luck with the new ride.
November 27, 2009 at 6:07 pm #23561eonParticipantI hesitate to offer more advice as one of my problems in the beginning was information overload. Trying to do too much resulted in me not doing anything well. One piece of advice that helped me was too look 12 seconds down the road. If you can do that then you should have time to react to most situations. It’s easy to get suckered into staring at the road in front of you, looking for manhole covers etc. Eyes up and SEE and things get easier.
November 27, 2009 at 7:04 pm #23559Gary856ParticipantWhen I first started riding I liked riding late at night, say after 10 pm, around my neighborhood streets. There was very little traffic to deal with at those late hours.
When I was ready to go a little faster and farther, I liked riding on expressways where the oncoming traffic is separated by center islands/dividers. I could ride at a comfortable speed (40-60 mph) for a long block and not worry about cross traffic until the next intersection.
November 28, 2009 at 1:13 am #23570owlieParticipantAgreed. The closest parking lots are a 10 minute ride from my home, so I basically started on the streets of my neighborhood. The biggest problem I had once I got out of the loop of my neighborhood was turning (mostly from stops). Looking through the turns and trusting myself to already know where the surface traps were (loose gravel for me) was very difficult.
November 28, 2009 at 5:02 am #23571eternal05Participant…you need to spend EXTRA time doing slow-speed maneuvers. Those bikes are NOT made for that at all, and of all the bikes I’ve ridden (just about everything with the exception of 650+ lbs cruisers), sportbikes are BY FAR the hardest to get slow tight turns down, in part because 1st gear is geared for an 80mph redline. I thought my starter Ninja 250R was easy to ride in comparison, but I just got a DR-Z400sm and that makes the Ninja seem hard to ride. In relation, my gixxer is really uncooperative in, say, that figure-8 u-turn box drill. The consequences of messing up are way worse too.
With respect to your question, however, I absolutely had the same problem…stuck around for a while too. I could nail skill X in the parking lot, but when it came to use it on the road, I’d freak out and mess it up somehow. I found that my best bet was to figure out the one big issue that was in my way and devote all my focus to not doing that one bad thing. For instance, when doing left-hand full-lock u-turns, I used to start to accidentally let the clutch out as the left handlebar came in, speeding the bike up and pulling it out of the turn, causing me to go wide. If I focused all my attention on that one thing when nervous on the street, the other things would usually take care of themselves and I’d manage to avoid running into things, albeit with a slightly elevated heart rate.
On the issue of slow-speed maneuvers and starting from a standstill, my best advice on a bike like yours is use more clutch slip and less throttle. Especially if you come from the dry-clutch automotive world, you probably worry too much about burning your clutch. You don’t need to. Even on a sportbike it’ll be a wet clutch (unless you bought a Ducati…but you didn’t). As you start to inch forward, slowly let the clutch out (I mean SLOWLY) without giving it more gas; keep neutral throttle. Once the clutch is out, slowly add more throttle. You’ll figure out how to speed that up with practice.
November 28, 2009 at 7:38 pm #23573IxecapadeParticipantthanks guys thats all extremly helpful! No worries about information overload, I’ll pick and choose the most pressing and come back to the thread later to work through it- the beauty of forums means I don’t have to keep all my notes
okay so:
> early am rides> 12 second rule- not object fixation (proficient motorcycling mentioned it with a picture- much harder to do in real life than I anticipated! so I need to practice that A LOT)
> speed issue- would like to check to see how off the gauge is but I feel like I will continue to ride as safely as I’m comfortable as ‘close’ to the speed limit for now until I do and if its a few under they can suck it. My brain getting splattered if I screw up cause I’m riding faster than I’m choose. I’m not going to get run off the road and do something dangerous cause they need their latte faster. But thats super useful to know I didn’t know most of them read high.
> More start/stops- I’m going to count out 50 next time I’ll let you know how long it takes me to get bored lol.
> More smaller drills are in order: like the u turn and turning from a stop. I think I’m getting comfortable on the real life street turning radius (like corners and what not) but haven’t gotten much tighter than that as far as my drills are concerned- I think its time to start pushing the cirlce a little smaller to get a better handle and more feel for the friction point- which as pointed out seems good till I hit that first intersection which was totally on point!
The parking lot I work in is about 60 yards by 40 yards which to me gets frustrating only because I would like to start increasing speed to practice quick stops but its good for slow work as it forces slower speeds.
Horse analogy was good- cause yes i ride one of those too. I’ll tuck that in my back pocket for the next trip.
Okie I’m armed with more goodies- fantastic. thanks guys very helpful.
Not sure i’m going to get to ride today- had to play wingman last night and the lager sticking with me today. -
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