- This topic has 4 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 10 months ago by WendySkeleton.
Lessons learned
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June 12, 2008 at 2:03 pm #1508canstaettParticipant
After a week (well, 3 days) of doing my hour and a half commute, I’ve learned some valuable lessons that I thought I’d pass on. Let’s see, where to begin…
I don’t know how anyone rides without full gear. If it’s not the wind, it’s the bugs or the cold. Or the bats- I ran into a particularly stupid one yesterday morning- thankfully, there were no remnants left behind. If you have long hair- either keep it tucked into your jacket as much as possible or braid it. You will end up with a rat’s nest of tangles if you don’t. On that- get some spray, leave-in conditioner (even guys with long hair) to help with the removing of said tangles. Check in the kids section if you can’t find any with the regular hair stuff.
My combat boots (ex-army, I had them lying around) do the trick quite nicely- if you’re just not sure enough to spend the money on motorcycle boots- hit a military surplus store and pick up a pair for like 20 bucks and once you know you’re sticking with it, drop the money for good boots. I ended up with a Shoei helmet- I have a big head, nothing else fit- and its all kinds of comfy. I have seen an advantage to a ¾ helmet though- you can scratch your nose when it itches without stopping to flip your visor up. I have also noticed that since you can’t really hear anything anyway (there may be varying schools of thought on this) that an earbud attached to an iPod in your pocket can make those long rides slightly less mind-numbing. I only use one earbud so my hearing isn’t affected that much. The earbuds fit nicely under a helmet without having to spring for the helmet with the integrated system.
I start my ride in the morning at about 4. Let me tell you, I have a whole new respect for the laws of thermodynamics now. Namely- the rolling hills I pass through- those parts that roll down are freakin COLD. Roll back up and it warms up some, just to hit another cold spot. I’m not talking about a regular, “Oh, that’s kind of chilly” cold, this is a “Holy crap!!” to the bone cold. It’s the wind chill thing. If the ambient temp is 50 or so, doing 65 mph gives you a temp of right around 30-35 degrees. If you went the textile route with your gear- you’re going to want liners in both your jacket and gloves if you ride late at night or early morning. Keep in mind, I live in southern AZ. During the day we’ve been hitting 100 for a couple of weeks now. If it gets that cold for me, I can only imagine what it’s like elsewhere. I will be buying leather gear come winter.
On the same note- your high beam is your best friend for night riding. I almost never use the high beams in my car, but then if a deer pops out of nowhere I’ve got a whole bunch of steel and brakes I can simply stand on to protect me. High beams on a bike take your visibility from 50-75 feet to 150-200 feet or more. They say use the high beam as much as possible in the MSF course but like most of that stuff it doesn’t really sink in until you actually get to do it. Like keeping your eyes open and looking for obstacles or anything that might cause a problem, no matter what you’re doing. I nearly dropped my bike this morning when I stopped to make a right down a hill and didn’t see the smushed 20oz bottle in front of me. Instead of stopping, the front tire hit that stupid thing and tried to slide out from under me- yet another reason to keep the weight of your bike down. If mine had been any heavier I probably would have dropped it.
Carrying stuff on your bike is easy enough. But unless you’ve got it tied down both top to bottom and side to side or have a net- be careful. Don’t think those bungees will hold something in place. It’s easier to make sure everything is either in a bag on your bike or on you. Backpacks don’t affect your riding much, if at all for balanced loads. I learned this one the hard way- got to work the other day, got off my bike, turned around and no bag. My lunch, work shirt, sunglasses for the ride home, and iPod had fallen off somewhere on the way up. Luckily a nice person picked it up and tracked me down that night and I got it back. The stupid bungees were still attached.
The practice I did beofre taking to the roads was amazingly valuable. Just riding around an empty parking lot and some subdivisions let me practice all that stuff from the MSF course without the pressure of someone watching and the confidence shoots right up. The other practice that was really helpful was getting out early on Sunday and getting up to speed- I have a road that’s 55 right by my house and and one that’s 65 a little further away. One of the blogs I read (linked from here- the lawyer who blogged all his major rides for like three years) suggested finding an empty road where you can get up to highway speeds without dealing with traffic. I heartily second that- it really lets you get a feel for how a bike actually gets steadier the faster you go. Now I still won’t go near I-10, nor will I ever, but the backroads I travel are 55 and 65 and I don’t get many people passing me because I can keep up to speed without freaking out. Still working on the “twisties” but that’s all practice, practice, practice. When in doubt, lean more- don’t even think about hitting those brakes or laying off the throttle- try it in a parking lot and you’ll see why.
Another great purchase to make is a palm rest for your throttle. I couldn’t make the ride I do without it- it really helps witht the wrist cramping. I’ve also found it makes it easier to get the throttle needed to shift smoothly from a stop and between gears without overrevving or it cutting out on you.
Finally, what my mother used to call “fanny fatigue.” Namely long ride = sore butt. The more you shift your weight around, the less it hurts, but there’s only so much you can do. Does anyone have any suggestions on combating this?
June 12, 2008 at 3:53 pm #7253megaspazParticipantIf we ever get the img tag working, i’ll post a pic of my buddy’s bike and helmet after a trip to spokane… talk about bug magnet…
As far as fanny-fatigue (a.k.a. monkey butt) goes, shop around for seat replacements. I think gel seats are popular replacements.. as well as custom seats like corbin. Can’t vouch for these things though as i’ve been perfectly happy with my stock seat.
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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…June 12, 2008 at 6:45 pm #7262BenParticipantHaha, I get the point… I’ll work on it tonight since it looks like I’ll have a bit of free time.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminJune 13, 2008 at 5:05 am #7286uncle_bernieParticipantI was a bit surprised as to how much colder you get just riding in what feels like mildly cooler temperatures. The lawyer guy who blogged about his Honda Rebel lives in the same general neighborhood as me (if you’re talking about the same guy). That guy got a LOT of mileage and experience out of a 250! I have yet to email him about doing a ride but have thought that would be really cool.
~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…
June 13, 2008 at 8:17 am #7301WendySkeletonParticipantWhen you said “fanny fatigue”, I got worried, because fanny in Australia means the “front side”.
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