Forum Replies Created
SHIFT Racing Streetfighter Jacket Review
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Ben
ParticipantWell, the hardest things for me to learn are also the things that have saved me from crashing. They are as follows:
1. Look where you want to go – The motorcycles goes where you are looking, so if you are taking a turn too fast and you see that guard rail (or oncoming car) coming at you at light speed you have to remember NOT to look at it. It usually takes all my brain power, but I have to force myself to not look at the thing I might crash into, and instead look through the turn to where I want to be.
2. Trust the Lean – This is especially true for beginner motorcyclists. The motorcycle can safely lean a lot farther than you think it can, so if you are once again taking a turn too hot and you think that you might lowside if you lean any farther, chances are you won’t. Just trust the lean and look where you want to go.
3. Don’t brake in a turn – This isn’t a completely hard and fast rule, but in general if you brake while leaned over the motorcycle will have a tendency to abort the lean and stand up straight. Sometimes you can sort of drag your rear brake a little bit, but in reality you should brake before the turn, and then accelerate through the turn.
There have been probably a dozen times in my riding career where those three things have saved my ass. In fact about 3 weeks ago I was going to work and I took a 3 lane offramp a lot faster than I normally would, and in a lane I hadn’t ridden before. Little did I know that lane had a huge dip right at the apex of the curve. My thought process went something like this:
Ok, I’m going to take this turn really fast.
Crap this might be too fast
*Thud as the motorcycle hits the dip mid lean*
Oh god i’m going to crash.
Thank god i’m wearing my gear. Hopefully I won’t hit that guardrail. (No joke, I actually thought that!)
Don’t brake in the turn.
Lean deeper.
Do NOT look at the guardrail that i’m about to run into.
Slowly ease off the gas.
Zoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!
I made it!!! woo woo!
All of that took place in the space of about 1, maybe 2 seconds. If I hadn’t followed those rules I mentioned then chances are I would have froze up, ran straight into the guardrail and totaled my bike. I think the hardest things to learn are stuff you have to remember when you are under pressure.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantI’m under the school of thought that you should not go crazy with the bike, but you should take it through the revs.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantA BARF meetup before BBM…..
WHERE ARE YOUR LOYALTIES MAN!!!!
See you guys sunday!
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantI swear, sometimes I feel like the head engineer on the enterprise or something. Random things seem to break for no reason!
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantSo far everyone I know that is going is:
Me (Ben)
Ray
Megaspaz
JirikiMrvyas hasn’t replied yet to confirm. If he does I’ll see if he can handle the freeways. Actually, can you handle the freeway Jiriki or do you want to meet closer to home? I’m pretty sure you can handle freeway speeds right Megaspaz?
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantExcellent
What type of bike do you have so we will know what to look for?
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantHaha, I hate pagemill too. It’s funny, after I hadn’t been on a bike for a while I asked about local roads and someone suggested pagemill so I went up it…. and hated every minute of it!
Now it’s an OK road for me, a lot more technical, plus they have paved the bad sections. But no worries, we won’t be going up that way.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantWell it’s official, the first BBM group ride is scheduled for 4pm at this starbucks on SUNDAY the 22nd.:
So far 3 people are scheduled, let me know if I should expect any others. It’s going to be a really mellow ride.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminJune 19, 2008 at 11:53 pm in reply to: I have everything i need, well, almost, ok, not really… #7542ParticipantAwesome gear! I really like the blue visor and matching blue helmet.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantHaha how fitting! I swear the tips are random
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantPolls are on their way as well as IMG tags too. I’m finishing up my EMT class and once that is over I should have a bit more time to work on BBM.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantIt really depends on the bike. I ride a kawasaki and it might be happiest in the 6-10k range, while a honda would be happy in the 4-8k range.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantLike everyone is saying, motorcycle speedo’s are usualy a little off. My speedo says I’m going about 5mph than I usually am depending on the speed. I’ll echo everyone else and say that your boyfriend is used to going FAST. I regularly hit 90mph on my commute to work, so sometimes slowing down to 45-50mph can feel pretty slow. But if your boyfriend is experienced at all he should realize you are a new rider and not try and push you. The only reason I can think of why he made that comment is if he maybe didn’t totally support your choice in motorcycles. Was he trying to pressure you into a larger bike?
If you want to find out how fast you are going then either find one of those road signs that tell you your speed, or have a friend (not your Boyfriend) pace if you at 50mph in their car to see how much your speedo is off.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantHaha,
The review is forthcoming. I can’t just give you guys all my reviews right away, I gotta space them out a bit so you don’t get review overload.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminParticipantYou have mentioned one of the most inconvenient things about motorcycles for me and it has been a struggle to think of solutions.
For a while I would just bring a backpack or my Chrome Messenger bag and I would take off my overpants and put it in my bag and just wear my jacket and carry my helmet with the gloves inside. That was ok for about 6 months until I got completely tired of it, so eventually I schemed and saved until I could afford a Givi toprack system. It is this locking hardcase that extends off the rear tail of your motorcycle. The case locks to the bike, and it also locks closed. My case can fit 2 full sized full face helmets in it. What I normally do though is put my jacket, gloves, and overpants and shove all those in my case and just carry my helmet around (besides, carrying a helmet makes you look cool).
Something I’ve also been doing lately is carrying a steel cable bicycle lock inside my givi case. That way if I already have some stuff in my case I can thread the cable through my jacket/pants/helmet and lock all of them to my motorcycle forks. I’ve done this a couple times so far, and it might look a little strange to leave all your clothes on the bike, but so far I haven’t had any gear stolen and it all seems fairly secure. Just make sure to take anything valuable out of your jacket/overpants pockets before you lock them up!
I find that if you can find a way to stash the overpants than you have won more than half the battle since they are the most akward to wear around town. A possible solution (but one too expensive for me right now) is to get pants that you would be comfortable with off the bike. I know BMW sells some Santiago pants and some Summer pants that look really great off the bike. The summer pants even zip in half at the legs and become shorts! Most BMW gear is just too pricey for me which is why I haven’t pulled the trigger on any of that gear yet.
In conclusion I almost always carry my helmet with me, and I find sometimes it can be useful. When I go to the movies I use my helmet as a little basket and carry my candy and popcorn in it, I do the same thing at the grocery store if I don’t plan on getting too much stuff.
Hope all that helps.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin -
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