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2nd day of riding? Don’t think it’s really the bike. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said something towards your emotion when you stalled. Remember that you set the pace for your self. When you come to a stop give yourself that time to get your thoughts collected on what you need to be doing, not the “cool factor” or the expectations of the people behind you. The last thing you want to do is get rushed from self induced pressure. It’s actually good that you stalled instead of the alternative. I have seen beginners over compensate and almost have the bike leave them sanding at the stop light as it takes off in the wild blue.
Definitely give the bike time to warm up before initially taking off. After that the “choke” shouldn’t even be an issue. You should be able to close it and go. Practice your friction zone several times before each ride. Time to ROCK! in your drive way just let the clutch out slowly with a little throttle til it pulls you to the balls of your feet… squeeze the clutch back in rock back on your heels …. rinse and repeat. Give yourself time to get that muscle memory to set in. Don’t get in to much of a hurry and relax!

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Congrats!!! nice lookin’ machine! Keep us up on how you progress!

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lol….why do you think I refuse to even turn the first wrench on mine. I learned with my Jeep. Once you do one… the others are just a paycheck behind… as the bills get behind.

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Weave and bob….with some brake light flashes. Is how I get the attention of cagers behind me. If I feel they are too close to comfort I use my full lane to slalom back and forth forcing their attention. Almost all tend to back up about a 1/4 off your tail then. They think your gonna dump it. Just in case that doesn’t work I flash my brakes several times…. just incase they are the “ohhhhhhh shinies….. ” type.

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Hmmmm spoken like a true nut that lives his life behind statistics that really have little to do with actual happenings. I am going to assume that you don’t live near a military base of any kind and have the luxury of wearing blinders as to endlessly do “figure-8’s” in your parking lot, hoping to achieve the illusion of control you think you may have behind the wheel of a car.
To be self righteous enough to call the military stupid because the soldiers odometers aren’t measured in PLP only is irritating enough.
Look into the military’s requirements for riding on base. I know a couple of soldiers and they had to go through more tests then I would likely be able to pass just to ride on base.
As far as you being “not their yet” get your butt off the bike in the parking lot and hit the streets. You can’t get there if you don’t go there.

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niuce….who’s taking the pics?

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Good post. However they did not dig deep enough. Here they actually took the time to ask Ft Bragg soldiers about what was going on with the ones that have wrecked to see if they could try and figure it out. Their answer was after their tours over in Iraq and Afghanistan a lot of the soldiers were just looking for an adrenaline rush again. In their mind after being on alert 100% of the time over there, they get state side and it seems to them everything is in slow motion. So some resort to motorcycle riding hoping to get that rush back.
Safety courses and closed track courses CAN help with that and will even lower the death rate. However though there are gonna be still a large number that don’t think to keep that on that track.
Refer to non military squids for your proof. It’s sad to see our Soldiers survive a war, experience what they have to go through just to come back home and get laid to rest over simple mistakes. Living as close to Ft. Bragg, Seymour Johnson AFB and Camp LeJeune I hear of these accidents more then anybody likely should.

Ladies and Gentlemen… if you are military I personally thank you for what you have done for us in any part of the world. PLEASE, think things through just a little more so we may have time to thank you.

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Pepper…. try mustang seat and also scootworks.com

Jay-t …we need pics… can’t go picking paint colors before you see the house…ya know?

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Best cover out there and for storage too.
http://www.thebikebarn.net/
next spare cash I am getting one… I rent my house so I don’t have a garage… and am not paying for them an upgrade that I can’t take with me… this bad boy is #2 on the wishlist!

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I am in that nice middle point… only had to take maybe a total of 3 weeks out of my ridding. I can be wet… and I can be cold…but wet and cold I don’t do. If it’s above freezing I ride. It’s all about the layers.

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ooh wow… hmmm… .guess it’s cause I am not much into a sport…dual purpose type styling but man… thing looks like a cricket ready to jump. Loved my V500 though.
edit: Oh yea… sorry … Welcome!!!! I wont let the Texas thing decide wether I like ya or not…. heck I get along with Sangria!…lol…just kiddin….sorta

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I can understand what your talking about. I dunno if you grew up around the same thing or not… but I grew up around hard core blue collar southern Harley guys. These guys are from the school of hate due to previous wars etc. I had alot bored into me growing up about “etiquette”. I hesitate with any thought of riding my Vulcan up to the the Local HD dealer… though I chalked that up to my wallet giving me a warning. However as I took the Rider’s Edge course the “transplants” here thought it curious I refused to sit on the bikes. I then had to explain them the above with the extension of alot of guys I grew up around had the tune of ” You sit on another mans Harley you might as well sleep with his wife”. Silly as that sounds now back then those guys meant it. It’s something that hangs with me to this day. I still won’t sit on one …. even a new one… how messed up is that.
Oh well… that’s why I have my $8500 Vulcan 900 and not the $16,500 Fat Bob. So it works out for me in the end.
However I will join up with any string of HD riders in a heart beat, shoot the bull with them etc. Some how though… theres still that memory from way back when that keeps me cautious when it comes to the dealership. Alot of it is from the disgust I have for the people I grew up around.. I can still get my blood boiling if I think about it to hard…. just not looking to get around those idiotic types again. However … natural selection… ermm… biking accidents have taken out a couple of the guys I knew.

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Being that your starting out.. I would be more towards “flat footing” then not. Your gonna need and want all the traction at your disposal as your adjusting to balancing the bike and learning the ropes on intersections and hazards and training your brain what to look for. As far as riding with folks on sport bikes… only difficulty you would had is maybe living up to their idea of what looks cool. It’s like I tell guys at work when they start talking horse power and torque and all the nice gear headed junk they immerse themselves in ..”Yea its got X amount of horses and can run the 1/4 in X amount of time… but it will still get you to your destination in the same amount of time as something more affordable and skill accurate due to speed limit laws” …lol..sometimes quicker as you wave at them as you pass by with the LEO handing them a ticket.
As Brider did so though… .go sit on all your prospects and try and find one that feels natural..or close to it.

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lol…get used to it…. its our own lil banter…. with some tips added in… I guess our way of trying not to leave any stone unturned for anyone.

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Grats!!!!…Pics….we need pics man!

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