[owlie]

As for curves, for me it is two things. When turning, it is fighting a bad habit of looking back over my shoulder once I have committed to the turn. On corners, it is turning my head, and not relying on my peripheral vision to let me know what is coming next.

[owlie]

I’ll be sure to check out the threads.

My biggest fear with the gravel is loosing it turning off the main road into my neighborhood. Turning right from a level 55mph road to an uphill grade, with gravel collected at the bottom of the grade… I seem to end up turning wide every time.

[owlie]

Thanks for the tip.

[owlie]

Harley’s got the V-rod, which is one sexy looking bike.

[owlie]

Sounds like you’re doing well. The four-way stop that I went though today was nerve-wracking because even though the guy to my left waved me through when it was my turn, I still had running through my head everyone’s comments about not believing it even when you see it.

[owlie]

They have a TU250X sitting at the Suzuki dealership where I got my S40. It is a good looking bike. I didn’t sit on it, but I should have.

[owlie]

The S40 is a 650cc bike, and is at the high end of what might be considered beginner. But I love the looks of mine.

Welcome to the forum!

[owlie]

You’re just now figuring this out?

[owlie]

Same problem for me, and it is just like Munch says. I’ve just been duck walking and slow racing it like they teach in class. It sounds like my gravel may be better packed than your though; I haven’t had any problems with kicking things up.

[owlie]

I’m planning to do the ERC in Spring. They tend to wind the classes down up here in late July/early August when the enrollment drops off. I’d also thought about looking into private lessons; I know some people offer them up here, and they don’t sound bad cost wise.

[owlie]

Hey guys, sorry to take so long to come back around to this, but I needed to think about things before I replied, lest I make complete fool of myself. I’m going to go with the less said, the better route on this reply.

I appreciate all of your thoughts on this; it is fantastic to belong to such a supportive and understanding community. Elwood is dead on target in his post, and I plan to take his advice to heart.

To answer the question that is floating around, I don’t plan to give up riding right now. But in all honesty, if I keep dropping the bike, I don’t know how many times I can pick it up and ride again. To a large extent, I need to work on mindset as much as PLP; dropping it again isn’t inevitable, and if I put in the time to handle the bike correctly, I will greatly improve my chances of keeping the rubber to the road.

All the best,
Owlie

[owlie]

Man, I didn’t mean to start a trend!

Glad to hear that both times it was more a “Oh *&#$! Good, nobody watching.” type of deal.

[owlie]

Elwood, don’t give him ideas.

Stu, from my somewhat jaded perspective, don’t start with a bigger bike than you are comfortable with. The BRC was easy for me on a 125, but the move straight to a 650 was perhaps questionable.

Congrats and good luck!

[owlie]

Glad you’re okay. Those are some pretty impressive scrapes to the bike.

As for sand, it doesn’t necessarily wash away with the rain. It is all of the chemicals and road gunk that the rain clears. The roads around my house are still choked with gravel from last winter even with all of the rain from this summer.

Thanks for sharing. I hope the fix to your steering is easy so you can get back out there.

[owlie]

Glad to hear that neither you nor the bike made it down the cliff the fast way. I understand that sometimes, you just have to laugh at your own stupidity and keep on moving…

Heal fast, and keep us posted on the mods to the bike!

[Author]

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