[owlie]

+1 on looking used. Also, the V-Star comes in a 250, which might be a little more price friendly. You may even be able to get a good deal on a relatively new/used one for someone who decided that it was “under powered” within a month or so of buying it. (I seriously considered going that route.)

[owlie]

Mine is a Suzuki S40. BTW it is not a V-Twin if you have your heart dead set on one.

[owlie]

No U-turn? That’s a shame. It really is a useful skill to have. I’d suggest picking up the “Ride Like a Pro” DVD and practicing it in a parking lot with your other new skills. I promise that you won’t regret it.

[owlie]

Sounds like fantastic fun. Glad to hear you’re having a good time.

I totally understand getting a coach to help even if you don’t plan to make it your life’s work. A lot of times in order to get better, you have to have someone from outside give you some instructions. And the level you are competeing at…

Keep us posted!

[owlie]

It is pretty amazing actually how different people’s ideas of what the generic term “highway riding” encompasses. In the end, it comes down to using our best judgement and riding our own rides.

Best of luck on your adventures!

[owlie]

Welcome to the forum!

There are also some people, who for whatever reason, can’t keep a bicycle upright. You’re better off finding out if you can balance on two wheels on something that is slow and light to fast and heavy. (yes, I know at speed the motorcycle keeps itself upright, but try doing a slow race without a natural sense of balance)

We have several bicyclists on the forum; I’m sure that they’ll be more than happy to help you with any questions you might have.

Good luck!

[owlie]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new bike!

Sometimes you can get into the MSF classes more quickly by either a) getting on a wait-list or b) just showing up every week until they have a no-show. If you take option b) be sure to have cash in hand for the fee.

I’ll leave the others to lecture you on the evils of learning to ride your bike on your own – even with lots of extra research and precaution on the side.

Post up some pics of the new bike!

[owlie]

A couple of things to keep in mind–

If you are planning to be riding during “normal” commuting hours, there is going to be alot more going on to keep track of than riding on the weekend. Depending on how traffic in your area goes, you may be better off making your first couple of trips on the highway as weekend excursions to your buddy’s place rather than as part of the morning commute.

The other thing about the morning commute- unless you aren’t expected at the office at a set time, the time factor might end up being a very distracting stresser. If you want to do this, try to add 15-20 min into your commute time the first couple of days. That way if you get a late start or there is a traffic snarl, you won’t be worried about being late to work in addition to clutching and shifting and leaning and watching for surface hazards and and and and

Good luck!
owlie

[owlie]

I talk to myself all the time– even when there are people around to listen.

Congrats on the great ride and keep it up!

[owlie]

Congrats on making it through the class, Gitchy. It sounds like everything went smoothly- which is the best kind of report people can give…

So- how’d you do with the box? (U-turns..)

[owlie]

Ha Ha! We’ll be taking riding courses at the same time! Whoo-hooo!! Okay, so that might mean something if we were even in the same country.

[owlie]

From my very first ride, I’ve been on roads that are 55mph- however it was about 8 weeks before I road on anything that had appreciable traffic.

I would recommend waiting a couple of weeks and working up to making a 1 hour ride though. They’re fun, but work out some of your kinks first…

[owlie]

Glad to hear the classroom section went well. I hope that today also went well. I know for me it was an exercise in frustration, but the second day was an absolute blast.

Best of luck!

[owlie]

Its funny that you mention some lady rolling back into you. My boyfriend in college tried to teach me to drive his manual (a beat up rust bucket of a Datsun 510 whose clutch was nearly gone), and to this day I remember sitting at a stop sign trying to figure out how to convince the guy behind me to just go around because I was afraid that I would roll back into him when I tried to go. He didn’t, I didn’t, but the lessons on using a stick-shift didn’t go much further.

The funny thing is that my Mom tried to teach me to drive her manual last year, and frankly, I would have been better off if the lessons had come >after< I took the MSF class a few weeks later. For her, the techniques involved with friction zone, clutch control, etc were so ingrained that she didn't know how to explain what I was doing wrong. I’ll stick with my automatic, thank you very much. I don’t think that not having the skills for driving a manual transmission car really negatively affected my ability to learn to ride enough that I would stigmatize it.

[owlie]

smart? Not sure about that. originally, I had planned to wait until this spring, but impatience got the better of me…

My sweetie and I are planning to build a garden shed this year so that we can move stuff out of the garage to store my bike more easiliy next year. The summer isn’t a problem, but once we try to fit grill, table, chairs, and potted plants in for the winter, well- you can imagine.

Our winter keeps getting pushed out cold front by cold front too. A couple days after my first ride of spring, we had another set of flurries. Truth be told, the weather was fine enough for riding in early March if your driveway was clear- and I’ve been seeing bikes on the road for two months now. I’m just not confident enough (or perhaps not stupid enough) to have tried to pull my bike out that early.

Hope that you are able to get out and enjoy your new bike soon!

[Author]

Posts