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How Often To Change Motorcycle Oil?
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ranetteParticipant
All right, about 2 1/2 weeks in and I’ll give some impressions on how I feel about my decision. More specifically about my bike rather than specifics about my riding. I stress that if I am satisfied with my decision that in no way means I am endorsing a GT1000 for every beginner out there. Many, many factors obviously come into play.
At this point in time I do feel comfortable on the bike and as I have previously mentioned feel as if I am making progress every day, and at this moment in time if I had the decision to make I would definitely make the same decision I made a few weeks ago.
My impressions of learning how to ride and that what separates my bike from a smaller one is the importance, make that the absolutely necessity, of very precise throttle control. One inadvertent twitch, one unexpected pothole could lead to disaster. The other big difference is that bigger bikes are simply that, bigger. 500lbs, 600lbs and up, quite a bit of weight to control at any speed but especially tough for slow maneuvering. I know that there are more differences, somehow I get the impression I’m about to hear a litany of them, but those seem to be the major ones.
If there is one thing that I have concentrated on during this process it has been throttle control. That is a matter of self preservation and as I’ve mentioned before I am no speed demon. At this point I can say I have quite a bit of confidence in my ability not to grab too much throttle, I also feel that one bit of muscle memory that has developed quickly is that if I do feel as if the revs are a bit too high to start to put in the clutch immediately to tame that gnarly beast. I realize that 1/8 of an inch can mean 20mph and my right hand is very disciplined. A few times I have hit potholes and the wrist has twitched a bit, maybe a bit of a jump, 2-3mph but nothing more before I put the needle back where it had been before the bump. Now I am not nearly knowledgeable enough to know the different types of engines and their characteristics but I have been told that power from my 1000cc is evenly distributed so it’s not all going to kick in at once as it might on some sportsbikes. I can’t say this as a fact as mine is the only bike I’ve ridden but I can say that the way I’ve been riding so far, the throttle, though very powerful, is also very predictable. I have never felt as if I had a rocket between my legs, more like a powerful sports sedan. People think Ducati and then think Ferrari-must be an Italian thing-my impression if you were going to compare a GT1000 to a car is that it is much closer to something like a BMW 7 Series.
The other factor often cited in choosing a smaller bike to start out on is the weight. My GT1000 has a curb weight of 402 lbs, a Ninja 250 is 375, a Ninja 500 is 434 lbs so in my mind this is a non issue. The size is very comparable to bikes which most have no problem recommending as starters.
I am not advocating the Ducati GT1000 as an ideal beginners bike. I am saying it is probably not quite as horrible or dangerous of a choice as some might believe, especially if you’ve got a steady right hand and a overall conservative approach to learning new skills.
One last thing, I reread this entire thread last night. There was a well documented dustup between myself and Amoryl which we quickly settled by admitting we both acted like asses, which we had. There were a few other posts that I felt were knee jerk reactions to the words “Ducati” and “Newbie” in the same post but I let them go. One post which didn’t offend me at first did offend me last night, and when I say offend I don’t mean I found it personally offensive, just that when I reread it it just seemed to be wishing not harm, but certainly difficulty, to anyone who might start on a larger bike, that was Budd’s first post. And Budd please don’t take this as an attack, it is in no way meant as one, but you wrote “What I hope to hear is, “man, this is tough, I should have started smaller.” Aren’t we all in this together trying to get better for ourselves and any others on the road? Shouldn’t what you had hoped to hear from me be what you have been hearing from me, “It’s going great for me, I’m progressing, though I realize that just because it may have been the proper choice for me doesn’t mean it would be the proper choice for you.”?
ranetteParticipantThanks for the good words,
Randy
ranetteParticipantThanks Rupmisc. I found that site yesterday, registered but didn’t get a chance to introduce myself. I will within a few days. Also, thanks to Ben for permitting links to other helpful sites. Some other boards would filet your manly parts for daring to post a link to another board.
ranetteParticipant“being part of the fraternity of bikers.”
Funny I was thinking about that this morning. So far I don’t think I’ll have any problem developing a real, not online, fraternity of riding partners. Most people in town who know I’m learning how to ride offer help and let me know that they’re ready to go for a ride any time I feel ready to join them. However as far as an online fraternity, simply to ask advice of those more experienced than myself, I do feel kind of stranded. The Ducati forums are no place to ask stupid newbie questions, most discussions center on performance upgrades and the like, but I feel that any answer that I might get here is probably going to have the disclaimer, “well that would be my advice if you’d started on the proper bike.” Not complaining, for all I know if I had started on a smaller bike I might be just as zealous in my views, just stating how I feel.
ranetteParticipantClenzer, thanks for the interest. I pretty much decided not to update the thread simply because it seemed as if the prevailing view on the board was that if I was making progress it might lead others into an incorrect choice as they might not take into account some of the factors in my favor(location, maturity, etc.). However, I’m still on the board and still make an occasional comment in another thread.
As for my riding, since you asked…still taking things very slowly, STILL have ridden the scooter faster than the Duc. However I think things are going very well. Every day I get a little more comfortable, pulling out into traffic-light Vermont traffic by the way-is no longer a daunting task, rather an every day occurrence. The hour or so I put aside to ride is my best hour of the day. I make time to practice low speed maneuvers, quick stops, and starts on steep uphills(as I mentioned I do live in Vermont) in parking lots and then ride to one of our neighboring towns on a different road every day. So far nothing has come up that has been beyond my skill set. Am I developing skills at a slower pace than I would on a smaller bike? I do not have a clue. Am I developing skills and muscle memory? Absolutely. Am I a danger to myself or others on the road? I truly do not believe so.
Please, please, no more comments on what I don’t know. To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld(I wouldn’t believe I’d ever do that) I know that there are both known unknowns and unknown unknowns lurking around every stretch of pavement and still, and probably always will, approach this as if I know nothing and have everything to learn. I have registered for a BRC in mid November and am looking forward to it, both for what I hope to learn and to finally see what riding a 250 is all about.
Since I won’t be updating the thread, if anybody has any specific questions about how I’m doing or questions about my take on a newbie on a bigger bike feel free to toss me an email at [email protected].
September 24, 2008 at 12:56 pm in reply to: MSF School: Waste of time, waste of money, both, or none of the above……Flamers flame on. #12635ranetteParticipantNot psychic at all. It’s just that you attacked, or at the very least questioned the necessity of one of the sacred cows of beginning motorcycle riding, the MSF class. You my friend are a brave brave man.
September 22, 2008 at 4:04 pm in reply to: MSF School: Waste of time, waste of money, both, or none of the above……Flamers flame on. #12491ranetteParticipantMan I thought my posts got people upset. Duck!!!!!!!!
Can’t comment myself as I won’t be taking the course until November.
September 21, 2008 at 4:27 pm in reply to: Any info out there on how to be a good motorcycle passenger? #12455ranetteParticipantThanks for the link. A lot of information that I knew but the page is well put together for my wife to read. She won’t be on the back of the motorcycle for quite a while, I’m in no way ready for that, but that will help her when she is on the back of the scooter.
ranetteParticipantAmoryl, sorry for lashing back at you. Did you come off as a jerk in your first post? Yeah, probably. But I was a bit of a !@#$% in my reply. In my first post I said I was a big boy and could take criticism. I still think I can but for some reason I didn’t accept yours. To tell you the truth I think most of it might have slid off my back except for the “another dead kid” line that just kind of set me off. To be honest, do you think a kid thinking about doing stupid things on a Hyabusa would be caught dead(bad choice of words I know) on a site called bestbeginnermotorcycles.com? If anything what I’m trying to emphasize in my posts, because that is how I am approaching things is that I am taking things as slowly and carefully as I am able to. I realize that the size of my bike will magnify exponentially any error that I make and take that into account every moment that I am riding.
I understand that most of your post was out of concern, concern that my approach might get myself or somebody else hurt or worse. The one point I’d like to reiterate to you, and everybody else who is questioning my approach is that I am not reckless. I am taking things at a very measured pace, probably more so than if I were on a mid sized bike. I’ve been riding a little bit each day and still, believe it or not, have traveled faster, by a good 5mph at least, on my scooter than on the Ducati.
ranetteParticipantFirst of all, I do appreciate all of the replies. When I started this thread I expected much of it, hence the title of the thread. I only reacted with any passion to two posts. Once simply to say that all caps, screaming, even one word, is not necessary. If anything it makes most of us listen less, and I was pretty gentle with that as I realized it was only one word. I reacted very negatively to one post, most of you would have reacted similarly. When somebody basically writes that either you’re going to harm yourself or if you do manage to somehow survive, writing about your progress might possess a kid to go out and do something stupid and kill themselves. I’m sorry that is not caring, that is not passion about safety, that is simply idiotic to say and I reacted. Although I would not say this about the majority of people who contributed to this thread I can say that I feel one or two people would take some small satisfaction if I were to damage my bike or even myself. Bottom line is some people have an opinion and any occurrence that might support that opinion is a positive for them.
In my initial post I wrote that I understood that I was going against the reasoning of most posters on this site. I understood that and said if you want to call me an idiot go ahead. I also said that if anyone was interested in my progress I’d be happy to let everyone know how it was going. The initial responses questioned my decision but wished me luck and were interested in how things progressed. However it seems as if things are moving in the direction of criticizing me rather than concern for me and being interested in how I might be doing. Oddly enough the tenor of the thread seemed to change when I mentioned that I felt I was making progress and feeling more comfortable every day(see the last line of the previous paragraph).
A couple of things to keep in mind. Although most of you would poo poo scooter experience many would not. I have spent the better part of this summer, according to my scooter’s odometer about 1400 miles worth, on two wheels. 150cc might not sound like much, but the bike can move faster than you might think. The state of Vermont classifies it as a motorcycle and I needed to get a full motorcycle endorsement in order to ride it. Does this qualify me to get on a large bike, no, but many of the skills are similar. Another thing to keep in mind is that I live in an area that is very sparsely populated compared to most of you. Certainly there are cars, but it is mostly country riding and we’ve been keeping a very leisurely pace. It is a perfect place to learn how to ride even if you might feel I am not on the perfect bike to learn on.
One other question. Elwood1960 seems to be a pretty respected senior poster here, we are of similar age and he started on a HD Sportster 883. Maybe one step down from mine but they certainly reside in the same neighborhood. I believe he’s been on it for about a year, learning in and around Miami, more traffic and more idiots texting while driving. Was he as reckless as I am? Will he never learn more than rudimentary riding skills?
The bottom line is that I fully intend to become a very capable and safe rider. I will take the steps necessary and will continue to ride within my ability. I will take the beginners MSF class and then continue on with the intermediate and advanced classes, and yes even on the scooter I am an ATGATT kind of guy. If it takes me longer to do it on a larger bike so be it. Case closed.
Some people on this board seem to think I am reckless and might even have a death wish. I can assure you that is in no way true. My last words in this thread, though probably not on this board will be from Lou Reed, “My House” from his classic 1982 album The Blue Mask,
I’ve really got a lucky life
my writing, my motorcycle and my wife
And to top it all off a spirit of pure poetry
is living in this stone and wood house with meranetteParticipantAmoryl. Glad to see we finally have someone on this board who is the be all and end all of beginners’ motorcycle knowledge, and probably on the rest of the worlds intricacies as well. Seriously I’ve been on message boards for about as long as there has been message boards; I’ve been accused of many things but never of being responsible for making a statement that might lead to someone’s death. “yours might be the one that tips the scale. and next thing we know there’s another dead kid” Up until your post everyone who has contributed to this thread has been respectful and thoughtful whether they agree with my decision or not. Then again, most of them, much as I would, would freely admit that they don’t know everything. And yes, everyone, meaning every single person, who has started on a larger bike than you might feel is proper has had to “lay it down”(no need to explain the euphemism, we all get it) far more times than their big egos, which of course accompany that big bike, might care to admit. Did I see that you then wrote “ultimately not your responsibility, and I’m not trying to imply that it’s your fault some kid doesn’t know what he’s getting into.”? Of course I did, but that does not negate the impact of your first statement. And yes, regardless of your slight backpeddle, that is exactly what you are implying. As I stated in my original post, I’m a big boy, 46 years old. I’ve made more major purchases than I care to admit and more than a few life changing decisions. I research every one of these decisions thoroughly. Would you like to know the cars I’ve owned and why? Come check out my home theater, I’ll explain to you the ins and outs of the new lossless audio codecs. I also made the decision, along with my wife of course, to toss aside prosperous urban careers for a chance to move to the mountains and run our own small business. No that decision did not put anyone’s physical well being in jeopardy, but it certainly put our financial future at risk, and would have to be considered a major decision by any yardstick. Bottom line is I looked at my options, and made a decision; which is what I did a few weeks ago. You do not need to agree with me. However I do think you owed me the respect to simply disagree rather than accuse me of putting others at risk because I might not have obsessed, to the point of making no decision whatsoever, as you might have done. My guess is that obsessing over every minute detail, even those over which you have no control, isn’t exactly what any life coach might teach you either.
Ben, if you feel the above was disrespectful feel free to pull it down. Personally I feel it should stay right there. And by the way, no need to apologize for your incorrect assumptions, I left that line out there unexplained in my original post and yours was a logical, albeit it incorrect, conclusion. The other thread that I mentioned can be found here, http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=50546 Going back and rereading I take back my comment about the opinions in that thread being split, the opinions definitely skewed towards the idea that a 1000 is not an ideal starter bike, however, there are some dissenters.
ranetteParticipantand no I haven’t explained it. But no, the reason was not finances. The bike was paid in cash,and yes they are pricey but I did get a very good deal as the dealer really wanted to move his last new ’07. I’ll begin my answer to you with another question, “are you married?” My wife, who I love dearly, and I are very different people with very different perspectives on many things.
The best way to explain it is in my wife’s eyes a motorcycle is a motorcycle is a motorcycle. It would have been just as tough to convince her to go along with a $2K learner bike as it was to convince her to go along with the Ducati. However once she went along with either I can assure you that having her agree to an upgrade in a year would have been nearly impossible. Now you might say this is a ridiculous reason to buy more bike than you might recommend however that was what I meant. You might also say “you convinced her to go along with a motorcycle so soon after the scooter, surely you could explain the need to purchase more than one motorcycle in the next year or two. After all, you’ll get most of the money from the starter bike back when you sell it” My answer to that is simply “probably not.” Would I have been happy with a Buell Blast for the next decade, maybe, but I’m pretty sure I would have wanted to move up to something larger sooner rather than later, I weighed my options, weighed the risks and decided to go with the Ducati. I realize that the jury will be out on the decision for at least a year or so, but as of this moment I do not regret my decision.
Incidentally there is a similar thread on a Ducati message board which I didn’t start but did post in. A total newbie is lusting after a similar bike to the one I purchased and is asking for advice. The advice there, mostly from very seasoned riders, is pretty much split. Some took the learner bike stance but a surprising number of people said they learned on a larger bike and don’t regret it. I don’t know what BBM’s rules are about posting links to other message boards but if you’d like I’d be happy to post the link to that thread.
As for your last comment about it being more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow, getting that scooter up to 65MPH, given enough time, wind and slope it can and has been done, is quite fun but it does start to get a little bit squirrely. Riding the Duc at 50 feels like being in a limo compared to the scooter at highway speeds.
September 15, 2008 at 9:52 pm in reply to: Should u learn to drive in a car and then get a motorcycle? #12211ranetteParticipantIn Vermont you need to have a driver’s license before you can even take the written test for a motorcycle permit. I guess it’s not that way in every state. Based on my very limited experience I’d say that a few months driving a car with a manual transmission before hopping on a bike would be great experience.
ranetteParticipantI don’t disagree. Then again too much fear can be dangerous as well. When an unexpected situation arises a confident rider will probably assess and react immediately. Without confidence I think a rider’s first reaction is “Holy S!@t!!!” then assessing and reacting. My guess is in the moment it takes to mouth “Holy S!@t” an awful lot of bad things can happen.
I really think the most important thing is to be brutally honest in your assessment of your own abilities and to not go beyond those abilities even for an instant.
ranetteParticipant“I do feel that the first time I do have to apply the brakes in a hurry I’ll be ready but we won’t know until that happens.”
“NO, this is the wrong attitude to take……you need to practice those emergency stops!!!! over and over and over again!”
I did not mean to infer that I am not practicing quick stops. Of course I am. However, practicing things, when you know in the back of your mind what you’re going to do before you do it is different than a real world short stop. In that case, in anybody’s case whether you are on a Rebel or a Hyabusa, you never know how you’ll handle it until you’re presented with it in a real life situation. Maybe we’re talking semantics, but I would not take back my original statement. If I had the feeling that I had short stops down pat simply because I didn’t have any problems in a practice situation I feel that would lead to a false sense of confidence.
ps – no reason to shout, not even one word. I’m listening.
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