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I did the classroom part last night, with the janky hilarious MSF movie. It went well, finished my test in about 4 minutes and got 100%. I gotta say, though, a class from 5 to 10 at night isn't too fun. This weekend... 
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Nov 23, 2012 07:04
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M42 posted:I did the classroom part last night, with the janky hilarious MSF movie. It went well, finished my test in about 4 minutes and got 100%. I gotta say, though, a class from 5 to 10 at night isn't too fun. The movies are super janky, but the core info is still good, just gotta look past the absurdity of it all 
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Nov 24, 2012 01:09
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Is there another level up from the basic MSF that isn't the superbike school? I wouldn't mind taking another training course to brush up on things and learn some more advanced techniques, but I don't plan to own a supersport or race on a track any time soon.
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Nov 24, 2012 01:13
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Sagebrush posted:Is there another level up from the basic MSF that isn't the superbike school? I wouldn't mind taking another training course to brush up on things and learn some more advanced techniques, but I don't plan to own a supersport or race on a track any time soon. At least where I live, the MSF offers an Advanced Rider's Course. The website is ancient and janky and I can't find the ARC description, but if I recall correctly it's like the BRC but on your own bike and faster.
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Nov 24, 2012 05:59
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I think they also do inclines and stuff. ( ie. U turns on a ramp)
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Nov 24, 2012 06:13
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Ok so, the first day wasn't super smooth. #1 issue: My goddamn rebel won't go into neutral unless I turn it off. What a pain. Issue #2, it stalls veeeery easily in 1st. Is that normal? Must have stalled it like 20 times today. In fact, since I couldn't switch to neutral, stalling was how I stopped it to wait in line for the next exercise. The thing is, though, I am a-ok at everything when I'm actually doing things at speed, like 2nd or 3d gear. No problems there. It's just shifting stalls/neutral related things. I'm kinda down right now cause of how much trouble I'm having with those two things. Unfortunately the test is at least half slow-speed things so eh...we'll see tomorrow. I did have a lot of fun though!
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Nov 25, 2012 03:19
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#1, make sure you go slow on releasing the clutch lever. Slower than what you've been doing today. #2, give it more throttle when you're releasing the lever. I noticed my fiance forgetting to give it some gas after concentrating on finding the friction zone on the lever for a good amount of time and had to be reminded of that.
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Nov 25, 2012 03:27
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Those MSF bikes get a lot of abuse. They all have funky clutches and other issues you likely won't have on your own first bike. Are you finding the friction zone? If not then work on that or you'll continue to stall. You are already overcoming challenges. Welcome to motorcycling. Let your coaches know if your bike has issues before the test but be prepared if they say "you shouldn't be in neutral unless you are parking, keep it in first on the range and at stoplights". I swear they must get paid a dollar every time they say "look where you're going" or "you should be in first every time you stop" because I heard that about 800 times in two days.
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Nov 25, 2012 03:32
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Yeah, I talked to the coach, what he said is basically: yep, these bikes are beat to poo poo, if you're having trouble tomorrow I'll take the bike for a spin to see if it's you or the bike, but unfortunately you can't switch to a new one. Anyway! I do have a good idea of where the friction zone is on that rebel. On the 1 to 5 scale (1 is disengaged and 5 engaged) the friction zone is from like, 3 to 4. I did hear the look where you're going a zillion times, but I don't have a problem with that. I think I also need to get the order of operations down better, especially when I'm slowing down with the clutch and the brake cause that's when I'm most likely to stall. I'm feeling a bit better now, probably because I got back home and had some rest and food. I mean, worst case, I can redo the riding parts over again and I'll make sure to pick a different bike the next time around. I'm sure I'll do better tomorrow. Those loops in 3d gear we did were so much fun. Thanks peeps!
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Nov 25, 2012 03:43
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M42 posted:Issue #2, it stalls veeeery easily in 1st. Is that normal? Must have stalled it like 20 times today. Yeah don't be afraid to give it some more throttle, especially if you're a big guy (I'm 6'3" 210). I stalled a lot during the first day, and early in the second I realized I could roll that throttle and things were great. It's a 250cc cruiser, not a R1 - you won't wheelie it or go tearing across the lot and crash. As to the neutral thing yeah, those bikes are just beat to poo poo - I couldn't get my Eliminator into neutral to save my life. Try to put it into Neutral while you're still rolling and coast to a stop - that helps a lot. I often ended up leaving it in 1st at the end of drills and being drat sure to clutch in when I started it again. Note: I got lucky and the instructors never noticed/said anything, you'll probably get lectured if you do that 
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Nov 25, 2012 04:23
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I remain pretty new at this, but I've found that giving the bike some revs can help it pop into neutral if it's finicky. Bring it up to 2-3k rpm and try and it'll probably pop into neutral easier. The DR200 I was on was like that, and the finicky Rebels were the same way.
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Nov 25, 2012 04:29
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I think my main worry is that there will be a part on the test where I have to stop in 1st using only the brake and not the clutch. That bike literally can't do it without stalling. It can do a california stop if I'm careful, but not a full one. And then if it stalls, I have to gently caress around trying to find neutral for 5 minutes before I can start it again while a line of people forms behind me... I dunno. I figure I've got about a 20, maybe 30% chance of passing. Well, at least I'll get to redo all the fun parts.
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Nov 25, 2012 18:37
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M42 posted:I think my main worry is that there will be a part on the test where I have to stop in 1st using only the brake and not the clutch. Wait, what? This is literally impossible the way you've described it. By definition, to stop a vehicle with a manual transmission, you have to disengage the clutch (i.e. press the pedal or pull the lever).
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Nov 25, 2012 18:43
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Maybe that was just for the california stops then? I can't really remember. Was pretty tired and confused at the end when we were doing them.
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Nov 25, 2012 18:45
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I'd try to avoid over thinking it and just do what you said earlier, let an instructor take the bike out and help you with any quirks it might have. When I took my MSF I was on a little 200 or 250 dual sport that was running so poorly that the throttle response was like a full second behind my input. Meaning I'd twist the grip, count "one mississippi" and then it might start to rev up. It made the slow parts difficult but I was able to pass. Concentrate on the basics of the skills their teaching you and don't worry about being perfect at them yet, it'll come much easier when you get your own bike in decent shape.
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Nov 25, 2012 18:52
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M42 posted:I think my main worry is that there will be a part on the test where I have to stop in 1st using only the brake and not the clutch. That bike literally can't do it without stalling. It can do a california stop if I'm careful, but not a full one. And then if it stalls, I have to gently caress around trying to find neutral for 5 minutes before I can start it again while a line of people forms behind me... There is no point where you will have to do this. When you come to a complete stop in the test, you should always have the clutch in and the bike in first. The end test for stopping is an emergency stop from speed, and it requires pulling in the clutch, downshifting, and applying both brakes while coming to a stop. If you were tired at the end of the day, you probably just misinterpreted what he was saying, or he meant something else...I had problems because the coach kept repeating a sentence to me that was effectively meaningless because I didn't understand what he meant, and I didn't want to look like an idiot by asking for clarification.  That was like 9 years ago now, and I can't for the life of me remember what the hell it was, though.I do remember them wanting you to roll through the stop sometimes when you were doing the bigger loops, the problem with that is when the person in front of you goes too slow, and then you stall the bike behind them because you've had to slow down too much for the bike to not stall. In that case, you're better off pulling in the clutch and either slowing to a complete stop to wait for them to get some space, or trying to brake earlier and approach slower so you don't get all jammed up behind them.
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Nov 25, 2012 18:59
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Hah, so with about two hours to go before the evaluation, one of the instructors gets onto my bike to use it for an example. Then we go on break, and when I come back he's standing there sheepishly going, "I've switched your bikes. Use this one". Getting on the newer one was so much better. I mean shifting actually worked like it's supposed to and everything! It did take a while to figure all of its quirks but once I did, it was so much smoother. I did pass, but I racked up 14 points--4 from the emergency stop being a bit too long, and 10 (!) for slowing down in the curve. I did the figure 8 loving perfectly though, that was the one I was most worried about. Anyway, unfortunately it's gonna be quite a while till I can get my own bike, but when I do I fully intend to spend like 6 months loving around in parking lots. Definitely not confident enough to even start side streets yet.
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Nov 26, 2012 04:00
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M42 posted:Anyway, unfortunately it's gonna be quite a while till I can get my own bike, but when I do I fully intend to spend like 6 months loving around in parking lots. Definitely not confident enough to even start side streets yet. Yeaaaaaah...everyone feels that way, and then that feeling lasts about 2 days. It quickly becomes harder to keep yourself from pushing beyond your skill level than it is pushing yourself to try new things.  Congrats on passing. e: like, I definitely did feel that way immediately after passing the MSF, but to get to the nearest parking lot to try the drills again I had to ride on some streets. I was terrified at first but got used to puttering along in traffic after a couple of days. From there, it's just a lifetime of practice. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Nov 26, 2012 |
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Nov 26, 2012 04:03
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M42 posted:
Yea.. that doesn't happen. FWIW, when I got my first bike, I had the same idea - "Oh, I'll do a couple of weekends putting around in parking lots, then work up to surface streets, then...etc". Yea, went out, did 15-20 minutes of putting around, some figure 8s, circles, stops, said "okay, easy enough", went out and hopped on the back roads. 2 hours later I figured it would be a good time to fill up the tank, rode back. Did 2 hours the next day, and the following weekend did a 350 mile round trip. It's really not that big a deal. Confidence comes with seat time. Go ride. As for "it's going to be a while", why? You live in the bay area, the coldest it gets is in the 40's, it's easy to ride in that. I went by the Honda dealership the other day looking at potential track bikes, and the sales guy practically tried to hand me a CBR250r, 2012s right now were marked down to $3699, they had 5 on the floor. Toss a few hundred bucks down and grab some el cheapo financing. If Honda doesn't want to play, check out penfed: https://www.penfed.org/Motorcycle-Loan/ Hit up some off season clearance deals on gear, and voila. ThatCguy fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Nov 26, 2012 |
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Nov 26, 2012 05:15
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Oh, it's not cause of weather--I'm dead broke and unemployed . It makes sense that I wouldn't last that long in parking lots, but I'm definitely going to take it easy starting out. I personally have a bit of a problem getting overconfident when I shouldn't be, and I don't want to risk that with motorcycles.
M42 fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Nov 26, 2012 |
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Nov 26, 2012 06:11
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Congrats on passing! Drop me a PM when you're ready to start looking for bikes...I might have something. VVVVV this too. Z3n fucked around with this message at 06:45 on Nov 26, 2012 |
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Nov 26, 2012 06:42
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I'll be that guy and throw in the get-a-used-bike-first suggestion as well. There's no reason to buy new unless you want something pretty, and that can be quickly ruined by the all too common newbie drop.
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Nov 26, 2012 06:43
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AncientTV posted:I'll be that guy and throw in the get-a-used-bike-first suggestion as well. There's no reason to buy new unless you want something pretty, and that can be quickly ruined by the all too common newbie drop. When you can get brand new and warrantied with no blemishes or questionable maintenance for ~3500 bucks and cheap financing, it makes paying 2-2.5k for someone's ratty 8 year old Ninja 250 not look quite as enticing.
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Nov 26, 2012 06:47
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ThatCguy posted:When you can get brand new and warrantied with no blemishes or questionable maintenance for ~3500 bucks and cheap financing, it makes paying 2-2.5k for someone's ratty 8 year old Ninja 250 not look quite as enticing. If you're paying 2.5k for a ninja 250 as a first bike in a place with a reasonable bike market like the bay you are doing it wrong. 500-1k range for a bike if you are mechanically inclined or willing to learn, 1k to 1500 if you want something to just ride. I bougt my first 250 for 1800 with no support from forums or any mechanical awareness, just found it in the paper and had them truck it to my place. It was rock solid, until I ran the battery down starting it to hear it run  And msrp on the ninja 250 is now ~4200.
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Nov 26, 2012 06:54
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I paid a grand for my 5 year old 250 What's wrong with having a ratty first bike? If one needs cheap financing to buy a new bike, that probably means that they wouldn't be able to afford replacement fairings in the case of a drop. Or, if they didn't care about buying replacement fairings in such a situation, then they have their very own ratty bike at twice the cost of buying one off Craigslist. Of course, this all comes with a caveat. Namely, if someone wants to buy a new bike as their first, more power to them. I just feel like all options should be voiced. edit: This doesn't even take depreciation into consideration. I could sell my 250 for what I bought it for (or more) tomorrow. Can't really say the same for a new purchase. AncientTV fucked around with this message at 06:58 on Nov 26, 2012 |
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Nov 26, 2012 06:55
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Z3n posted:If you're paying 2.5k for a ninja 250 as a first bike in a place with a reasonable bike market like the bay you are doing it wrong. 500-1k range for a bike if you are mechanically inclined or willing to learn, 1k to 1500 if you want something to just ride. I bougt my first 250 for 1800 with no support from forums or any mechanical awareness, just found it in the paper and had them truck it to my place. It was rock solid, until I ran the battery down starting it to hear it run Read my posts. I was making reference to the fire sale prices they're tossing out on 2012 CBR250r's - $3699 otd. As for your suggestion, no disrespect intended for M42's mechanical ability, but I'd be somewhat reticent to recommend a 1k "project" bike as a first bike for a newbie female rider. Obviously ymmv.
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Nov 26, 2012 07:01
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The biggest issue is that people almost always get it wrong on their first bike because they dont have the riding experience to know what they really want yet. If you finance a new bike, you're pretty much stuck with it and you're going to get hammered on depreciation. Buying a crappy used bike that you dont give a poo poo about, laugh when you drop, and sell for what you are into? That makes riding more fun and less stressful. And hell I still cant seem to buy a bike that is right for me  ThatCguy posted:Read my posts. I was making reference to the fire sale prices they're tossing out on 2012 CBR250r's - $3699 otd. On the newbie mechanic thing, in my experience, newbie or experienced rider, male or female, doesn't matter. What does matter is that they want to learn how their bike works. We've got a number of people on here who started with no mechanical experience and are now doing their own rebuilds, and there's enough solid mechanics on here that someone will basically never get shoddy information. One of the reasons I love this site.
Z3n fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Nov 26, 2012 |
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Nov 26, 2012 07:01
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ThatCguy posted:As for your suggestion, no disrespect intended for M42's mechanical ability, but I'd be somewhat reticent to recommend a 1k "project" bike as a first bike for a newbie female rider. Obviously ymmv. Pff, my first bike was a $600 project bike that I put back together for another $1200 or so (of which probably half was fluids or wear parts like tires, brakes and chain). Now I know what every single piece is on a Honda 350, and how to repair each one.  I would not recommend this for someone who just wants to get out and ride, and doesn't have a bunch of free time. Also, what does her being a "female" have to do with it? 
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Nov 26, 2012 07:14
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Sagebrush posted:Pff, my first bike was a $600 project bike that I put back together for another $1200 or so (of which probably half was fluids or wear parts like tires, brakes and chain). Now I know what every single piece is on a Honda 350, and how to repair each one. There's a fine line between getting a deal and penny wise/pound foolish. You and AncientTV apparently ended up on the wrong side of that equation And yeah, her being a her doesn't change her ability to turn a wrench if she wants.
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Nov 26, 2012 07:18
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Sagebrush posted:Pff, my first bike was a $600 project bike that I put back together for another $1200 or so (of which probably half was fluids or wear parts like tires, brakes and chain). Now I know what every single piece is on a Honda 350, and how to repair each one. I have 7 chick friends that ride. None of them like to gently caress with their bikes, they just want to hop on them and ride. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation. Hell, I have a 40 year old car with multiple side draughts and a 25 year old race car, my bike is fuel injected because I don't want to dick with a bike carb on a regular basis. A thousand dollar bike is going to require you loving with it on a regular basis, it's always going to "need" something. That's one more thing for a fairly unconfident newbie rider to deal with, needless distraction.
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Nov 26, 2012 07:24
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ThatCguy posted:A thousand dollar bike is going to require you loving with it on a regular basis, it's always going to "need" something. That's one more thing for a fairly unconfident newbie rider to deal with, needless distraction. My thousand dollar bike has required the following loving-with: tires chain sprockets fluids valves Or, as some would call it, scheduled maintenance. However... Z3n posted:There's a fine line between getting a deal and penny wise/pound foolish. You and AncientTV apparently ended up on the wrong side of that equation ...I wasn't going to bring the SV into this 
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Nov 26, 2012 07:26
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Z3n posted:There's a fine line between getting a deal and penny wise/pound foolish. You and AncientTV apparently ended up on the wrong side of that equation I actually did it specifically to learn how to rebuild a motorcycle, cost be damned. I did the MSF in the fall in Canada, and I was only partly employed over the winter, so I had lots of free time and newbie-hostile streets. Figured I could either buy something running and have it sit in the garage all winter while I stared at it, or buy a project, risk having nothing usable/paying a huge amount by the end, but learn a new skill in the process. It wasn't much of a deal overall (though incidentally, there appears to be no shortage of hipsters willing to pay >2000 for a running CB350 in decent shape) but I learned what I wanted to and now I've got a sweet little bike to joyride on too. Exactly what I wanted from the experience. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 07:35 on Nov 26, 2012 |
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Nov 26, 2012 07:33
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Z3n posted:
I'm interested in your take on the bike's freeway manners. I took one out for a lark two weekends ago, other than getting it up to ~80 on a few backroads, I didn't really put any real highway mileage on it, I was amazed with how light the thing felt though. It certainly didn't seem to have much more top end once you hit about 75, but low end and mid range with the little fuel injected thumper was night and day from what the carbed ninja 250 is, much, much better than the kawasaki. As for expensive, I guess I'm just conditioned differently, I almost impulse bought one on the spot after the sales guy broke out the Honda contingency package they're playing with for WERA stuff and all. I was looking at something for a small track bike, and they had one on the floor decked out with woodcraft bars, race plastics and a much smaller exhaust. Definitely tempting.
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Nov 26, 2012 07:36
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ThatCguy posted:I have 7 chick friends that ride. None of them like to gently caress with their bikes, they just want to hop on them and ride. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation. I've got about the same number of female friends that ride, but most of them work on their own bikes. One of them does maintenance for her male friends too...maybe she'll chime in As I said before, it's just about the motivation to learn. ThatCguy posted:I'm interested in your take on the bike's freeway manners. I took one out for a lark two weekends ago, other than getting it up to ~80 on a few backroads, I didn't really put any real highway mileage on it, I was amazed with how light the thing felt though. It certainly didn't seem to have much more top end once you hit about 75, but low end and mid range with the little fuel injected thumper was night and day from what the carbed ninja 250 is, much, much better than the kawasaki. I just don't see the gain in spending more for a single cylinder bike that's more stressed on the freeway, lower power than the acceptable but anemic Ninja 250, and that is basically only available new. It'll also get wrecked by the Ninja 250 on the track (which it's usually going to race with), so good luck actually collecting that contingency, because you're running at a pretty severe disadvantage. What isn't a big deal freeway wise for 5-10 minutes quickly becomes unbearable if you're the sort to be bothered by it after 30 minutes or so. It might feel a bit quicker off the line, but that's more to do with shorter gearing that runs out earlier. If you geared a 250 down a bit, I bet it'd pick up the same way but still have top end on it too. I wouldn't want a CBR 250 trackbike for the same reason I wouldn't want a Ninja 250 trackbike...speed differentials, especially if you want to go racing, are loving scary. For 3500 you could pick up an AFM podium capable SV with full suspension, flatslides, stock or mildly built engine, and all the toys a trackbike needs. Z3n fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Nov 26, 2012 |
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Nov 26, 2012 07:44
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Z3n posted:On the newbie mechanic thing, in my experience, newbie or experienced rider, male or female, doesn't matter. What does matter is that they want to learn how their bike works. We've got a number of people on here who started with no mechanical experience and are now doing their own rebuilds, and there's enough solid mechanics on here that someone will basically never get shoddy information. One of the reasons I love this site. Z3n posted:I've got about the same number of female friends that ride, but most of them work on their own bikes. One of them does maintenance for her male friends too...maybe she'll chime in And honestly, unless you're genuinely mechanically inclined, I wouldn't advise anyone to get a project for their first bike. Riding is a big enough learning experience on its own without throwing in the whole other paradigm of learning to fix things.
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Nov 26, 2012 15:03
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I have a CBR250R and it suits me just fine. There is a lot of great advice in this forum but at the end of they day a bike is a personal choice. I wouldn't ride some of bikes people love in this forum anymore than they'd want to ride my 250. Take your time and get the bike that is most fun for you. That's all that matters. Speaking of fun, I feel like I've slipped into that dangerous zone of "experienced noob" on a bike. I've put 1,000 miles on and find myself riding like a dong more than I find acceptable. I don't want a reality check in the form of an off but I find that my judgement is getting progressively worse as I unconsciously slide into dong mode more frequently. How do I literally check myself before I wreck myself? I have been using my gearing up time as a mental checklist to ride safe, than I get on the road and dong it up anyway. 
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Nov 27, 2012 00:43
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Good question. I had a near-death experience on a mountain road followed soon by sliding through a stoplight with the rear locked up (a light, nearly invisible dusting of sand on the road) that knocked me out of the overconfident newbie stage right quick. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, of course, but it sure did work.
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Nov 27, 2012 01:08
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Here it comes, wall-of-text newbie-story. Read only if you like reading wall-of-text newbie-stories. Of course I have a million questions but honestly I'm in no dire need of answers; I can probably figure it out somehow (or just PM z3n, hahah). But hey this thread is about MSF so someone might find this interesting. Took the class at the USS Hornet in Alameda, CA this weekend: -Christ riding is a lot of fun. -I want WAAAAAAAAYY more practice before I trust myself to share a road with anyone else. Which brings me to my main point-- isn't it WAY too easy for joe retard to legally get on a biek and start killing himself and anyone else he manages to take with him? I did not trust 90% of the people in my class (everyone passed) and hell I certainly wouldn't trust me after taking that meager skills test. I can't imagine how many people just go take the test at the DMV without taking this course and are flying around in the wrong gear or staring 5 feet in front of them while puttering 2 mph towards a dump or a crash. --- So yeah day 2 of riding was... an interesting experience for me, where the 2 new RiderCoaches did NOT seem pleased at the get go, and I was pretty sure the main lady just said gently caress this I can't watch this poo poo and just had the coach from day 1 and the other new coach handle us. On one hand, it felt vaguely discouraging, being lumped in with students, but on the other, completely understandable. I get this feeling that RiderCoaches have to grin and bear the most pathetic safety violations and dangerous idiots because if they failed those idiots, they would just turn around and get their license at the DMV. Am I tripping? Was this coach being a bit too cold? Here's what happened: Day 1 was okay. It was also very easy stuff. Most of us were new riders (I myself had only ridden a bike literally once) with a couple scooter guys who wanted a motorcycle license. Our RiderCoaches were ridiculously friendly and supportive and awesome and I had a blast riding around in dumb little circles. Everyone was cheery and talkative. Day 2, the new main RiderCoach starts out very friendly and chats us up to get our eyes and minds off the previous class going through their skills test. She seems like she's doing fine. She also reminds us that CHP may be watching us through binoculars for safety violations and asks that we do things like keep our hands on the handlebars etc. etc. We open with the first exercise, figure 8 U-turns, and someone immediately dumps their bike. So here's the thing. I thought this kind of thing was totally expected, and the whole point of the course-- let the kids work out the kinks on beater bikes before they go even close to getting their license. But somehow the attitude just completely shifted into this negative feedback loop. First I think the students were already feeling an intimidating jump from Day 1 babytown frolics to a more "difficult" Day 2 technique. Then to see someone dump their bike like immediately was probably discouraging. Everyone clammed up, the positive atmosphere melted away, people started making dumb mistakes (not strapping in their helmet, not turning the ignition off when shutting down their bike, hands constantly off the handlebars in line), everyone shuffled to a slightly lethargic crawl and I think this is where the main RiderCoach just started thinking "what the gently caress did they do yesterday and do they even remember any of it," and this fed into the teacher/student feedback loop. So after commenting on how we were the "quietest class" she's ever had, and watching people timidly putter their way through the next exercise, I think she got fed up because she just handed it all off to the rest of the coaches. I could also be wrong-- as the main manager, maybe she wasn't even planning on running a lot of the exercises. I dunno. Chances are, what happened was a little combination of everything I mentioned. All in all, things eventually loosened up, our old RiderCoach returning probably lifted spirits, and the other new RiderCoach ended up being pretty friendly too, despite the continuation of dumb minor safety violations and the light patina of timid incompetence coloring most of the class (this one scooter guy just could not loving go faster than 3 miles an hour, ever). Everyone passed, and the unsure 90% breathed a sigh of relief. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I also felt kind of relieved too, but in a pretty different way. ----- Anyway by no means am I trying to be a dick or whatever, I just think it takes a certain amount of confidence and competence to operate a motorcycle, and if you can't bring yourself up to speed you literally won't make the freakin turn, and you've got an accident waiting to happen. Whatever, I'm brand new to this game and don't know poo poo. So more importantly than questions about milquetoasts they're passing in the BRC, I've got questions about me: I think I did pretty well for someone who has never ridden a motorcycle before, and who doesn't know how to drive stick. I won't lie, I stalled out a lot. Luckily not enough to hold up the line, but definitely enough times to get me to really concentrate on throttle/clutch control. I'm definitely still zeroing in on it, sometimes cheating a little bit and rolling on the throttle too early, and sometimes too late, as in after fully letting the clutch out. I spent probably the most of my mental concentration on shifting-- once again it is brand new to me as someone who drives an automatic. Sometimes I swear to god I'm turning in the direction I intend to go rather than pressing. I don't know. My coaches said I was fine, and I definitely got into leaning pretty naturally and picking up speed (christ so much fun) out of every turn, but, I dunno. It's the weirdest feeling. I am probably just imagining things, and just naturally handling it like a bicycle. I'm one of those weird guys that is ultra self-aware because he has to understand the mechanics behind everything, but also manages to pull things off with just feel too. Shrug to the max. Need more practice braking. I'm not doing an even press to the rear on the front brake-- the Day 1 coach inspired confidence in me so I braked perfectly every time with him, the Day 2 coach kept saying I was applying too much at the end. My head was also full of "when do I downshift" because I'm not like, a pro head-patting tummy-rubber, and can't operate the clutch and front brake at different speeds yet. Day 1 coach said it was okay to just pull in the clutch and the front brake at the same time and same speed (concentrating on an even squeeze for the brake, of course) and then downshift. ---- The only points I got on the skills test were for just barely crossing outside the box in the figure 8 U turn, and then going just a little too slow on the final 135 degree turn. I was among the last and we were SERIOUSLY losing light and I could barely see the cones, but more than anything I just wanted more practice. Finally, I do have carpal tunnel and I DID really feel it bad enough at the end of Day 1 to be really discouraged, but somehow after Day 2 I kinda felt fine. I think just holding that clutch in all day must've built up some muscle or something. I'll also definitely try a crampbuster too. Basically I just want practice practice practice practice practice practice. I feel like it was a liiiiittle annoying to try to apply instruction in 2 reps with a lot of downtime in between . I don't have friends with bikes near me, and I'm currently looking at the Kawasaki Vulcan that's been sitting in my friend's yard for 10+ years that belongs to his relative which we hope to sell me for very cheap. I don't know much about it and it wouldn't be my first choice at all but the key is if I can just get it ridiculously cheap and just putter around a parking lot and get my reps in. Is that a dumb idea? (I need to figure out more on its specs but for the life of me could not figure out exactly what it was beyond a Vulcan cruiser)
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Nov 27, 2012 01:11
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yellowjournalism posted:Which brings me to my main point-- isn't it WAY too easy for joe retard to legally get on a biek and start killing himself and anyone else he manages to take with him? Yes. quote:I think I did pretty well for someone who has never ridden a motorcycle before, and who doesn't know how to drive stick. I won't lie, I stalled out a lot. Luckily not enough to hold up the line, but definitely enough times to get me to really concentrate on throttle/clutch control. I'm definitely still zeroing in on it, sometimes cheating a little bit and rolling on the throttle too early, and sometimes too late, as in after fully letting the clutch out. I spent probably the most of my mental concentration on shifting-- once again it is brand new to me as someone who drives an automatic. Stalling a lot is totally normal. I was in the same boat when I started, and stalled a bunch too. The nice thing about bikes is you can really burn the clutch without doing harm thanks to it being a wet clutch, so it's not a big deal to use the clutch a lot, like it would be in a car. Shifting will get more natural time, just remember to keep your eyes up and you're good. I didn't figure out turning for awhile either...just give it time and practice once you get on your own bike. Also, at low speeds, you will give a countersteer input to the bar to initiate the turn, and then the wheel will naturally turn to the inside as the bike starts to lean over. So you can both countersteer and have the wheel turned to the inside. Note here are some police officers doing a paired riding competition, and note the different ways their front wheel is turned to the inside:  However, they still initiated that lean with a countersteer motion, unfortunately, it's really difficult to find pictures of people's wheels pointing to the outside as they initiate the turn, but it does happen. Hand cramps are normal when starting. You don't generally use those muscles that much and you can expect to be a bit sore. quote:I'm currently looking at the Kawasaki Vulcan that's been sitting in my friend's yard for 10+ years that belongs to his relative which we hope to sell me for very cheap. I don't know much about it and it wouldn't be my first choice at all but the key is if I can just get it ridiculously cheap and just putter around a parking lot and get my reps in. Is that a dumb idea? (I need to figure out more on its specs but for the life of me could not figure out exactly what it was beyond a Vulcan cruiser) The smaller displacement Vulcans are fine choices for a starter bike. What displacement is it? Stugazi posted:I have a CBR250R and it suits me just fine. At the end of the day, all of this is just people on the internet chatting about bikes, and should be treated appropriately I'd say that the important thing actually isn't never riding like a dong, but knowing the appropriate places to ride like a dong. In a place with good sight lines, decent pavement and conditions, not a lot of cars/traffic, no hidden driveways and blind corners, you can dong it up quite a bit with no worries. Same is true of doing gymhkana or similar in a parking lot. So you can get the dong out of your system by doing that. The other thing that I find really helps is refocusing your riding into 2 separate types: You've got your "fun" riding, on roads with good conditions, and you've got your "safety" riding. Fun riding is the stuff above, safety riding is when you're going from place to place. Safety riding is all about managing risk, space cushion, prediction, and anticipation of those around you. Constantly running scenarios about what if that car pulled out in front of me, what if that person switched lanes, what if that person stepped out into the sidewalk, all of those things occupy the mental energy that would normally be committed to riding like a dong, and you're a safer rider for ingraining those habits.
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Nov 27, 2012 01:32
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Stugazi posted:I have a CBR250R and it suits me just fine. Z3n posted:
nsaP fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Nov 27, 2012 |
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Nov 27, 2012 01:42
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