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Rolo posted:My new Yamaha had a huge incentive going on. I got it out the door, all taxes/fees and insurance for well under the MSRP on the bike alone. Definitely get frame sliders. When I got my first new bike I wouldn't take it out of the dealer until the sliders arrived. Obviously one doesn't need to be that anal about it, but they will solve a lot of problems. I ended up dropping the bike once just before selling it, and the sliders made all the difference money-wise.
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Aug 4, 2019 05:34
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pokie posted:Definitely get frame sliders. When I got my first new bike I wouldn't take it out of the dealer until the sliders arrived. Obviously one doesn't need to be that anal about it, but they will solve a lot of problems. I ended up dropping the bike once just before selling it, and the sliders made all the difference money-wise. I actually already got the OEM sliders, I just need to pop em on when I get back in town. Going out of town for a week right after buying a bike sucks.
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Aug 4, 2019 14:11
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I bought a bike and I’ve been waiting a month to be eligible to upgrade my license to M2 so I can get reasonably cheap insurance. Sitting in my driveway practicing clutch friction zone but not being able to ride it is driving me bananas  But also probably for the best since I sprained my foot in that rider training lowside so it’s best that heals first anyway. Shifting is a bitch when you can’t put pressure on your big toe 
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Aug 4, 2019 16:14
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I hope to pass my CBT soon. Not sure if I want to get a 125 to learn further on myself, or go straight to DAS full license lessons. Regardless, what's a good place (besides autotrader.co.uk) to find used 125cc bikes in Scotland? Ideally I'd like to keep the cost down to £1000 or lower for the 125, as it'd be a beater I'd sell one once I have my full license, assuming I decide to get a 125 and not just continue on lessons.
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Aug 7, 2019 13:00
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Pine Cone Jones posted:I'm up in New Hampshire, there are older Ninja 250's for between 1.5-2.5k and 300's for around 3k. The only reason I'm considering the Z400 is that I feel it might last me longer than the Ninja 250 and might be better suited to longer rides at higher speeds along the highway if I was going to go up to northern and western Maine. I'm too short for adventure bikes, unless they were lowered, unfortunately. The Ninja 250 would be cheaper and probably a wiser choice at the start, but new and shiny is...well new and shiny, unless I drop it. I've owned 5 bikes over the last 9 years, and the 250 I've had for the last 4 is the most comfortable one of them all other than the '81 Goldwing. I've done up to 450 mile days and moto camping trips up to 5 days on it. The 250's seat allows lots of movement to change up your riding position on long rides. I would say the 250 is more tiring than my other bikes were on the interstate, but the bike can do it all day, and if there is a wrong way to ride motorcycles it's riding on the interstate. This is the longest I've kept a bike. My previous bikes include an SV-650 and DRZ, neither of those lasted 6 months. It's in the budget to get a new bike next spring but it makes me kinda sad to think about getting rid of the 250. Like Slavvy said, the real advantage the newer bikes have is ABS.
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Aug 7, 2019 15:37
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I’ve only been riding for 100 something miles and I almost got in an accident today! I’m going about 35-40 and this guy on my right runs a stop sign coming straight out of his suburb. He was going to T bone me from the right and nobody else was around so I made a quick choice to swerve left into the other lane and keep my speed up as much as I could. I could have kicked their bumper it was so close. We didn’t touch and the absolute piece of dog poo poo never even slowed down. If I had gunned the brakes instead of the throttle he would have run me over. I was instantly furious (adrenaline is crazy) so I stopped, took a breather, calmed down and went home. Now I’m less angry and more proud of myself for quickly finding an out and doing it when someone else put me in danger.
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Aug 7, 2019 20:02
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Always be expecting that to happen. Every car at any kind of intersection is going do to that to you. When approaching an intersection at which you have a green light or no stop or yield, and there's a car at it, weave left to right several times in a controlled manner. The lateral movement of you (and especially your headlight) draws their attention to you. I find it also gives me a feel for the inertia of the bike at that point in time, allowing for a better stop if necessary. Keep practicing your hard braking. Constantly. You want to be able to rely on that skill as a priority rather than swerving. If your only option is to swerve, you're going too fast. The more you put yourself in situations where you have to swerve your way out, the sooner your luck is going to run out.
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Aug 8, 2019 05:03
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Yeah I’ll keep practicing, I’ll test the brakes more and get a better feel for emergency braking. I’ve done fast stopping that probably didn’t come close to using the ABS and still managed to surprise me with how fast it’ll decelerate. I think of my lane position with respect to other people and I glance at things like their rims to see if they start spinning when they’re stopped at intersections. I was already closer to the left side because people like to hit a stop sign and start nosing out into traffic while they look, which I don’t want to be near if they decide all’s clear and gun it. Weird thing about this guy is he didn’t roll up to the stop sign, not see me and accelerate into the intersection, he simply never slowed down at all for the stop sign. I was already entering the intersection before he had even passed his stop sign and he was going fast enough to almost come out of nowhere. I’m going to take a lesson out of it and slow even more for intersections that don’t have the best visibility and do a better job even when I have the right of way. I’d been doing this for intersections anyway but this one still managed to jump out at me, so I need to dial up the situational awareness.
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Aug 8, 2019 14:49
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Glad that you weren't injured. What you did worked out and that's what ultimately matters, but I'm going to pick it apart anyway just as an educational opportunity. Always, always make a quick glance down any cross streets where somebody might blow a stop sign and cut you off. Always cover both brakes as you appriach and maybe roll off the throttle. Listen for engines and pay especially close attention to any that seem to be accelerating. If you see a car, note the driver's head position and if he's looking at you or not. Look at how the front tires are oriented, indicating whether he's planning to go straight or make a turn. Note the attitude of the car; if the front suspension is compressed, it's decelerating, while if the nose is a little higher than usual it's speeding up. This seems like a ton of poo poo to pay attention to, and it does take time to learn to see it all, but it's part of developing the sixth sense that will warn you a few seconds before a car does something idiotic in front of you. On a motorcycle you will never win in a collision with a car, so you just have to be more alert and more reactive. As for your specific move -- swerving into the opposite lane is not something you should get in the habit of doing. If there's space there and you need to take it to save your life, by all means do it, but obviously you might be putting yourself in the path of another car. When I was learning to ride I blew a turn on a twisty mountain road, went across the yellow line into what I thought was an empty lane, and missed a car that came around the corner at that moment by about two feet. It was the nearest to death I've ever been and it really reinforced that you never, ever treat the opposite lane as a safety buffer. Also, something to think about is that (if I'm interpreting the situation correctly) you swerved to the left as the car approached you from the right. That means you and the car are essentially both heading for the same spot on the road and only your speed can save you. The first thing you want to do obviously is brake hard, but if you need to swerve as well, you want to aim to pass behind the car rather than in front of it. Aim just past the car's tail lights, and you'll be heading for the space the car is about to vacate rather than directly into the target zone. Again, survival is number one and if you did something that kept you alive, that's what you should have done in the situation. But just some things to consider for the future
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Aug 8, 2019 14:58
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Sagebrush posted:Always, always make a quick glance down any cross streets where somebody might blow a stop sign and cut you off. Always cover both brakes as you appriach and maybe roll off the throttle. Listen for engines and pay especially close attention to any that seem to be accelerating. If you see a car, note the driver's head position and if he's looking at you or not. Look at how the front tires are oriented, indicating whether he's planning to go straight or make a turn. Note the attitude of the car; if the front suspension is compressed, it's decelerating, while if the nose is a little higher than usual it's speeding up. This is good stuff, thank you. I want to become better from this because I still woke up this morning wanting to ride and even though he was the one that blew basic traffic law I keep playing it in my head and thinking of better ways to handle it. Like you said, I lived, but I feel like this is a lesson in better preparing for all types of intersections.
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Aug 8, 2019 16:04
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You'll fail your road test here, if the examiner can't see you clearly checking the intersections.
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Aug 8, 2019 17:24
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I failed my driving test the first time because I didn't look both ways down cross streets as I approached/passed them, so I missed a point or two for every cross street. I will say riding a bike has made me better than ever at checking perpendicular traffic, even in the car.
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Aug 8, 2019 18:05
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MomJeans420 posted:I failed my driving test the first time because I didn't look both ways down cross streets as I approached/passed them, so I missed a point or two for every cross street. I will say riding a bike has made me better than ever at checking perpendicular traffic, even in the car. Yeah I thought I was doing a pretty good job of looking and planning until something happened that told me I wasn’t doing it well enough. Sucks to learn by letting someone scare me but I’m going to take the lesson when I go ride tomorrow. Helps to talk about it here too, so thanks as usual.
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Aug 8, 2019 19:39
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Yeah, Rolo, keep your eyes out! Once you start hitting the highways more often, beware that people will try to merge into you all the time. I average like once a week incident during my commute like in my vid below, although usually less extreme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8El9K7A_IHE&t=240s
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Aug 9, 2019 17:30
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I went out today for about 20-30 miles (too hot to go longer) and I took with me what I picked up the other day. Worked harder prepping for intersections with less visibility and was able to handle those harder-to-clear areas safer. It was a really good ride and I had my best slow-U-turn to date.
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Aug 9, 2019 19:48
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After taking a motorcycle out on a test ride today, I really have to question if its something I should be doing at all. I'm not sure if it was my nerves, or a lack of experience, or a combination of both, but I made an rear end out of myself. I didn't drop the bike, but I never breached 40 mph, was slow as death doing everything. Afraid of the throttle and awful at shifting, which may be a byproduct of my car being way too touchy in regards to throttle. I hadn't ridden since I'd taken the MSF, passed, and had gotten my license. Sorry for venting, just feeling down and kind of defeated.
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Aug 16, 2019 20:27
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That sounds like normal new rider stuff to me. Of course you aren't perfect; you have like, what, 8 hours of total time in the saddle? Being slow is fine. It's okay to be afraid of opening the throttle all the way when you're starting out (and indeed if you get on an unfamiliar bike and pin it you're a dumbass) and quick smooth shifting will come with time. It's much better to be the guy who's slowly wobbling around the parking lot than the guy who figures he's totally fine with 8 hours of riding, immediately gets on the highway, accelerates to 90mph, and gets locked up because everything is happening way too fast and stacks it into the back of a truck. If you didn't drop the bike, didn't stall it at the stoplights, and didn't get in any dangerous situations, you're fine. Get back on the horse and keep at it. e: you will also feel a lot more comfortable when the bike is your own and you're riding it around your neighborhood on your own plan with no time pressure and no sales guy breathing down your neck etc Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Aug 16, 2019 |
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Aug 16, 2019 20:38
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Pine Cone Jones posted:After taking a motorcycle out on a test ride today, I really have to question if its something I should be doing at all. I'm not sure if it was my nerves, or a lack of experience, or a combination of both, but I made an rear end out of myself. I didn't drop the bike, but I never breached 40 mph, was slow as death doing everything. Afraid of the throttle and awful at shifting, which may be a byproduct of my car being way too touchy in regards to throttle. I hadn't ridden since I'd taken the MSF, passed, and had gotten my license. Sorry for venting, just feeling down and kind of defeated. You did something that literally takes a lifetime to master, for the first time in IRL conditions, and weren't immediately fantastic at it? You are definitely totally hopeless and it isn't for you, definitely not just a completely normal human being trying to do something monkeys were never intended to do. I remember the first time I tried making a forums post. It was terrible and nsap made fun of me so I stopped and never posted again. Seriously though, if it were easy it wouldn't be rewarding. There's very few things left in this world where the barrier of entry is skill and determination instead of accumulation of funds. Bikes are like playing a guitar, not buying a copy of guitar hero. Don't give up, buy a decent learner bike and it becomes super duper fun when you stop stressing about falling over. If fat racist rednecks and limp wristed office warriors can do it, so can you.
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Aug 16, 2019 20:39
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I do beat myself up over dumb poo poo way too much, that's just a bad habit I'm trying to get better at. Anyway, thanks for letting me vent, just probably going to chill out and see about finding something cheap to figure stuff out on.
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Aug 16, 2019 20:44
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When I started out I was riding around my block and riding with my kids (they were on bicycles) around the neighborhood. I was such a(n inexperienced) lovely rider that my kids were able to keep up with me. Mostly. I was hoping that someday I would feel as comfortable on this heavy-rear end slow-turning deathtrap as I did on a bicycle or driving a car. It only took a couple/three weeks until I started feeling at home and doing stuff automatically instead of overthinking everything. Once or twice I narrowly avoided crashing into someone's garbage bins in my alley, mostly due to the fact that I was on a nice, lightweight, underpowered Ninja 250. A great learner bike, and one that I still miss. I think it happens to most of us except probably like Graham Jarvis.
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Aug 16, 2019 21:11
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I went full open throttle on my first motorcycle almost immediately. But it was a z125 so that just means I was going to speed limit...
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Aug 16, 2019 21:32
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about how restrictive will my size be if i wanted to start riding? i'm 6'1 and hover around 220ish. is that light enough to okay with mostly anything someone would like or is that a weight where it starts being a factor?
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Aug 23, 2019 00:20
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Nah, that's fine. Might want to look at the taller bikes like DR-Z400s and whatnot for comfort and the more capable suspension, but 300-400cc is more than enough power.
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Aug 23, 2019 00:30
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A 50S RAYGUN posted:about how restrictive will my size be if i wanted to start riding? i'm 6'1 and hover around 220ish. is that light enough to okay with mostly anything someone would like or is that a weight where it starts being a factor? i was those stats when i started riding, i rode a ninja 300 and a drz400sm and they both were flickable joys to ride
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Aug 23, 2019 00:36
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I am also 6'1 and have found everything from lowered cbr250rr to dirt bikes to be reasonably comfy.
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Aug 23, 2019 06:20
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I stopped at a barn sale just now to look at neat things, and I see an enormous Harley that looks like it weighs about the same as the barn that it's in. They lady managing the sale says if I want, it's $9,500 (USD) and I can ask their dad if I have any questions about it. I browse around for a bit and start to walk back to my bike when I think to myself "I've never ridden something like that. Why not?" This is in the midwest, so I walk from the family's barn to their other barn where the bike's owner is pouring concrete. Yes really. He sees my gear and says 'Wish I was out ridin' today too' "That bike for sale is yours, then?" "Yeap" "Mind if I take her around the block" I say, while realizing that the closest thing to a city block is probably a 20 minute drive away. "Go 'head. Keysr innit" I head back to the first barn and relay this to his daughter, she pulls a table out of the way so I can get the bike out. I sit down on it, and my friends, this thing is an absolute unit. Harley Ultra Classic that looks like it's from the 70s. I stare in bewilderment at the key situation, which looks more like it's embedded in the dash. What I assume is the key has itself a filing cabinet keyhole in it. I then get off of it and disconnect the trickle charger and move what I can only describe as 'barn debris' out of the way. I've got my best  face on as if I'm appraising the bike while in fact I'm trying to figure out the handlebar situation. Each handlebar has more buttons on it than a gaming mouse, all of the labels have long since rubbed off. I start it up and the Tach seems immediately useless. Not because it doesn't work. Not because it lists itself in x100 (presumably to make the ~5k redline more impressive), but because I can count the RPM on my fingers. I manage to find the button that turns off country music and the left turn signal, which by some stroke of brilliance is completely divorced from the right turn signal. Through God's own grace I maneuver through the hellgrid of the barn sale tables with both of my feet as close to the ground as I can put them. Just for reference, this is a complete list of motorcycles that I have ridden: 1) The TW200 that I did the MSF with. 2) My wife's Z125 Pro. 3) My CB300f. 4) Whatever I've gotten myself into this time. I duckwalk to the bottom of their driveway and a car is waiting to pull into the garage sale. Oh no... a witness. I'm going to pull out onto a road. Dump this thing on it's side. And 'yes officer I saw the whole thing.' I make the most pathetic turn of my life getting this thing onto the road. I put my foot on the pegs 3 times before I realize that they don't exist, and put them on the running board instead. I find second gear and expect this thing to be all torque, but it reluctantly accepts that I wish to up to the speed limit, and gets me there with a guttural sigh and shrug. After about 2 miles I'm ready to call it a day, and I realize the potential difficulty of turning this truck around. I find a place where I can make 3 left turns and get back on the road towards the owner. Turning on this thing is terrifying, since I feel like it's going to scrape and/or dump me at the smallest lean. I manage to get back to the barn and I park it outside. The barn sale lady asks me what I thought of it, and I was currently processing the same thing so I utterly forgot to be polite. "It turns like a boat that is towing a smaller boat." "I don't know what that means..." "oh, uh, it... I don't think it's for me. " I hop on my naked sportsbike and drive home, wiser for the experience. Alpha Phoenix fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Aug 24, 2019 |
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Aug 23, 2019 22:24
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that feels like a post that should be in an FAQ somewhere. Well done, I wouldn't have been brave enough, not that i would fear "loving up a nice bike" but that i'd fear getting yelled at by idiots for loving up a lovely bike. e: Pine Cone Jones posted:After taking a motorcycle out on a test ride today, I really have to question if its something I should be doing at all. I'm not sure if it was my nerves, or a lack of experience, or a combination of both, but I made an rear end out of myself. I didn't drop the bike, but I never breached 40 mph, was slow as death doing everything. Afraid of the throttle and awful at shifting, which may be a byproduct of my car being way too touchy in regards to throttle. I hadn't ridden since I'd taken the MSF, passed, and had gotten my license. Sorry for venting, just feeling down and kind of defeated. So, one guy dumped a bike and washed out of my MSF. He was this older boomer dude that had just spent six months vacationing in Vietnam, and having seen approximately 7 trillion people on 125 bikes zipping around, decided that it was time to ride. Except his heart wasn't in it, so he was nervous, so he kept screwing up, so he got more nervous, until it culminated in him panic braking and highsiding in a turn on the second day. He wisely quit even though he hadn't caused a Fail error yet, but the lesson is: if you can beat the initial nervousness and jitters, you can avoid the cascading failure of more scared - screwing up - more scared - screwing up more. This isn't to say that you should be reckless or stupid, but in order to ride, I have learned that you really need to internalize the Confidence and honestly truly believe that this machine can't hurt you of its own volition, it will do exactly what you tell it to do, and it's up to you to tell it to do the right things. I loving sucked at riding for the first season, actually got in a wreck 6 weeks after my MSF, fixed my bike, got back on the horse, and learned and practiced more and more. Now i toss around a liter bike with chutzpah, but sane and safe chutzpah. Jonny 290 fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Aug 24, 2019 |
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Aug 24, 2019 00:01
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Alpha Phoenix posted:I stopped at a barn sale just now to look at neat things, and I see an enormous Harley that looks like it weighs about the same as the barn that it's in. They lady managing the sale says if I want, it's $9,500 (USD) and I can ask their dad if I have any questions about it. I browse around for a bit and start to walk back to my bike when I think to myself "I've never ridden something like that. Why not?" I can only interpret this as lack of skill and experience being blamed on the bike sorry.
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Aug 24, 2019 00:10
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Slavvy posted:I can only interpret this as lack of skill and experience being blamed on the bike sorry. Yes. and? You'll notice we're in the New Riders thread. I've never sat on a Harley/bigbike and this is my experience with it.
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Aug 24, 2019 00:54
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Don’t worry slavvy I was confused too when he called a cbr 300 a naked sport bike
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Aug 24, 2019 01:31
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Alpha Phoenix posted:I stopped at a barn sale just now to look at neat things, and I see an enormous Harley that looks like it weighs about the same as the barn that it's in. They lady managing the sale says if I want, it's $9,500 (USD) and I can ask their dad if I have any questions about it. I browse around for a bit and start to walk back to my bike when I think to myself "I've never ridden something like that. Why not?" this definitely happened 
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Aug 24, 2019 01:49
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Razzled posted:Don’t worry slavvy I was confused too when he called a cbr 300 a naked sport bike I said my CB300f. https://motorcycle.honda.ca/model/naked/cb300fa  You're gonna have to help me out, either you're taking the piss or I'm missing something here. right arm posted:this definitely happened I mean, I can go back and take pictures of the bike if you want, the barn sale is all weekend and I doubt someone is gonna snipe it. It's not like I'm writing a wild fantasy, just me being confused and terrified of a bike much different and bigger than I have any right handling. This is the handlebar situation:  The left turn signal is on the left handelbar, the right turn signal is on the right, it's the big horizontal buttons. I found the start, but I legit don't know what any of the others were for.
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Aug 24, 2019 02:14
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Hey, I haven’t been a new rider in a year but I seem to recall the big rule of this thread is not to poo poo on new riders and generally be kind to them. Also I enjoyed the barnharley story.
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Aug 24, 2019 02:19
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And ignore Slavvy, unless I’m thinking of someone else he lives in a country where H-Ds are exotic and desired bikes and not something you see on the side of a country road with splitting vinyl seats and a sun-faded For Sale sign.
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Aug 24, 2019 02:26
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This is a new rider safe space For any chuds who are already warming up their posting fingers at the sight of that phrase, "safe space" can be translated as "place where we make an effort to not be assholes to each other" Disagreements should be aired only in a respectful manner, with the goal of gaining a greater mutual understanding of each other's reality TIA
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Aug 24, 2019 02:41
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lmao SA in 2019, can't even do some light ribbing jfc
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Aug 24, 2019 03:44
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Ulf posted:And ignore Slavvy, unless I’m thinking of someone else he lives in a country where H-Ds are exotic and desired bikes and not something you see on the side of a country road with splitting vinyl seats and a sun-faded For Sale sign. That makes sense. Yea, in the American midwest I need to drive past 2 Harley dealerships to find a Honda one. The vast majority of riders are on fat HD and going full squid. I went to a HD near my house to ask if they had a break fluid cap screw [I stripped one putting on a dumb cap that I love] and they were big jerks and proud that they didn't have one that would work. Razzled posted:lmao SA in 2019, can't even do some light ribbing jfc tbh I didn't even feel ribbed other than the 'that happened' post [which I didn't even mind]. I mean, It's a good general policy, I guess, to keep people chill to new riders.
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Aug 24, 2019 03:56
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Just passed my CBT in Scotland. Yay! Gonna go for the direct access course to a full license starting September. In the interim, I am on the lookout for cheap 125CC bikes near me, less than £1000, so I can practice on my own with L plates.
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Aug 24, 2019 08:49
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Razzled posted:lmao SA in 2019, can't even do some light ribbing jfc Not everyone has such a humiliation fetish as to get a tattoo commemorating how much of a fuckup they were when they started riding.
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Aug 24, 2019 15:31
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instead they're just fuckups
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Aug 24, 2019 17:35
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