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Lee Park's school is highly recommended from a number of people I know.
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Jul 30, 2012 23:58
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 21:09 |
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Khashie posted:So today I went to take day one of the class. It was my first time ever riding a motorcycle and I was really nervous. I don't know if all bikes are like this but my bikes clutch was hard as hell to pull. I kept stalling but the instructors were nice and I got to ride around a bit in 1st gear but I was wobbling. They asked if I wanted to go to second gear and I said I was nervous. See if next time you can request a different bike...it might be that bike that has a really stiff clutch action, making it hard to modulate, or it might be that you need to work on your grip strength a bit. Wouldn't hurt to grab one of those hand resistance trainer things. Also, do some mental review of what you're doing on the bike, mentally going through the steps is a really useful technique to help you build comfort with new things.
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Oct 20, 2012 19:05
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. Hopefully next week when I go back ill do better since I'm more familiar with a bike now.
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Man I'd love to play with one of those too. Looks like fun.
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Oct 27, 2012 21:01
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Add a wheelie, that's a typical day in the life of a supermoto! 
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Oct 28, 2012 02:58
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nsaP posted:I know I must have seen the thread in a Perfect Storm of you, Wulfram and z3n all being afk somehow. Amazing. One of us. ONE OF US. ONE OF US.
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Nov 3, 2012 04:01
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Angryboot posted:Yeah I stomped the poo poo out of mine too and never had a problem. More than likely that bike already had cracks on the shifter pedal from students dropping it. This is my bet. Too much force can definitely cause issues, but too little force can cause issues too, as the bike ends up with missed shifts and between gears. Carry through, shift firmly, and you'll minimize transmission issues. I don't like preloading as a habit because I worry about it causing issues with the transmission eventually jumping out of gear and all, but it can definitely be handy to learn when the bike "wants" to shift.
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Nov 5, 2012 20:10
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Sort of, yeah. Older bikes tend to get finicky, especially if they've been abused - some people say preloading eventually means that the bike won't comfortably shift unless it's always preloaded. Shifting is like most other things on a bike...you'll get the best results when you commit fully to whatever you're doing.
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Nov 5, 2012 21:40
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A 250 can do about 105mph, so while it might not be the most comfortable at 85mph, it's still fine.
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Nov 12, 2012 16:13
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You can go to Oakland DMV...they're pretty decent.
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Nov 12, 2012 20:46
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MSF is the best.
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Nov 17, 2012 20:06
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Displacement lies. Just a reality of how bikes are made...there are 250s that make 15hp and 250s that make 70hp. What is really important is top speed. A ninja 250 can do ~110mph, it's fine for freeway. Your average UJM 250 twin probably tops out at 80 or so, and as a result is unsuitable for faster freeways. The most important thing that keeps riders safe on their bike isnt power but it's rider's ability to predict and avoid putting themselves in risky situations. Z3n fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Nov 22, 2012 |
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Nov 22, 2012 19:23
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Throttle is on the right side too, so most people have difficulty giving a steering input without giving a throttle input too.
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Dec 5, 2012 19:22
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You can highside with the rear brake but it doesn't come back in line as aggressively when its not on the power, just locked and regaining.
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Apr 21, 2013 08:20
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The drive of the engine hp is what causes the really violent snap that puts riders into orbit. You can definitely still highside off the rear brake but it doesn't have the violence that a power on highside does.
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Apr 21, 2013 09:11
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Sounds like you guys were caught in some bureaucratic fallout during a changeover and the guys failed you all to prove the system needed to change.
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Apr 22, 2013 16:00
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Nope, you're good.
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May 2, 2013 00:01
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Covert Ops Wizard posted:Looks like I'm gonna have to watch twist of the wrist again, but I have been wondering this. I've noticed my chicken strips have gotten wider between this season and last, (from like non-existant to about 3/4 of an inch) and one reason I can think of for that is I've been focusing on BP for aggressive turns. This is a good thing right? Sometimes I feel like a goon getting some aggressive BP going and then barely leaning the bike because the turn wasn't as bad as I thought or I wasn't coming in as fast as I could have. It's not your BP, it's better line choice. You look at the difference between a guy who rides crossed up and a guy who rides hanging off going exactly the same speed and the guy riding crossed up will have a bit more lean angle but not much. Nothing compared to how much you'll deform the rear tire under load with the throttle. Z3n fucked around with this message at 06:21 on May 6, 2013 |
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May 6, 2013 06:15
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I've never been able to watch the TOTW videos because they're just so bad. The book is great though.
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Jul 3, 2013 21:48
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Foot down sooner helps, but the problem is that sometimes people put their foot down while they're still rolling, and their foot ends up behind their hips and it's really hard to balance. I know cause I did this. 
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Jul 16, 2013 06:48
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The only advice I have is to ride the clutch like you hate it and you'll almost be riding it enough.
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Nov 17, 2013 09:35
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astropika posted:I recently got my second bike, a street triple. I rode my ninja 250 around last weekend to get some fresh gas in the carbs and the weight/handling difference is insane, it's unbelievable that 40lbs can feel so much. Of course the power difference was stark, and quite unsettling at first. I am so glad I started on the 250, I'd never have got used to wringing out a bike without it, nevermind how my clumsy throttle control would have cost me on a 650. That's cause the weight difference is around 100 pounds between the 250 and the 675.
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Nov 21, 2013 17:47
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The best advice given on clutch control for new riders is "slip the clutch like you hate it", just ride the poo poo out of that point where it starts to engage until you've gotten moving.
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Oct 21, 2014 21:14
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DrakIris posted:That is going to take some getting used to coming from car transmissions. Like just imagine it's a pile of crap and the second that clutch goes, you get a shiny new car. That's about the right attitude. When you're on a dirtbike, you will burn the clutch to stop the engine from lugging up a hill, on a 2 stroke you will ride it to keep the bike on the pipe, they take abuse like no one's business.
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Oct 21, 2014 22:33
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 21:09 |
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Ride a bicycle more and you'll be fine - low speed is the least intuitive/most dependent on muscle memory. If you practiced riding around for 20-30 minutes a day you'd probably have the hang of it in a few weeks.
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Dec 7, 2014 03:24
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