How many people actively learn how to ride?

[cowboyz]

I am wondering how many people actively learn how to ride and how many just wing it as they go?

[bogan]

does learning on a farm count?

[cowboyz]

it makes no difference to the question.

I learnt how to ride off road but didnt have anyone teach me how to ride. it was more of a, heres a bike start by hoping on it... if at any time you find yourself not on it you done something wrong.

[Juzz976]

Does riding a motorbike count as active learning?
I'm not sure I understand the question, I learn while sleeping because I dream about riding.

[Juzz976]

I learnt how to ride off road but didnt have anyone teach me how to ride. it was more of a, heres a bike start by hoping on it... if at any time you find yourself not on it you done something wrong.

Yep thats how I did it

[oldrider]

If there were such things as motorcycle schools when I started to learn to ride, I never knew of them!

Besides if there were, I could never have afforded to go anyway!

So I guess I fit into your "wing it" category, seems to have worked for me!

I make no claim to having any great expertise, probably a case of good luck, rather than good management! :shutup:

[cowboyz]

no. riding just lets you perfect how to make the same mistakes over and over again.

i suspect his is how most people learn how to ride. some very compedant riders come out of it this way. But the question remains... maybe rephrased... how many people actively look for guidance to learn how to ride?

[bogan]

it makes no difference to the question.

I learnt how to ride off road but didnt have anyone teach me how to ride. it was more of a, heres a bike start by hoping on it... if at any time you find yourself not on it you done something wrong.

ah yip, the old man taught me, though theres not too much to teach, how to use the clutch, where the brakes are etc, then learnt cornering techniques etc from mates, got a street riding techniques book which covers vision, position, line selection, pillioning ... in good detail so I practiced most of that, so I spose that counts as active learning, but never really been in a formal training situation.

[Toaster]

Good point regarding perfecting the same mistakes. Its just habit forming to continue doing what was always done. Its damn hard to improve without input from others more experienced.

[StoneY]

I was taught to ride at age 10 on a farm, and I say TAUGHT not just shown the controls and let loose

When I sat my provisional (as it was back then) I passed my restricted before going to a rider course, back then only course around in Welly was MOT hosted at Trentham, and upon passing you graduated immediately to a full license (at age 15, and 1 month woohoooo!)

They didnt even 'teach' as such, more refined, advised and followed you through several rides of varying lengths and difficulty, including pillioning a copper through some cones on Trentham Army base

Now, in all honesty I have learned more about 'riding' on the roads since becoming a member of KB and going out with other riders, many a bad habit was exposed, and to some extent rectified due to the advice of the likes of Hawkeye, AJTurbo, Stain and a few other decent types who know the 'gentle' way to tell you...you suck at cornering :lol:
:bash:

[Scotty595]

I mainly just "wing it". Although in saying that, I do practice emergency braking, and object avoidance when there are no other cars on the road (ie late at night coming home from work)

But I don't actively go out and try to learn, I think there is only so much you can learn from others, most you have to figure out yourself. Just because it works for someone else doesn't mean it works for you.

[slofox]

Perhaps you need to define what you mean by "actively learn"...

Like do you mean at a riding school? Or something else?

[Juzz976]

Sometimes you get some crap advice from some so called 'experienced rider' and because you don't agree with them your a 'F'ing dickhead, blah blah'.
And then he high sides his bike doin exactly what he told you to do.

So don't always take in someone else's advice because they may just be full of shit. Save the crazy shit 4 the track.

[YellowDog]

Perhaps you need to define what you mean by "actively learn"...

Like do you mean at a riding school? Or something else?
Well I think what he means is:

How many got a bike, did a BHT and then trialled and errored on the road and learnt to ride by making mistakes and being lucky enough not to survive this idiotic process.

After you have come off a few times and been lucky enough to avoid death you soon learn the essentials of survival.

In my day, motorcycle safety was taken more seriously. My local authority ran training courses and you had to be upto stage 2 (full test stage) before doing your BHT and being allowed to ride on the road unsuperviser. It was not mandatory however a pretty damn good idea. The BHT was the last thing you did at the end of the six week course.

IMO - The money saved in scraping riders off the tar seal and trying to fix them would pay for such schemes 100 times over.

[spookytooth]

still just winging it after 40 years

[centaurus]

Frist time I rode a bike I was given the bike and told: you know how to drive a car and you've been riding pushbikes for quite a while so you shouldn't have too much trouble figuring where are the commands and how to ride it :D. Thinking back it still amazes me I managed to start it, turn it at the corner and bring it to a complete stop without crashing stalling or dropping it :D
First two years after I got my learners I've been actively searching about riding techniques (especially cornering techniques) - the theory, trying to understand how everyhing works and why one way is better than the other.
At this point I have all the theory I need for my level of riding ao I'm concentrating on practice - trying to transform into habits all the techniques that I've discovered or learned and tested in the last few years. Sometimes I get the opportunity of feedback from more experienced riders which has proven very valuable. Once this step is complete, I might do some training with professional riders.
On defensive driving techniques, because I commute by bike, I've always tried to get as much info and practice as possible but since upgrading to a bigger, louder and brighter bike, I find it less and less of a challenge to make miself safe and/or visible :D

[Juzz976]

Depends on rider tho,
I rode dirt bikes when I was young and always wanted a road bike but made a promise to myself not to get one untill I was 25.

So with 10yrs caging experience I got my BHS test, learner licence and an FZR250 sweet as.
I think maybe different for a 15-20yr old tho. The cage experience does help as long as you got the right attitude.

[dogsnbikes]

Perhaps you need to define what you mean by "actively learn"...

Like do you mean at a riding school? Or something else?
Cowboyz will mean both by his question.....learning from both either it be an instructor or from people you ride with....


I am wondering how many people actively learn how to ride and how many just wing it as they go?

I do:bye:

even though I learnt how to ride a bike on a farm as wee fulla it put me in good steed for road bikes,even now I am still learning,everytime I have been out on a ride either with freinds/solo or group ride,I pick up tips usually on how not too take that corner..and often susgest to dodgy in front of me to follow me :yes:...even a old dog like myself enjoys following another rider that is smooth through the corner's and can keep that flow going ...

Regardless though of what surface your riding on your always learning wether you relise it or not,if you have more than one bike,each time you swap bikes your learning,everytime the weather changes something reminds us what spooked us the last time so we are learning

the diference is that
-some learn from the past..
-some learn from what is in front of us
- and some people just dont learn :innocent:

So which one are you???

[Thaeos]

I guess for me right now it's both. I go out on rides fairly often, but I also head down to a local carpark when it's quiet and just practice different things. I'm going to make an effort to go to the NASS also, tomorrow night should be my first time there.

[Subike]

I was fortunate to have my grandfather, 3 uncles, my Father and 2 elder brothers that rode bikes.
I have a pic somewhere of Dad, his 2 brothers and Grandad sitting on rivit belt drive HD flatheads outside the local church just before WW2.
These men, who grew up riding bikes on loose shingle road, raced at Cust on shingle , toured NZ when SH1 was only just wide enough for two cars to pass and both had a wheel in the shingle, when the open road limit was 50mph, pubs closed at 6pm and a fast car was a flathead V8!
They taught me to ride on our farm, mud and grass tracks, I was only allowed to progress to riding on the street when I was able to start my uncles AJS 500. That was not easy for a 40kg teenager that didnt know the knack.
So yes I had training from men who learnt on old school bikes.
Years later, I joined a group of riders and learnt how to ride in a pack at speed, getting 30-40 bikes from point a to point b as fast as possibile without incudents. That was an over the top rush then, It could not be done today because of traffic densidy alone
This group also did rider traning on grass with a battered and bent Triumph Adventurer, it got trashed, dumped, high sided, low sided, went for swims, abused past anything you could inmagine.
We learnt how to leave a bike before we hit the hay bale at 40mph.
How to roll so if you slid, you did so on you back,
How to step off the bike if it low sided or high sided.
It surpisingly survied a couple of yearsof this "training"
As there were 2 triumph mechanics in the group, it was kept running by their skills. In the end it became the base for a bonfire when the crank decided it wanted air.
Nothing beats rider training in any form and in todays enviroment, the moe training you can afford the better.
Pluss you need to get out and practice what you are taught, preferably at an open day at your local race track, or on a back road that has very little traffic.
And always be prepared to listen or give, critisim when riding with a group.

[centaurus]

I was fortunate to have my grandfather, 3 uncles, my Father and 2 elder brothers that rode bikes.
I have a pic somewhere of Dad, his 2 brothers and Grandad sitting on rivit belt drive HD flatheads outside the local church just before WW2.
These men, who grew up riding bikes on loose shingle road, raced at Cust on shingle , toured NZ when SH1 was only just wide enough for two cars to pass and both had a wheel in the shingle, when the open road limit was 50mph, pubs closed at 6pm and a fast car was a flathead V8!
They taught me to ride on our farm, mud and grass tracks, I was only allowed to progress to riding on the street when I was able to start my uncles AJS 500. That was not easy for a 40kg teenager that didnt know the knack.
So yes I had training from men who learnt on old school bikes.
Years later, I joined a group of riders and learnt how to ride in a pack at speed, getting 30-40 bikes from point a to point b as fast as possibile without incudents. That was an over the top rush then, It could not be done today because of traffic densidy alone
This group also did rider traning on grass with a battered and bent Triumph Adventurer, it got trashed, dumped, high sided, low sided, went for swims, abused past anything you could inmagine.
We learnt how to leave a bike before we hit the hay bale at 40mph.
How to roll so if you slid, you did so on you back,
How to step off the bike if it low sided or high sided.
It surpisingly survied a couple of yearsof this "training"
As there were 2 triumph mechanics in the group, it was kept running by their skills. In the end it became the base for a bonfire when the crank decided it wanted air.
Nothing beats rider training in any form and in todays enviroment, the moe training you can afford the better.
Pluss you need to get out and practice what you are taught, preferably at an open day at your local race track, or on a back road that has very little traffic.
And always be prepared to listen or give, critisim when riding with a group.

Bloody hell. I envy you Subike. Learning how to crash and how to fall... That's one thing most of us don't have the opportunity to learn and practice nowadays (except for idiots that "practice" by crashing regularly, of course :innocent:)

[The Everlasting]

I am trying to actively learn how to ride better,to minimise the chance of having an accident.

[CookMySock]

All the learner riders in my family did. I'll give you one guess why.. hint: it was something to do with the asshole father leaning on them..

Anyway, the result is they can corner real deep without fear. It fucks me off actually, coz I learned to ride by the seat-of-my-pants, and now I can never go where they can.. :pinch:

Steve

[avgas]

Had my dad try and teach me to ride back in the hay days when we had just rebuilt the TS185.
It put me off riding for about 2 years.

All my efforts went into mountain-biking - which I competed at

Then curiosity got the better of me. You see I got to go pillion on dads XS850 for a couple of blats - I was hooked. But I knew that I had to teach myself otherwise I was not going to enjoy it.
First I was just kicking it over every now and then. Then it started one day, and I made it 2 feet and stalled it.....
end of that week I could ride around the shed in first without stalling it....
end of that month I could do all gears and a few jumps......
The next month my dad knew I was hooked - as the bike hung from a tree at the top of the hill.

If someone has to teach you how to ride - you probably should not do it, unless its for transport. Like being taught how to wank....

[robertydog]

I just wing it. Hope for the best. Self taught.

[jamesvini]

I taught my self in the dirt on an old ER185, but i have found that changing to a sporty road bike is alot different, riding position, cornering and what not.
So i tend to watch alot of other bikers and see what they do, be it Rossi on the telly or just the guy in front of me at the lights.
I dont have any one to teach me (except you clowns) so i guess i teach my self, But i get taught by what others do too. For example i was travelling to work and i saw a guy whip round the corner in front smooth as, he was leaning over (a concept that still gives me brown pants) But he moved his head right over beside the mirror as he was leaning which moved his body and keept the bike more upright hence stablilty in the corner. At least thats what i think.

[rwh]

I did the 2-hour course with my BHS, then winged it mostly, with tips from here and friends - and lots of common sense analysis of those ... Probably some 'common sense' discarding of valuable tips, too :)

I disagree that you can't learn without being taught - all those things had to be discovered a first time by someone, and generally by many people, before they could be passed on.

Richard

[Gremlin]

Depends on the person. Some I know read all the books, then go out and practise it in safe areas, start to understand, read more, practise more, put a little into the real world, and slowly come to grip with it.

For others, it comes quite naturally... and there's a massive variance between the two ends for each person.

[Genie]

I was given a bike and told to go up the top paddock and see if there were any dead lambs.....was about 10! Had watched the guys how to do it and just did it. Stalled it heaps but so what, just started it again. I got it sorted after a while then as a teenager had a boyfriend who had a motorbiek and he taught me how to do the firebreak thing. easy as and falling off was funny.

This time around, well i'm scared. There are lots of cars on the road, they go lots faster. I've had 2 lessons so far and when I go shopping (very soon) I shall be having a couple more lessons.

[98tls]

Self taught,still learning 38 years later.

[p.dath]

I started off "winging" it when I first got my licence. I didn't know anyone else who had a bike. I couldn't even find an advanced riding course to do (that was similar to a "recognised" advanced driving course).

That was many years ago.

Now I ride with people regularly who are better than me (and act as mentors). I regularly attend AMCC ART days, and are planning to attend a BRONZ RRRS course in March.

Since actively taking steps to learn, I have come further in the last year than I did in many years previously.

[Motu]

I taught myself how to ride - and have been actively learning to ride ever since....I don't think I'll ever know how to do it properly,but near enough is good enough eh?

[McJim]

I received some very good advice at the BHS course which was a full day course. As well as the basic "this is the cluch, this is the front brake..." etc. got good advice about steering with your eyes (you will go where you look) and some countersteering advice. Then I went on the BRONZ ride Right Ride Safe thingumy and learned heaps more. I don't seem to have the same need for high speed that a lot of motorcyclists have which has allowed me to live longer and learn more at a sedate pace by trying different techniques to see how they work for me. I also had the advantage of having M1CRO as my KB Mentor who is very capable, knowledgable and personable. I therefore had a fair bit of what I consider 'good' tuition as well as the fact that I retain the humility to realise that I am always still learning.

[Ixion]

I taught myself, cos that's the only way there was.

And after a few years (that was many years ago now) I knew everything there was to know about riding. Total expert I was.

Then , I turned my back and someone sneaked a whole bunch of new stuff in, and I found I didn't actually know bugger all anymore.

And ever since I been trying to learn new stuff so I can know everything again. And every time I think I might be getting close, some bastard sneaks something new in, and I find that stuff that I thought I knew all about , I don't. Unfair, it is.

[Flip]

When I was in short pants I learnt to ride on a cousins monkey bike in Mapua. At this stage I knew it all. Since then I have been discovering that there are a few things I don't know.

I have done a few skills courses, even taught the BHS a few times. The one thing I have learnt is that if I practice smooth riding I ride very well.

I'm looking forward to doing the advanced course on the race track, yea I know I will be the only plonker on a Harley but well hell I don't mind the sports bikes being there if they don't mind me.

[KiwiPhoenix]

For me it has been a little of both. I am lucky that I met some of the Chch guys before I got my licence so was able to learn from them and then put it into practice when I got my bike. It has been great as I have a great friends that I can ask for help and advice!

[red mermaid]

Taught myself a fair bit riding round farms and then did an intensive 3 month riding course that had regular evaluations afterwards on an annual basis.

Still learning though, but the original stuff still comes in handy all the time.

[Oakie]

I went to the library and got a book out about how to ride. Did the trick for me. Obviously a bit shakey for a start but at least I knew the theory before I threw a leg over. (Which reminds me, when I was about 13 I got a book out about teenage sexuality...)

[OutForADuck]

I started riding when you learnt by just getting thrown onto a bike o a farm and then left to it. Literally... first time I crashed I had to wait ages for my brother-in-law to come out from his cuppa and find me as the bike was too heavy to lift off me whilst tangled in the fence!!! :shutup:

Kieth Code wrote his first book nearly 6 years later and counter steering entered the language let alone the mindset, slowly there after.

I took, literally years and years to gain skills and abilities that I teach people in weeks these days. If you know that all that knowledge is available and how quickly you can become a competetent and safe ridier and don't actively read and get training.... your not really interested in your sport dude!!!

The tyres, bikes, frames, roads and the training have all improved beyond belief over the time I have been punting cycles around. Enjoy it :rockon:

[sinfull]

Awww i'm forever getting the learn !!

[Goblin]

I had to pinch my cousins wee Honda 50 'cos no one would let me have a turn. Started it then promptly crashed into the fence. Bit later we used to stay at a friends farm(now the Rotorua Motorcross Track) and rode the Yamaha Grasshopper until we go caught going as fast as we could up n down the driveway with no safety gear on. Few years later my first BF was into bikes. He bought a TT500 in an RM400 frame, geared and shod for the road. My sister and I stole it while he was at work, managed to start it and got a high speed wobble on and nearly shat myself. Later he bought a 750 Katana and used to let me ride it. At 15 I sold my horse and bought my own bike, a lil TS125. Got my licence and was away laughing. So no formal training. Self taught.

[BMCruiser]

I rode bikes when I was young and just winged it and learnt bad habits from mates. I never got my full licence back then so now that I'm getting back into riding (and the licence process) I'm treating it like I have never ridden before and taking advantage of as much professional advice and training as possible. The NASS nights are great and I've booked for a restricted licence prep course before I do my restricted test. I'll do an advanced riding skills course next and then look for more. Through this group I've become aware of just how much opportunity there is for mentoring and training. It's great :)