Tips for riding on the open road?

[Blackmambism]

Hey guys, i've just started riding for the first time on a suzuki GN250, and am confident riding around the city (all the lane changes and traffic lights, stop/starting etc are all good), reasonably confident on a larger road (in between tauranga and the Mount, if anyone is familiar with it - it's mostly an expressway going 100k's, with some 80k's areas - the wind still gets me a bit, gotta relax more!) and am a bit intimidated of riding on a proper open road (i have not attempted this yet). any tips for me? especially on cornering - i want to ride to waihi from tauranga to visit family, which involves going through a gorge of sorts. Also, what kind of preparation did you all do before you had the confidence to take on the open road?

Cheers in advance :)

[unstuck]

Aware of everything. Go for it. I had no prepearation for riding on the road,just jumped on and hauled off,only riding i had done was offroad. Went from browns bay to puhoi and back.:woohoo:

[Stirts]

Hey guys, i've just started riding for the first time on a suzuki GN250, and am confident riding around the city (all the lane changes and traffic lights, stop/starting etc are all good), reasonably confident on a larger road (in between tauranga and the Mount, if anyone is familiar with it - it's mostly an expressway going 100k's, with some 80k's areas - the wind still gets me a bit, gotta relax more!) and am a bit intimidated of riding on a proper open road (i have not attempted this yet). any tips for me? especially on cornering - i want to ride to waihi from tauranga to visit family, which involves going through a gorge of sorts. Also, what kind of preparation did you all do before you had the confidence to take on the open road?

Cheers in advance :)

Hey Blackmambism, Mr Unstuck pretty much sums it up "being aware" is crucial. Especially coming over the hill to Te Puna, lots of places for cars to pull out. And there are quite a few "bumpy bits" along that raod too.

If the wind gets to you then be extra vigilant on the open road as you have less shelter from any wind. Trucks on the open road have this mini vertical tornado/vortex like things and they can be pretty damn scary....especially on a 250. For oncoming trucks just move to the left-ish side of your lane as they pass, just relax your arms and grip the tank/bike with your legs.

Cornering? well there is alot of fantastic info on here about that - and some not so fantastic ;)

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/search.php?searchid=5024677

OH YEAH, WELCOME TO KB :D

[bluninja]

Tips in no particular order:
1)relax and take it easy.
2) Slow in, quicker out on corners.
3) Be able to stop in the clear road that you can see.
4) In right hand bends make sure your helmet never crosses the centre line.
5) In left hand bends don't hug the left side, you can't see too far around it.
6) If some arse wants to get past cos they think you're too slow, find a safe plaace to let them get past. You don't need the hassle.
7) If you're tired, aching or stressed, take a break.

[nodrog]

come for a ride to the pub on thursday, you will learn heaps.

[pritch]

On really windy days try and stay in the middle third of your lane. That should prevent a sudden gust blowing you somewhere you didn't want to be.

[caspernz]

Practice makes perfect. Small regular trips are better than one long trip. Get on the open road early on a sunday morning when there's less traffic out and about. One poster made mention of making room for faster traffic, don't be afraid to pull over to let someone go by. If you're still sporting an L-plate on the back, some see that as a target, unfortunate but true.

The road from Tauranga to Waihi is ok, the Athenree Gorge is just a few corners, your GN250 will do alright. I had a GN250 as my first bike many moons ago, tripped around the whole north island on it.

Have you considered some sort of tuition to improve your skills?

[scumdog]

Keep you eye out well ahead for any potential hazards - no use looking 20 feet on front of your front wheel all the time.

Trust no other road user to do what you expect they should.

Give plenty of warning you're going to stop/turn/change lanes etc.

[Madness]

Three pieces of advice;

Be conscious of your position within your lane when going through towns / built up areas. Too far to the left & you make it difficult for other road users who may be pulling out onto the road from side streets / car parks to see you coming.

Make a conscious effort to check your mirrors regularly. After some time it will become automatic.

If you do go to the pub with Nodrog, don't accept any free drinks from him :innocent:

[Blackmambism]

thanks for the tips everyone :)
@stirts - that link doesn't work :(
@caspernz - can't afford official tuition, but my bro is helping out unofficially!
@madness & nodrog - if i'm not allowed to accept free drinks, i can't afford to go to the pub :(

[FJRider]

Check engine oil levels in the engine are correct ... fill up with petrol ... THEN ... Go DO it ...

Done ...

[raftn]

Hey guys, i've just started riding for the first time on a suzuki GN250, and am confident riding around the city (all the lane changes and traffic lights, stop/starting etc are all good), reasonably confident on a larger road (in between tauranga and the Mount, if anyone is familiar with it - it's mostly an expressway going 100k's, with some 80k's areas - the wind still gets me a bit, gotta relax more!) and am a bit intimidated of riding on a proper open road (i have not attempted this yet). any tips for me? especially on cornering - i want to ride to waihi from tauranga to visit family, which involves going through a gorge of sorts. Also, what kind of preparation did you all do before you had the confidence to take on the open road?

Cheers in advance :)

Well done on being adventourous. I presume you are on a learners. If so, bear in mind that the Basic Handling certifcate that you completd is the very basic requirement to ride on the road. Check out as many advanced rider courses you can. You will never stop learning when on a bike. There is a big difference between an experinced rider and advanced rider. An experince rider will practise some thing till they get it right, and advanced rider will practise some thing till they dont get it wrong.

Enjoy yourself and always ride with in your limits.

[madbiker95]

lol was that you i followed from the polytech to ohauiti at like 930pm????

[Usarka]

Knock one out before you get on the bike.....

[unstuck]

Knock one out before you get on the bike.....

I presume you are talking about popping off a couple of knuckle children.:yes:

[wysper]

what kind of preparation did you all do before you had the confidence to take on the open road?

Cheers in advance :)


Practice makes perfect. Small regular trips are better than one long trip. Get on the open road early on a sunday morning when there's less traffic out and about.

This is good advice. Most others are giving you general riding advice. In my opinion the best way for you to build your confidence (with out doing training courses) is to start with small trips, even 15 min out (out of town i mean) and back. Then a bit more etc till you are confident. Much the same way you probably did for your round town stuff.

All the other advice is good too and you should take it on board. But really, the only way you will build confidence is by doing it.

[PrincessBandit]

come for a ride to the pub on thursday, you will learn heaps.

About riding or drinking? (or both - you do know you're not supposed to drink and ride young man...)

p.s. you'd better do something about that prolapse, could get messy

Oh, and Blackmambism - the first time is always the scariest, simply because you're not quite sure what to expect. The suggestion of small out-of-town trips is a good one to start with. The Karangahake gorge is a beautiful ride and I find the 80kph limit through there quite nice. A lot here would disagree 'cos it means they can't cane it through the bendies there, but it gives you time to appreciate the terrain and road surface.
Good luck with the riding and don't feel pressured into overstepping your safe zone before you feel ready.

[Katman]

young man



*snigger, snort*

[blue rider]

*snigger, snort*


ahh very helpful tip for staying safe and having fun while riding on the open road. :wait:

[p.dath]

If you have just started riding I would be tempted to go and get a mentor first.

There are a lot of fundamental skills you really need to learn first before taking on tight twisty roads. Loss of control on a corner is the number 1 motorcycle accident statistic ...

A good mentor is worth there weight in gold, and it is a lot of fun riding with someone who knows what they are doing. Trying to teach yourself skills that you don't know exist is very tricky ...

[PrincessBandit]

*snigger, snort*



ahh very helpful tip for staying safe and having fun while riding on the open road. :wait:

You will find lots of threads which contain comments unrelated to the OP. I think you will find katman was sniggering about me calling nodrog "young man" in my reply post to one of his.

You'll soon learn to weed out the posts which are directly aimed at the OP from the side-tracked conversations which sometimes occur within in thread.

[blue rider]

You will find lots of threads which contain comments unrelated to the OP. I think you will find katman was sniggering about me calling nodrog "young man" in my reply post to one of his.

You'll soon learn to weed out the posts which are directly aimed at the OP from the side-tracked conversations which sometimes occur within in thread.

i realise that he was cracking a joke aimed at you...sorry they don't have sarcasm smileys....

however this thread was/is one of those that could be a valuable resource for us neebies, if not derailed ...not wanting to sound uptight :innocent:
it would be nice to get proper advice from the Katman, after all someone asked for help to prevent accidents.

My riding surely is not good yet, and without the help of much more experienced riders and their input i would not enjoy it as much as I do.
So i tend to read this threads, i might learn something.

so if any offense was taken, sorry this was not my intention.

[PrincessBandit]

i realise that he was cracking a joke aimed at you...sorry they don't have sarcasm smileys....

however this thread was/is one of those that could be a valuable resource for us neebies, if not derailed ...not wanting to sound uptight :innocent:
it would be nice to get proper advice from the Katman, after all someone asked for help to prevent accidents.

My riding surely is not good yet, and without the help of much more experienced riders and their input i would not enjoy it as much as I do.
So i tend to read this threads, i might learn something.

so if any offense was taken, sorry this was not my intention.

No offence was taken - I just wanted to assure you that not every post in a thread is always intended to be helpful advice from an opening question or statement.

Katman is very much concerned with rider safety and responsible riding on the road - both for the rider's personal safety plus that of other road users, and from the perspective of how motorcycling/motorcyclists are often percieved in a poor light by both the general public and TPTB. In fact his mentor motto is along the lines of "I'm not here to make you a faster rider, I'm here to help keep you alive".

Anyway, back to the OP and my comments made above, there are those here on KB who delight in trolling and disseminating dodgy advice; they know it's a p/t, but n00bs don't always recognise it as such. Take what you consider important or helpful from all posts and disregard the rest, as there will most surely be much bullshit in teh mix.

[Katman]

ahh very helpful tip for staying safe and having fun while riding on the open road. :wait:

You're welcome.








*snigger, snort*

[Maha]

You will find lots of threads which contain comments unrelated to the OP. I think you will find katman was sniggering about me calling nodrog "young man" in my reply post to one of his.

You'll soon learn to weed out the posts which are directly aimed at the OP from the side-tracked conversations which sometimes occur within in thread.

A few good squirts with Round-up works wonders...:yes:

[FJRider]

A few good squirts with Round-up works wonders...:yes:

There ARE some on site ... that need to take it internally ... :shutup:

[PrincessBandit]

A few good squirts with Round-up works wonders...:yes:

Oi, I seem to recall as a kid, us shorties were referred to as 'squirts'.

[Blackmambism]

lol was that you i followed from the polytech to ohauiti at like 930pm????

no, wasn't me :)

and don't worry, i'm good at picking out trolls, all good!

i think the small out of town trips will be the way to go, already done a couple now, getting a feel for the corners and different road surfaces and such.

@PrincessBandit
the karangahake gorge is a great idea, i grew up getting driven through there reasonably frequently so i kinda know the road too. might stop at the waterfall for a swim - could be too cold at the moment though!

edit: i was called a squirt too :)
edit no.2: god, i wasn't called a squirt because i was squirted into being was i? yucky parents *shudder*

[Subike]

Tips in no particular order:
1)relax and take it easy.
2) Slow in, quicker out on corners.
3) Be able to stop in the clear road that you can see.
4) In right hand bends make sure your helmet never crosses the centre line.
5) In left hand bends don't hug the left side, you can't see too far around it.
6) If some arse wants to get past cos they think you're too slow, find a safe plaace to let them get past. You don't need the hassle.
7) If you're tired, aching or stressed, take a break.

that would be the most important advice on this thread
always be aware of you road position in corners

[bluninja]

There's lots of good advice here.....taking short rides was so obvious I missed it :facepalm: allows you to prepare, and keep the concentration levels high so you can learn and improve.

I once destroyed my riding by trying to apply lots of learning from an advanced riders course. I then went back to my old riding and chose the most important (to me) skill to improve and worked on it, habituated it, then onto the next.

So having reflected on this thread...I'd say

1) lots of short rides
2) get a mentor to help you create good skills and safe habits asap.

[Blackbird]

If you want some reading matter to back up your practice, then there's one book which IMHO, is better than than any other by a country mile in teaching good roadcraft. It's this one: http://www.iam.org.uk/motorcyclists_dvds_videos_cdroms_and_books/how_to_be_a_better_rider/flypage.tpl.html Available from the IAM by credit card and you can also sometimes find second hand copies on Amazon. The best 10 quid you'll ever spend!

Best wishes....

[The Singing Chef]

I'm sorry man but every time I see your username I think it says Blackmansjism.
It's stuck in my head now..:facepalm:

[Matariki]

Keep a very close eye out for vehicles larger than yourself or any other potential hazard,

Always look towards where you want to go (obviously ahead, not down at the road),

Never daydream on a motorcycle (I know its tempting sometimes to drift off especially on those long straights but first rule of riding a motorcycle is staying focused),

If you can, team up with an experienced riding buddy you know (or someone from here) and go out on a ride with them, and if you can afford it get professional tuition,

Also make sure you are wearing proper protective armour with your leathers (don't skimp out on armour, you'll never know when you'll be thanking them for saving your skin and bones!)

If you're a learner (which you are) remember to ride with an 'L' plate (regardless of how stupid it may look), its important that other drivers and riders know that you're a noob,

Be prepared to make mistakes, so when learning how to ride your motorcycle start off on a quiet road where you can practice your skills without the worry of traffic. Country roads are ideal for this (though watch out for gravel, if you're not confident about gravel or mud then this is where a experienced riding buddy comes in to show you the ropes)

Get this book - Proficient Motorcycling (http://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guide-Riding/dp/1933958359/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320095332&sr=1-1)

Stick to riding in the middle of your lane, unless countersteering (refer to the video below)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqcRPv-rOi8&feature=relmfu

[5150]

Always make sure there is petrol in the tank
Try and wear protective helmet
Always Ride like a complete Knob

:lol:

[shrub]

On really windy days try and stay in the middle third of your lane. That should prevent a sudden gust blowing you somewhere you didn't want to be.

And relax. If you fight the wind you'll wear yourself out and be all over the place because if you fight the wind, when the wind pressure changes you move. Down here we get some killer winds across the plains, and when I ride I pretty well track a straight line whereas other people are all over the place. Helps being a lard arse on a hippo of a bike...