How do you get confidence back?

[Phurrball]

Hi all,

Excuse my Y chromosome intruding into this forum, but it seems most appropriate for the question I have ask...

I'm having a ball riding our Bandit, and I'm on a steep learning curve myself, as was Mrs Phurrball...initially...

A week ago Mrs P let the bike 'have a wee lie down'. No biggie, these things happen and it easily could have been me. She was standing on gravel, turning the bike around to head back down the road, when she lost her footing - tiny scratch on muffler, small flake of chrome off mirror. No biggie. No worries, or so I thought...

This last weekend, I'd had my blatt (round the ambitious 6km-ish block Mrs P had been around last weekend) and It was Mrs P's turn. She freaked out about standing over the bike, fearing it would fall, and told me she just couldn't manoeuvre it at slow speed. She's fine riding it, she just can't handle slow speed/walking the bike anywhere. She rode up and down the road, but made me turn it round at either end in spite of my assured belief in her ability.

Complicating factor in all this is that Mrs P is of slight build - she can stand over the bike with feet flat on the ground, but the bike weighs a little more than three times what she does - my bulk helps me in this area...

Any ideas what she can do to get her mojo back? Buying the bike and learning is something we did together, and I want to keep it that way...bring on the day when we have one each...

Is it just 'miles' under the belt? Or are there other tricks to slow manoeuvring?

Any help is much appreciated...when Mrs P is happy, I'm happy, and at the moment, she's not so happy with her ability to control the bike at slow speed. :weep:

[James Deuce]

There's only one way. Practice.

Get thee to an empty car park early on a weekend morning and lay out a very easy handling course. Progressively tighten turns up as the morning goes on. Keep doing it until Mrs P feels that she has a handle on the process, but keep revisiting it and practicing.

[Pwalo]

There's only one way. Practice.

Dr Jim is absolutely right. Practice. Go over it in your mind. Practice. In a couple of hours you'll be wondering what the problem was. (Until you do something stupid again).

[N4CR]

I did exactly the same thing.. taking it out for a thrash on sh16 etc didn't help a whole lot - it was more so the extreme leaning at low speeds that was the problem. So I 'carparked it''- helped immensely.

I was getting small oilly rings on my chicken strips, which is not cool to turn up at biker meetings with right... so go get rid of them by getting faster and faster (and therefore you have to lean more and more around the same radius) in a course comprising of a figure of 8 in an empty carpark between some concrete thingys.

This is the best way to learn in my opinion as it is slow speed, pretty safe and the same road surface (usually ashphalt :D)

Good luck with the confidence re-gain

[John]

.....so go get rid of them by getting faster and faster (and therefore you have to lean more and more around the same radius) in a course comprising of a figure of 8 in an empty carpark between some concrete thingys.....


in the words of Mr Binnie "wehen teh radi increasthesth as doesth the sthpeed, so decreasthing teh radi induces slthow sthpeed extrem angli"

[The Stranger]

What Jim2 says.

On both of our bikes when the wheel is turned say to the right the front contact patch moves to the left, I guess this is because of the trail and that all bikes are about the same. You do therefore get a transfer of weight to the right and the bike wants to fall that way when at low speed.

You can see this by putting the bike on it's side stand and turning the handlebars full Left then try standing the bike up. you will note that there is more effort required to stand it up than if the handlebars are turned full right.

If I am turning the bike manually I need to allow for this weight transfer by leaning the bike slightly.

If i am doing say a low speed right turn I will weight the hell out of the left foot peg this helps a heap. This allows you to lean the bike hard right and pull a very tight low speed turn quite safely.

[crashe]

Practise, practise and more practise.

Take the bike up to a empty car park... and do all the stuff that she has lost her confidence on... you do it first so that she can follow your line...

Practise walking the bike sitting astride it up and down your driveway....
Practise walking the bike in a slow turn.
Practise reversing the bike.
Practise doing a three point turn.
Practise weaving in and around cones.... or chalk out marks on the car park.

The more she practises all these manouvers she will get better ...

[Riff Raff]

The only way it to keep practicing. Perhaps she needs an experienced rider to help her to master it. There's plenty of us out here who can give her a hand. I don't mind helping out - I've dropped bikes on a few occassions now!!!!

[ajturbo]

PRATICING dropping the bike is a good start!!!

she now knows what NOT to do in gravel.......

well done to her!...
i think if you asked a 100 bikers how many have done that very thing ... i am sure that at least 50% would admit to it and 50% would be lying...:hitcher:

[Keystone19]

Just a thought, but she may also find it helpful to ride with another woman. No offence intended to yerself, but if she can see that other women of similar build can manouever the bike ok then that may help.

[justsomeguy]

After a life filled with many illustrious failures, cock-ups, mistakes and pure bad luck, I've come to understand the Nike philosophy:


JUST DO IT

[FROSTY]

Fuckit I agree with JIM--again --this is gettin to be a habit,
Just one thing though Id suggest she actually learns how to pick the bike up BY HERSELF. Find a nice place to lay the bike on its side and practice picking it up.
Sounds stupid but its the old worst case senario situation -- Hey worst case aint so bad is it??

[Riff Raff]

Just one thing though Id suggest she actually learns how to pick the bike up BY HERSELF.
Nah, that's what we have men for.

[Skunk Control]

Unfortunately it's all just down to practice and feeling confident with the bike, practice picking the bike up if poss as this comes in handy for when the bike decides to have a nap, have done this several times now :Oops:

[Skunk Control]

Nah, that's what we have men for.

Only if they're useful :psst:

[Ixion]

PRATICING dropping the bike is a good start!!!

she now knows what NOT to do in gravel.......

well done to her!...
i think if you asked a 100 bikers how many have done that very thing ... i am sure that at least 50% would admit to it and 50% would be lying...:hitcher:

Any biker who's been there for any time who claims not to have done the "stop, foot down, start to get off, oh shit oh shit, wheres the ground gone, oh bloody hell" thing is a liar. Happens to everybody.

[thehollowmen]

PM me your address and I'll try and dig out the motoman for women VCD and post it up

[MadDuck]

Nah, that's what we have men for.

Thanks Riff Raff I did wonder why they were here :dodge:

[Phurrball]

A big cheers to everyone for their suggestions. I will show the thread to Mrs P, and take up the ideas on offer.

At times like this it's great to have a pool of experience to tap into.


Just a thought, but she may also find it helpful to ride with another woman. No offence intended to yerself, but if she can see that other women of similar build can manouever the bike ok then that may help.

I entirely agree, it tried to point out that very thing - but you're right, I just don't think it works coming from me. At the end of the day, I'm sure Mrs P could kick my ass on the bike any day...for a starter the machine is carrying 40 odd KGs less!

[crashe]

Maybe we could organise a girl's training riding day... RUN by the Girls'
as there are quite a few gals out west that ride now...
and a few new girl riders have just joined up on KB...
and then go for a ride afterwards...

[Keystone19]

Maybe we could organise a girl's training riding day... RUN by the Girls'
as there are quite a few gals out west that ride now...
and a few new girl riders have just joined up on KB...
and then go for a ride afterwards...

Yeah, OK Crashe. I've been thinking about that for a wee while now. just need to find a date that works. We could do a skills session somewhere (a brief one) and then go for a ride somewhere. I'll talk to you about it tonight.

[Phurrball]

Yeah, OK Crashe. I've been thinking about that for a wee while now. just need to find a date that works. We could do a skills session somewhere (a brief one) and then go for a ride somewhere. I'll talk to you about it tonight.


Keep us posted with any Westie Women's skills sessions...I'll pass any happenings on to Mrs P [I think she only avoids joining KB in her own right as she sees how addictive it is...that and I'm always being told to get off the computer [ie KB] and pay her attention:hitcher:]

[Keystone19]

Keep us posted with any Westie Women's skills sessions...I'll pass any happenings on to Mrs P [I think she only avoids joining KB in her own right as she sees how addictive it is...that and I'm always being told to get off the computer [ie KB] and pay her attention:hitcher:]

Check out the new thread in the Biker Angels section on this - it's entitled Girls Day out. Would love to have Mrs Phurrball along...

[inlinefour]

I want to know the same thing about women... :dodge:

[spookey]

being much the same situation, dropped mine badly and took mind over matter to get back on and just ride and ride and ride.

I dropped the GN250 twice, both from inexperience.

Now I have a GS500, I have the problem of not being able to lift it.
(Could do with some tips here boys)
Have had to call on neighbours twice now. Once when I forgot to put stand down and the other when it was on a slope and rolled forward.

If she needs someone to ride with I'm happy to do that with her.

Just takes alot of courage and talking to yourself

[Joni]

Now I have a GS500, I have the problem of not being able to lift it. (Could do with some tips here boys) No... bugger the boys, you need to learn to lift the bike yourself. So that if you are ever alone and in an ugly spot you can do it. There is a great thread on how its done. I will find it for you and pm you the link. :yes:

[FROSTY]

being much the same situation, dropped mine badly and took mind over matter to get back on and just ride and ride and ride.

I dropped the GN250 twice, both from inexperience.

Now I have a GS500, I have the problem of not being able to lift it.
(Could do with some tips here boys)
Have had to call on neighbours twice now. Once when I forgot to put stand down and the other when it was on a slope and rolled forward.

If she needs someone to ride with I'm happy to do that with her.

Just takes alot of courage and talking to yourself
Just one thing--putting a bike on its main stand isn't a matter of brute force. -Its a tecnique thing.
Picking up a bike is the same in most cases--hey Im not talking the likes of a FJ1200 here

[2much]

Hey Spookey, you'll be amazed how easily you can lift a bike if you use the right technique.
First off, pick it up straight away, while that adrenaline's still pumpin'.

Grab the lower handle grip, pull it back first, to turn the wheel in, then lift the bike using a good hold of the handle grip/bar. Ideally, if you can, hold the brake lever on to keep the bike from going anywhere. However, if you've got the front wheel turned in, movement should be minimal.
Remember to bend your knees and lift with your legs, not your back.

Hope that helps.

[Joni]

To repeat something Ixion said a while back:


There's a trick to lifting a bike. If you know the technique even a very small person can lift quite a big bike.

Basically, assuming the bikes on it's side, but still on the road (if it's in a ditch that's a bigger problem) , what you is :

Stand beside the bike , on the side the seat is , with your back to the bike, and about 1 to 2 feet away from it (ie you are facing away from the horizontal bike with your back to the seat bit.

Now squat down enough that you can get one hand on the lowest handlebar, and the other grabbing the frame somewhere to the rear of where you normally sit. It's going to depend a bit on the bike, your height and the angle the bikes on. If you can't reach move a bit closer.

Now sort of duck walk backward and straighten up as you do it. You'll find that you'll life the bike quite easily (really, you will, you don't have to be a weightlifter). As the bike comes up , you move backwards , closer and closer, until the bikes is upright enough for you to turn and stand it up in the normal way.

[yungatart]

Not being huge in the confidence stakes myself (and having had a bike lie down for a nap on more than one occasion), I would say that practice is the best thing, also don't ever laugh at her mishaps (makes us very angry and hurt y'know). Get one of the girls to help her out. In no time at all she'll be beating the pants off you!!!

[nudemetalz]

Hi

This is a bit of a long shot but she could do a course with an instructor who takes you through slow riding etc until you're confident & competent.

[FROSTY]

Not being huge in the confidence stakes myself (and having had a bike lie down for a nap on more than one occasion), I would say that practice is the best thing, also don't ever laugh at her mishaps (makes us very angry and hurt y'know). Get one of the girls to help her out. In no time at all she'll be beating the pants off you!!!
Mental image of beating and pants --hmmm interesting

[DogBreath]

Hey there, I'm not light and the goose ain't heavy, maybe cause I'm new back to bikes after a 25 year layoff, but still have a little trouble walking a bike, I find using the hand brake is the only way I can control it when backing it around and stuff.
As for slow manoeuvring in gravel? (Forget it, I get off and walk) just both feet down and easy does it. Keep the knees bent to cushion yrself as you lean over. Do a course maybe, my son did and they teach that. Good luck

[mstriumph]

this makes me feel much better --- i'm hesitant on gravel, glad it isn't just me ---- the bike-picking-up bizzo also useful - thanks