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View Full Version : Another noobie takes his first ride..



Daza
18th April 2007, 18:15
I had my first ride today since doing my BHT, and on my new bike. :)
I brought a helmet and got my bike insured today. Stuck on my L plate, topped up the oil and gas.

I've borrowed some gear from my brother who used to ride. I felt alittle somewhat cramped on the bike, but i guess it's getting used to it.

I started her up and after a..delay i finally got onto the road and away i went around the block and onto a long back road.
I was racing along thinking gee i must be doing at least 50 and i look down to find i was doing..40kph :slap: :D ahem (Its funny how in a car 40-50kph feels like you could run faster).

So anyway the boots i also borrowed from my bro (i guess since they had been in storage for ages), began to get all sticky on the soles which went onto the pegs. The rubber was melting.
(So I guess you could say i was *really* burning rubber :P)
So that was alittle annoying, but i have another pair of boots to use next time until i get some proper riding boots of my own. At least when i put my feet down when stationary i had really good grip!

Anyway, another thing I found slightly annoying was all i could see in my mirrors was my arms. (like are those arms gonna overtake me?)
Also i found i couldn't look over my shoulder very well because the neck collar line around the jacket had a hard lip or edge that i guess my helmet couldn't clear properly. So i had to look under my arms to see behind properly lol
So yeah i will have to get my own jacket sooner than i wanted (perhaps it was alittle too bulky on the arms/shoulders..?, it seemed to fit me quite well overall though), If i'm stationary i have to turn my whole body around to see behind. (It's all a good workout eh)

I also brought these tiny round blindspot stick on mirrors which work great, onto my mirrors (from CheapAuto). Just to note, i only had one on when i went out to compare the difference between using one and the other mirror without one.

There were these kids sitting on the side of the road watching this amateur motorbike rider go up and down the street, revving alittle too high (or rolling off the gas alittle too much) as he changed gears. They properly were hoping for alittle bit of entertainment if i veered off into paddock and fencing nearby, but they had no such luck :P

At one point i kept stalling it a couple of intersections, i think it was in 3rd gear and i thought i had it in 1st. Kept changing down to get it in first, or maybe i just wasnt giving it enough revs?...

The sticky boots were getting worse so i headed back home after about 15-20mins of riding.

I had sore wrists afterwards, but that is expected i guess. I think also i need to get some slimmer gloves for better feel of the levers and throttle. Which i will do on friday, i hope we are in for fine weather over the weekend!

I can be a little impatient when it comes to learning something new that takes time. But not too impatient to do something dumb. So the more i ride the more i will get used to everything.

So anyway there is my first ride, roll on weekend!

:scooter:

bull
18th April 2007, 22:08
Good on ya for getting out there and doing it, i recall my first time on the bike o nthe road and felt like i was flying along, checked speedo and it was a whopping 35km/h.
Keep up the practice, its all good fun and never gets boring.

Northpoint
18th April 2007, 23:39
Nice one mate. You will find that the more you ride the more addictive it get :)

gijoe1313
18th April 2007, 23:42
Nice post! Great to hear you are enjoying yourself and getting to know your bike - keep reading through the threads here, especially Buckbuck's. Lots of good info and advice about the beginning of a long love relationship with two wheels of freedom!

Rosie
19th April 2007, 08:36
Great write-up!

Take plenty of time to get the basics sorted out. :scooter:

Steve 555
25th April 2007, 19:05
Cool sounds like you had a fun ride. You are lucky to have an RGV for your first bike I would kill for one a nice one hard to fined nowdays. Have fun on your bike mate:scooter: :scooter: :scooter:

T-Thunder13
25th April 2007, 19:14
good to hear your enjoying it! nothing else like it!
but be patient. otherwise youl end up dead. heh.:shit:

lowflyinggt
7th May 2007, 22:29
hey dude, good to hear the ridings going well.
Did you do the basic handling test in cambridge? i was recommended to do it there apposed to hams. How was it? harder/easier than you thought. Also whats the insurance setting you back if you dont mind me asking. Haven't got a quote for my 250 yet, fingers crossed it isn't to much. Oh btw nice bike. might see ya carving up the roads around waikato. :scooter:

NighthawkNZ
7th May 2007, 22:39
Good on yah for getting out there doing it and practising... and thats all it takes, each ride you do you will get more confident and you will want to go further and further... even venture out on the open road for a few twisties

But one thing is not to get over confident and cocky thats when shit will happen and the inexperience will show (when) and if something goes wrong as you won't yet have the skill to correct it.

Ride safe and think ahead, look ahead, be paitent know your surroundings ride as if every other bugger on the road is out to get you. Relax and have fun and you will have years of enjoyment ahead of you... as it only gets better...

Viddy
7th May 2007, 23:16
First time I took my bike for a ride at the dealership, the world was roaring by like I'd just hit the warp button. Put such a grin on my face that I had to take the bike for another go, and then buy it :)
Speaking with the authority of 8 months on my bike, (heh, yeah right :) ), you know you've got something going on when its some random sunday, and theres something ... not quite right ... turns out that something is fixed by a blat out somewhere.

The things that made me get better were - going for rides by myself in the evening, having some mates that dragged me out into the country but waited up for me, and riding to work when I could. Essentially, guided practice. I'd watch what my mates did when going around corners, and followed the same lines they did. Random practice around town helped firm up my really, really dodgy take offs - I popped a mono on the way home from the dealership because I got pissed off with the gears, and wrenched the throttle open, hammered down the gears, and dropped the clutch :)

u4ea
8th May 2007, 00:09
wow !! A really cool writeup..Just keep getting out there and doing what you enjoy.Practice will correct all the little blips that come with learning.If your wrists are sore it could be that your hanging on too tight!!!Read posts ,listen to other riders and soak everything in.Keep on posting and ask DUMB qustions as theyre the ones that can save your life!!!!

Daza
8th May 2007, 21:29
hey dude, good to hear the ridings going well.
Did you do the basic handling test in cambridge? i was recommended to do it there apposed to hams. How was it? harder/easier than you thought. Also whats the insurance setting you back if you dont mind me asking. Haven't got a quote for my 250 yet, fingers crossed it isn't to much. Oh btw nice bike. might see ya carving up the roads around waikato. :scooter:

I actually did my BHT in Hamilton, i did it with PassRite. I didn't know/don't think there was a BHT in Cambridge?

Well it was harder than i first thought it would be, and it took me about an hour to get used to the bike. Best advise is to relax relax keep your arms and body relaxed. My instructor did push me a little bit, and i had to sometimes get him to show me what he wanted me to do on the bike itself. When i could see he could do it, it helped me see its doable.

As for Insurance. I'm with Lumley Insurance/Westpac same as my cage. I pay $22.30 a month for full cover on my bike. I've been with them for a year already with my cage. And $26.36 per month for my cage.

Not exactly carving up the roads yet! hehe but yeah hope to meetup and see other Waikato 250 riders out there in the near future..

Let us know how you get on with your BHT.

Zuki Bandit
13th May 2007, 18:47
Hey man!

Good on ya for gettin out there:Punk: