View RSS Feed

Beren

Daft Lessons from a Learner - (Part 1 Probably!)

Rate this Entry
12 Comments
by
Beren
, 4th May 2011 at 10:22 (1950 Views)
Day 4 of riding and I already think I can pass on advice? Hell no. Feel pretty lucky not to have had an off so far though so thought perhaps others could learn from my near screw ups.

Day 1 – New bike is awesome – I own something that revs to 15,000rpm! I’m not sure I can adequately describe the beautiful cry of your first bike howling, or the first time you feel something really pulling at your hands, suffice to say I came back in with a huge grin on my face. Stalling pulling away up hill onto the main road? Not so smart. Thankfully it’s a light bike so leg power got me across the road to safety before what had been a distant car became a really serious issue. Went and found quiet road to practice finding the balance point between releasing the back brake when the clutch is at bite point. Still a long way from perfect but at least I can do it now! Also learnt that heavy winds make life interesting oh and did I mention that my bike is awesome?

Day 2 – Commuting into Auckland from KKK. Perhaps a tiny bit of a steep learning curve but the bike is now my only form of transport. Absolutely epic feeling riding past all the stationary traffic into work down the Northern Motorway - I had an experienced rider with me showing me the way through and widening the gap a little in the traffic – much thanks. On the way home I found out that my helmet was utterly useless at night and it was driving rain. So I lifted the visor and drove home anyway, felt like someone was continuously firing BB Pellets at my face. After sitting on the motorway being pelted… then on SH16 being pelted my decision making ability was degrading – and I didn’t notice till it was nearly too late. Hit an unmade piece of road at 70ish and had a very interesting few seconds gently shedding speed before the slight turn that I knew I couldn’t make on the surface. Then decided I ought to work out how to put high beam on while riding along, and found myself on the centre line of the road, thankfully with nothing coming the other way. Got home absolutely knackered, the most tired mentally I have been for a long time. Must learn my brains warning signs that I need to take a break.

Day 3 – New Lid, AMAZING. I can see clearly now the tint has gone… have realised that my speed is a little erratic compared to what I would have been driving in the car. Driving in the wet I am entering corners pretty slow and then accelerating away once I know I have traction. Going to take a lot of learning how fast I can safely take corners in all conditions. Lane splitting on my own was absolutely fine as I found someone else to follow that was going at a speed I was comfortable at. Need to learn to shift down appropriately so that I have power when I then need to accelerate. Have found myself in 3rd several times when I should have been in 1st or 2nd.

Day 4 – First open road overtaking. Epic feeling when you start to realise that you really can drop a cog and zip past someone. Followed 2 minutes later by a big breath, which completely steamed up my lid doing 100ish on SH16. Only luck meant that I was on a straight piece and didn’t find anything to hit while I fiddled to get the lid open. Must learn to breath lightly, or get a scarf that covers nose and mouth ( which might stop my neck getting quite so cold too!). The commute took a full 30 minutes less this morning than it would in the car though. Felt like it was starting to come together a tiny bit more – then stalled at lights in town. D’oh!

There are probably LOADS of other things I am doing wrong in fact I can think of a few – but I know I don’t write well enough to make this blog longer! Also If I hadn’t spent a couple of years commuting on a push bike in the UK I wouldn’t have dreamt of immediately starting to commute. I already have a great respect for the unpredictability of traffic! ( I also have a couple hundred thou miles driving 4 wheels but that I have learnt means precisely naff all!)

The biggest things I think I really need to concentrate on getting better at…

Road Awareness – I think I’m ok, which almost certainly means I could be better.
Holding a steady speed – I tend to yo-yo a lot between 65 and 100ish on the back roads, must be irritating as hell to others.
Bike control at 20-30km/h in 2nd gear – bike is Very throttle sensitive at that speed and I am a bit jerky.
Pulling away more confidently.
Stopping at Junctions in the right gear, under power then on the brakes, better in every department actually.

Correct cornering speeds I guess I will gradually work out, once I have learnt to listen better to what the bike is telling me.

Submit "Daft Lessons from a Learner - (Part 1 Probably!)" to Digg Submit "Daft Lessons from a Learner - (Part 1 Probably!)" to del.icio.us Submit "Daft Lessons from a Learner - (Part 1 Probably!)" to StumbleUpon Submit "Daft Lessons from a Learner - (Part 1 Probably!)" to Google Submit "Daft Lessons from a Learner - (Part 1 Probably!)" to reddit Submit "Daft Lessons from a Learner - (Part 1 Probably!)" to Facebook

Categories
Personal entry , General Bike Ravings

Comments

  1. The Singing Chef's Avatar
    Nice bro! It's always interesting those first couple of weeks of riding!! if you want to work on some slow speed and stopping procedures you should come to Nass. We meet at westgate Bp at 6.30pm, ride off in a group to Albany carpark at 7pm. and practise there till we decide it's Pub Time :-D would be great to see you there, it has helped me alot.

    Welcome to the club mate.

    Matt
  2. Beren's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by The Singing Chef
    Nice bro! It's always interesting those first couple of weeks of riding!! if you want to work on some slow speed and stopping procedures you should come to Nass. We meet at westgate Bp at 6.30pm, ride off in a group to Albany carpark at 7pm. and practise there till we decide it's Pub Time :-D would be great to see you there, it has helped me alot.

    Welcome to the club mate.

    Matt
    Sounds like a possible plan - on a day where work stops in time! What days do you guys get together?
  3. The Singing Chef's Avatar
    Woops forgot that part, Wednesdays, so tonight. there is always something i forget to put in haha
  4. Beren's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by The Singing Chef
    Woops forgot that part, Wednesdays, so tonight. there is always something i forget to put in haha
    Bah, got to get home tonight to sort out some grazing and then carry on working... I do love my job - honest! Will certainly try and pencil it in for next week though.
  5. superman's Avatar
    Shit you put yourself straight into it didn't you?

    I spent the first few days hooning to the end of my country road and back not daring to get out to anywhere more civilised.
  6. Beren's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by superman
    Shit you put yourself straight into it didn't you?

    I spent the first few days hooning to the end of my country road and back not daring to get out to anywhere more civilised.
    Well my commute in the UK on a pushbike was 15km's through ice and snow... so the idea that cars will try and leap out of ditches to squish you is quite inbuilt!
  7. insomnia01's Avatar
    Unsure of what type of lid you have but some form of anti fog system will cure your visor fogging up, personally I use the Shoei pin lock set-up & swear by it this does not mean you have to buy a Shoei ( I have mine fitted to a Nitro Aerotech helmet ), you can modify to fit most helmets, if you know someone that has such a set up borrow their film & see how if fits on your visor & if it's ok you only need to size it up & drill a couple of holes then your all set to go
  8. creature's Avatar
    nice one beren, you certainly jumped in the deep end for a first timer. CREATURE would not be quite so confident on the open road as you. CREATURE finds your input useful and will try to learn from your experiences. CREATURE wishes you luck with your practice, be safe.
  9. steelphoenix's Avatar
    You seem to be learning fast! Good that you're noting down your slip-ups and so on; it helps with the understanding process, and thus with learning.

    As to the scarf idea - it has merit, up until you realise that if you breathe with it over your nose/chin/neck, it can only go up and fogs up the visor even worse! It'll be fine at open-road speeds, but anything less than 70 starts fogging up. Yeah, saying this from experience. Do get one to keep your neck warm (and stop draft into your jacket), but only wrap it up to the bottom of your nose. If you've got a facial vent on your lid (most do), keep that open for circulation.

    Keep up the good work!
  10. Beren's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by steelphoenix
    You seem to be learning fast! Good that you're noting down your slip-ups and so on; it helps with the understanding process, and thus with learning.

    As to the scarf idea - it has merit, up until you realise that if you breathe with it over your nose/chin/neck, it can only go up and fogs up the visor even worse! It'll be fine at open-road speeds, but anything less than 70 starts fogging up. Yeah, saying this from experience. Do get one to keep your neck warm (and stop draft into your jacket), but only wrap it up to the bottom of your nose. If you've got a facial vent on your lid (most do), keep that open for circulation.

    Keep up the good work!
    Cheers - Today was down in Ellerslie first before wandering back into town, everything was getting a bit smoother. Found out last night that my bike does almost exactly 200kms before I need to switch to reserve - though as my riding gets smoother I guess that might improve. Did lead to a bit of swearing and fiddling before I found the tap to switch the tank over on the side of the motorway! The scarf will definitely be on if it is clear morning tomorrow - the cold was just starting to bite.
  11. MzTulip's Avatar
    Good on you for writing all that about your first riding experiences! I hadn't learnt how to change out of first gear when I got my Ninja delivered to my home so rode up and down my little street for quite some time before steeling myself to venture out of it into traffic. I was terrified - and grateful for that big loud "L" plate on the back telling everyone "DANGER - learner rider coming!". I'm on a restricted now and done about 5000km, mostly out on Waikato backroads. Don't worry about your speed and pissing other riders/drivers off - they would rather you were riding at a speed most comfortable to you, than having to pick you up off the road or out of some ditch because you lost control. I still really struggle with overtaking - my fear is that my little vibrator may not get me past as quickly as it needs to - although I'm always careful to change down and go as smoothly as possible. Bigger bikes make it look SO MUCH EASIER! And tankers? Well they just terrify me... Also, the rain on the visor is a pain in the neck aye - I have to wear prescription glasses or sunnies when I ride too so if you get caught in the rain and lift your visor to try see better, your specs get wet too and then you've got double the trouble! Hooning down the Kaimai's in the rain with this problem recently made me very insecure! Good luck with your riding - its the best fun in the world and I love the way that even when you're out riding on your own you seem to suddenly have so many friends :-) Tulip
  12. FLIPTOP's Avatar
    Well Done. My first time out I went wide on an off camber corner with a car coming the other way (panicked) and went along a ditch in a country road. HeHe. Carried on and back again from destination but have not been out since. Really need to as the price of petrol and Diesel is getting beyond a joke and I do love the bikes.