And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?Originally Posted by wild_weston
Tearing Choppa a new A'Hole
And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?
Vote David Bain for MNZ president
Come warm yourself by the fire
People will probably flame me for it, but fuck it - there is learning and then there is the "learn".
Take all "brakeable" stuff off - mirrors etc.
Take it to a grass patch and do some riding in 1st and second gear, try and go faster and faster.....eventually sliding the bike a bit.
You may drop it a few times, but to be honest - the skills you pick up, and the bruises....will be embedded in your brain.
It is how I learnt to ride and drive. And those skills are the best skills.
Think about it - how did you learn to ride a bike, on the road, taking it easy - or in the grass doing a few skids?
There are very few "essential" skills apart from a bit of "slide tests" and "observations tests". Riding a bike is a natural mechanical system - the body does what the mind is not scared of. If the mind locks up, so does the body.
RAMbo
Nothing against you personaly - just noticed your above post - just a general point to magicmonkey to get a mentor focused upon safety skills and then maybe extend out to flashy skills.
I still can't wheelie and am sure that I would like to - eventually. But for now I am more focused on being in control of everyday situations.
Forum whore
Pop around and see me; I have a Grey Cardigan for you.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
RAMbo
That'll go nicely with my brown slippers.
Forum whore
It doesn't improve on its own. It fools you into thinking that, lulls you into a false sense of superior roadcraft and draws you into a big accident.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
Forum whore
They could be mine. I'll check when I get home and if I still can't find them I may have to break the Zimmer Frame out.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
Idiot Mechanic
yeah, that was a real bummer! Still, a few thousand K's more and I'll be ready to learn hill starts
Idiot Mechanic
Yeah, they're great, the stoppies need some work though
Tearing Choppa a new A'Hole
Lol. All good, I didn't take it personal, just stirring shit.
Just an ongoing lighthearted point I seem to be making in all magicmonkey's threads which he seems good enough to take in his stride.
Vote David Bain for MNZ president
The instructions are simple...
I'm not sure that's possible on a GN. They'll do it, but the rider would need to work at it to manage one.
Do you realise how many holes there could be if people would just take the time to take the dirt out of them?
Idiot Mechanic
Yeah, I don't intend to try it any time soon but I do wonder if it's better to get a feel for them on a GN and have to work at it before I get a bigger bike, panic when I open it up too much and land with the front brakes on or the wheel crooked or something with an equally messy ending!
to be frank though, I couldn't give 2 shits about learning how to do a wheelie, beyond making sure I don't kill myself in an accidental one; I'll get a lot more joy out of handling the bike precisely and a few track days further down the line I think.
parting of the sensory
Good - now trying parking in awkward sloping carparks; that tests more'n one skill. First you have to work out which is the best place to park, then manouevre your bike into the park, so that it (a) won't fall over, and (b) is possible to get out of again.
Sounds like you're OK, but you can never practice too much. In common with many things on a bike, one of the critical things (apart from the obvious throttle and clutch control, and using the back brake as a rudder) is head position and where you look.
This also applies on roundabouts (similar thing): you need to look over your right shoulder, and keep looking, while at the same time being aware of what's happening on the road surface. The first is where your focus is, the second is a quick information-gathering scan.
This also applies when you're riding anywhere; you go where your focus is, but rather than staring fixedly ahead, you need to be able to take in everything around you, filtering out the irrelevant and noting the important:
- Is that guy going to stop?
- Has the cute chick in the car seen me, or is she going to change lanes on me?
- Oh- there's a piece of debris in the lane; must scope out a path to avoid it.
- The traffic's slowing down ahead.
- There's a rainbow sheen on the road (oil, brake fluid, antifreeze?) - must not run over that.
- Whoops! No time to avoid that pothole - must stand up on the pegs.
No real need for that. It's not really a skill, and won't help you with your licence. It's more a facet of how the bike's gearbox works.
... and that's what I think.
Or summat.
Or maybe not...
Dunno really....
Idiot Mechanic
yeah, probably a good idea to learn that before I get on the ferry to south Island next month!
That's one I'm getting there with but only very slowly, it's quite a nuanced skill to be able to pay attention to where you're going and the road surface. I'm going for the old 'practice makes perfect' one with this, mainly because it's a good excuse to get the bike out
Now, what is it about getting higher when you run into that unavoidable pothole?? Is it just some strange human reaction or is there an actual reason I keep on doing that!
oh, and the hot chick in the car has always noticed me 'cause I've tooted my horn at her
Yeah, I get that there's no real need for it, it's still a skill I'd like to learn though; mainly because I'll probably get involved in track days at some point down the lin e and I understand it's quite a useful skill to have there (not that I'll be treating the road like a race track before anyone pipes up!)
parting of the sensory
You'll need skills with riding on crappy surfaces for that too.
It's like checking out a hot chick without your woman noticing: your attention's where it should be, while sneaking a surreptitious glance that's enough to take in critical details without it being obvious you're looking.
On a bike, even when you have to do more than just glance briefly away from your intended path, you still have your mental focus there. If the glance takes in something critical, the mental focus changes.
No, it's not that so much as absorbing the shock with your legs. Plus if you're clever, you can actually bounce down on the suspension at the right time so the rebound floats the bike over the pothole. (Don't be tempted to wheelie over it - that forces the rear wheel into it. You'd be better doing a combo wheelie/stoppie to avoid it altogether!)
It's a piece of piss, especially changing up; all that's needed is a momentary change of revs coupled with a bit of lever pressure; the box is essentially a constant mesh one, so not much is required to engage the next gear. On race/drag bikes, it's accomplished with an automatic momentary ignition cutout triggerd by a microswitch on the gear lever or by the ECU itself.
You may well be doing what amounts to clutchless changes anyway if you're changing gear fast and not pulling the clutch lever all the way in.
A lt of this 'stuff' is about repetition (of the right actions) to build up patterns in your brain (like a musician and 'finger memory'), so that eventually, the riding is a right-hemisphere, unconscious action, and your rational brain (left hemisphere) has time to do other stuff, like evaluating what the heck is going on around you.
... and that's what I think.
Or summat.
Or maybe not...
Dunno really....
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