Well, i've been wanting to ride a motorbike for years and years, and since being out working for the last few years, it's been a desire that's stronger than ever. Not to mention more affordable.
Perhaps i should start at the beginning... As a young boy i grew up in small town NZ with all the other kids living on farms and riding around on dirt bikes and horses e.t.c. but i grew up in the town side of town so had no such luxury. I was able to have a few rides on friends machines but never anything that satisfied my hunger.
The years passed and the desire was replaced with various other activities which probably had less chance of pain, as much adrenaline, but more mother appeal.
And then this year, many years after i last tried to ride a motorcycle i decided that my inevitable move to Wellington would be the catalyst for me getting both a licence and a motorbioke to use.
After half an hour pootling around on a GN125 at the testing station i sat the basic skills and handling test and passed with only minor, or that's how i saw them, problems. The scratchie test was a breeze as i've been driving around on a full car licence for almost 10 years now. And then i had a nice new blue licence in my wallet.
I went through the hard decision on whether i should buy an old broken beast that would take my learner abuse and keep on tickin' and then on-sell it when i grew tired of its inevitable downcomings. Or whether i should buy something half decent, treat it nicely, or as nicely as possible, and be able to hold onto it until i'm well into my full licence.
I have a knack it seems of buying the cheap object, finding it isn't up to scratch and then selling it after losing interest, never to try it again. So this time i decided that i wanted to make this motorcycling thing last and grab something with a bit of staying power.
What i thought would take mere days, actually ended up taking many months of looking and i actually ended up with NOMIS' 2001 Honda Hornet 250 from these fine forums. With so much to choose from and so many variables to consider the options seem to be endless. I started with a budget of $4k for a bike, which blew out to $6k and then a little more to get Nomis' machine.
It seemed inevitable that i would spend more than i wanted on gear as well. The budget for that blew out when i started to investigate benefits and downsides of each piece of kit and i am still lacking any decent pants, but for now i don't think i'll be needing them unless i'm caught in a rain storm.
So i had a nice shiny bike, helmet, gloves, jacket and some boots, all i needed now was some spare time to go for my first ride.
It took a few days but i chose an early morning ride out and around to Ohiro Bay here in Wellington. The roads would be relatively clear, i could do some practice bits and pieces and maybe even a hill start if the lights were against me on the way home.
It started well, no problems with waking up (i'd been dreaming about this day for years so had everything organised). Took all the gear down to the garage, started the bike up and got myself ready. And within minutes i was trundlind down the road at twice the speed i'd ever been at on a motorbike.
I have extensive time behind road cycle and mountain bike handlebars so i felt i was going to be capable of basic manouvers but i wasn't ready for the weight the bike felt. It was nimble and could do what i wanted without too much arguing but was much heavier than i imagined. I wasn't surprised as much as interested to feel the differences and keen to see where i could push them.
So hitting 70kph was incredibly easy and very exhilirating. Getting looked at sternly by a passing policeman was, it seemed, even easier. I passed two police cars in the hour i was pottering around and both were either genuinely intersted in either what i was riding, or how i was riding...
Opening up the throttle on a hill or on the exit of a corner is a feeling i can't describe. It took me half an hour or so to start feeling more comfortable on the bike and positioning myself to use less energy while cornering but hitting that sweet spot of comfort and excitement was great.
I started for the first half hour by changing through the gears with full use of the clutch both up and down. After accidentally tapping down a gear without using the clutch i started to experiment by dropping the revs for a fraction of a second and kicking through the gears. It's a much faster change and one less thing to think about when starting from a stopped position.
I seem to be terrible at remembering to turn off my indicators after a turn so removing the clutch aspect made it much easier for me to remember. Perhaps i'll look into rigging up an electrical switch that will cancel the signal after the steering has straightened for a time or gone back the other direction... All in due time i guess.
I'm clearly still a learner but i imagine that that will be how i feel for many more years to come. Currently hill starts are my target to master. Living here in Wellington i don't think i have a choice in the matter. Perhaps a trial by fire will be a good way of figuring out how to do them... Or not. Considering i went from not riding for over 15 years to jumping on a bike and riding around winding hilly streets and absolutely loving it, this is something i think i'll stick with for a wee while yet.
There seems to be a time for practice in a parking lot and a time for practice in the real world. For me, i don't have a choice, i'd have to ride across town to find a parking lot so it's just easier to ride around town anyway. I didn't find it particularly scary, but i don't have a desire to push my luck either.
Well either way, watch this space. Add your first time stories and perhaps someone can make use of some of them.
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Originally Posted by Maki
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