My First Bike! VTR250

[curly]

Scored me a bike 2002 Honda VTR250.



Spent about 2 hours practicing in a carpark, stalled once. Plus a couple of almost stalls. Then hit the streets for about a half hour. I started to get cramp in my right hand so decided i need a rest/hungry. Plus it was about to rain.

More practice tomorrow. Hopefully this rain goes away. Also need some gloves, boots and pants. Well definitely gloves at least.

[LBD]

Scored me a bike 2002 Honda VTR250.



Spent about 2 hours practicing in a carpark, stalled once. Plus a couple of almost stalls. Then hit the streets for about a half hour. I started to get cramp in my right hand so decided i need a rest/hungry. Plus it was about to rain.

More practice tomorrow. Hopefully this rain goes away. Also need some gloves, boots and pants. Well definitely gloves at least.

Hey....good on you Curly...a couple of close ones learnt on VFR250s...good choice.

Have fun

[Slyer]

As said, good bike!
Work on getting your skills up in bite sized pieces and you'll be riding with the lads in no time.

[tbs]

Good stuff mate.
I remember getting cramp in my hand. Keep your arms loose, with a light grip on the bars. Grip the bike with your legs, flap your elbows periodically to make sure your arms are loose. Above all, turn your head and look where you want to go. Don't look at the bit of road right in front of you. It sounds simple, but it takes practice!

My biggest recommendation though, is to sign up for a Pro-rider course with Karel Pavich. I did one after about 900km of struggling with my bike, and I can't tell you how much doing this course helped my progression.

Cheers,
b.

[curly]

Hey....good on you Curly...a couple of close ones learnt on VFR250s...good choice.

Have fun

I so am

As said, good bike!
Work on getting your skills up in bite sized pieces and you'll be riding with the lads in no time.

Yep will do. I'm in no rush

Good stuff mate.
I remember getting cramp in my hand. Keep your arms loose, with a light grip on the bars. Grip the bike with your legs, flap your elbows periodically to make sure your arms are loose. Above all, turn your head and look where you want to go. Don't look at the bit of road right in front of you. It sounds simple, but it takes practice!

My biggest recommendation though, is to sign up for a Pro-rider course with Karel Pavich. I did one after about 900km of struggling with my bike, and I can't tell you how much doing this course helped my progression.

Cheers,
b.

Gripping the bike with my legs helps alot as does flapping the elbows. Will definitely be taking a Pro-rider course or something similar in the near future.

[curly]

These maybe stupid questions but,

Does it matter if I leave the fuel tap on the ON position all the time?

Also how often should I check the tyre pressure?

[FJRider]

Get an experienced rider to check the position of the brake/clutch levers are set up for you properly ...

Even a slight change in back brake/gear change levers ... may inprove comfort levels some more ...

[Bowlch]

I'm learning on a VTR250 2010 at the moment. Fantastic little bikes with plenty of kick when you ask for it!

[Slyer]

Yes it's fine to have the fuel tap set to ON all the time.
There's a little valve in the fuel tap that only opens when the bike is running, even if it didn't have that the floats in the carburetor _should_ stop the fuel flowing in once the carb is full.

[tbs]

Check the tire pressure once a week at least. It's worth buying a decent quality digital gauge. After a while you will get a feel for how much air they loose over how long, and maybe relax your routine with the gauge a bit. Remember to check them when they are cold. They'll gain a bit of pressure when they warm up.

The point about the levers is a good one. I rotated the controls on my Ninja down as far as they would go... which wasn't much.... Cheap ergonomics. Last night I finally got around to adjusting my 600 controls. They were set way too high, so it all feels a lot better now. You should be able to lift your fingers onto the front brake lever without them snagging on the lever, and without having to roll your wrist backwards. Ditto clutch, but probably not as big of a deal.

Now practice dropping that inside shoulder when you corner (above 20km/hr). You want to lean your body in so the bike doesn't have to. Less lean angle equals more grip. This is counter intuitive at first, especially in the wet.

[curly]

So I learnt a few things this past weekend.

No matter how hard/often I try my bike doesn't have a sixth gear

A half hour ride can so easily turn into a 4 hour ride

I must remember to put my visor down cos sandflys don't taste too great

Also I got my first wave yesterday

Anyway that's enough from me i'm off for another "1/2 hour" ride

[baffa]

Great bikes.
You wont really need 5th gear, I only use it for cruising, otherwise 4th is sufficient for legalish speeds.

Being a new rider you need to get into the habit of keeping an eye on tyres, chain, oil levels etc. Plenty of reading for you on this site. I've found about 33 psi front, 36 psi rear works well on the VTR.

You can pull away without using the throttle at all, good way of getting used to clutch control.

Congrats, enjoy the new bike!

[darkwolf]

New tip - I just learnt it yesterday on my new VTR - its good to have the fuel tap "ON" when you go for a ride

Getting round the corner only for the engine to stall and having to wave traffic by is a bit embarrassing

[curly]

Great bikes.
You wont really need 5th gear, I only use it for cruising, otherwise 4th is sufficient for legalish speeds.

Yeah I only use 5th on the open road really but i still try to change into 6th.

Being a new rider you need to get into the habit of keeping an eye on tyres, chain, oil levels etc. Plenty of reading for you on this site. I've found about 33 psi front, 36 psi rear works well on the VTR.

Yeah I've been checking my tyres every 2nd/3rd ride I take it out. I check my chain, oil levels once a week. For the tyre pressure i followed the manual with 200kpa(29psi) front and back but i might try 33psi front and 36psi rear.

You can pull away without using the throttle at all, good way of getting used to clutch control.

Congrats, enjoy the new bike!

I reckon i've got clutch control pretty much sorted.

Cheers for the advice

[curly]

New tip - I just learnt it yesterday on my new VTR - its good to have the fuel tap "ON" when you go for a ride

Getting round the corner only for the engine to stall and having to wave traffic by is a bit embarrassing

Same thing happened to me, now i just leave it ON.