Regaining confidence after a fall

[shflbm]

We got a new Bandit 650 about 6 weeks ago. It has since spent about 5 of those weeks being repaired under insurance. Let me explain...

Having only been used to an ER6 (V-twin I think? I always get confused), I went out on a sunny Saturday morning with fresh (read: un-warmed) tires on what was meant to be my first long ride on the shiny new Bandit (in-line 4). This was a week exactly (almost to the hour) after we'd purchased the bike. I went round a corner at an intersection in second gear and evidently should have been in first. The Bandit's back wheel flicked out from underneath the bike and I skidded along the ground, detached from the bike which was spinning. The bike was in much worse shape than I was (hence the insurance job, though it was mostly superficial) - I was not hurt at all and my gear was barely even scratched except for a slight graze on my jacket's right elbow.

The problem is now I have lost quite a lot of confidence and just remembering that feeling of the bike slipping out from under me is not nice. Considering the damage to the bike and what could have happened if a car was behind me/in front of me (luckily the intersection was completely clear) or if I was going at a higher speed is enough to have me re-checking if I even want to continue riding.

We have booked to go on the Pro-Rider course this weekend - I'd already been on it on the ER6 but thought it would be good to do it again on the Bandit and have my husband come along to learn more too.

Any tips or experience from other lady riders who have had something like this happen? Did you ever really regain your confidence again?

[george formby]

Erk, horrible feeling.
My first thoughts on your post were about the bike & the road, new bike, new tires? Camber? Road surface? etc... Not sure how 1st or 2nd gear would have changed things. Oh, just re-read post, did the bike stall & lock the rear wheel? How much time on a bike have you had?

Any hoo. My G/F had a couple of offs which knocked her confidence. Figuring out exactly why it happened, rider error, helped her improve & take nervousness away. Good lessons learned despite the dented confidence & scrapes. She's a better, happier rider for it.

Training... You can't get enough.

A bit leftfield but doing a bit of riding on loose surface, grassy paddocks, loose gravel etc does wonders for bike control. When that back wheel starts to move you learn to instantly shift your body weight to compensate for & minimise the slide. I've always thought it a vital skill for all riders. You never know when your going to have a wee slide & most of the time it's saveable.

[haydes55]

Look at how the crash occurred, now what can you do to ensure the same incident won't happen again?


So did you downshift mid bend to go into 1st gear? That would cause shift lock, basically like pulling the hand brake up.

Or were you on the throttle a bit too hard and the back wheel spun and that's how the bike went down?

Also the ER6n is a parallel twin if I'm not mistaken.

[Ender EnZed]

I went round a corner at an intersection in second gear and evidently should have been in first. The Bandit's back wheel flicked out from underneath the bike and I skidded along the ground, detached from the bike which was spinning.

Could you expand on this part a bit?

[The Reibz]

Don't worry guys, Katman will be along shortly to give us his version of events.

Just take your time when you get back on. Just start off with short trips then progress back into the longer stuff. I know what your feeling though, have had it happen to me a couple of years back.

[Stevee2]

A bit leftfield but doing a bit of riding on loose surface, grassy paddocks, loose gravel etc does wonders for bike control. When that back wheel starts to move you learn to instantly shift your body weight to compensate for & minimise the slide. I've always thought it a vital skill for all riders. You never know when your going to have a wee slide & most of the time it's saveable.

A lot of people recommend this but without going out and buying a dirt bike, or risking ruining our road bikes by dropping them on gravel/ dirt how can we go about practicing this?

[Ender EnZed]

A lot of people recommend this but without going out and buying a dirt bike, or risking ruining our road bikes by dropping them on gravel/ dirt how can we go about practicing this?

Your Hornet 250 is probably quite a reasonable gravel road bike. Try riding on some gravel roads.

[george formby]

A lot of people recommend this but without going out and buying a dirt bike, or risking ruining our road bikes by dropping them on gravel/ dirt how can we go about practicing this?

Very fair call. We started off with a day at "the farm" up here, an off road / school camp / horse trekking / exceedingly fun place. Paid our money, jumped onto some old bikes & proceeded to slide round a paddock. By the afternoon we were out on the trails. Great fun.
All I can suggest is look for the opportunity to get a bit dirty where ever you can, fellow KB'ers, mates in the country, the kid down the road with a PW80 etc.
What you play on is irrelevant, the smaller & cheaper the better really.
Any opportunity which will give you the feeling of the bike loosing traction and the time to learn how to control it. It does not take long, once you realise what happens when you shift your weight it seems to become automatic very quickly. One of those epiphany moments I guess.

I would not contemplate using a lovely, breakable road bike as my starting point. Weight, power & value will stymie your efforts.

Hopefully somebody will pop in & say go here or go there, pay some moneys & have some fun. And go home with new skills.

[Grashopper]

I've been thinking about finding a gravel road and practicing gravel riding, but that is probably not a good idea on your own. I wouldn't even been able to lift up my bike if something happens. It's hard enough on solid ground, but on slippery gravel it's got to be even more of a problem.

To the OP: I think with the Prorider course you're on the right way. If that helps but you still feel a bit unsure, do another course and maybe a trackday. Manfield is a nice track. Sign up for the slowest group and follow the line riders for a bit. MotoTT www.motott.co.nz do really well organised trackdays. The next one in Manfield is on the 19 Oct, so not too far away.

[Katiepie]

You do regain your confidence again eventually, if you push yourself and just get back out and keep riding. First few times you might be a little shaky. That's to be expected. But learn to control your mind and not allow it to wonder over "what ifs" or getting worried over similar situations. Push your mind past that and focus only on the task at hand, the corner you are on (with hazards around yada yada) or the stretch of road you are entering. Within a few rides you will begin to forget about your nerves and just be keen getting back into it again.

All the best - don't let it stop you

[Grashopper]

Very fair call. We started off with a day at "the farm" up here, an off road / school camp / horse trekking / exceedingly fun place. Paid our money, jumped onto some old bikes & proceeded to slide round a paddock. By the afternoon we were out on the trails. Great fun.
All I can suggest is look for the opportunity to get a bit dirty where ever you can, fellow KB'ers, mates in the country, the kid down the road with a PW80 etc.
What you play on is irrelevant, the smaller & cheaper the better really.
Any opportunity which will give you the feeling of the bike loosing traction and the time to learn how to control it. It does not take long, once you realise what happens when you shift your weight it seems to become automatic very quickly. One of those epiphany moments I guess.

I would not contemplate using a lovely, breakable road bike as my starting point. Weight, power & value will stymie your efforts.

Hopefully somebody will pop in & say go here or go there, pay some moneys & have some fun. And go home with new skills.

Sign me up


...Hm, I wouldn't even know where to go for that around here. Prorider used to do gravel road courses, but they haven't been offering them for a while. Otherwise there is only the pure dirt tours thing in Rotovegas I think.

Hm, on the other hand, I do have a perfectly fine GN standing around here that is currently not being used...

[george formby]

It just crossed my mind what it would cost to hire a 50cc scooter & go find a park somewhere for the morning....


Good point above, too. Don't over think it. Ride your bike, be smart enough to figure out what happened, learn from it & move on in a fun & comfortable fashion at your own pace. Despite rumours, if you give them the chance, bikes will do everything they can not to spit you off down the road.

[Kornholio]

Shit happens, and 'back on the horse' and all that

[Drew]

Who fitted the race slicks to the bandit? Because "cold tyres" means fuck all on anything but race rubber unless you're trying to go round corners at warp factor nine.

It's a crock I'm afraid.

[Ulsterkiwi]

my sympathies go to the OP. I am not long riding and managed to fall off just this past weekend. Insurance is still checking the bike over but its looking like a write off.
I was in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal so had no option but to hop on again and get myself out of trouble. The bike was upside down on its handlebars and the top box was lying a few metres down the road. After hauling the bike upright and a bit of thumping on the now bent handlebars, I was able to travel at 15-20kph the 7kms to the main road. That was probably a bit adrenaline fuelled.
I had been on the way to my cousins place as we had planned a day trip the next day on our bikes. In the morning he got me on his bike just to go up and down his street for 20 minutes or so. It was the best therapy I could have had! I am far from experienced but this has taught me the truth of the cliche "if you fall off a horse........"
Dont let it beat you, get back on, take it easy and you will regain the confidence. Heck we can start a self help group and get our confidence back together!