A watershed or...not

[kerryg]

Rode out through Clevedon, Kawakawa Bay to Kaiaua , Hunua etc yesterday(took a wrong turn on the way and ended up at Hotel du Vin...man, that looks salubrious).

Anyways I've been riding a '03 636 I got recently, this was the 3rd decent ride, and I've been waiting for it to "gel". The bike is a bit different from others I've owned, and I've been putting it down to that strangeness factor that I'm yet to feel happy on it but I'm beginning to think it's just wrong for me. It's a great bike, it's the "best" bike I've owned (as in most up-to-date technology-wise) but it just doesn't feel right. I've been waiting for it all to fall into place, the bike is such a weapon, expecting that I will soon be carving perfect corners at high speed, leaving black trails of rubber, that I too will be scraping footpegs at will. But no. Hard to put my finger on a single thing that's wrong about the bike, wish I could, but my worst suspicion is that I'm just not..well..up to it. Too old. Too big. Too scared. Too crappy a rider. Maybe all of the foregoing, I dunno.

Yesterday I felt the rear wheel slip a couple of times on some loose metal and just tensed up, it quite threw me. A few times I'd pick a line through a turn and chicken out before the apex, backing off the throttle (I know you shouldn't do that). The week before I went on a ride with a couple of younger guys on RF900s and couldn't stay with them in the windy stuff (thought it was just me needing to get used to the 636...but I don't think so). Guess I thought the reasons in the past were always inadequate machinery. So much for that theory. My excuses are all used up. I have the bike to do it, but I can't.

So it was a kind of epiphany, I'm a crap rider. I love riding, I love motorbikes, but I suck as a rider.

So I'm not giving up biking. I'm going to change direction. I'll do some homework and maybe take a few bikes for test-rides before deciding but I guess sportsbiking is not my strong point so I'm thinking ..... something not so sharp a tool as the 636. ***sigh*** horrible to realise your own limitations and frailties especially when they come with increasing frequency the older you get.

Anyways anyone interested in a 636 PM me for details. I might even be able to trade something.. Anyone got a Zimmer frame...??

[Gremlin]

Well, I have no idea of your history, what bikes you have had etc. but 3 good rides I wouldn't have thought would have given you the time yet to gell with the bike.

When you feel like you are communicating with your bike several times a second (getting to that now, after 5-6 months - but I'm a learner) you love your bike more, and everything begins to click. You know beforehand what your bike will do where, how etc.

3 good rides I wouldn't have thought would be enough, unless you have had similar beforehand. Once you know your bike inside out, you are also more confident of its abilities etc.

Just my opinion...

[James Deuce]

Stick with it kerry. The R6 frightened me silly for 6 months, and I'm only just appreciating it's assets and starting to dig into its performance potential now. Once upon a time I would have jumped on and banged it from peg to peg through corners, but I get more satisfaction from stringing a series of corners together now, and sometimes leaving the whippersnappers behind.

Confidence is harder to earn the older you get, because it has to be REAL confidence, not the fake stuff generated by testosterone. What worked for me was riding the bike slower, and then I suddenly found myself going quicker, and more comfortably too. One thing that has worked for me is to always do some stretches before I ride the bike. Helps with the long term comfort factor, which in turn staves off the old age brain fading thing, which always ends in riding like a nana.

[Hitcher]

This time last week, when we rode past the Hotel du Plonc, my rear wheel was losing 10psi per 100km. One of RIB's nails, I suspect... And half of Auckland was stopped in a tailback that stretched from Maramarua to Thames. Poor fuckers.

A holiday ride report is coming...

[Biff]

Yesterday I felt the rear wheel slip a couple of times on some loose metal and just tensed up, it quite threw me. ...

So it was a kind of epiphany, I'm a rider. I love riding, I love motorbikes, and as such, as a rider, I'm learning every time I ride.

Duuuuuuuuuuude. Stop. Take deep breath and relax.

What you're experiencing is natural. Back wheel slips can scare the shit out of you when you're least expecting them. They can really throw your concentration.

Those slips, and a new bike, taught you a valuable lesson - the rear wheel slips under some circumstances. It's a fact of riding. What you also learnt is that it's ok for the wheel to slip from time to time. You didn't panic, you kept the bike straight, no harm done.

Don't let this ride have a negative impact on your biking fun - it should be seen as a positive one. Listen to Jim - he can be a grumpy old git at times, but he knows what he's saying (and he's a good sort really).

You want a laugh? Ride behind me when I hit gravel/loose metal; I ride like an angry epileptic beaver on P.

As long as you're riding a motorbike you'll never stop learning how to ride one.

[gav]

FFS, don't worry what other people think, if you enjoy the bike, then enjoy it. You dont have to use every last shred of tyres right to the edges either. Just enjoy it and do a couple of track days etc. Hell, if some guys on 900's etc leave ya behind, so what? Enjoy the bike for what it is, maybe you could go faster on sometyhing less "extreme", but dont expect it happen straight away, thats how you see so many new sportsbikes lying in ditches etc. Just build up to it and enjoy it. Getting the picture?

[Toast]

Confidence is harder to earn the older you get, because it has to be REAL confidence, not the fake stuff generated by testosterone.

Yeah Kerry, just chill out more, like Jim2 says. Heaps of dudes can ride like fricken maniacs without knowing what's goin on ender their asses. Motorcycling kinda rewards pure aggression at times, 'on the throttle' being how they (the bikes) like to be.

For the rest of us, we just gotta ride the bikes more, tune in to them, feel and hear what they're feeling, and it all comes with a bit of practice. That gen 636 is the bomb bike...though maybe getting the suspension set up for your needs would go a long way to helping you in your quest.

[Motu]

You can't force yourself to like a bike - I know I've been dying for a ride on some bike....and when I finaly get to go for a spin feel disapointed,I just can't click with it.Then I get on a bike I just know I'm truely going to absolutly hate,like some dumb cruiser,and I feel like I've ridden it all my life and fall in love.I was looking for a more sporty bike,but kinda knew deep down I was going to get bored with one in a few months - when I rode the XLV750 I knew I had found what I was looking for,an adventure bike fits my riding style perfectly and I think I'll stick with them for a few years yet....until I can't get my leg over....

[Lou Girardin]

Perhaps a streetfighter style will suit you better, Speed Triple, Superduke, Hornet, Z1000 etc. The riding position gives better visibility, the wider bars give more control and they give nothing away in brakes or real world go compared to the 636. TDF riding positions only really make sense at higher speeds than most people travel at in NZ.
I was never as comfortable on the RF as I am on the Bandit and it's due to the different riding position and bars.

[trev]

Kerry. I know where you are coming from. The first few rides of my bike put the wind up me no end - going around corners on the wrong side of the road, braking hard at the wrong time, etc. etc. - all confidence destroying stuff. i started to wonder if I'd made a mistake buying it.
I bought a couple of books "twist of the Wrist" " Smoother Riding the Pridmore Way " but most of all slowed down & tried the things they tell you about.
It was amazing how quickly it all came together but most of all I really started to enjoy my bike.
The 636 may not be the bike for you but 3 rides is not giving you or the bike enough chance to find out IMHO.

[Marmoot]

The week before I went on a ride with a couple of younger guys on RF900s and couldn't stay with them in the windy stuff (thought it was just me needing to get used to the 636...but I don't think so). Guess I thought the reasons in the past were always inadequate machinery. So much for that theory. My excuses are all used up. I have the bike to do it, but I can't.

Since when is sportriding all about keeping up and staying in front?

It's about your pace, not anybody else's

[kerryg]

Gremlin, Jim2,Biff, gav, Toast, Motu, Lou, trev, Marmoot....thanks. Lots of good advice. I guess I need to spend a bit more time on the 636 and make the decision after I've put a few thousand more kms under my belt, so that's what I'll do. Cheers

[Ixion]

Since when is sportriding all about keeping up and staying in front?

..

Thought that's all it was about , m'self ?

[MSTRS:Me]

Gremlin, Jim2,Biff, gav, Toast, Motu, Lou, trev, Marmoot....thanks. Lots of good advice. I guess I need to spend a bit more time on the 636 and make the decision after I've put a few thousand more kms under my belt, so that's what I'll do. Cheers

Good man. Also do as many trackdays as you can - it will do more for your confidence than roadriding can ever achieve.

[Pathos]

I've always felt that if something doesn't feel right from the beginning you won't like it.

I can tell if my soccer boots/ shoes are going to be perfect in around 10 minutes otherwise I won't buy them. With the fxr it felt natural the first time I rode it (and I taught myself how to change gears and brake in my head the night before).

I'd really go checking out other bikes and get a feel for them one or two may stand out, but you really have to ask yourself What do you want from your bike? How should it handle? How smooth? How powerful? And think hard about that because it ain't just performance potential. You'll be faster in a bike that you feel comfortable and much happier.

I fell little inclination for an RR bike because its not what I would feel comfortable in, a naked style bike is probably more my kind of thing.