Another newbie scorned by gravity.

[RantyDave]

Big suckage, man. It basically wasn't your fault. That being said I proffer the following (non guaranteed) advice:

1, It's your lane too. Screw them. Particularly in a 50 zone. They will not, actually, deliberately hit you because car bumpers are really expensive.
2, Particularly on left handers don't get too close to the curb. I mention left handers particularly because there can be a car parked round the corner you didn't see when you entered it. Zoooom, splat.
3, If the front wheel slides there's not a lot anybody can do. Come off the brakes, if on them, but whatever's going to transpire will do so very quickly one way or the other. The trick, therefore, is to stay on the grippiest looking piece of road. (see 1 and 2).

Wet loose gravel is the worst. Your attitude's just fine though. Can't believe the cars, what bastards.

Dave

[emaN]

i wouldn't ride in the center of a lane...especially in cities, too much crap on the road.

try to ride in the r/h 'tyre tracks' - you'll usually find 'em cleaner, and you'll be right in their mirror.

oh, my gpz250r was v capable of holding it's own, i'm sure your gpx will too; your instructor probly assumed you would be on something smaller when he mentioned going slow...

[Crisis management]

I would agree with all the comments above but given you are just starting out and sound a touch nervous I would pull over and let any tail gaters go. Build up your confidence first by getting rid of the problems behind you. This might sound a touch soft but you need your bike control skills developed first without trying to avoid frustrated people behind you.

You did nothing wrong, just out rode your skills in that situation, it will improve but it does take some time.

Good luck!!

[kiwifruit]

never good to hear of anyone coming off m8, im glad to hear it hasnt put you off or broken your body (or bike) too badly.

As has been said above, own the lane, you have every right to be there.

If some dickhead is sitting right up ur ass tooting and carring on just pull over and stop (if possible) and let them go. Its not worth the hastle of getting into road rage by pulling the finger or whatever.

Its the hardest time when you are learning. I respect you for learning in such a difficult envornment with igronant drivers all around you.
Stick with it and try not to let them make you bitter

I hope you and your bike are back on track ASAP

-Allan.

[Firefight]

glad your ok,

got that first bin out of the way..

apart from that how is the bike going ?



F/F

[ldnz]

Sorry to here about that mate. Thing to do with a malicious tailgater is to dab the brakes, wave them back, and then note the plate, pull over and call *555. Dunno if it works up there, but i've had great satisfaction in watching a cop come past and dealing with them. Its usually not the only thing these drivers have been pinged for.

Oh and as others have noted - try and ditch the L plate, its just a great big magnet for shitty attitudes and weeny dicks to try and prove something.

[zeocen]

Hey F/F, the bike is a dream - I couldn't have asked for more (well, I could have asked to not fall off!).

But yeah, apart from todays shenanigans it's been running as smooth as silk.

[MD]

Technically it may be your lane but from you said I think discretion may be the better part of valour here, or whatever that saying is. Not the wisest idea to try and dominate the lane and further piss off irate South Aucklanders that probably keep a supply of axes and baseball bats at the ready. From what you said there was one car on your tail tooting to get passed. Then it built up to 3 cars, so it sounds like you were holding up traffic, learner or not, best pull over to left and let them go. Stay in one piece that way until you feel confident to ride at a faster pace.
Hang in there. I remember riding my first bike home as my Dad followed in his car. His first words when I pulled up our drive were; did I realise I was doing under 20mph all the way, so stay off busy roads until I can go with the flow... I was shitting myself at the sensation of speed I thought I was doing.

[Bend-it]

All these woosies giving advice to pull over...

Now listen to some real advice... get a firearms licence and ride with a 12ga shotgun on your back. They will all leave you along... well, apart from coppers, I guess...

Yeah, pulling over and letting them pass would have been the sensible option. Either that or just ignoring them and riding at the speed limit.

Sorry about the off. If you got their rego, you can pay $2.25 at the post office and get their address! What you do with the address is up to you...

[dnos]

hey man, bummer bout the off.
Bunch of wankers tooting and shit, its a 50 zone ffs. and then the pricks drive off when they cause you to crash. grrrrr makes me angry.
Have to say that i reckon sitting in the right hand tyre mark on the road is the way to go, much less chance of loose gravel, even through road works.
If there is someone up my arse i flash my brake lights they usually back off. just the other day i did that to a guy and then watched his wife give him a bollocking from the passenger seat - sucker.
And if that doesnt work try obscene gestures or stop in the middle of the road and yell at the fucker.
ok maybe thats not the best advice, try indicating and pull over to let them past instead.
Good luck with the confidence building, u will get the hang of it much quicker than u realise.

[zeocen]

Thanks again all for the reassurance..
Most of my ride side is aching today but that's about the extent of my sore spots which I'm pretty damn thankful for!

And another bonus today was that my old man and I managed to bend out the gear pedal without snapping it (I wasn't quite sure but my dad said something about it being cast and would probably snap.. or something like that). He took it out for a very quick spin to make sure everything was all hunky-dory and there were no complaints from him!

So I'm very happy on that, all I have left is to find an Indicator and it'll be road-worthy once again (with some additional fairing battlescars hehe)!

So yeah, I'm very relieved, but I think I'll have a few weeks of serious-and-slow riding around the deserted streets in my suburb before going out in the open once again.

[Hawkeye]

did I realise I was doing under 20mph all the way.

MD You still do under 20mph (but only up your drive. Ha!)

[Hawkeye]

I'm lucky enough that I've never had a cage tailgating me (up to now).
That sucks but I do agree with most of the replies. If your doing the limit, make the lane yours. If you are slower, pull over and let them past. It's not worth causing yourself grief by slowing them up.

Good attitude though. Get up, dust yourself off and get back on.

[Da Bird]

While I personally have been known to follow the advice of some above regarding the abuse of fellow motorists, I would not recommend it. You should remember two things before considering that course of action:

1. You are a learner, if they go psycho and try to take you out you may have trouble outrunning them and living to tell the story.
2. You live in South Auckland, refer to point 1

Totally agree... you are likely to end up dead if you try and confront someone around here and its not really surprising no-one stopped. Knowing Grande Vue Rd, I would suggest just stick to the limit and occupy your lane or pull over and stop completely to let the cars pass. Its not a really good road for overtaking (unless you are doing the overtaking on your bike).

I had a young fulla tailgate me out to Kawakawa Bay several months ago... was a shame for him I didn't have "Police" written all over my Blackbird and he ended up with a $600.00 ticket, much to his mother's disgust. Perks of the job.

We all fall off at some point. (Some of us, including me, more than once). You just want to try and minimise the number of times it happens. Just take it easy and good to see you haven't been put off.

BC.

[smokeyging]

You are very lucky it wasn’t worse. Great advice from everyone here, I’m not sure throwing away the ‘L’ plates is a good idea. You could get pinged by a cop for that. And those darned cages could have had the decency to stop to see if you were ok. I am a little luckier than some on the road, I ride my bike to work like most, I also drive a truck,….a BIG truck, and I have an amazing memory for number plates…..