My first road ride

**Blondini** · 12th December 2006, 22:08

And I am getting a new perrelli (sp)for the front hopefully be on for tomorrow night newbie ride.I cant wait,hope it stays fine I am not brave enough to go in the rain just yet

**crashe** · 12th December 2006, 22:28

Originally Posted by julie

And I am getting a new perrelli (sp)for the front hopefully be on for tomorrow night newbie ride.I cant wait,hope it stays fine I am not brave enough to go in the rain just yet

When you get a new tyre on........ you must ride the bike like the ground is wet and slippery....for about 200kms to scrub the tyre in.... ( you have to scrub the shine off the tyre) then you are away laughing so to speak...

So you ride blardy careful when you get that tyre put on...

Where you going to get the new tyre?

**Ixion** · 12th December 2006, 22:33

Just find a gravel road. 5km and you're good to go

**Disco Dan** · 12th December 2006, 22:39

Originally Posted by crashe

When you get a new tyre on........ you must ride the bike like the ground is wet and slippery....for about 200kms to scrub the tyre in.... ( you have to scrub the shine off the tyre) then you are away laughing so to speak...

So you ride blardy careful when you get that tyre put on...

Where you going to get the new tyre?

You can reduce that a little by scrubbing it with a bit of sand paper...

...good for hiding your chicken strips on KB rides

**mstriumph** · 12th December 2006, 23:38

Originally Posted by Shaun

Hi Julie, A wee bit of advise if I may? do your self a big favour, go find a really big car park and practise your breaking, do it lots untill you really feel in control of your new baby

Hi Julie ..... WELL DONE THAT GAL!! keep it up!

.... and i'm sure Shaun means your BRAKING [cause 'breaking' is something you surely DON'T want to practise!!]

**mstriumph** · 12th December 2006, 23:42

Originally Posted by Ixion

Meh. A mere bagatelle. I'd been riding for years before I had a front brake. Effete luxuries. (Seriously. at least 3 or 4 years)

Burt Munro saw no need for brakes either .... ("I'm planning on going, not stopping")

**FROSTY:Me** · 13th December 2006, 09:07

nahh crashe --shes lending the bike to me to practice stoppies on--Ill get rid of them strips pretty quick

**Toaster** · 13th December 2006, 09:16

Hey Julie, good stuff and safe riding out there! Enjoy!! Cheers, Toaster.

**Blondini** · 13th December 2006, 09:45

Thank you all.No news on my tyre yet so It wont be on today.That is probably a good thing.I am hoping to go on the newbie ride tonight but if it rai

ns then I am not that brave yet.So....praying for the sun to come back out.

**Roj** · 13th December 2006, 10:56

Originally Posted by Shaun

As a new rider, you may tend to ride to left hand side of the road so as to give the cars more room to pass you?

If you do this? Stop it! Stand your groung dead centre in your lane, it is up to them to pass you, not your problem.

Pretend tha are all going to try and kill you

dead centre may be right, I would recommend the right hand tyre position rather than "centre", occupy the same space as a car, if you follow the centre of the cars there are 2 things to be aware of, cars leaking oil drop it in the middle between the 2 tyre lines, which if their are showers can become slippery and you also need to be in a position where you can see the cage driver in their rear vision mirror, if you can see their eyes, they can see you (maybe)

**megarich** · 13th December 2006, 18:26

My hubby will probably be buying his 5th (or 6th) bike this weekend (first 4 gone when kids born and I have since given him permission to get another) and I also stipulated that he would need to buy me one. I am a bit petrified though, so this thread is really encouraging to read!
I first had a nice wee trail bike then got to ride a friends 150 something, and then hubby's GSXR250(?), but found the gsxr tooo tooo big and heavy. This time I am not sure what he is looking at, but i think it's a GN 250. i am too scared to go try some bikes, can't even remember how to change gears!
So, Thanks for all the understanding encouraging people who are taking time to give advice. Great for the learner like me! (well, will be back on a bike soon enough anyway!)

**Blondini** · 13th December 2006, 21:30

Originally Posted by megarich

My hubby will probably be buying his 5th (or 6th) bike this weekend (first 4 gone when kids born and I have since given him permission to get another) and I also stipulated that he would need to buy me one. I am a bit petrified though, so this thread is really encouraging to read!
I first had a nice wee trail bike then got to ride a friends 150 something, and then hubby's GSXR250(?), but found the gsxr tooo tooo big and heavy. This time I am not sure what he is looking at, but i think it's a GN 250. i am too scared to go try some bikes, can't even remember how to change gears!
So, Thanks for all the understanding encouraging people who are taking time to give advice. Great for the learner like me! (well, will be back on a bike soon enough anyway!)

Hi I was very afraid of the unknowen also....but life is too short to worry about some things.I really love facing my fears and I am sooooo enjoying my new interest.I needed this in my life,I have 4 kids that are my life and I love them dearly I would very much like for them to have me around) and of course I know the dangers I have experienced them first hand,if anyone should be put off bikes that would be me.Just do it and be very aware of the dangers and be careful but do go for it at your own pace.I used to love being pillion and I am sure I still will especially on the big babies but the enjoyment I am getting from riding and meeting like minded people is priceless

**Blondini** · 14th December 2006, 21:57

Well only a small ride today to henderson motorcycles and got my new front tyre fitted.Thanks for the friendly service

And had a very careful ride home,I was a little unsure how it would handle imagined i would be slip sliding all the way home but all was good.I went over dodgy railway tracks 4 times and I was dreading this but that was all good too.I did a little stand up over the first time but felt a bit silly when I realised it was not so bad after all

**redr1** · 15th December 2006, 14:21

Great words from Shaun. It all comes down to instinct in the end and we all have that. The more practise we have the more confident we get. I guess the real problem is when we get too confident. Being aware of other vehicles is critical to safety. I spend almost as much time looking in my wing mirrors as I do looking ahead.

**Blondini** · 17th December 2006, 18:28

Hi all,Just a quick update....Have gad a couple of rough days so have not been out until today .I needed to clear my head so off I went ,a little wary of the new tyre I headed up don buck rd to my mates on red hills but she was not home but I had a little bit of a play in the gravel carefully,Then I headed up state highway 16 to old north road and only rode to the roundabout and went around a couple of times(practising crashe

)Then back the same way.It was what I needed I felt a lot better when I got home.