How long does it take - to regain confidence after a bin??!!!

[gijoe1313]

I think it's a purely personal response - everyone takes their own time to "recover" from an experience differently. I'm sure the caution you are showing is a good thing, since it's got you thinking about riding more!

With me, after I binned at nana speeds as a newbie newb - I was straight back up, sorted myself out and thought along the lines of "righto, time to get straight back on the horse - sort it out, and go back and tackle that sucker again later successfully!"

After I finished the ride with my mentor, going through Quarry Road in Ardmore - much more twistier and challenging then what I just binned off (and yes, for those that do remember it was Dover ), I think the grin on my face after I left his house and doing a little reflecting meant all was well with the world.

I did the same corner that day at a faster speed with no worries! Learnt a ton from that! Same with you - just go back to that corner again when you can and just ride through it like all the other, more challenging and "harder" corners you have done before!

Shucks! I remember when you were on the twofiddy ride taking those corners with snap and confidence! Just get your Mojo back baby! And Behave!

Crazyfrog is up and ready for it soon - so shall you!

[McJim]

It was lucky Chickadee took it easy today. Just coming into Clevedon from Maraitai I was in front she was following, doing 100kph round a left hander only to find a stocktruck blocking the entire road - grabbed a handful of front brake and stopped in time....just. If I'd been doing 120kph I'd have been looking for a new front end on retard me.

[Ixion]

Hm. I wouldn't call that "taking it easy". I'd call that riding at the maximum that was safe - maybe even a wee bit more. 120kph would have been unsafe. So maybe the question has to be asked - confidence? or over-confidence?

[MyGSXF:Me]

Hang in there sweets.. give yaself some time, & you'll come right. Find yourself a defensive riding course, & hit on some KB mentors up your way to go out & spend some time with ya.. & above all.. practice, practice, practice...

Jen

[Bloody Mad Woman (BMW)]

Keep riding as often as you can - I have just got my bike back after binning it and it was written off! I wondered how it would affect me!! Just been on a two week ride around the north island on my own - confidence just grew amazingly quickly - in fact at times I was trying too hard - in the end I relaxed, trusted my instincts and judgement and I rode better than I ever have - well it felt that way. Everytime I saw the "squirly" arrow meaning lots of corners I was going yeeha. So have faith in yourself and get out there and enjoy your riding - and relax.

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

Everytime I saw the "squirly" arrow meaning lots of corners I was going yeeha. So have faith in yourself and get out there and enjoy your riding - and relax.

I like the swirly thing alert... yeah

[Hellraiser]

confidence? or over-confidence?

B I N G O but this is not always a bad thing.

I don't think you've lost your MOJO at all, you have a lot of natural ability you are one of those people that was born to ride I think your problem is you no longer trust your machine, wait untill you get your new tyres and get a feel for them, you will learn to trust crazyfrog again.

I can't wait to see you on the track ..........

[Chickadee]

Thanks for the pearls of wisdom. I think new tyres will make things better. I'm hoping to get on the first RRRS course in January which should help rebuild my confidence in me and Crazyfrog.

I think I'll go for little rides through the week to help re-affirm my riding and build from there. I think I bit off more than I could chew this past Sunday so I'll just have to keep working at it.

I'll probably look back in a few months and think it was a good safe scare, I've got my two boys (3 & 15mths) that keep me in line in the back of my mind anyway - too much to loose to do something stupid & kill myself. Probably why I was extra Nanna ish this weekend - thinking about the big picture more than enjoying the ride.

[MSTRS:Me]

Hm. I wouldn't call that "taking it easy". I'd call that riding at the maximum that was safe - maybe even a wee bit more. 120kph would have been unsafe. So maybe the question has to be asked - confidence? or over-confidence?

Don't agree with that. Open road limit is 100kph, presumed to be a safe speed. If we rode in such a way that afterwards we could say "Well, that was boring, and why didn't I ride faster cos it was safe to do so"...most of us would find another sport to get the pulse going.
Mrs McBinn - once you have tyres that you know you can trust, then you can work at building your cornering confidence. 'tis pointless whilst still on that IRC rim protector. Best thing is time in the saddle.

[Ixion]

Presumption is the mother of much pain. Never ever go round a blind corner assuming that it is safe if you cannot see it is

round a left hander only to find a stocktruck blocking the entire road - grabbed a handful of front brake and stopped in time....just.

So the 100 kph was the maximum that was safe - any faster and it would not have been possible to stop before impacting the stock truck. Irrelevant what the speed limit is, maximum safe speed through any corner is that speed that allows one to stop in the clear distance of road visible. Which may be as low as 25kph on some corners - speed limit or not.

Presumably at other times, when not "taking it easy" the corner speed would have been higher. And the rider would have been smeared across the stock truck.

[Chickadee]

Would you believe it. Thought I wouldn't tell my folks about the bin, thought since it wasn't major and nothing I could have changed about my riding (getting new tyres now) that what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. They worry enough, but my neighbour know's my folks and told Mum via email (my folks live in Nelson - we live in Auckland). Guess Mums have spies & radar we don't even know about. At least she was cool about it, not as if she can make me stop riding - I'm 30 yrs old after all.

[yungatart]

My mum and dad just did that "headshkae thing" that parents do when they "know best" and I'm pushing 50!!!
Some things never change!

[Lucy]

I might see you on the RRRS course then, just sent off my form. After my first drop (wet grass, backyard, slippers...) I was surprised how I reacted to just that, and it was actually a 'drop' I don't think I was moving forward much at all once I had target fixated on the plastic stool...anyway, for the next day or three I was way more cautious and nervous - so I'm not surprised you are feeling a little mojoless after a proper crash. But like the others say, time heals.

[vifferman]

Hey guys and girls,

Just wondering for those that have binned or had a near miss - how long did it take you to get past the heart in mouth and Nanna riding stage.

Let me know it gets better than this PLEASE!!!!

Yeah, it gets better, but depends on the circumstances, I guess.

After I wrote my first bike off, I had no doubts whatsoever that I'd get another bike once I'd healed, but I used to get the "cold shiver of dread" up my spine whenever I saw other motorcyclists being incautious.

I've had all sorts of crashes since then, including collisions with cars, a cyclist, a pedestrian, but the only one that really shook my confidence and very nearly made me chuck in biking for good was a car that u-turned into me. That was the pain and stress more than anything. I've had over 3 years of happy riding since then.

[Disco Dan]

First crash that almost wrote off my bike I was back riding straight away, had to. put my swollen feet on the exhusts and rode to work with no brakes.

When the crash sank in a few days later i ended up selling the bike. 8 months later i bought another bike. Couldnt stop looking a bikes on the road and regreting my desicion.

My most recent bin on a certain KB ride took me about 2 weeks to get my mojo back to where it was. Still take that same corner at ridiculously slow speed though!

You will get ya mojo back! Just bite your lip, get out there and have a play.