18-24th April Where Did You Ride and What Did You Practise?

[Terminated]

Please spend a few minutes and let us all know, 'Where Did You Ride and What Did You Practise?'. Humour and photographs are welcomed, however please keep in mind the general spirit is to enlighten us all about your riding practice and technique.

By all means if you have any concerns about your riding ask a question and I am sure a mentor or senior experienced rider will be only too happy to touch base with you in the forum or by PM personal message.

Next Tuesday evening Rosie and BuckBuckNo1 will each choose an entry from this thread. The selections will then be copied across to Lissa's weekly update The Mentor - Newbie Training Update.

Heads Up and Enjoy

[Daza]

Hey there,

Today 21st April.

Where: Around Cambridge (Leamington Side)

Have been out for two rides today. Been practicing gear changing mainly, also did an emergency brake practice doing 40kphs(i think) that went well, was able to pull away quickly right after it.

As with most new riders i've been getting sore wrists, i can only ride for about 20-30mins before they really hurt and I do stop for 2-4min break to rest them whilst riding too. Does the arm and wrist suppose to be level when holding the bars and throttle etc? I've tried sitting back further in my seat and leaning more over the tank/forward, is the correct or best position for a sports bike? it does help elevate the pain in the wrists, but its not as comfortable as sitting more upright.

Would it be better to reposition handle bars? how? or will the wrists get used to it?

Another problem i am finding is stopping at intersections and the bike should be in first gear but stalls. I've been practising and have been able to take off quite well now. But i've stalled twice (including bunny hopping across the road- at which point giving it more juice doesn't help) where it seems im in the wrong gear.
I don't think its a case of me not giving it enough throttle because she can move away without alot of revs anyway (when in 1st). But then again maybe under pressure im dropping the clutch too quickly..hmm..i hope its that rather than a problem with the gear-lever or gearbox. I guess an experienced rider will have to try out the bike to be sure.

Does it make a difference to change down into first before actually stopping(ie. still moving)? opposed to changing into first as you actually stop? I now notice when going into first gear how it "drops" into gear, i guess cos its such a low gear, but at least that tells me its in first. So it made me wonder whether it goes into first easier with a little bit of speed than none?

When it stalls i sometimes find it hard to find neutral also. At one point while stationary, i tried to put it into first and it kept going into neutral. (this is while the engine is dead, before i kick start it again)

Is this a common problem? I know in car sometimes u have to double dip the clutch to free up gear, i had car like that with reverse. I don't want to get a complex about this at busy intersections because that wont help matters.

Gear changing while riding seems to be normal (well for a learner who still has to get used to changing smoothly).

I also tried out counter steering while doing 50 along a straight road. I pushed on the right and it leaned right. But not ready to try it in corners yet.

Anyway while in the course of practicing today i saw 5 bikers out on the road, gave them all a wave. Nice day for riding.

Btw Are there any learner biker's (or experienced) around Cambridge? Doesn't seem to be anyway to search for members by location on here.

[James Deuce]

I also tried out counter steering while doing 50 along a straight road. I pushed on the right and it leaned right. But not ready to try it in corners yet.

I've got news for you - you're doing it anyway.

It is impossible to steer a single track two wheeled vehicle any other way, above approximately 20 km/hr.

Good write up too.

[Disco Dan]

Yesterday 20th April

Rode 'old north road', Peak road and stopped in helensville. Back the way I came then through to albany and back home to westgate. About 100km in total.

I used an idea that Big Dog suggested and 'chalked' my tires - putting a line from one edge to the other on both tires. This allows me to see how much lean angle I use on each side and each tyre.

I was working on the 60/40 weight distribution and looked at how my top box affects the handling, and also the diference in lean angles I used front to back with countersteering and tired to work out why I used more of the rear tyre then the front etc.

Really got into the zone and pushed myself close to my limits.

Although not really an issue yet, I still forget to bring my toes up on the pegs so I dont clip them on corners.

[Leong]

As with most new riders i've been getting sore wrists, i can only ride for about 20-30mins before they really hurt and I do stop for 2-4min break to rest them whilst riding too. Does the arm and wrist suppose to be level when holding the bars and throttle etc? I've tried sitting back further in my seat and leaning more over the tank/forward, is the correct or best position for a sports bike? it does help elevate the pain in the wrists, but its not as comfortable as sitting more upright.

Would it be better to reposition handle bars? how? or will the wrists get used to it?

Having your forearms level takes the weight off them. It's actually easier to achieve this by sitting further forward so your elbows are bent further. When I started I was told lean into the wind, they didn't say just how fast you had to go to achieve this!! YOu'll get used to this over time.

Does it make a difference to change down into first before actually stopping(ie. still moving)? opposed to changing into first as you actually stop?

................When it stalls i sometimes find it hard to find neutral also. At one point while stationary, i tried to put it into first and it kept going into neutral. Is this a common problem? I know in car sometimes u have to double dip the clutch to free up gear.

Not that I've ridden many different bikes but I find it much easier to get into first before stopping. Otherwise if say you stop in fourth, you can almost guarantee that somewhere you will have to let the clutch out to make it engage whatever gear (like you mention in the car). Not so bad if you've got a gear position indicator, but its just easier to click down to first before stopping. You dont have to blip the throttle, or let the clutch out.... just click it down till it doesn't "click" anymore. Save the blipping etc till later! Try to work on one thing at a time if you can....

[yungatart]

I did approximately 260 k/s today out to the longest place name in NZ. A lot of this was done on a totally unknown road.
I focused on me on my bike - riding my own ride, and being comfortable and at one with it. I was aware of other traffic on the road, but didn't let it dictate what I was doing.
My cornering has smoothed out unbelievably, I still have some anxious moments on left hand downhill ones but am learning to let it flow and stay relaxed on those. Cornering speed has lifted somewhat, since I slowed down and concentrated on good entry lines and looking ahead more.
Overall, I maintained a good pace and had a fantastic ride....still grinning!!!

[Madness]

I've been putting off replacing the battery in the Big Zed for a couple of weeks and had been crash starting it for my last few weekend jaunts over the Taka's. I gave in yesterday and justified my $130 purchase by vowing not to push myself so close to having a coronary arrest as I did last week (make sure the kill switch isn't "off" when crash starting a 250kg bike on the flat). Put said new battery on charge Sat arvo, trickle charge for around 6 hours. 9pm Sat night, fitted battery, turned over amazingly fast and... Bbrrrmmmm!!!. Now I have to take it for a ride!

Headed into Welly on the Hutt Motorway, destination undecided. Turned up the Ngauranga Gorge, pootled up SH.1 to Otaki and practised my following of cages without recklessly overtaking them. Stopped for a Wild Bean and phoned Her Indoors, "Ï'm going to be home late, in Otaki & I'm going to go around the block". Gained full flight path clearance and continued up SH.1 to Levin, turning off for the Shannon road.

Palmy Speedway must have had a big night, there were literally hundreds of cages coming out of P.North heading back towards Welly. This made for excellent conditions to practise controlling lane position whilst blinded by the headlights of oncoming cages, some towing car trailers making their low-beam extremely high.

Up around Tokomaru somewhere, a cage comes around a blind corner towards me with lights blazing. I took a couple of bites to get around the corner, my eyes were not functioning well due to the cager burning out my retinas with his spotlights .

Up to the Manawatu Gorge, followed a Stock Car team Bus through the Gorge at a very sedate pace, mouthfuls of diesel soot in my gob for my efforts. Stopped at Caltex Woodville, put in $10 gas & enjoyed a quality tobacco product before resuming the epic journey.

The Wairarapa, lots of long straights and bugger all chance of striking any members of our beloved Highway Patrol, the throttle position changed accordingly . Made pretty good time through this stretch, the road from Pahiatua to Eketahuna seemed to have shrunk considerably and before I knew it I was turning off at the Masterton bypass. Slowed back to legal speeds as I rejoined SH.2 at Waingawa, got a good gawk from a Plod in Carterton, the only Ecilop I saw on the ride and he was happy to let me continue unmolested.

The base of the Taka's, approximately 1am and near perfect conditions. I rode the hill in darkness a few years ago & didn't enjoy the experience. Wow, what a difference tonight. Full beam on the Zed isn't great, still enough vision to use warp factor 5 and I saw 3 out of the 4 cages sharing the Hill with me way in advance by spotting the lights further up the Hill. Stopped for another quality tobacco product at the summit. Jeeeez it gets dark up there!.

Cruised down the Hill, through Kaitoke a tad faster than I would on a sunday afternoon & down the highway to BP Melling for a hot pie. Home at 1.45am, Her Indoors had put the Leccy Blanket on when I was in Woodville but my knees were still frozen by the time I fell asleep.

Practised: Lane positioning whilst blinded by cages, Throttle (self) control and corner entry speed.
Learned: Night riding is way farken cool and by crikey, I love my bike!

[Daza]

After spending half an hour looking for my sunglasses *tsk*
I went out for another ride this afternoon. Best one yet!
I am managing to find first gear much easier now that i drop it into first before stopping. I did have a couple of stalls but that was me not picking up the revs as i let out the clutch. I find the less i think about it the better.

I wrists got sore again, but not as bad as the other day. I had two quick breaks, and was able to ride longer today without the wrists acting up to much.

What did i learn today? Stopping at a T intersection, make sure you have the bike pointing more in the direction you wanna take off (obvious i know)
I almost wiped out because i didn't first time round. Also i dont think i was leaning over enough when turning and moving off, because i was running out of road and heading towards the curb. So i put the clutch in to slow and not stall the bike and there must of been some loose stones near the curb because the front wheel slid and almost folded on me but think i got my feet down before it could. Phew! this was an area i was looping, road was in a D shape. So i kept coming back to that intersection and trying to get it right, but then i kept stalling it on there. Haha. So i kept looping around until i got it.

I then went for a tiki tour practicing cornering and stopping at intersections everywhere. I even ventured further out, getting more confident and feeling more natural riding. I'm changing gears better i think, not letting it rev too high before changing since i'm just cruising around at 50k.

The indicator light button sometimes needs pressing a coupla times to turn off blinkers. It would of been easier to have it so u hold it on and when you release switch it as it flicks back to the center it also turns off the indicators, perhaps the newer bikes have that? *quit ya bleating* yeah i know...

When i pulled up at home, stopped and hit the kill switch, then tried getting it into Neutral, but it apparently went for a coffee break somewhere. She was being difficult! Eventually she gave in and gave me neutral back! Then she played her last card..cos i tried kick starting it (with Engine Switch back to Run) but she wouldn't start. I will try again later. She usually starts no trouble. (yes i had plenty of fuel still left in the tank! :P)

But anyway yeah i enjoyed riding today, it was fun!

[merv]

Went on this ride http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=48435 and practised ringing every last bit of performance out of my 250 trying to stay with Sels1's Triumph on the flat open parts of the highway on the way to the hill, but once we got to the corners that bit was easier.

A short ride but a fun day all the same.

[Trudes]

Washed the hubby's bike and mine too yesterday, so no ride. Today spent the morning arseing about with tyre pressures, chain adjustments and suspension, so took the bikes for a spin to the top of the hill and back. I had to stop several times to 'Tweek' my suspension a little until I got it feeling right.
Practiced: keeping relaxed arms and bent, especially under brakes, weighting outside peg and outside knee firmly pressed into tank upon cornering, coupled with bent arms and shifting my newly clad in leather arse off my seat to lean me and not my bike into corners to avoid scraping pegs.
Mission accomplished, had fun!!

[toymachine]

Went on Gijoes 'pootle'

1. Drury/Pukekohe/Tuakau (the early bit with the dogpoo incident)
2. Rangiri (the foggy bit)
3. Ngaruawahia (the Zeroindex monty python scene and meet with Sidewinder)
4. Hamiltron/Morrinsville/Te Aroha (the visor wiping incident)
5. Okoroire (pub grub and bike porn drool fest with the Tauranga mob)
6. Kaimai Uphill GP (those scorching curves and DMNTD showing us how it's meant to be done)
7.Katikati/Waihi/Whangamata (those twisty bits and where your arse went numb)
7.5. The bit of SH25A where there was metal and the yellow bike blitzing past us.
8. Kopu/Pipiroa Express with the Mini Miranda GP (where we turned right at the bridge)
9. The Mangatangi backdoor to Mangatawhiri and the Hunua ranges (sunstrike city)
10. Clevedon and home sweet home.

[vamr]

...

Heya,

Keep in mind that if you don't go near 8-10k rpm while riding in 50km zones the bike will become slug-like in stop-and-go traffic. Fan it between stops. I've had a bit of problems with my plugs until I managed to find b8ecmvx for the bottom cylinder. Pick up a couple and keep them on you when riding. It beats the bike running as a single. Sniff the exhaust pipes with the engine off. Pull out the plugs. Get to know what it likes and despises.

Don't be afraid to rev higher on take off and slip the clutch. Normally you'd start off at 6k rpm.

If you are having trouble finding neutral, especially with a tired second gear (as that is the weak point of the rgv gearboxes) try gently letting the clutch out a bit just to the engaging point then clutch in and shift to neutral. Have you checked your clutch cable? If you have a paddock stand start the bike, put it in 3 or 4th gear while clutched in... is the rear wheel rotating?

As far the as tired arms go... if it's your wrists that are taking the main strain check your clutch and brake levers and how much of a stretch is required to grab them (I had to bring mine slightly forward to take some of the strain off my thumbs and allows me to hold onto the bars further out). Beyond that, as others have suggested in the past, join a gym and ride like it's stolen. At faster pace the wind does offer some support.

With your indicators... because of the age of the bike the contacts and the switch assembly would require a quick cleanout. Same with your relay switch. Just pick up some fine grain sandpaper and, if you can, a set of small files (size of regular pens).
There are 2 locating bolts underneath the switch. Take them out and the assembly breaks up in two. Release the choke cable from the lever and the remove the assembly off the bar then just take your time and clean up the three contacts which would probably be a bit corroded.


Hope at least a little bit of this helps.

[Daza]

Keep in mind that if you don't go near 8-10k rpm while riding in 50km zones the bike will become slug-like in stop-and-go traffic. Fan it between stops. I've had a bit of problems with my plugs until I managed to find b8ecmvx for the bottom cylinder. Pick up a couple and keep them on you when riding. It beats the bike running as a single. Sniff the exhaust pipes with the engine off. Pull out the plugs. Get to know what it likes and despises.

Just for the record im not very mechanically minded, but im learning. I still waiting for the previous owner to send down the manual for the bike. Anyway
is b8ecmvx a brand of a spark plug? or something else? I was told that 2-strokes are prone to fouling the spark plugs often. I hope they are easy to find on the bike.

Don't be afraid to rev higher on take off and slip the clutch. Normally you'd start off at 6k rpm.

I'm working on that one.

If you are having trouble finding neutral, especially with a tired second gear (as that is the weak point of the rgv gearboxes) try gently letting the clutch out a bit just to the engaging point then clutch in and shift to neutral. Have you checked your clutch cable? If you have a paddock stand start the bike, put it in 3 or 4th gear while clutched in... is the rear wheel rotating?

Interesting to know that rgv's have that as a weakpoint. I hope it doesn't get worse! I will try out what you suggested next time it gets stuck in second gear or neutral disappears.

if it's your wrists that are taking the main strain check your clutch and brake levers and how much of a stretch is required to grab them (I had to bring mine slightly forward to take some of the strain off my thumbs and allows me to hold onto the bars further out).

Thats a very good idea! I will try that one also.

With your indicators... because of the age of the bike the contacts and the switch assembly would require a quick cleanout. Same with your relay switch. Just pick up some fine grain sandpaper and, if you can, a set of small files (size of regular pens).

I'll add those "small files" to my must-have tool-kit list!

Hope at least a little bit of this helps.

Thanks heaps for your informative tips and advice!

[MrMelon]

I practised ripping the neighbourhood up with the big dirty 2 stroke. Dirt bikes are rad fun. Also practised using more fuel than I've ever used on a bike before. $15 for 85k's sheesh!

[merv]

I practised ripping the neighbourhood up with the big dirty 2 stroke. Dirt bikes are rad fun. Also practised using more fuel than I've ever used on a bike before. $15 for 85k's sheesh!

Good on ya mate!!