Help please! I'm a wuss on the open road!

[flat battery]

Hey,

Wow thanks heaps for all the advice, I'm blown away by all the support!

I did the RRRS course today and it was awesome, I felt 10 zillion times better on the ride home from the course than I did on the ride there. It's given me heaps to think about like position on the road, counter steering and practising emergency breaking, and maybe above all looking where you want to go! Did wonders for my throttle control too.

Thanks again for the comments, there are too many to reply to individually but have read them all multiple times and plan to put them into action!

[yungatart]

That RRRS course is great for boosting your confidence eh? Now go out there and practice what you learned, and get yourself a mentor.
and have fun!!!

[Lteejay]

If you need anyone else to ride with, send me a PM. More than happy to come out and act as buffer to the traffic, as a few people have done for me. Your confidence will grow, but only with more time on the road and getting a better feel for what your bike can handle. Suggestion - ask an experienced rider who you trust to pillion you on your bike. This way you get a feel for what your bike can actually do, which will make you feel more confident in pushing things a little.

[j-bee]

Hi there, we have similar issues! The advice everyone gave me when I asked, quote: "what's the point in owning it if I ain't gonna ride it huh?" was.....just do it!
Man it's hard getting out there and doing it when you're terrified but hopefully your boyfriend will encourage you to continue. I have a card on my kitchen windowsill that says....courage is it's own reward. If you really, really want to ride, you will feel the fear and do it anyway...hey, I'm still trying to convince myself of that! Good luck

[Disco Dan]

Hi there, we have similar issues! The advice everyone gave me when I asked, quote: "what's the point in owning it if I ain't gonna ride it huh?" was.....just do it!
Man it's hard getting out there and doing it when you're terrified but hopefully your boyfriend will encourage you to continue. I have a card on my kitchen windowsill that says....courage is it's own reward. If you really, really want to ride, you will feel the fear and do it anyway...hey, I'm still trying to convince myself of that! Good luck

It wont take you long to reach the point of no return, when your confidence is sufficiant that you 'get the bug'. ....then the world will be your oyster!!!!!

Just get out there and do it!

[flat battery]

Hi there, we have similar issues! The advice everyone gave me when I asked, quote: "what's the point in owning it if I ain't gonna ride it huh?" was.....just do it!
Man it's hard getting out there and doing it when you're terrified but hopefully your boyfriend will encourage you to continue. I have a card on my kitchen windowsill that says....courage is it's own reward. If you really, really want to ride, you will feel the fear and do it anyway...hey, I'm still trying to convince myself of that! Good luck

Hi j-bee, good to know it's not just me! I'm feeling heaps better about riding after the RRRS course I did on the weekend, have you done anything like that? If you haven't I'd totally recommend it. Now I'm looking forward to my next ride! Pity we're not in the same city to ride together!

[surfchick]

Go as fast as possible (probably around 160 on your VTR) for a fair while. Do this several times. This should desensitize you to going 100

te he um may-be not yet... it just wouln't be right to be jaded at so early a stage in riding!

riding more on the open road is prob the only way to get the confidence up
-ride the same, tasty, beautiful roads (sh16 etc) over and over to give yourself a chance to concentrate on techn., but then also add nu roads and routes as you feel confident
-ride with someone you trust to give you a smooth line to follow, but also listen to the feedback YOUR bike is giving you and stay within YOUR comort zone-as an experienced rider will nearly always be on a higher spec. bike than you, with a grippier wider rear tyre and better breaks.

good luck
don't give up -just do more and more and mooooooooooooooore

[Coyote]

te he um may-be not yet... it just wouln't be right to be jaded at so early a stage in riding!

It's a perfectly legit learning technique. As soon as I got my learners I was doing 180

[Mystery]

Hi j-bee, good to know it's not just me! I'm feeling heaps better about riding after the RRRS course I did on the weekend, have you done anything like that? If you haven't I'd totally recommend it. Now I'm looking forward to my next ride! Pity we're not in the same city to ride together!

Hi flat battery, was great meeting you at the RRRS course on Sunday. You are more than welcome to come out riding with us when we go! Will PM you when we have riding plans.

[buellbabe]

Ditto what everyone has said

Many years ago I went from a 175cc trailbike to a 900cc road bike and didn't know ANYone else that rode a road bike!

I was doing nightshift at the time and so everyday I would go for a ride out into the country on roads I was familiar with in the car.
I soon discovered the joys of open-road riding (and speeds ..oh yeah!)...

The point I am making is maybe you shouldn't force the issue...do some rides on roads you know and maybe choose rides that are shorter than 3hrs and in good weather conditions

[fireliv]

Hey everyone

Just had a quick read through the tread, good advice. Am a learner myself, am ok doing 100K my thing is corners. Phoenix wants me to head on up the Porthills with him, and I have been working on getting the "balls" up to go with him, but now just when I'm ready to give it a go, phoenix goes and corners to hard and crashes out. So the ZX6R's in the garage, and my confidence has gone back a bit bit hope to get out there and do it sometime soon, on a nice hot day, no ice, maybe phoenix will have to tail me in the car instead!

[675trippy]

maybe a good next step now is a kb track day keep up the riding and i'm sure the confidence will keep on keeping on.

[DEATH_INC.]

Do you know what it is that makes you nervous? Try to identify the thing that affects your confidence most so you can work on it.
I have a suspicion that it's something like the bike moving around (could be wrong of course...) which it will do and is something you will just have to get used to.
One of the best things is believe it or not, dragracing. You'll get so caught up in getting to the other end quickly that you'll not even notice how fast you're going.....no corners or cars to worry about. Some of the sunday meets are pretty quiet.
It is as said previously desensitisation...

[justsomeguy]

Hi Flat Battery,

Welcome to the zoo. Lots of good advice here, especially from His High and Mighty Wheelieness DEATH_INC.

I guess time and experience wait for all talents to develop eh?

Enjoy your learning curve, soon you shall remember this thread with a charming sense of nostalgia and be helping others as they ask you for your advice.

Eh, since this is a biker angel thread and you live in Auckland, can I please mention two names? Keystone19 and Draco - Two marvelous little things those two and great sources of information reiterated with remarkable life experiences - please say hi to them, if you haven't already.

You didn't per chance teach Justsomeguy to ride did you.
Nah, he was worse, he would listen, nod appropriately, agree then just carry on as normal.
His ability to resist the teaching efforts of so many accomplished and well respected riders forever forms part of KB folk lore. Generations to come will hear of his heroic resistance to logic, respect and knowledge.

I'm sorry to have offended you Mr. Stranger. What can I say, I'm stupid and dumb. I also have great regret (or was it indifference, I wish I was smart enough to realize what such big words meant) to know that my pathetic inability to absorb logic, respect and knowledge has become such an item of lore for you folk.

I believe I've crashed at least once. Have written off a bike through a fence speeding on the road. Have been accused of dangerous or was it reckless riding by the police and gone to court for this. Ridden after having a few beers on several occasions with learner riders in my group. Have been overtaken by someone on the outside of the fastest corner of the Taupo race track by that person on a bike of a much smaller capacity on his very first track ride on a big bike. Oh wait come to think of it, it wasn't me, it was, it was... it was you .

I honestly don't mean to start anything or anything of that sort, just thought I should rightfully return the stone that shattered the roof of my glass house to it's rightful owner and speak no more of this matter to a living soul.

[FROSTY:Me]

I think the advise offered here is all pretty darn good.
If I could addone little point-- 3 HOURS?? holey cow girl you must have been shattered.
The level of concentration needed by a novice rider to just do the basics is the same as I (or any racer) needs when racing at 200km/h plus
I don't have the energy to do 3 hours straight.
Keep it down to 30-45 minutes MAXIMUM per ride till you get more experienced and I PROMISE you will enjoy your riding heaps more