Update from a 1 month Newbie....

**Gman71** · 2nd December 2007, 19:02

Wow.

I'm in love with riding a motorbike.

After lots of research, and very useful advice here, I'd like to share with you my first month on 2 wheeels.

After a few initial posts, I thought an update was overdue after all your helpful advice.

Am now fully decked out in QuasiMoto leathers, (great quality, great price, lots of help from the Akld agent and Paula at QM) Nolan N84 helmet and Diadora boots, thanks to Motomail, (bought good gear and haven't regretted a cent!) love it all and see the benefits of good gear ( also look "real cool" and "tough" according to my 5 yr old daughter/ 16 yr old daughter.

which you can't put a price on)

..have been riding cautiously, but more & more confidently around the Nth Shore, generally starting at 7am on a Sunday morning, (bugger-all cars) have now I've found my favourite road- East Coast Bays road from Milford to Long Bay and all the way back. Leaning right into corners much sooner than I thought I would be.....

Yesterday, did the old East Coast highway up to Silverdale, across the motorway intersection (just as a HUGE rally of harleys/cruisers etc etc went in the opposite direction, no nods

) and back down the old SH 1 into Albany. GREAT RIDE, even managed to get up to 100km p/hr (sorry officer, didn't want to hold up traffic) on clear roads 'cos I felt I could!. A bit scary I must be honest, and on a 250cc feel like I am wringing the poor bikes' neck, an had to tell myself to relax.

After and hour or riding tho' did notice I was a bit fatigued and starting to stuff up my starts at lights etc when I got back inot the 'burbs

lots of nodding at me from other 2 wheelers which is great, soon I'll be the first to nod!

Realise I'm at that dangerous place now, -feeling confident and zipping up and down through the gears, leaning into corners etc etc, so a session with Riderskills is on the cards, to make sure I am doing stuff right.

Keen to now catch up with those kind KB'ers who offered me a companion on a ride, as I'm not such a liability, and I hope to get a bit of a reality check on what I'm doing. (I'll be in touch soon, you know who you are), and soon I'll be be at one of those wed night rides.

You'll be able to recognise me easily, just look for the blue bike with an 'L' plate and a guy with a HUGE smile.

ps. Scares me the number of guys I've seen riding around in shorts and sandshoes!! asuume they are just people who own a motorbike, not real kb'ers.

Take care, hope to see you out there.

**tri boy** · 2nd December 2007, 19:32

You sir, are an absolute inspiration to learners, and more experienced riders alike.

I doth my helmet towards thee.

**86GSXR** · 2nd December 2007, 19:39

Excellent post and an excellent attitude to biking

Safe and happy riding to you

**Supermoto Junkie** · 2nd December 2007, 19:42

Good on ya mate,

If you every want someone to ride with don't hesitate to give us a call.

I have plenty of bad habits to pass along.....

**chanceyy** · 2nd December 2007, 19:44

Originally Posted by 86GSXR

Excellent post and an excellent attitude to biking

Safe and happy riding to you

+1

can not believe how many bikers I have seen this weekend in shorts jandals and t shirts .. guess they do not value their skin

**HornetBoy** · 2nd December 2007, 19:49

nice write up

good luck mate,safe rideing

**inlinefour** · 2nd December 2007, 19:53

Enjoy the riding, suss out the roads you really like to ride on locally and get to know them well. Take it easy first, really get to know the bike, road(s) and work on the fitness and you'll be surprised just how much quicker you'll be capable of going with time and effort. Just watch out for the Police as its far too easy to get into loss of licience speeds these days.

**HornetBoy** · 2nd December 2007, 20:00

Originally Posted by inlinefour

Just watch out for the Police as its far too easy to get into loss of licience speeds these days.

Yea just dont give them any reason to want to pull ya up eg no gloves,shorts and jandals that kinda thing

etc

**inlinefour** · 2nd December 2007, 20:16

Originally Posted by Hornet250Boy

Yea just dont give them any reason to want to pull ya up eg no gloves,shorts and jandals that kinda thing

etc

Legally speaking, I'm unaware of any of that being an offence worth a ticket, although the law might have well changed since I last looked at the road code.
Through my experience of riding sportsbikes its easy to twist the throttle, having fun blasting through the twisties, adrenaline starts to flow and before you know it, your wanting to go faster, lean further and enjoy the ride.

Although I'm not admitting that sort of behaviour online...

**gijoe1313** · 3rd December 2007, 08:24

Most excellent and well met there sirrah!

Good to hear you are getting out and about and thinking about why you are riding, how you are doing it and considering all the myriad factors that a biker has to deal with.

Sounds like you are a keen rider and putting the road under the rubber well! Won't be long before you start pootling out there for longer and longer journeys!

Keep riding safely and keep us updated!

**huck farley** · 3rd December 2007, 09:06

You are doing everything by the book. You will progress to be an excellent rider. A message for all (including myself) Do not ride above your head!! Good luck and safe riding.

Regards
HF

**Winter** · 3rd December 2007, 09:18

Good stuff Gman, and great call on the Riderskills course.

Take care out there. Never forget that everyone else is out to kill you.
If you need more evidence, I'm on the shore with a whole lot of broken bones - I used to have the same bike as you!

Quasi gear is a great choice mate, saved my arse it did.

**discotex** · 3rd December 2007, 20:57

Originally Posted by Gman71

Keen to now catch up with those kind KB'ers who offered me a companion on a ride, as I'm not such a liability, and I hope to get a bit of a reality check on what I'm doing. (I'll be in touch soon, you know who you are), and soon I'll be be at one of those wed night rides.

Sounds like you're doing just fine. You're not really at the dangerous stage yet. It's like insanity. If you think you're insane you're probably not

It's when you think everything is sussed you have to watch out.

I think I put my hand up to go for a ride so if I did the offer still stands. I'm often up the bays so PM me and I can meet you somewhere and go for a spin. I'll need any excuse to get out on my new bike. Taken tomorrow off work to see if I can make a decision.