Noob traps

[mowgli]

I've been riding road bikes now for almost three months and I'm getting pretty confident on my Hyo GT250R. But this week a couple of things happened (actually one thing happened twice) that made me stop to reflect on my riding.

My ride to work each morning includes this corner on Awarua St in Ngaio. Ninety degrees, downhill and pretty much blind. Exercising common sense and not completely comfortable cornering my approach to this corner was understandably cautious.

This week I came round that corner to find a car stopped in the road and other coming up the hill. You see folks park up for the Awarua Station leaving only space for one car to get though. As per the road code, good drivers heading downhill give way to those coming up. Anyway I had to stand the bike up and brake hard not once, but twice on separate days. Second time made me think hard about what was going on.

In simple terms I was taking the corner too fast. The reason for this was my growing comfort in cornering at speed to the ignorance of riding to the road conditions. On this very familiar corner I was more focussed on cornering (that leant over under power feeling) than I was on the road itself.

It was very silly and I'm lucky that I was able to stop without dropping or hitting anything ... twice!. It was a bit stupid of me but I felt that it was worth bringing up for the benefit of other noobs because of the insidious way this crept up on me.

I hope this helps keep other noobs right side up. It has certainly given me a wake up call.

Rob

[spookytooth]

not just a NOOB trap shit can and does happen fast on a bike no matter how many years you've been riding

[Okey Dokey]

Good work posting this. At least you were able to stop safely, rather than being a biker down story.

[ital916]

Good of you to realise you've reached the danger point where a noob gets more confident with their bike and thus believes that they are a good rider and can handle situations like those described. I as a noob too had to say to myself look your a noob you always will be, ride to the conditions and be alert. Good on you for realising this.

[discotex]

It has certainly given me a wake up call.

Might not have got away ignoring the signals for a third time. Bling awarded for getting the message.

[BiK3RChiK]

Awesome Post! +1 from me... Another danger is moronic drivers who don't know how to indicate correctly at round-a-bouts!

Well done on having the ability to analyse your driving habits and realise potential problems before they caused injury or worse to yourself or someone else!!

M

[HungusMaximist]

Good shit bro, nice to hear that you're taking precautions.

To be honest, you can never be too safe riding around the city and plus, those brakes on the GTR isn't the best.

If you wanna get comfortable, take it up on the quiet open road.

[TOTO]

Thanks for making me aware of a bad habit of mine. Blig awarded !

[Trudes]

I was thinking as I was driving along today in a loser cruiser with a GN stuffed so far up my arse that I could only just see the top of his helmet, that another thing we motorcyclists need to remember is to make sure that we are seen, and this includes not following vehicles so they can't see you. Also if I had had to brake suddenly, he would have ended up sitting in the back seat with the mutt. Rant over.

[Radar]

.In simple terms I was taking the corner too fast. The reason for this was my growing comfort in cornering at speed to the ignorance of riding to the road conditions. On this very familiar corner I was more focussed on cornering (that leant over under power feeling) than I was on the road itself.

It was very silly and I'm lucky that I was able to stop without dropping or hitting anything ... twice!. It was a bit stupid of me but I felt that it was worth bringing up for the benefit of other noobs because of the insidious way this crept up on me.

I hope this helps keep other noobs right side up. It has certainly given me a wake up call.

Rob

We all need wake up calls - no matter how many years we have been riding or driving. Thanks for posting this topic.

[fireball]

its a good point to bring up, i myself noticed not long ago my speed and confidence increasing on the roads i would usually take on my commute to work, until one morning coming around a blind corner lean on, going faster than i should have been to find unmarked road works..... fresh seal loose gravel and a horse.... i swear it was one of those if you fuck this up..... moments.

you have to be prepared for the unexpected and it tends to happen on the roads you know the best, because thats where you let your guard down because your balls are bigger than your helmet.... well thats i what i think!

[Badjelly]

+1

A long time ago (a few decades) I read an article in Two Wheels by a woman who had been touring around Australia on a Yamaha XS650 or some such. The one thing that struck me was when she said she'd come around a blind corner and come across a lawnmower in the middle of the road (just an ordinary domestic mower, I think). She managed to avoid it. Ever since, I've tried to ride & drive as if there's a lawnmower in the middle of the road around every bend.

[motorbike.ventures]

definate +1

They say most accidents happen 5 to 10 minutes away from home, as we tend to relax when we think we are almost there.

Also when you get the feeling you are getting comfortable on the bike is another time accidents happen. Always be aware!

Thanks for posting, reminds us all

[mowgli]

Thanks for making me aware of a bad habit of mine. Blig awarded !

Thanks. I've gotten heaps of good advice from KB. Nice to hear I've given a little back.

To be honest, you can never be too safe riding around the city and plus, those brakes on the GTR isn't the best.

The GT250R has dual front discs so nearly twice as much stopping power as a naked GT250 :-) I'm petty sure that's where the Hyosung bad brakes reputation comes from. I certainly have every confidence in mine.

[Jiminy]

Good one, mowgli.

I did a similarly stupid mistake last week-end. After going down the takas on a wet road and being all nervous about it (I'm the sunny cruiser style), I relaxed coming to the Hutts, and let myself drift for a few seconds too close to the car ahead and towards the center of the road. There were heavy ropes lying in a bunch in the middle of the road. When I saw it, it was too late too avoid it. I'm glad I have a nice stable cruiser and that the obstacle wasn't too high after all, but I sure was too close to the car ahead and in the wrong position in the lane.