Summer's gone - Newbie riders' review

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Today Saturday, what a cracker out to Martinborough and around Lake Wairarapa, however on the way coming over the Rimutaka Hill it was quite foggy on the Featherston side - immediately had me thinking of winter conditions not to far away. The fog played with my concentration, I realised I was shifting my vision from way out to closer in scanning for diesel etc but I wasn't adjusting my speed to maintain smooth lines. I was mid way through the fog when I realised my technique was out of wack.

Heads Up and Enjoy

[Patch]

As we are now moving out of the prime riding time of the year, . . .

bollocks

To get the ball rolling: this last spring and summer saw the introduction of my fourth bike since May 2006. . . . there is never a day goes by that I do not reflect on two or more things when I ride.

stop buying bikes

Discretion, be aware in your rear view mirror . . .

bikes don't have rear view mirrors - cars do


Yes, I am bored . . . need some more

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bollocks


stop buying bikes


bikes don't have rear view mirrors - cars do


Yes, I am bored . . . need some more

I coud go a this afternoon too but will wait for the Super 14 this evening.

Did you ride today?


Heads up and Enjoy

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Bringing this up for feedback leading to the end of the month soon.

Heads Up and Enjoy

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Thank you for your replies to this thread, the following have been copied to the Newbie Update blogg.

Good stuff, BB - always good to have reminders about safety.
And I am impressed by the amount of km's you have put on your bike…

In the last couple of weeks my cornering skills have improved greatly….

Wow where do I start.

What I learned this summer…..

Nice one Buckbuck, reminding all and sundry about the transitions of the different seasons of motorcycling….

WTF?

The only bad time to get a bike is later.

Heads Up and Enjoy

[Damantis]

Damn right. Ive been riding 2 months and alot has been on the open road (took off the L plate cos I kinda like overtaking at 150kph and not having sum cock calling *555 to say a learner passed em on the hauraki plains)
It is getting colder tho, I have the gear to stay warm and dry, just gotta ride to the conditions eh? I reckon a crisp winters day is great for riding. you can be well protected without sweatn ur nuts off, and there's generally less traffic, sun is a lil lower in the sky tho. so, as allways, lets keep our headlights on?

[Dodger]

Hmmm, still haven't seen this winter weather yet this year.

The Wife has picked a great time to start commuting on the back of the bike I'm waiting for the first big downpour

[Imti]

Cool thread!

I've learnt heaps over the summer. I got my bike in September last year, and thanks to the loooong stretch of dry weather we've had, the car has been relegated to the driveway and car cover (I have used it the last 2 days though, really didn't feel like riding in that weather)

Commuting to uni/work everyday has def got my lane splitting skills up, though I will be trying the high beam thing mentioned earlier, especially in the darker weather. Haven't been out on as many long rides as hoped, so will be looking to in the crisp autumn weekends. My cornering skills have improved loads, learnt how to shift my weight better = more fun

Time to sit my restricted now, and hope to have my full by the end of the year

[Ripperjon]

Had my bike for about 5 weeks now and covered 3500kms so 100k a day on average!

Pretty chuffed with my progress.

Doing things like blipping the throttle between changes automatically now and finding it comfortable to do it whilst braking now.

Using good combination of front and rear brakes.

Able to stick to a good, safe line through the corners, looking way out ahead but still watching for hazards peripherally.

Managed to avoid doing too many stupid things (dodgy overtaking, entering the head-on zone in corners etc.) and recognised when i have slipped up.

Did my first proper rain riding the other day in Invers. Proper horizontal, horrible stuff. Felt my rear end slide out exiting a roundabout despite trying to be conservative with my speed, lean, line. Feels good to know what to expect when it happens now. Wasn't too bad really.

Oh yeah, and pulled my first (accidental) (semi-) wheelie, (apparently) defying the poer / weight ratio of the green meany. Which was not really an achievement but still a first!


So, a pretty awesome and successful summer so far...
Here's to more of the same

Cheers!

[Elysium]

Still plenty of good weather about. I was told it was going to rain all day Sunday but weather looked good so I took out my Hornet up to Waiouru today but the wind got strong when I stoped by the by the army museum as it looked like the weather was changing pretty fast on the mountain.

So I turned around and rode back home into warmer air and found muself amongst a group of riders on tourers. Good fun.