Just had my first proper 'pootle'...

[Welsh_Wizard]

Absolutely awesome..

This is the first time I have been able to get myself sorted, head out on the bike with nothing to worry about and just doss around.

Had a wicked 40mile ride up towards Ynysddu, Cwnfelinfach, over to Nelson, down the A470 to Cardiff then back home to the 'Port.

Bike is absolutely sublime, more than i could have hoped for. I actually had my £200 deposit down on a 2nd hand Gixer 6 with 16thou' on the clock but bottled it after a sneaky bloke I know tried to rinse me with his 2nd hand scrap-heap. Put the wind up me abit for decided on a new machine and this was the one that took my fancy.

Lovin' the noise the bike makes when you give it the berries abit and let the engine slow you down rather than braking or using the clutch. It has this almost throaty whine to it like a turbine has just been shut off.

Still abit jittery with slow speeds though. Found it hard to hang back behind traffic and ride slowly without putting my foot down. Did some nice filtering but where the road was too narrow I ended up twisting and turning the front end trying to remain balanced before i put my foot down :smt100

...ahh could go on forever but i'll save you a yawn or two. Busting to go back out again already - my baby only has 90miles on the clock now - she needs more attention !! :D

[hovis]

tomoro?

[Welsh_Wizard]

can't sorry dude, got 5-a-side football :(

definately up for the weekend tho' - you coming on saturday on our little impromtu meet up ??

[hovis]

hopefuly........... although i did plan to go to weston

[Welsh_Wizard]

fair enough.. maybe you could persuade the lads to join you. I should be out most of the day so I'm up for a long ride most likely..

[petevtwin650]

Glad your first little jolly was a success.

In traffic you might find you have to keep it in 1st or 2nd gear to stop it feeling lumpy, but be very careful with the throttle:D

With regards to riding out with others. Great, so long as the other guys respect you as a novice and don't go hooning off into the sunset. Don't try and keep up. Just ride at your pace. New rider, new bike, new mates could equal a trip to the hospital. Please be careful. :)

[Warthog]

I ride the clutch and drag the rear brake a little, it makes crawling speed a lot better and less foot downs. Glad you are having fun!

[metalmonkey]

Absolutely awesome..

This is the first time I have been able to get myself sorted, head out on the bike with nothing to worry about and just doss around.

Had a wicked 40mile ride up towards Ynysddu, Cwnfelinfach, over to Nelson, down the A470 to Cardiff then back home to the 'Port.

Bike is absolutely sublime, more than i could have hoped for. I actually had my £200 deposit down on a 2nd hand Gixer 6 with 16thou' on the clock but bottled it after a sneaky bloke I know tried to rinse me with his 2nd hand scrap-heap. Put the wind up me abit for decided on a new machine and this was the one that took my fancy.

Lovin' the noise the bike makes when you give it the berries abit and let the engine slow you down rather than braking or using the clutch. It has this almost throaty whine to it like a turbine has just been shut off.

Still abit jittery with slow speeds though. Found it hard to hang back behind traffic and ride slowly without putting my foot down. Did some nice filtering but where the road was too narrow I ended up twisting and turning the front end trying to remain balanced before i put my foot down :smt100

...ahh could go on forever but i'll save you a yawn or two. Busting to go back out again already - my baby only has 90miles on the clock now - she needs more attention !! :D

Yeah I found the slow speed the hardest bit at first, I still sometimes. I put my foot down the other day being short my foot went in a gap as te camber of road was more than I expected.

If you want I would suggest find a car park or a quite road, and praticse the slow speed, contol with the clutchin 1st get use to the bike. I filter every day so I praticse this all the time.

You will find the bike easier and easier to ride, trust me I have. But take your time and enjoy. You still have to scrub the tyres a bit more. If you see traffic up ahead roll of the throttle the bike will slow its self down.

Your still making friends with your bike, enjoy the ride and most of all take care and enjoy. It isn't boring to here about your bike and how you get on! I do love the noise the engine make its does great, though an end is needed!

Oh get some R&G crash bungs really as I have said worth every penny!

[yorkie_chris]

Don't worry about putting your foot down, you've done the test.

Get a proper exhaust on, thats how they should sound.

And +1 for the R&Gs, would have saved me a few £££ the other month if I hadnt procrastinated about them.


Have fun :D

Chris

[Pedro68]

I ride the clutch and drag the rear brake a little, it makes crawling speed a lot better and less foot downs. Glad you are having fun!
+1 on that ... also, try and leave yourself a little extra room behind the traffic in front ... draggin the rear and keeping the throttle at constant revs (about 2,000 should be enough) ... and roll up behind them slowly. If you're lucky then you may find that the traffic has started moving again - enough for you not to have to put your foot down ... but if you need to then so what?! Do it - it's not a crime ;-)

Think I remember reading on here about someone actually trying to get to work (or making some journey) without putting their foot down at all, and how because of that, it made their riding a bit more sedate, and a bit more controlled. I thought that was an ace idea ... just not that practical on my commute ;-)

Take it easy with the new engine too ... if you're still running the engine in (<600 miles) then don't be revving the nuts off it. I was told to keep mine (after a rebuild :oops:) below 6,000rpm, and to vary the rev range and gears as much as possible. After 600 miles (and first oil n filter change) THEN you can start to use the full rev range ;-)

Take it easy, and ENJOY :D

Pete

[metalmonkey]

Running in, just to add no motorways, no constast speed, work the gear box. 600 miles passes very quickly!

[Pedro68]

Running in, just to add no motorways, no constast speed, work the gear box. 600 miles passes very quickly!
Why this? Why no motorways?
I wasn't told that ... I was simply told, "For the first 600 miles keep the revs down below 6,000rpm, 5,000rpm EVEN BETTER. That doesn't necessarily mean you cannot absolutely go above that, but be careful, be gentle. Also, use the full range (upto 5-6000rpm) of revs in ALL the gears, and try and move up and down steadily through the gear box - basically you wanna be givin it a good work out, but not over-doing it".

Now I can quite happily cruise at about 70mph at 5,000rpm in 6th gear. In fact I did on my way home from the dealership. I also varied the revs, by dropping back to 60mph and when I had to come off the motorway and join another motorway ... at no time did I "rag the ar$e off it" ... and at no time did I let the revs get up above 5,000rpm until I'd done about 200 miles. After which time I was getting the revs up to 6 - 6,500rpm, after 400 miles getting it up to 7 - 7,500rpm. By 600 miles I was getting up to 8,000rpm, but I dare not go above that until I'd changed the oil and filter (don't ask me why?!) LOL

My 600 miles was amassed in quicktime thanks to a 100-miles-per-day commute ;-) HALF of which is motorway. Doesn't seem to have done any lasting damage to the engine on mine (time will tell perhaps). So just wondered why? Is it cos of the constant speed/revs thing? in which case, just vary it! That's what I had to do ... it wasn't all 70mph everywhere ... some places I could get it up to 80mph, and in other places, I was down to 20mph (when filtering through), or just 40 - 50mph when I couldnt' be bothered filtering and just went with the flow of the traffic.

IOW, I wouldn't say "definitely no motorway riding" ... just vary it as much as possible ;-)

[Welsh_Wizard]

Interesting..

One of the guys at the shop said pretty much what you said Pedro (ie: dont rag the a$$ off it), but any type of riding (motorway, A/B, street road) is fine.

So far i honestly think I have treated the engine well. I have gone through the gears and made sure I have taken it very easy until the engine is warmed up. Once warmed up, then yeah, i have done some motorway miles and have got up to about 80/90. Currently total milage on the machine is about 100 miles.

Is this wrong do you think? Am I over-doing it too quickly??

What are the consequences of over-doing the engine ??

[G]

Is this wrong do you think? Am I over-doing it too quickly??

What are the consequences of over-doing the engine ??


Sounds about the same as what i did, I wouldnt say your over doing it.

Some say the consequence of giving the engine beans from the start is a more powerful and quicker engine, albeit its life wont be quite as long.

This is the reason I will always be sceptical aobut buying a 2nd hand bike, in particular these gixxrs you see with 3000 miles on the clock.

[Welsh_Wizard]

hmm..intruiging indeed..

I really want to look after the machine as i clearly want a decent resale price when i decide to move on - on the flip of that, i also want to be able to enjoy the machine and ensure i get my money's worth. I definately keeping it gentle.. yes, i give the berries now and then but is after a minimum of 6/8miles of gear-heavy riding.

[yorkie_chris]

they are designed to have their necks wrung, and I don't think overuse will result in a bang, more likely to result in the engine being worn out early i.e rattly and burning oil

[G]

hmm..intruiging indeed..

I really want to look after the machine as i clearly want a decent resale price when i decide to move on - on the flip of that, i also want to be able to enjoy the machine and ensure i get my money's worth. I definately keeping it gentle.. yes, i give the berries now and then but is after a minimum of 6/8miles of gear-heavy riding.

Wait 600 miles and then ride it how you like, the SV engine is a solid one, as long as you clean your beast a fair bit and maintain it spot on, you will get the best price for it.

The market seems completely flooded with Sv's at the moment though so god knows what the best price is.

[natcar]

Gaining confidence with mine. Been out and used a bit of throttle but running in new Z6 tyres so still not used full power yet. Last week I was thinking I should have stayed with a 500cc for a few months, but now feels a lot more in control and now goes where I want it to and fewer wobbles at slow speed.

[Frank]

hopefuly........... although i did plan to go to weston
If you come over here give us a PM and will try and meet if you want.
Not entering that blade in abeach race are you

[metalmonkey]

I was told by someone can't remeber who not to run along the motorway at constant speed, then another friend said no constant revs, but thrash every now and then and so on....it to do with the way the engine/gear box wears in. yeah the gear box needs a real work in.

You know I haven't been on a motorway yet, and have done 1200 miles.

There are different schools of though on it seems, this is the first time I have bought a new bike/car...end of the day its your bike! Just don't go too fast I got tugged on the way home:o

[hovis]

i think........... when running it in, as long as you dont thrash it to death it will be ok

just my opinion, i have never had a new bike

[JediGoat]

Still abit jittery with slow speeds though. Found it hard to hang back behind traffic and ride slowly without putting my foot down. Did some nice filtering but where the road was too narrow I ended up twisting and turning the front end trying to remain balanced before i put my foot down :smt100

Try to make sure you keep your head up while going slowly, you'll naturally want to look down at the road just ahead of your front wheel. Keeping your head up and looking further ahead should make you less wobbly.

I know it's a obvious thing, and you'll have been told it before, but it's very easy to forget.........

Jo