Update on a novice rider

Went out for a wee ride with my brother in law today, he was on his RF 600. Being a new rider (this was only my third time out) I am not very experienced yet hence had a couple of scary moments.

The only riding I had done before today had been on main A roads and short duel carriage ways but today we went out on to some twisty stuff that we both knew quiet well. I had driven these roads before in a car and had no problems at all but riding them on my SV was a different story.

I was fine when I was in front and taking my time but when I tried to wind things up a bit I soon found out that I have a lot to learn. Going in to corners I found that I was fine as long as I kept a steady speed but when I felt I was going in too hot and back off the throttle it totally upset the handleing and made me run wide. On a couple of occasions I managed to get on the edge of the grass verge but managed to save it both times (check underpants )

This has taught me two valuable lessons. I should only ride at my own pace and that I should keep my speed down on the twisty stuff until I get more experience under my belt.

Ho hum you live and learn

yeah im much the same,learning curve or what! iv returned to bikes after a LONG time(12 yrs to b exact) i used to ride quite a lot(had a few bikes) but its like im starting from scratch again .not having ridden a v-twin b4 its the engine braking i cant get used 2 so much so that when approaching a corner and i brake a bit im almost falling off im going so slow! but its the accel that does it for me.ill get there in the end

[embee]

Hi,
yes, take things at your own pace, don't be pushed by riding with others, but most useful and productive of all is get some professional training.

Everyone goes through the learning phase, there's no need to learn the hard way!

A great start is to read the police handbook "Roadcraft", any bookshop should be able to get it.

Remember, if in doubt, don't.

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by embee

Hi,
yes, take things at your own pace, don't be pushed by riding with others, but most useful and productive of all is get some professional training.

Everyone goes through the learning phase, there's no need to learn the hard way!

A great start is to read the police handbook "Roadcraft", any bookshop should be able to get it.

Remember, if in doubt, don't.

Can't add more. Don't be peer pressured. Do it at your own pace and get some training

Originally Posted by Glynmitch

On a couple of occasions I managed to get on the edge of the grass verge but managed to save it both times (check underpants )

I think that's more or less what happened to Si in France. Chopping the throttle mid-corner is just not a good idea.

Originally Posted by Glynmitch

This has taught me two valuable lessons. I should only ride at my own pace and that I should keep my speed down on the twisty stuff until I get more experience under my belt.

Good lesson to learn, especially in a way that doesn't hurt.

Originally Posted by Glynmitch

Ho hum you live and learn

That's the aim.

Book a place with California Suberbike School, they will inspire you with corner confidence. :P

Instead of shutting off midcorner, open the throttle and drive round, it just feels wrong, but it works.

but whatever you do take it steady till you feel better

Glyn,

I don't know what your previous biking experience is but without at all meaning to sound condescending it would appear to be very little. The comments of the guys are very good advice but I would like to add a little to hopefully help you out.

When I got my first bike at 17 I had no riding skills at all and within a month I had dropped it twice.I was heart broken but also I was beginning to fear bends! Fortunately some older friends told me that if I could learn to ride the curvey stuff it would open up the real enjoyment that biking was all about. Looking back,possibly the best words ever spoken to me in connection with biking.

It is a relief to see that you escaped your couple of close shaves,but if those roads had raised kerbs,you would have hit the deck my friend. So let's move on a little....

Take a slow ride on your own to these roads again. Remember you are no longer driving the car and negotiating bends on two wheels requires more skill than just turning a wheel.

The two main errors you will be making I suggest are positioning and speed.Let's take a little look :

Ok to position for a right hand bend you need to be approaching it nearer to your kerb side or at least slightly left of centre of your lane. Both positioning and speed will vary especially if you can see well in to the bend or even beyond it. If it is a blind turn then greater care needs to be adopted.

As you are moving along the learning curve of your biking years, the best plan for now is to reduce speed by using the gearbox and brakes very early.In this way you are all set and it is a simple matter of using a slight push on the right hand bar and the bike will drop in to the turn for you. Keep a small amount of drive to the back wheel with a touch of throttle as you go through the bend. Keep looking ahead through the bend i.e. where you want to go...nothing else.....as soon as you see the two edges of the road begin to move away from each other you can gently squeeze on more gas.This will bring the bike back up and out of the bend.

As you progress you will find you will brake later and drop in to the turns more quickly. You might even find that easing your weight over to the side of the bike will really help cornering.(Meaning right hand bend ease weight over to the right and rest on left butt cheek at the same time as completing braking etc.)This is made easy if you have weight on the balls of your feet as this will mean you raise your butt of the seat slightly to move over to one side or the other, the action is made by pushing with the balls of your feet. Sounds odd but once you try it you will get the idea.

On left hand bends it is just as above but on entry you will be moving over to the central line. Never cross that and give yourelf a small safety buffer by staying on your side of it.Just in case something come hurtling from the opposite direction.

By using the above,if a bend is tighter than you thought...do not panic keep looking through the bend and push the bars a little more to make the bike drop in some more.Scrubbing off speed at this point is a bad idea as the bike will either want to stand up and make you run straight and in to God knows what danger.Or you could make the wheels slip from under you.

When you go out with others if they want to go faster through bends than you are ready for yet....hey...let them go.You can give it a blurt down the straight and then go back in to your turn routine.Before you know it your pace will be picking up,but importantly in a controlled manner.

Hope this helps a little,get this right and just like I did.....you will really begin to love owning and riding a bike!

Then when you have sorted all that you can come over here and learn to ride these left hand drive bikes!

I too am new to the biking world and never grow tired of reading the useful advice given here.
A lot of the time the advice is more of the same, but the more times you read it and, more improtantly, take it in, the more experience you gather.

Once again, great to learn from the more experienced.

It's not very often that you'll see a copper bin it into a ditch (or worse). I know that some on here will give me the , but I recommend a little time spent reading a copy of "Roadcraft" (The Police Riders' Handbook).

Better still, enroll on a Bikesafe course an let the coppers teach you some of the art of positioning, cornering and safe riding. Best £80 I've spent, and did my confidence the power of good. Most courses give you a copy of Roadcraft as part of the fee.

Sounds like to me that you have learnt very quickly, which is good. Stay safe but have fun learning.