Just had my first proper 'pootle'...

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

...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 !!

tomoro?

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 ??

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

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..

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

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.

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!

Originally Posted by 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

...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 !!

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

Chris

Originally Posted by 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!

+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 ) 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

Pete