Re: Short Newbie
 

first day on the 500 today - AAAAAAAAAAAAAWESOME fun

admittedly the instructor had seen me do the CBT and threw me in at the deep end; "lets see if you can ride in a straight line to that gate, great, now lets go"

:eek:

he was very complementary about my riding though, which is always a good sign

first stop after 10 mins or so, my face said sheer terror

20 mins later the grin came out and it hasn't left yet:D

oh, and little tip for anyone - if you've spent several hours pootling along at 4k rpm, you're in for a shock when you crack the throttle open at around 9k in second

now, where's the "evil laugh" smiley:D:D:D

Re: Short Newbie
 

Well done mate:cheers: . Seems like it all went well. Hoping that I'm going to have a similar experience to you on Friday as it will be my first time on a 500 as well. Have a feeling I might also be thrown in at the deep end as my intructor watched my CBT on Saturday and he thought I did ok!

Am slightly scared of the 500 at the moment but hopefully that will go once I get on it. How did you find the weight and have you managed to do a U-turn on it yet?

Am hoping my 5 day baptism of fire will see me through to a pass on Tuesday. When's your test?

Re: Short Newbie
 

test centre doesn't have any slots until the one i've booked on the 16th :rolleyes: - i'm hoping someone will cancel next week so i can jump in, instructor reckons 4 afternoons should be enough to get me going through so most of this week and then probably a couple next for the icing on the cake. once you get going on the 500 you'll feel a lot more confident, i know i am, even though today was my second time ever on a bike of any size

i was petrified of the 500 at first, when you sit on it it's obviously bigger, heavier and feels more substantial, but tbh once you get moving that translates into a very planted bike, feels a lot more steady at speed and when you turn into the corners you'll feel the front wheel almost find the line by itself (it almost feels like the bike is trying to turn in more, on the GS500 i had anyway) - don't fight it, the bike knows best;) - it's a doddle to ride:)

also, don't be afraid of the U turn, i did a couple of wobbly attempts on my CBT, today on a quiet bit of road the instructor said "don't bother with observations but just try the turn in the road, i'll be holding the back so there's no way you'll drop it" - after a perfectly executed u-turn he told me he never touched the bike once - git:D - it's not as hard as it would seem at first. just turn the bars all the way when you start to turn and look where you **want** to go, otherwise you'll end up in the hedge (true story from my instructor;))

Re: Short Newbie
 

UPDATE:

new test date 10th May, next Thursday:eek:

what a difference a few hours with an excellent instructor can make - feeling much more confident with the bike and the power/weight and all that jazz now - still get nervous for the first 5 minutes on the bike but after that i start smiling and keep going

Re: Short Newbie
 

Good luck with the tests guys, and hope you've enjoyed the 500 Jonwest.

Re: Short Newbie
 

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while - had a pretty intensive 5 day course and didn’t have any time free!

The 500 felt like a dream after riding the 125. Much easier to use and less volatile.

Unfortunately, I managed to flunk my test yesterday :( . Got two serious faults :help: ! The ride was going really well right up until I put my foot down on the U-turn. This was a major bummer as I have never really struggled with them until now.

Anyhow, it seems I went off without enough speed and got all outta shape - there is a first time for everything! I am fairly sure that I over thought the U-turn, I had a quick chat with myself before making the manoeuvre and I think this put me off. If I had just got on and done it I would probably have been fine.

After knowing that I had failed the test my mind went to sh*t and I managed to leave an indicator on for slightly too long. My instructor couldn’t believe it as I haven’t forgotten an indicator in 3 days!

Overall the examiner said that my riding was good and that it was probably nerves (he is an ex-instructor himself). Well I have to wait 10 clear days before I can retake the test so have booked in for the 29th. Fingers crossed for then!

Good luck with your test Lone Wolf. Hope it goes better than mine did!

Jon

Re: Short Newbie
 

I am also doing the DAS this weekend - riding Fri, Mon & Tue. Test Tues afternoon. Got to say I'm not that scared of the idea of getting on a 500 now as i had a little spin round on my new sv650sport on an airfield near us at the weekend and it was lovely to ride and to do a u-turn. I reckon if I can ride and turn the sport without any trouble, the GS500 should be ok.

Re: Short Newbie
 

I know my riding wasn't brilliant on the 125. We came in at lunch time, and having ridden a 250 many years ago I asked if I could try the 500 in the car park. I went round all the cones, figure of 8, emergency stop fine.

From then on I was on a GS. I found it much easier to ride than the 125. Don't be scared of it, it's actually what you're there for, just relax and enjoy it.

.

Re: Short Newbie
 

oh man, that's got to suck:(

only thing worrying me now is the weather, every time i've ridden it's been beaming sunshine, the forecast for tomorrow is torrential rain all day

emergency stop anyone?:rolleyes:

Re: Short Newbie
 

Dont worry too much about the emergancy stop in wet weather. I did one on Monday in the rain and it was fine. Just remember to err on the safe side and use a lot less front brake. You should use 25% of front and 25% of the back brake when it is wet.

Hope all goes well mate. Dont overthink your manouvers and I am sure you will be fine. Remember to look where you want to go on the u-turn.