Pulling a bike mechanic and other things that happened on my rideout today

There's lots of negative threads about atm so i thought i'd cheer you all up with how my rideout went today:

The story so far:
I have a restricted cbr 600f, bought it in december, rode it around a handful of times and then i had to go back to uni and i made a deal with my parents that i'd get made to measure leathers for my 21st if i left the bike at home over the winter months, so today was my first ride since the 27th December.

Bascially, i had a few teething problems in dec, i know the crappy riding conditions wouldnt have helped, but i was very nervous, and had a few problems turning right, lol. And, in all honesty, the general size and weight of the bike scared me, but i knew if i left it any longer i'd just get worse and i'd been asking for advice for the last 3 months so i thought it was about time i actually tried it out and so got up today but i encounterd a few problems:
The bike was parked here:


and i needed to get the bike here:


what also didnt help was the fact that the bike was facing AWAY from the gate so i couldnt just ride it out. After 30 mins of pulling and pushing the bike back and forth, i finally got the bike round the bin, out the gate, round the steps and down my steep drive, avoiding the MASSIVE pot hole my mother had made (see next pic) and after a quick walking-on-the-clutch u-turn i was home and dry:


I went to get on the bike and remembered the problem i'm having with my wing mirror - it bends over if i go above 34mph. so i thought a little trip to Orwells (bike shop) in Ipswich was in order. Set myself up a little scaredily and this was the sight directly in front of me:


lovely, i thought, police cars to watch me as i fail on my first rideout lol. but i set off anyway, and surprisingly, i wasnt sh!t!! i was doing ok, junctions werent problems (i was doing them okish lol) looking far ahead and where you wanna go, not where you are, really works! this is the best advice i tihnk i've been given

Anyway, got to Ipswich and decided to get petrol - all £4 worth lol and then round the corner to Orwells. Parked up, walked into the shop and after shakily looking around a bit, asked someone if anyone could help me out with my wing mirror (feeling a bit guilty as its a kwak and suzuki dealer place not honda lol)
Out came this guy - probs about 18-22 years old - and we had to walk to my bike, me apologising as my bike was MILES away as i have to be picky with my parking spots (cant push the bike up an incline lol)

the guy went off to get his tools saying that its easily fixable but if the thread was gone i'd have to get a whole new wing mirror, few mins later it was all fixed and he even checked the rest of my bike for me, telling me off about my chain (its lubed now lol) and my brake pads arent as bad as i thought.
I chatted to him a bit (only about bikes) then he went off back to the workshop and i went to look at back protectors, was on the phone when he came back with a little post it note with his name and number saying i should add him on FB and go out for a ride to build my confidence! I'd like to point out i was wearing crap bike make up and other peoples textiles lol. and i had theme park hair. made me laugh quite a lot though lol!

So after picking up a bike mechanic, off home i went (the long way through town to avoid turning right at the top of Berners Street (-Suffolkonians should know this road - has blockbusters at the bottom of it) i didnt filter, thought i'd just keep it simple today, and it was actually a good thing because it made me practise my slow speed control

Rode home, and got to THE junction. the one i have problems turning right on (tend to look at the hedge/manhole cover in the middle of the road/hedge) and just keep thinking "look at where you wanna go" and it worked! not a problem turned absoultely fine!!! I was also getting faster and my cornering is SO much better than before.

Then it was picture time:



and when i got home i did what i usually avoid at ALL costs:

(anyone know how to use the yellow/green stuff?)

So today was actually really good so pleased im not as crap as i thought i was, it wasnt perfect, i know it was only 30 miles, and i wobbled and stalled while moving the queue for a roundabout, and revved it loudly when i had the clutch in too far, but i was no where as bad as i thought i was gonna be. just goes to show confidence is the key and im SO happy right now, and definately look where you wanna go at junctions!!

Here is my clean bike:




and for those who remember my thread about the road paint on my generator cover, look at it now

nice write up Graciepants, glad you got it sorted and enjoyed your day.

Originally Posted by Graciepants

There's lots of negative threads about atm so i thought i'd cheer you all up with how my rideout went today:

The story so far:
I have a restricted cbr 600f, bought it in december, rode it around a handful of times and then i had to go back to uni and i made a deal with my parents that i'd get made to measure leathers for my 21st if i left the bike at home over the winter months, so today was my first ride since the 27th December.

Is that 21 STONE ?

[Dave20046]

well done

[dizzyblonde]

Gracie, spray the greeny yellow FS365 stuff all over anything that'll rot......just not your brakes, cause then they won't work!

Congrats Gracie!!

It's always good to have a bike mechanic in your.... erm... pocket.

Though you may of upset a large proportion of the site by saying you pulled.

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

Is that 21 STONE ?

lol my 21st birthday

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

Gracie, spray the greeny yellow FS365 stuff all over anything that'll rot......just not your brakes, cause then they won't work!

so i dont wipe it off? just leave it on?

Originally Posted by Baph

Congrats Gracie!!

It's always good to have a bike mechanic in your.... erm... pocket.

Though you may of upset a large proportion of the site by saying you pulled.

lol its a bit weird i think, lol!!

[Skip]

Glad to hear you got out and built up some confidence Gracie - practise is the only way

I hope you dont mind doing more than 30 miles when we do the EAR rideout in a couple of weeks!

Wherabouts roughly do you live GP? It looks really familiar... I was trying to work out where would mean a right turn from Berner's but there's a big area to cover!

Well done on that first ride. I remember my first ride was pretty much the same thing, just wobbling along and stuff. Keep an eye on your chain (keep it cleaned and lubricated...you have a centre stand so this shouldnt be too much of a PITA!) and the other bits and bobs. Just keep taking things steady like you are, understanding a bit more at a time.