Things that took you a while to realize.

Thought this might be an interesting thread to start. What little tricks/techniques/wisdom did you pick up, but only after putting in some serious seat time on 2 wheels?

For me, I just realized that I didn't need to mash the clutch lever all the way to the handlebar in order to shift gears. A light little, shallow squeeze gets the job done and gets you in your next gear that much quicker.

Who knew!?:tongue-new:

 

Takes a lot of seat time to get good. and a lot of getting a second sense in whats going on with the bike beneath you before it happens. Biggest thing to me that hit me square in the face was, be smooth, is faster, take your time being smooth. I took a ride with Reg Pridmore back in the day, and his way of control is so smooth, brakes, throttle, move around on the bike. No hurky jerky going on. That and always know what's going on around you before hand road wise, look way out in front of you. then of all the simple things, Breath & lighten up on the controls, relax.

 

Try to always park so the bike is headed uphill, the heavier the bike the better the idea.

 

super noob question: do you leave it in gear when parked? what if it rolls backwards down the hill and the cam chains go backwards and lose tension and everything goes foul in the engine? or some other horrifying scenario?? there's no reverse to park it in like in a car obviously.

 

If it's a steep hill I leave it in 1st. There's no way that bike is going to move, unless you're parking on the side of Everest. A slight slope I just leave it in neutral, and it will sit against the sidestand. But mostly I was just referring to the times you pull up to a parking spot and it slopes down to the gutter. Backing into that spot makes it much easier to pull out than trying to back a heavy bike up even a slight slope. Especially if you're a short guy like me.

If you need a little reassurance put the bike in 1st, pull the clutch and roll the bike down a slope and let the clutch out. The rear tire will skid unless you give it a bounce, and may skid even then. That's why you bump start a bike in at least second, and bounce on the seat at the same time you let the clutch out.

 

Keep a light grip on the bars and let the bike ride the bumps as it will. A tight or tense grip only exaggerates any bump reaction and can induce more wobbles.

Always check the sidestand is down and fully extended before resting the bike on it.

Ride across slippery railroad tracks at as close to a right angle as possible (DAMHIK)

I'm not Valentino Rossi.

 

It is something I have been working on, if you can actually work on it. Riding well is like a good golf swing. It's controlled but relaxed. The more you try to force it, the more you "try" the worse it gets. A relaxed grip on the bars, a relaxed sweep into corners is the way to go. That said, I am a nervous rider. What if I lose the front end? What if I lose the back end. What if a dog runs in front of me? All these doubts hit me and I am back to being tense. It sucks to ride like this. Good smooth riders trust their traction.

 

I came to the realization that I should have married someone who likes motorcycles. On second thought scratch that, I should have stayed single and filled the garage with as many motorcycles as I wanted LOL !!

 

When I come up behind a cage on a rural two lane, I PASS THEM and leave them then slow back down to my speed. I've looked in my mirrors too many times to see an asshat I just passed speeded up and on my tail just to play some kind of warped game with me. I have no idea wtf they're trying to do. I also let them pass me if they want to "race". I can win but they aren't worth it. Invariably, they slow back down because they realize they're driving faster than they can or want to.

As someone else said, strive to shift quick but smoothly and work hard at developing a very smooth throttle hand. Weird analogy but as a near lifelong competitive swimmer, when you feel one with the water and one with the bike and road, you're invariably going faster and smoother. All it takes is a lot of time to get there. No two people ride the same.

 

Ride across slippery railroad tracks at as close to a right angle as possible (DAMHIK)

But what about our tram tracks that run down the middle of our roads here, they are always a concern

 

Just stay out of Melbourne; I could never get my head around hook turns anyway.:stung:

 

Cadbury, once those hook turns were only at 4 intersections in the center of the city, now they have some in the suburbs all caused by those trams

 

Big_Jim, I with you about your golf swing! Took a long ride yesterday across the Golden Gate over to the ocean, then down to Half Moon Bay. Tried to cut across to Skyline Drive, but traffic was stopped dead with beach goers. Finally made it to Skyline, and nobody turned, yea!! Went down to Alice's restaurant, by then was way behind schedule. Headed for home across San Mateo Bridge, and took the wrong freeway, and ended up at the south end of Redwood Drive. Stopped at Peet's, had an Ice Tea and headed for home on one of the best twisty roads in the area. Cooking along Redwood Dr, I see a bike coming behind me. I know there are some fast riders on this road, so I let him pass. Ah, a RC51! Oh boy. Managed to stay with him the rest of the way by relaxing and following his line. Like golf, I focused on where I wanted to go, relaxed and kept a smooth pace. Nice way to end the day, and proud of myself for keep up.

 

Riding fast isn't as difficult as riding under control, ready to handle any situation.


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Being a new rider myself I have figured out a lot of things. Some of them I found out the hard way.

1. I had a lot of extra wind noise in my helmet. The problem, I had a tilt to my head and didn't realize it. So I learned that most helmets are designed to cut through the wind with a level head.
2. Taking the MSF course is great. And they encouraged us to practice in parking lots. Well, it should go without saying, make sure the parking lot is smooth and clean. I was practicing at night and didn't notice how much gravel was around and laid it down. So pissed I did this... while trying to practice being safe. UGH.
3. If you lean on your wrists too much you can develop carpal tunnel syndrome. I pay extra close attention to it now. There are YouTube videos on how to treat it if you're waking up with a numb hand like I was.
4. Ride every day and you'll get so many more repetitions in! Then focus on being smooth and you'll get better at it.

 

Always wear leak proof brown corduroy underpants when riding at speed through roo country at dusk.

 

All Jo-Jos are not the same. I find this to be more than accurate aboot artichokes and avocados too.

I'm thinking this may get to be one of those "I always/never use the clutch when upshifting and (OMG) downshifting.

Roos are not a terrible problem in Oregon but those skivvies sound really comfy. Choice of colors?

 

Skivvies went out of fashion here about 1979 and have not made a comeback.
Riding in roo country at the wrong times of day is not for the weak of heart or loose of bowel.

 

A mate of mine hit one a couple of weeks ago, lucky for him he only ended up running over its tail, put him up in the air but he didn't come down, bad thing was the roo pissed all over him as he hit it