1st time rider+starter bike, advice or lessons?

Discussion in 'New Riders' started by hugebigfatrhino, Feb 19, 2008.

  1. SCraig

    SCraig New Member

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    Wise choices. You will enjoy the BRC and learn a lot.

    Regarding #2 though keep in mind that the limits of the VFR are quite high. It's kind of like saying you're going to buy an F-15 fighter but only fly it like a Cessna 152. It's easy to keep your resolve the first few times out but twisting that throttle gets easier every time. Please just be careful.
     
  2. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    Another hint: be extremely wary of riding with experience riders as many newbie crashes happen while trying to keep up!!!!
     
  3. rngdng

    rngdng New Member

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    AMEN to that! Whenever I ride with someone who starts to leave me, I let them go and catch up at the next stop. That goes back to knowing your limits and staying within them.


    Lane
     
  4. XRayHound

    XRayHound New Member

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    Actually, this isn't true. Hitting the front brakes will make the bike lean/turn more. ACCELERATING makes the bike stand up.
    What makes the bike stand up is the MSF-drilled idea that you have to stand the bike up to use the brakes.
    Having to unlearn a ton of the go slow-fall down-ow BS that MSF put in my head is a big part of my "just ride" advice to OP. I've been a gunsmith for years and a biker too, and in both I've found that a lot of the junk, both physical and mental, that is supposed to be for "safety" is in fact, just the opposite.
     
  5. Bubba Zanetti

    Bubba Zanetti Member

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    :clap2:

    Well said Lane.

    I hate to say this but, I shook the magic 8 ball and this 3rd gen may be on its last days.

    Glad to hear you two are taking the MSF course, after that sell the VFR and get a Ninja 250. 2007's are going for cheap at dealerships right know.

    BZ
     
  6. camcclellan

    camcclellan New Member

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    320 lbs doesn't do so well on a 250 Ninja...:)
     
  7. Alaskan

    Alaskan Member

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    Just looked at your Photo Gallery. Nice looking bike! It looks clean and well maintained. The tires look very, very glossy in the pics. You didn't wipe Armor All on them, did you? That would be a big no-no . . . .

    A level-headed, coordinated guy can learn to ride on that bike. The process is going to be more difficult than it would be on a naked learner bike. Your VFR is heavy, so it will make low speed maneuvers unnecessarily difficult. It's relatively powerful, so throttle control is more of an issue. It has a lot of plastic body parts, so a drop is going to be more expensive than a naked bike.
     
  8. Nungboy

    Nungboy New Member

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    Alaskan points out a good thing...a level-headed, coordinated human can learn to ride a bike. When one is interested in going into the Military or other fields, it is common to be tested or evaluated on one's talents or tendencies so as to be routed towards the correct path. I am sure there are past experiences that help an inexperienced person learn a motorcycle's controls quicker. I started motorcycling rather late in life. From my experience, these things from my past helped me: riding mountain bikes and road bicycles for 3 decades, driving nothing but 5 speed autos, being a drummer (using foot pedals, being used to limb independence, etc.), and having an analytical mind.
    >>>WHAT OTHER EXPERIENCES, HOBBIES, and TENDENCIES DO YOU ALL THINK HELP PREDICT WHO MIGHT BE A GOOD MOTORCYCLIST?
     
  9. camcclellan

    camcclellan New Member

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    Being in situations that help an individual learn a high level of self restraint strike me as a extremely critical. I drove a Porsche 928 for several years before this motorcycle, and resisted all temptations to race, which leads me to believe that I can do the same thing on a motorcycle. I wanted a motorcycle when I was 18 or so, but I knew that I was not mature enough at that point to even consider it.

    By the way, the motorcycle had just had a bath, so that was not any treatment on the tire.
     
  10. woody77

    woody77 New Member

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    Driving a manual car for a while certain helped a ton for me. The clutch use and engagement has a very different feel, especially since a wet-plate clutch can take abuse a dry-plate just can't, but it was still a big leg up.

    I was 29 last year when I took the MSF. Getting my early 20s insane-driving habits kicked were more than a bit of a good idea.

    I also had a friend who's been riding for over a decade, and been asked by MSF instructors to be one (but doesn't have the time). Talking with him about technique, and the feel from the bike, and having him ride the bike as a shake-down test of it were VERY instructive.

    I complained about difficult steering, he asked when I last checked the tire pressure... it was way low. I complained about how hard it seemed to be to make the bike turn more than a little bit at a time, and gestured, and he said to drop my elbows, relax my shoulders, and go it again. BIG difference. It's great having level-headed friends around that know what their doing. They're no replacement for taking the MSF course, but they help a great deal afterwards.
     
  11. woody77

    woody77 New Member

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    The MSF isn't out to teach you to be a high-performance rider. The BSC is designed to get you into habits that will keep you alive for your first year or two of riding.

    In a lot of places, the MSF material is perhaps over-cautious. But after watching the rest of my class, I was honestly frightened that they were getting their licenses. Chatting with one of my instructors about this, he pointed out just how much worse the ones who DON'T go through MSF are...

    The MSF drills focus on basic controls, and the start of patterns for emergency maneuvers. To get you doing things which won't get you killed, or low-siding off the road in a turn.

    For those moving on from the BRC, Parks' "Total Control" and Code's "Twist of the Wrist" series offer great info. Although Code writes for people who are only on tracks, so a lot of his info is to be read with that in mind. Parks assumes people WILL be riding on the street, and covers stuff like 2-up riding and low-speed turns as a result.
     
  12. masonv45

    masonv45 New Member

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    They both make the bike stand up. Get off an exit ramp that circles around and hit the brake real good. The bike will stand up and go in a straight line or the front end will wash out from under you.

    Now if you feather the front brake, the bike will slow down and lean over more if the rider does not correct the lean angle.

    But being as I was talking to a new rider, I was worried that he would not have mastered the technique of feathering the front brake in a turn.
     
  13. BASSHOLE

    BASSHOLE New Member

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    Hey I live in Golden,Co and I am getting a bike tomorrow. I have ridden both dirt and street bikes in the past and am looking for a close-by riding buddy. Send me a message if you wanna ride sometime.
     
  14. XRayHound

    XRayHound New Member

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    If the front end washes out, the bike has leaned over more, hasn't it? :rolleyes:

    Right to 90 degrees!!! :faint: :rip:
     
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