My first registered bike and first fright zzr 250

Hi! I'm new here, and to riding, relatively anyway - I just got my first proper road bike from SCM, a 2002 ZZR 250, the gold and white coloured one. She's a lovely bike, being very patient with my fumbling around. I've been riding around the streets near my house - not really fast, I'm hovering between 25 and 45.
still learning to do all the basic things, not stalling, doing nice smooth u turns instead of the 8 point tippy toe/neutral flounder around, and getting used to the bike.
the first real fright i had was coming down the road towards my driveway, and i discovered someone has parked a car right up almost over the entrance, which was alright, but it meant i should have slowed down a little more to do the very sharp right angle turn into the drive - so in the end i rode around the car and into the driveway but a bit too wide, and the front wheel ran off the concrete onto the grass for a few inches, then stupidly i tried to turn back onto the concrete [the wheel had sunk into the spongy grass about 2 inches and was scraping on the edge].

i wasn't going fast at all, but when the front wheel tried to turn onto the edge it kind of flipped the bike over to the left, and i had to jam my left foot on the ground behind the gear lever, and grabbed the front brake, it kind of pivoted around my ankle and ran across the other side of the driveway and stopped - but i didn't drop it!! i have a bump on my ankle and it really hurts, i'll be wearing my new boots more often now.

but woohoo! i didn't drop it, and it was sure about to tip right over. its hard to explain what happened but basically i didn't slow down enough before turning in the driveway. this seems to be the only time i'm running into trouble, my slow turns, uturns and everything are like magic when i've slowed down enough.

quite a few of the roundabouts i've come across i just go straight through or turn left immediately for example - but i guess practise makes perfect.

[i even rode down to the local woolworths and parked and bought a frozen cheesecake and some clankers! the car park was an education, all i have to say is that people, i.e other cars, seem to be really nice to me with that L on the back of my bike. Everyone has been patient and kept out of my way at least]

welcome

i even rode down to the local woolworths and parked and bought a frozen cheesecake and some clankers!

Thats GOLD!!!!! Welcome..................

Welcome to the club & nice first post, plenty of useless information here for those just starting out

Welcome to your new addiction!!

Plenty of knowledge to be obtained here dude. Learners welcome on the many and regular ride days .. come pick the brains n skills of other members ...I know I did

welcome m'lord.

Aramid - isn't that like Kevlar?

Cheers,
Wayne

Good on ya Champ You sound like you are taking the learning process well . Good Luck to ya Mate

welcome to the club

Practice makes perfect!

Welcome

welcome mate. Just remember to look where you want to go and far out to the horizon...not down at the ground. That should make your slow turns a bit more stable

thanks a lot everyone - yes i know there are good brains to pick here, I've been reading this forum for a couple of weeks, it helped get me from sitting on the bike in the driveway to the actual road. I'll keep note of all the useful experiences i have and post them!

[yes to my shame i was sitting on the bike in the drive and revving and then putting it back in the garage for about two weeks, fully geared up, just petrified of stalling or dropping it. the things that i was worried about i see everyone else was too initially. all good now! and aramid is what my helmet is made of apparently, some kind of composite material]

so its "lord Helmet"

Geez, I must have balls of steel, The day i got my licence, i picked up my bike from the motorcycle centre, and rode through Fyshwick(industrial area, lots of trucks, and people who think they can drive, but cant), then down the monaro highway home (managed 100km/h the whole way(Yay Canberras lack of speed restrictions)

I stalled three times before taking off though, GPX has a damn short clutch compared the the gp250s they have at stay upright. but after getting it figured, i was off. seems as though just getting out there and doing it is the best way to go, as long as you take it easy and dont kill yourself. and as far as dropping your bike goes, everyone does it while on their L's(wether its your fault or not) its just a matter of time, all you can hope for is that you get the chance to put it down gently

welcome mate...

Pics or it didnt happen!! (remember these words )

Nice work dude! Learner myself, and i find people like in cars are more vigilant around you.... Welcome aboard and see ya out on tha roads one day soon!

hahah amen to pics or it didnt happen