Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Hi everybody,

Well today I was able to spend some time doing some slow speed practice - slipping clutch / dragging the rear brake - amazed at how controlled it can be.

After this I decided it was time to go on a slightly longer run - so I rode from Glenmore Park to Mount Annan. Went down the Northern Rd and managed to navigate to a mates place - whoohoo.

Notes:
80kph is so fast!
Trucks are much much bigger and twice as fast.
If you stall at a set of lights it's quite amazing how fast your visor fogs up!

I tried positioning my feet on the pegs on the balls of my feet while cruising and flat on the pegs while in town. Leaning forward and tucking in took the weight off my wrists and I tried to apply the "wet sponge" method of riding.

Right hand went numb - had to do some finger movements to get the blood flowing.
No back pain while riding (a real surprise).
Noticed that I needed 2-3 glasses of water on arrival - dehydration part of riding?

Biggest problem - fat gut makes it difficult to tuck in and grip the tank with my knees (amongst many other day to day things).

Second biggest problem - went to start off from my mates place and the bike wouldn't start. Ended up roll starting it in second gear but stalled it at a round about and couldn't get it going again. Suspect starter motor clutch. Mate drove me home. As a member of Motorcycles Australia I called the 24 hour recovery service - they will pick it up for me in the morning.

All up - had a great time on the ride but bitterly disappointed about the starter.

Have a great day in the morrow!

Wayne

Bugger about the starting issues Mate .
Good on you getting out amongst it , brings back some memories of my first riding experiences .
You are probably using up a bit of hydration through nervous energy , same as the strangling the bars thing . As you learn more you will relax more and sweat less .
Just keep your head focused and never panic . That when newbies can ride straight and talk themselves out of tipping into a corner .

good stuff wayne!!! you'll be out on a club ride shortly i reckon!!! plenty of advice to be had here on how to ride, and lots of other useless things

keep it up mate

Just had a call from Campbelltown Motorcycles - they diagnosed the problem as a dead battery (it wouldn't hold a charge). $175 for recovery, diagnose and replace battery - I have no idea if thats good, bad or otherwise. They also thing the carbys need tuning (nothing drastic yet but to look at soon) as well but I'd rather do that closer to home.

So it's ready for me to collect BUT that would mean riding it from Campbelltown to Glenmore Park - during the day - in traffic. My confidence isn't quite there for that yet so I'll pick it up on a trailer and take it home.

PS I sit my MOST test on Friday in Penrith....nervous now!

Thanks,
Wayne

Stay cool and focused and you should be fine,as long as you know what to do it'll be ok on the day,however I won't say good luck because it's not a matter of luck,it's a matter of preparedness.

Good luck anyway.

Hey Wayne, congrats on doing the ride thing. With practice you'll get your confidence up! (Does this forum sound like a broken record yet?)

Just some comments about some of yours:

waynemorgan wrote:1. 80kph is so fast!
2. Right hand went numb - had to do some finger movements to get the blood flowing.

Firstly, yes 80km/h is fast when you're first starting out! I know that when I'm driving 80km/h in my little Barina, it doesn't seem so fast, but somehow when it's you and the road, you really notice that it's no walking pace!

Secondly, I would say that the above comments are related by a cause and effect relationship. I noticed the first time I went on the Motorway up here (100km/h) that my hand got quite sore trying maintain a consistent speed. You've probably noticed that as soon as you take your hand off the throttle you can drop anywhere from 10 to 20km/h in a few seconds, so it's not something you should get into the habit of doing on the highway where everyone is probably doing that much OVER the speed limit anyway!

Not sure about size of hands being a factor either but as mine are quite small I don't have too much of a problem with my palm overlapping my fingers once I grip the throttle but maybe you should have a look at how tight you are gripping it? Imagine that if you are to hold a fist for a long time, it would stop the blood flowing freely,so try to think of this when you feel yourself starting to grip a little tighter and try to automate gripping less tight if it's a feature in your riding. I'm still playing around with this too and maintaining a consistent speed is something that will stress even the best riders' hands, just ask them!

Keep at it!

Dale

waynemorgan wrote:PS I sit my MOST test on Friday in Penrith....nervous now!

What is a MOST test?

dalecati wrote:

waynemorgan wrote:PS I sit my MOST test on Friday in Penrith....nervous now!

What is a MOST test?

The NSW test for getting your provisional licence or if your over 30 (missed by 12 months dammit ) on to your full licence!

Good luck with the test! They are there to teach you more than anything... Concentrate during the day and the test will seem simple in conmparison!!!

Good to seeya out n about on the beast Wayne.

Take it from me, as soon as ya ya comfy, come meet up for a group ride.

I was a bit nervous at first ... all these bloody mad bastards flyin here n there. But I tell ya, you have alot of top guys (and chickies ) to give ya tips and your skill level will sky rocket.

Having said that .. hope to seeya soon and good luck with the test.

REMEMBER: HEAD CHECK!!!! . .then FARKIN HEAD CHECK!!! .. every time you move from a stand still.

Richo wrote:REMEMBER: HEAD CHECK!!!! . .then FARKIN HEAD CHECK!!! .. .

there were 2 or 3 guys at the test that richo and i went to that failed on there previous test because they didnt do head checks.
so as richo said.


FARKIN HEAD CHECK !!!

dalecati wrote:Hey Wayne, congrats on doing the ride thing. With practice you'll get your confidence up! (Does this forum sound like a broken record yet?)

Just some comments about some of yours:

waynemorgan wrote:1. 80kph is so fast!
2. Right hand went numb - had to do some finger movements to get the blood flowing.

Firstly, yes 80km/h is fast when you're first starting out! I know that when I'm driving 80km/h in my little Barina, it doesn't seem so fast, but somehow when it's you and the road, you really notice that it's no walking pace!

I get the same thing sometimes when i go out for a spin out of the city areas & the max speed of 80km/h, i find myself going "whoa 100/110/"i shouldn't be doing this" is fast!"

dalecati wrote:Secondly, I would say that the above comments are related by a cause and effect relationship. I noticed the first time I went on the Motorway up here (100km/h) that my hand got quite sore trying maintain a consistent speed. You've probably noticed that as soon as you take your hand off the throttle you can drop anywhere from 10 to 20km/h in a few seconds, so it's not something you should get into the habit of doing on the highway where everyone is probably doing that much OVER the speed limit anyway!

I would put that down to incorrectly gripping, ideally you should use your abs to hold you up, grip with your thigh's as best you can and use your hands to steer & do minor vibration absorption. Gripping too hard on the bars leads to sore hands from the direct vibration as well as sore muscles, particularly the tendoms on the undersides of your wrists from them being aggravated by said vibration & over-tensioning while being shaken about. When i grip the throttle the majority of the time I only use my thumb, and the pads of the forefinger & middle finger (between knuckle and first joint) to make full contact with the grip (but not squeeze the hell out of it as outlined above) and the rest of those two finger alternate between covering the brake, not being used for anything (not common) and using the ends to grip the throttle a bit better (doesn't occur all the time, but enough). The end two fingers pretty much just mimic whatever the tips of the fore & middle finger do.

On the clutch side i use a similar grip, although it is a bit more firm to help with fine clutch control (Hydraulic clutch = squeeze like a mofo to get anywhere, particularly with non adjustable span levers :-\ )

dalecati wrote:Not sure about size of hands being a factor either but as mine are quite small I don't have too much of a problem with my palm overlapping my fingers once I grip the throttle but maybe you should have a look at how tight you are gripping it? Imagine that if you are to hold a fist for a long time, it would stop the blood flowing freely,so try to think of this when you feel yourself starting to grip a little tighter and try to automate gripping less tight if it's a feature in your riding. I'm still playing around with this too and maintaining a consistent speed is something that will stress even the best riders' hands, just ask them!

See above, see if it helps with this too.

dalecati wrote:Keep at it!

Indeed, practice DOES make perfect