Q-Ride with rtyuiop - day 4 - woohoo, a piece of paper!

[RG]

they say there are two types of motorcyclists - those who have crashed and those who are going to! so, you now fall into the first category and can enjoy years of accident-free motorcycling!

What kind of crap theory is that?

[Glen]

Unfortunately it's reasonably accurate although not necessarily as dramatic as it sounds.

At some time in most riders first twelves months they are probably going to drop their bike. It may be as simple as losing balance walking it around but it happens. For that reason if someone is new to motorcycling I would always suggest something not too flash and preferably not wrapped in plastic. That way if you do drop it you can typically pick it up dust it off and keep riding, rather than saving money to get it fixed.

[mike-s]

The closest i've come to "dropping it" is overbalancing it at a servo while trying to look at the oil window while ON the bike (not going to do THAT again, besides i don't class that as even a drop). and having the muffler just touch the gutter (and not even scratch itself). if that's the worst i'll ever get then i'm a happy boy.

[Shifty]

What kind of crap theory is that?

I didn't say it is flawless, but I'd wager it is accurate in a good 95% of cases.

You just take offence because you haven't dropped your bike yet

[Felix]

The stats are that within 90 days of getting your licence you will have an accident of some kind or another. I had a minor one on a dirt road, my brother locked wheels on a wet road. Luckily, both were low speed accidents with little real damage, and no injuries of note, and both were well in the 90 day period.

But keep going, rtyuiop! 250 is ok, I went for the ER 5 cause I wanted a bit more urge, but didn't want anything too potent. Over a year on, and I have no compelling reason to upgrade. I'd suggest keeping whatever you get for a while, so you really learn the skills and begin to ignore the bike (if you know what I mean), and if you can, ride it every day.

[Nanna10r]

Onya Danny, Mate worry about what to buy after you have the piece of paper. You'll know what you need by then mate.
Cheers Brett

[rtyuiop]

Well, day 3 turned out much better than day 2. Somehow my brain worked out what the clutch was for overnight, and I had much less trouble today. Not falling over was nice as well!

We did some repeats of the exercises from the earlier days in the carpark - mainly the harder stuff. More figure 8s and starting, then turning. We also practiced some hill starts, which the guys who did the road ride yesterday apparently had trouble with. I think I managed OK.

I was happy - everything was coming together nicely for me. After lunch we went out on the road, which I had been seriously worried about - I only have an automatic car license, so the whole idea of changing gears on the road was a bit scary. I even scraped a boot while doing figure 8s, which I'm oddly proud of. Even though it's not really that hard with size 13s sticking out the side of a little bike!

The road ride was good - started off wandering through the backstreets, practiced a few hillstarts and u turns etc., while getting used to the higher speeds on the road compared to a little carpark. We were all strung out in a line behind Warren.

We stopped for a break, then hit some more major roads with traffic (Logan Rd/Compton Rd/Moss St sort of area for Brisbanites), which wasn't too bad. Although I was petrified about stalling taking off from lights !

My left hand mirror swung in in the breeze when we hit 70, which meant I had to pull over and fix it - was playing catch up to the others from that point, getting lots of yellow lights .

We hit the freeway briefly, which was a downright scary experience, but manageable. We then headed back to base. The road ride was a *huge* confidence boost for me - proved to myself I could handle gear changes and that because there's so much more space out on the road than in the carpark a lot of things are easier. I even managed to remember to switch my indicators off most of the time in the second half!

So I'm happy - I have to come back another day (well, hopefully just one more) to do the same stuff again on a 500, but that's quite OK with me. I figure the more training and practice the better.

Cheers,

Danny

[ttc]

Congratulations Danny I remember that first trip up the highway well... i was scared shitless and i was only doing 80!

Sounds like it's all good though mate

[Nanna10r]

Onya Danny
Cheers Brett

[rtyuiop]

Well, I managed a day of work today and went back for some more training.

We had 5 people today (!) - myself and one other guy who'd done the 3 days earlier with me, 2 new guys who'd ridden a fair bit before and a girl who was just starting out. So it was a fairly crowded carpark, and I felt a bit sorry for the girl who had to sit out a reasonable chunk of the morning. She got some good time in while the rest of us were at lunch though, and seemed to be doing much better than I did on my first day!

Anyway, we did all the usual carpark stuff but on bigger bikes - the two experienced guys were on gorgeous SV650s - I got an ER-5, so now I feel like I'm not quite so much of an impostor here, having at least ridden a Kawasaki . It was nice - a bit more space than the VTR250, and virtually impossible to stall! A fair bit of vibration to it though, and I felt like the seat was pushing me forward into the tank. Warren reckons they changed the seat for the next model year...

The car park stuff was fun on the 500 - it all went forward without incident, and then we headed off to lunch. In the afternoon, we headed out on the road after the new guys did some theory. The road ride was fun - it all felt like it was under control, and traffic lights were much more relaxing than on the 250, knowing that even if I didn't rev it to buggery on the takeoff it'd still manage it . The freeway was a major improvement on the 250 too - a bit heavier bike meant not being blown around quite so vigorously.

So on return to the car park, everyone got exciting little QRide certificates to take to the department of transport. Very exciting !

I think I've got gear sussed out with the help of our very own Tanya, accessories saleswoman extraodinaire! Now, too find a bike - if anyone spots a GS500 or ER-5 sort of thing in Brisbane (even an SV650 if it's cheap), let me know!

Cheers,

Danny

[seraph]

Congratulations! Good work and have fun bike shoppin'. Have a look at http://www.bikesales.com.au, should have a pretty good selection. Just one tip for that site - don't ignore the ones that don't have photos on them!
Have fun + take care -J.

[Felix]

Onya mate!

I have an ER-5, but not for sale. Not interested in an XJ900 per chance?

Er is a great bike, under-rated, but quite a competent little thing. excellent learner bike, apparantly going for $7100-$7500 or so brand spanking new...how can you resist?

[ttc]

congratulations mate

I have some more good info on helmets now too

[esie]

Danny, congrats on the licence! Have fun and be safe!

[rtyuiop]

Oh god, been looking at bike ads online today and I think I'm going to have to take a look at a Ducati Monster 600. I'd have to start sipping lattés and carefully striking a pose before getting on the bike...

Danny