long time off the bike....

[mohawk miss]

....and now finding myself apprehensive about riding again.

I had a low speed off late 2009, cosmetic damage only to rider & bike, rider shaken (uphill left hand hairpin ).

Just recovered my confidence and then came the Health Year From Hell, in which there was a hospital admission, another admission, surgery, pneumonia, severe back pain (which meant walking was impacted), and finally, a perforated intestine. Medically i was unfit to ride for almost a year, and while now am allowed to ride i am advised not to be on the bike for any longer for 20 min max.

I have been on the back of the hoonda since and while a bit nervous to start with, did enjoy being on a bike again despite the discomfort caused. However, the idea of actually controlling my own bike on the road is, quite frankly, now giving me the willies.

So, if anyone can give me some advice on how to sort this, it will be appreciated.......cheers

[s man]

Mate was the fall your fault?
If Yes, then work out what went wrong & make sure it doesnt happen again.
I would go for short rides on light traffic roads. Just warm into it again.
Dont just jump on & think all will be the same, because if it was you would have asked the qusetion in the first place. I would NOT be going on the back with anyone else. That will put you out of control, & you want to be & feel in control.
If all else fails & you are still unnerved, try some hipnotherepy[spelling] It works for heaps of thing.
Good luck...

[petro]

What I did after 20 odd years out of the saddle, was go and do the licence course to get the basic riding skills back, and then after a month, I went out and did a braking and cornering course.

[Possum]

Oh Wow, you've been through the ringer!
Congrats on deciding to get back in the saddle

I agree with all the above. Small steps until you build your confidence and manage the risks.
Short rides, ride with trusted riders, expect the unexpected and ride roads you know until your confident.
Refresher courses and getting advice from people in the know all helps

All the best

[dilligaf]

I was off the bike for a year after wrecking my shoulder in a low speed off and then travelling for a while. Did an advanced riding course with HART to get back into it. On their bike and on a riding range so no stress. The training is good as it forces you to concentrate on technical stuff. 5 or 6 hours of riding around cones and it all comes back.

[Gosling1]

the idea of a riding course is probably a good one - at least all the riding is within a controlled environment, no cars or other dickheads (except maybe the instructors ) that you need to worry about ?

Even a learner course could be a good one, you might find your confidence comes back pretty quickly when you go right back to basics ?

Good luck with whatever option you choose, once you get back into the saddle you will be right

[mohawk miss]

cheers guys, some good stuff.

the off was rider error (wrong gear ) technically should not have been on the bike as i had infected sinus at the time.....but the honda rider begged...

I wanted to do a course but due to long term back damage I will never be physically able to do any of the hart etc courses - even on a good day saddle time is limited to about 2 hrs max. Hey , I even had a modified p's test (for "special people" )

I will be pillion on the honda for pink ribbon next weekend, passenger is ok. I should be riding Felix to the mechanic for rego, which is less than 5k's away, but have asked the honda rider to do it for me. He will look out for me when riding and has offered to shadow me around the uni & local streets until I feel more confident, but I still am unsure.