My Experience

2468 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Kojiiro, Mar 13, 2016

beau_bygrace116

Discussion Starter · Mar 12, 2016

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to share my experience today. I finally took the R3 out of the living room (yes you read right) about a month after purchase. Did a few mods while it was there. Checking out the weather a few weeks ahead it looks like the weather is starting to give way except for some days of rain. So i decided it was time! What I realized today was BOY do I NEED practice. Stalls left and right, twitchy with the throttle, more stalling. All in all I still had an enjoyable time this morning. I was smiling ear to ear. I've been riding 3 miles up the street to a business park and back.

My encouragement to those starting out is DO IT. Confidence will NOT come from anything or anyone else but from you riding. I will continue to practice these back roads for days to come and hopefully i see some progress.

Thanks for reading!

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Tal

· #2 · Mar 12, 2016

Keep up the good work Beau it'll just get better and better.I gotta say i envy you because i can't ride for a couple of weeks due to me having a cataract opp last wednesday.

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beau_bygrace116

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 12, 2016

Tal said:
Keep up the good work Beau it'll just get better and better.I gotta say i envy you because i can't ride for a couple of weeks due to me having a cataract opp last wednesday.

Thanks Tal!! Trust that the wait will be worth it!

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CMH Raven BB

· #4 · Mar 12, 2016

All true. You learn so many things in-person on your bike that you'll never anticipate by reading the internet or even taking MSF. You learn a *bunch* in the first few weeks. Do it over and over ... pick your roads & travel times wisely ... get surprised by the most mundane things and bank them so you won't surprise yourself in heavy traffic. (Example: One rain ride I ended up putting my foot down on a decorative foo foo strip of bricks at an intersection -- very slippery stuff when wet, but I got lucky kept everything perpendicular).

And just when it all becomes second nature it's time to be *really* careful. Most bad wrecks, regardless of vehicle, happen a few years into a license when the new driver/rider decides it's all a piece of cake.

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Wuvvyen

· #5 · Mar 13, 2016 (Edited)

Welcome, Beau.

If you get bored, take a look at my little blog I've been keeping a bit of track of. I'm only on day 3 of riding myself with no previous adult experience.

http://www.r3-forums.com/forum/321-introductions/88786-new-rider-wa-state-2.html

There's info about gear and such on page one, the actual riding info/experience starts on page 2.

I apologize if it bores you, but even if you are able to pull one thing from it reading from the new rider perspective, it's worth every second!

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beau_bygrace116

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 13, 2016

Wuvvyen said:
Welcome, Beau.

If you get bored, take a look at my little blog I've been keeping a bit of track of. I'm only on day 3 of riding myself with no previous adult experience.

http://www.r3-forums.com/forum/321-introductions/88786-new-rider-wa-state-2.html

There's info about gear and such on page one, the actual riding info/experience starts on page 2.

I apologize if it bores you, but even if you are able to pull one thing from it reading from the new rider perspective, it's worth every second!

Not an ounce of boredom. I think it's pretty neat that you did this. I truly enjoyed it. Like you there is plenty to continue to learn. I was able to get my GoPro going from today and am currently reviewing footage where I didn't so well. Not looking too hard into it as I consider this part just me getting used to bike. But tomorrow I plan on getting some more riding in. I'm always up to hearing from other riders and their experiences especially one who is essentially starting fresh like I am.

Thanks again for sharing that and look forward to reading some more!!!

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Wuvvyen

· #7 · Mar 13, 2016

I think the number one biggest thing that I'm finding useful is the old adage of "When turning, look where you want to go, not where you're going."

I can physically tell the difference in my turning, how tight I am able to turn in when I'm looking ahead through the turn as far out as I can vs watching the yellow line as I come closer to it. The further out into the turn I look, the more comfortable it is to lean in, and the tighter I can hit the corner.

Overall, have fun with it! Like I said before, these babies have soooo much forgiveness. You treat her right, and she'll treat you right back.

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Bane_619

· #8 · Mar 13, 2016

beau_bygrace116 said:
My encouragement to those starting out is DO IT. Confidence will NOT come from anything or anyone else but from you riding.

As a new rider myself I wholeheartedly agree that the only way to learn is to GET OUT AND RIDE. Earlier today I picked up my R3 from the dealer and put about 50 miles on it from the ride home. The combination of twisty roads and freeway riding was an eye opener. Being nervous wasn't an option if I was going to get home and I could not be happier with my first experience on my first bike.

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CBRpilot

· #9 · Mar 13, 2016

CMH Raven BB said:
And just when it all becomes second nature it's time to be *really* careful. Most bad wrecks, regardless of vehicle, happen a few years into a license when the new driver/rider decides it's all a piece of cake.

TRUE.
You can NEVER let your guard down. Keep improving your pan & scan skills, and put yourself in the safest spot on the road you can. Slow down at intersections. Search ahead and try to anticipate trouble before it happens. Practice evading trouble, and don't target-fixate. Stay sharp and focused. It's how we survive on the streets.

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Kojiiro

· #10 · Mar 13, 2016

One important thing you should do as well, not just as a new person trying to learn, but ALL the time, even when you have been riding for years, is to practice HARD emergency braking. I am sure there is an area somewhere in your route to an from work everyday where no one is around. Accelerate to a speed you normally ride at on the free way, then imagine or pretend up ahead is a car that just stopped. Practice stopping before you get to it. Practice from different distances. Practice swerving, like they do in the MSF courses. Emergency braking isnt something you should only do a few times. Practice it on the regular. Someone mentioned, and I agree that in general you want to practice emergency braking at the speeds you normally travel. Practicing emergency braking at 35 is useless if you ride at 75 on the freeway.

Here. I believe the rider at 0:26ish could have avoided that if he went hard on the brakes. Without practice, you wont know where the limits of your front brakes and tires are and when the front end will start to tuck. Enjoy the video (and that butt @ 0:09 lol):

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beau_bygrace116

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 13, 2016

Bane_619 said:
beau_bygrace116 said:

My encouragement to those starting out is DO IT. Confidence will NOT come from anything or anyone else but from you riding.

Click to expand...

As a new rider myself I wholeheartedly agree that the only way to learn is to GET OUT AND RIDE. Earlier today I picked up my R3 from the dealer and put about 50 miles on it from the ride home. The combination of twisty roads and freeway riding was an eye opener. Being nervous wasn't an option if I was going to get home and I could not be happier with my first experience on my first bike.

Sweet! I literally sat on the bike for a good 20 minutes before I put it in gear and said the heck with it. And honestly that was all that was needed. That's where the confidence piece came. Today I will be riding some more and look forward to it!!

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CBRpilot

· #12 · Mar 13, 2016

Kojiiro said:
One important thing you should do as well, not just as a new person trying to learn, but ALL the time, even when you have been riding for years, is to practice HARD emergency braking.

I seen videos of people overbraking a sportbike on the track, and FLIPPING the bike over the front wheel. The rider gets catapulted off in front of the bike! Sometimes it's better to lowside it!

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Kojiiro

· #13 · Mar 13, 2016

CBRpilot said:
I seen videos of people overbraking a sportbike on the track, and FLIPPING the bike over the front wheel. The rider gets catapulted off in front of the bike! Sometimes it's better to lowside it!

Yeah I got you, but thats the point of practicing, so you know where that point is and DONT go that far. There are signs that a bike will give you before certain things start to happen. I find tucking the front end will happen before the bike starts to do a stoppie. I have TRIED stoppies and still cant do them. Opposite of that, I have felt the front want to tuck when practicing hard stops.

Not sure which book I read it in but it has you starting out slow, around 5-10 mph and has you going really hard on the brakes to make you lock it up. This shows you what its like to lock up the front. There is a black spot in my old garage from practicing that every day I get home lol

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