OT: Any Motorcycle enthusiasts on here?

[thethinker48]

The clutch and front brakes are your friend. Remember to look forward at where you want to go and not down at the ground when practicing u turns or sharp turns. Be safe.

It's weird. Turns came easy to me naturally, you just look in the direction you're going like you said. Lean the bike for faster turns, and narrower stuff requires slower speeds and acceleration through the turn.

Taking off from idle and stalling was the biggest issue, I learned how to drive manual years ago and forgot it. I gave it too much throttle, jerked forward, and pulled the throttle hard again from deathgripping it, and the bike left from under me. Fortunately I just fell on my hands and knee, and the bike only had a $20 indicator part destroyed. Not gonna lie, for a moment there I just sat there thinking "why the hell am I doing this lol"

 

[NGL34]

It's weird. Turns came easy to me naturally, you just look in the direction you're going like you said. Lean the bike for faster turns, and narrower stuff requires slower speeds and acceleration through the turn.

Taking off from idle and stalling was the biggest issue, I learned how to drive manual years ago and forgot it. I gave it too much throttle, jerked forward, and pulled the throttle hard again from deathgripping it, and the bike left from under me. Fortunately I just fell on my hands and knee, and the bike only had a $20 indicator part destroyed. Not gonna lie, for a moment there I just sat there thinking "why the hell am I doing this lol"

I think most of would agree that starting from idle without throwing yourself off from too much throttle or stalling out it one of the most difficult things to get pass in the beginning. That 500cc is a lot more forgiving then a 1000 cc. Cornering will also be pretty challenging as well when you first learning, but you'll eventually learn your bike and it will feel natural. Find a good back country road to practice on.

Lots of great advice here so far. Really the only thing I can add is be extra becareful for sand and gravel on roads and wet pavement. Never hard break or accelerate too fast on these surfaces. No better way to fish tail and loss control then on those driving surfaces. And try to avoid riding on any other vehicles blind side. Always ride in front or back when possible. Visibility is everything when on the road.

 

[maldorf]

I dont ride a bike, but take my car to a race track. One thing we do is always brake when going straight into a curve, dont break going around the curve if its tight. Later on you can do trail breaking when more experienced.

I think its the same on bikes?

 

[NGL34]

I dont ride a bike, but take my car to a race track. One thing we do is always brake when going straight into a curve, dont break going around the curve if its tight. Later on you can do trail breaking when more experienced.

I think its the same on bikes?

It's very much like driving a car. Like you said if you need to break/ slow down, you need to just before the curve. Breaking during a curve has the tendency for the bike to want stand more up right and go straight leading you right into a ditch if your not careful. Just like a car you can start accelerating and really lean into the curve once you start rounding the curve peak and take advantage of that centrifugal force which helps keep your wheels tightly planted on the road.

Cornering at fast speeds is challenging for many riders, myself included esp for curvy roads I'm not familiar with. Negotiating the oncoming curve, breaking before if needed, leaning and rolling into a curve and then accelerating at the right time in perfect sync takes a lot of practice.

 

[DarksideKor]

I dont ride a bike, but take my car to a race track. One thing we do is always brake when going straight into a curve, dont break going around the curve if its tight. Later on you can do trail breaking when more experienced.

I think its the same on bikes?

yep trail braking will take you to another level of riding

 

[Kid Dynamite]

Simple. A lot of riders ride above their pay grade. Learning how to pick a line through a corner will save your life. Throttle control, body position, brake technique, reading road conditions are all things a rider has to learn to stay safe on the road. I rarely ride on the street anymore...keep on the track.
Best advice you will ever hear....learn your bike, get down the basics, get comfortable on it then go find a trackday at a racetrack and take the beginning course. Trackday are not all about racing or going as fast as possible but learning/developing riding skills. You will learn proper riding techniques as well as how your bike operates mechanically in different situations ( accelerating, braking, cornering, etc).

You can say the same thing about people in fast cars. MOST don't how to drive them. I learned that at Ron Fellows Performance Racing School in Nevada. I thought I knew what I was doing, driving fast, breaking, acceralating, shifting, etc. I dont. Lets just say when I was taking turns at 70-80MPH, the instructors were taking turns 20-30MPH faster than I was, and keeping the car on the track. I hit the last straight away at a top speed of 145, instructors were hitting 165+. So yes, I agree learn your bike/car whatever it may be. I wish I had an entire week with these guys, but its very expensive school to learn. I was only there for 2 days.. So yes, I agree learn your bike inside and out. Ive never rode a crotch rocket. I sat on one, and I was actually a bit nervous on one. I just went down the block and turned around. Much different than riding a Fatboy..

 

[EWRECK]

It's weird. Turns came easy to me naturally, you just look in the direction you're going like you said. Lean the bike for faster turns, and narrower stuff requires slower speeds and acceleration through the turn.

Taking off from idle and stalling was the biggest issue, I learned how to drive manual years ago and forgot it. I gave it too much throttle, jerked forward, and pulled the throttle hard again from deathgripping it, and the bike left from under me. Fortunately I just fell on my hands and knee, and the bike only had a $20 indicator part destroyed. Not gonna lie, for a moment there I just sat there thinking "why the hell am I doing this lol"

It’s all part of the learning curve and you never stop learning. Riding classes are the best thing you can do as a new rider and I still take them even though I’ve ridden for over 45 years. Having a passenger is a whole different animal and I’d recommend at least a year on a bike with a class or two before that endeavor.

 

[thethinker48]

How long did it take you guys to get "comfortable" on a motorcycle?

 

[maldorf]

It's very much like driving a car. Like you said if you need to break/ slow down, you need to just before the curve. Breaking during a curve has the tendency for the bike to want stand more up right and go straight leading you right into a ditch if your not careful. Just like a car you can start accelerating and really lean into the curve once you start rounding the curve peak and take advantage of that centrifugal force which helps keep your wheels tightly planted on the road.

Cornering at fast speeds is challenging for many riders, myself included esp for curvy roads I'm not familiar with. Negotiating the oncoming curve, breaking before if needed, leaning and rolling into a curve and then accelerating at the right time in perfect sync takes a lot of practice.

Yeah, breaking is hard to do. Sometimes i'll not break early enough or hard enough and end up having to break going around the curve, or i'll end up going way off the racing line.

 

[EWRECK]

How long did it take you guys to get "comfortable" on a motorcycle?

That’s a tough question as I started in the dirt around 7 or 8, totally different beast. I started riding in the streets around 14 or 15 and back then the roads were empty so if you were crashing it was probably on you. I do two or three cross country rides a year on top of local putting and I’m more nervous today on my bike. Those cell phones distract ALL ages of drivers now on top of all the normal hazards when on two wheels.

 

[Mr OZ]

I had a YZ450 that I used to trail ride and also use on a motocross track, I was lucky to leave that bike with the ability to walk. (broken wrists, cracked ribs etc) I should have got a 250

Have just put a deposit on another 2 wheeler some 15 years later, my son is on a balance bike and I have to jog to keep up with him, thought it was time to throw the leg over again

My wife thinks a 41 year old man shouldnt be riding one of these but I could care less, time to pop some mono's down the foot path

 

[Ashop]

How long did it take you guys to get "comfortable" on a motorcycle?

I've been riding since I was a kid. Mostly dirt bikes then. I found when you ride on the streets you NEVER want to get to comfortable.
I don't ride around scared but I'm always staying aware of my surroundings. People drive like maniacs and have very little respect for
people on motorcycles.

 

[ericraven2003]

Got back into motorcyles after 20 year lay off. Used to ride sport bikes. Figured I would kill myself now. lol So switched to choppers. Love them, but they are always a work in process.

 

[maldorf]

Guys that do some racing on a track, how does the racing line on a bike compare to a car? Wondering if the apex on a curve might be a bit different etc. I bet its really exhilarating to do it on a bike.

The Porsche club im in has a member that used to race motorcycles professionally. He drives a Cayman R now. The skills must really carry over because he flew to the fastest class, A, in no time. Im still fooling around in C. I found im not a big risk taker on the track.

 

[thethinker48]

Guys that do some racing on a track, how does the racing line on a bike compare to a car? Wondering if the apex on a curve might be a bit different etc. I bet its really exhilarating to do it on a bike.

The Porsche club im in has a member that used to race motorcycles professionally. He drives a Cayman R now. The skills must really carry over because he flew to the fastest class, A, in no time. Im still fooling around in C. I found im not a big risk taker on the track.

Have you added anything to your 911?

I've only driven a Porsche once, and the car was so well balanced around corners it's crazy. Makes sense why they've had such a long pedigree of performance.

 

[maldorf]

Have you added anything to your 911?

I've only driven a Porsche once, and the car was so well balanced around corners it's crazy. Makes sense why they've had such a long pedigree of performance.

Yes. Performance exhaust, suspension, new gtrs coils, and new program on the car's cpu. Going to upgrade intercoolers next year if the coronavirus doesn't wipe out our savings.

 

[mpjuice]

What do you ride? When/What did you ride starting out?

I'm looking to get a small 250-300 cc bike for the summer to ride around, looking for ninjas, suzukis, hondas to learn on. Any tips in regards to new riders?

I'm in the midwest so people are utterly retarded on the highway sometimes, and we only get like 4 months of decent weather

I love sport bikes (pretty much one of the funnest things you can do) I currently have a 2017 R6

As well as ktm rc390 (this would be a great beginner bike) they a lot of fun to ride.

Honestly I'd say find a track to ride at. On the street so many things can happen (and they happen fast) if you get a sportbike you will ride fast, which makes shit happen faster.

I I've had two very very bad accidents. And a few other not so bad ones. And almost all my friends that ride have similar experiences, or got off much worse than me death paralyzation or losing function in limb.

The adrenaline rush you get is not worth all your health. But at the track the environment is much more controlled and even if you do crash you won't collide in anyting (most likely)

 

[mpjuice]

Simple. A lot of riders ride above their pay grade. Learning how to pick a line through a corner will save your life. Throttle control, body position, brake technique, reading road conditions are all things a rider has to learn to stay safe on the road. I rarely ride on the street anymore...keep on the track.
Best advice you will ever hear....learn your bike, get down the basics, get comfortable on it then go find a trackday at a racetrack and take the beginning course. Trackday are not all about racing or going as fast as possible but learning/developing riding skills. You will learn proper riding techniques as well as how your bike operates mechanically in different situations ( accelerating, braking, cornering, etc).

Yes there's a lot of merit to this. But I know of a lot of accidents that we're definitely not the rider's fault. So many things can happen, my personal experience: Puddle on the road from a broken sprinkler, getting cut off, potholes, one-time the shopping cart fell from the back of a truck in front of me and I dodged it buy a few inches. Pretty much every day was a close call, I do ride really fast. Odd thing is I don't drive my car fast.

After my last accident which was definitely no fault of mine and it was impossible to prevent ( I was riding at the speed limit).

I've decided that bikes belong on the track. A lot of my friends have graduated to only track riding too

 

[Ehren]

My best bits of advice and why. And it's got nothing to do with safety, at least not in the first place.

First, for sport bikes, a smaller bike is not any safer...at all. If you want to go slow, a bigger bike can go slow, but you can also go fast when you need to. So, get something reasonable for your size. Smaller is not safer. Stay away from litre bikes for now only because they're generally heavier and just an added expense for a new rider.

Most importantly for your actual enjoyment of any sport bike: Sign up for a few track days with an experienced coach on a real track. Knowing how to grip, sit on and corner your bike, basically to trust your bike (rubber mostly) and do all the shit you think you'll learn on your own, will make you far more comfortable and you'll have so so much more fun. And yes, you'll be safer. You will run the freeway, it won't run you, when you know how close is close and you know how fast you can move safely and how fast you can brake.

Track days, man. Tellin ya!

Were I going to buy a smaller bike btw, I'd get the KTM Duke 390. Great bike.

Riding over 20 years. Currently on a Yamaha R1. Have done the police Motor officer course, advanced training and Track training on Moto GP courses. That's when I really learned to ride (and enjoy fully).

 

[TripppleP]

How long did it take you guys to get "comfortable" on a motorcycle?

It doesn't take long to get the feel of it and kind of blend in with your bike. But you never stop learning though, kind of like any hobby.