I PASSED!!!!"`!!

1. Block changing, even though you now have a sequential gearbox, is
Bad Form. Lots of mechanical stress and instability, not much
retardation. Also it is distracting as it requires co-ordination; you
mind is better focused on the hazard and planning escape routes.

2. Gears are for keeping the engine at the appropriate RPM for what
you want the bike to do - up near the redline for hooning, at an
economical level for bimbling, one below that for stress-free downhill
cruising.

3. Brakes are for slowing down and stopping. That is their only
purpose and they will resent you if you don't use them properly - you
don't want your brakes fucking off on a demarcation dispute when White
Van Man does his thing across your path, believe me.

4. It is much easier, when you've been caught out by an
unexpected/unanticipated hazard, to hammer the brakes on and sort the
gears out later. Go and practice braking - search google groups for
the phrase "Coke can", author: Bastard Bear.

Proceed with deliberate speed. You aren't going to be a BSB star
overnight, you don't need to carve every corner, carrying enough
momentum to force your blood into your arse and cause a grey-out.
Get smooth, get your lines right first - the speed will come along of
its own accord.

You are a sail, especially in crosswinds. You have gyroscopes too,
which will counteract the angled push of the wind - if you let them.
As in every situation, the bike is better than you are: let it do the
work for you.

Don't slow down - keep your revs up to a sensible level. Grip the
tank with your knees and let your arse sink into the seat - become
part of your bike. Relax your elbows and ease your grip of death on
the bars - otherwise every passing zephyr that causes your upper body
to move will be transmitted directly into your bars and you will start
to veer.
Hold the bars very lightly - keep relaxing your unconscious
grip, if you have to - but maintain a light hand and allow the bike to
keep you straight - you'll be much more stable that way.

There is no such offence as "undertaking". If you pass another
vehicle on the left and do so in a manner that is neither dangerous
nor reckless, that is fine. What the boys in blue tend to look at is
closing speed - if you're passing a vehicle that is doing 40 while
you're doing 55, that's OK - if you're clocking along at 130 it will
be a different matter. Also bear in mind that you should give other
vehicles plenty of room (apart from anything else, if you shock them
and they swerve, you'll come off worse) and not cause other road users
to have to change course or speed.

However, if your 'passing on the left' extends to using even a little
bit of hard shoulder, you're in the shit.


If you can do your own thing while everybody else is doing theirs
without let or hindrance, then it's no trouble, is it? That's a half
decent creed to live all your life by, come to think of it ...

 

Ho Yuss )

 

Nick wrote

You think wrong then.

Seriously now, no matter how long you have been doing it and how many
miles you have done in the process, complacency always ends up hurting.

 

Donegal Paul wrote

and you might be able to do something about it if you turn of the
proportional font.

 

****. Is it?
In all circumstances, or just when you're having a feather?

It's also a bit of a bitch if you're filtering on the left on single
carriageways cos the traffic is stationary and someone coming the other way
turns right, IME

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7 75 2.0 TS (Badly bent) 155 TS
Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

I wasn't on a DAS course so this wasn't covered too deeply.

--Nick.

 

So will that sig.

 

Good plan.

I'm currently keeping my ER-5 around 3-4k RPM, I think it redlines at
about 12k.

Found it. Sounds like a good plan. I found out this morning that a
reasonably straight portion of the B2068 (Off M20 junction 11) has
been closed after about a mile. It's a normally a busy 60mph road,
and I think I can do the coke can thing on it as no one is using it.
I may do this tomorrow. I haven't tried to do any practice emergency
stops on my ER-5 yet. All of my practice ones were done on a CG125
and some 'ickle Yamaha under instruction. It's about time I had a
good go at them.

Speed has improved over the last few days. I've been working at it
for a few days. My lines are coming along.

I've never understood this gyroscope thing.

When going around bends on motorways this morning I did the following:

Left hand bend.
Push my right leg snugly into the tank, which appeared to make the
bike lean to the left.
For tighter (faster, officer) bends do the same, but let left leg move
out a bit, which I suppose alters the centre of gravity more to the
left so that the bend is far more easy to navigate.

Am I getting the general idea, or have I misunderstood something? It
will be far easier to fix this now before it becomes a habit. Or
perhaps it's fine and I need a bit of polishing?

Unfortunatly, not having a "biker mate" around, I've got no one else
to bounce these things off, or to speak about methods with. I hope
you don't mind me coming in here and asking stupid questions.
Hopefully I'll have got it sorted soon.

I have been suffering from the Grip of Death! It's going to be
another huge leap of faith to reduce my grip at high speeds. I've
made a large quantity of leaps of faith over the past month since
binning my car and getting a bike. Another one shouldn't be too hard.

I was thinking more in terms of filtering on the left of "in town"
traffic.

Sound advice.

 

--Nick.

Bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger!

 

That's probably because you were (without realising) pushing the bars to
the right.

Come to the BOSM. It's less than a month away.

Filtering on the left is fine and dandy as long as you understand you're
even more likely not to be seen when the car you are going past turns
left/into a driveway etc.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Nick

Whaaaaaaaat?

Mr Kawasaki gave you an engine. Use the fucking thing.

Seriously, if you're not making proper use of the rev range, you're not
riding properly. You want to be aiming at arriving at a bend in such a
gear that you're about halfway up the rev range. That way you've got the
best engine flexibility to adapt to conditions as you enter the corner.

If you're used to driving cages, it'll feel like you're screaming the
nuts off the thing. You're not.

When the pistons come up through the tank. *That's* when you're
screaming the nuts off the thing.

Old boss of mine used to say "There's no such thing as stupid questions,
just stupid people"... ;^)

Whereabouts are you? Someone on here could probably meet up with you for
a bimble, then point and laugh ^W^W^W offer constructive advice.

Often dodgy. Left turning vehicles (especially trucks) can sting a bit.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

Wicked Uncle Nigel wrote

I think Sir will find that this particular event does in fact mark the
final and irrevocable passing of the "screaming the nuts off it" stage.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, steve auvache

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ITYM "culmination".

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

Will try to scream the pants off of the thing today. Will report back
later.

I probably wouldn't notice.

I'm based near Hythe, Kent. 16 miles south of Canterbury.

I've been keeping that in mind, I'll try to avoid it if possible.

 

I went out for three hours and gave it a good thrashing. Bends are
coming along nicely, the redline starts at 10.5k so I've been aiming
to do corners at between 4-5k. Thanks for the advice: I feel far more
stable! I tried doing it at lower revs and can see your point
entirely.

Screaming went quite well. Only a couple of OH SHIT moments, so
that's okay. I'm still here.

 

Nick wrote:

My little FZR250 screams quite well, doesn't do much below 4k or 5k
though. Red line is at 18.5k, pulls nicely from about 9k.

Heh, ok.. be carefully. Oh shit moments can be great learning
experiences, or hurt a lot.

 

Oh the noise! Oh the petrol!

I've had the learning bits, I'm hoping the hurting bits don't have to
happen for a while.

 

It makes a good noise around about 16k, not too good on petrol for a 250
though. What the heck, it's a screamer and a real hoot to ride...
Providing I get the front end back on it. heh..

There's no reason that they should happen if you go careful, ride your
own ride and go at your own pace.

 

heh, I was commuting by bike last week due to my car being off the
road. Don't think I ever went above 5k rpm and still did silly
speeds.

 

Riding like a car driver, see? No criticism intended, it's a
different world on a bike and you need to explore it. It isn't long
ago that another noob in similar style to yourself thanked uk.r.m. for
"telling him about the *other half of his engine*" as he was revving
his Bandit 600 to about 5k before changing up - he asked and when
armed with new knowledge, applied it - fair opened his eyes, it did.

Sound plan. Start easy and build up to it - make sure your tyres are
warm before you start stopping (iyswim) or you'll produce black skids
on the road and brown ones elsewhere.

It is. It is your duty to familiarise yourself with all the
characteristics of your vehicle as soon as you can. Knowing your
actual stopping distance is a bit dead handy, let me tell you. White
vans broadside across you reduce it even further, but you don't want
to know about that.

Don't worry about speed. It *will* come. Get your lines and
positioning right first, then get smooth - then the speed will come,
when you're ready for it.

You're doing something a bit strange, it must be said. Keep your
knees in. Grip the tank with them if you need something to do with
them - don't flap them around like a floozy touting for trade, ffs.

Countersteering is where it's at: push the /inside/ bar away from you
and the bike will drop into the corner harder than you believe
possible (so don't do it too hard).

This is what uk.r.m. does very well. Get your arse to a meet and do
it in person - drunken bollock-talking followed by a still-pissed ride
the next day - improves riding skills no end.

Good. Get your arse down in the seat. Grip the tank and lock your
feet and ankles into the pegs and heel plates. Get your gut on the
tank and take the weight off the bars. Now ease the grip ... easy.