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My experiences as a newbie

2K views 25 replies 16 participants last post by  Lok 
#1 · (Edited)
Well,

Picked up my first street bike on Wednsday night, and been having a blast ever since. Been staying calm and not doing stupid shit. Haven't brought it past 8500rpm, and that was on an open backroad by myself this morning in 2nd gear. Been a really good experience for me. Had my dad take it home the 130ish miles the other night, and he's been watching me pretty close. He has like 150k miles on bikes, although hasnt owned one in long time. I find myself almost fighting for saddle time on the bike when we're both home!

Bad or squidly things I'm doing:
My shifting is still on the rough side, both down and up. It's definately getting better tho.
Lug'n the motor on starts, not all the time, but its still happening.
Winding 2nd gear out to 8k'ish on straight back roads :).
Not riding with gloves. I have a set of Icon Hooligans, but I just can't get comfortable riding with them yet, working on breaking em in.
The bike I started on :chair :)

I'm 19, took the MSF, and I do wear gear. I got an Arai RX7 and a Joe Rocket Ballistic mesh jacket. I've been out on the road 3 times (go ahead, laugh at me :headbang), and 2 of those times my dad followed me in the car to let me know what to improve on. I just wish there were more hours in a day, this going to work and finding time to ride sucks!
 
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#3 ·
Probably not the best first bike (nice BTW), but you sound quite responsible. If you're still a little uncomfortable on your bike compared to the one at MSF, take yours to an empty parking lot and practice the MSF drills until it's all smooth. It's really easy to get in over your head on the street especially with traffic, so take it easy.
 
#4 ·
RACER X said:
best of luck, how do you afford ins.?
Honest answer? I don't have much of a social life :). I paid for the bike in cash and my truck is cash, and between the two of them, state farm gets almost 3k out of me a year. Mommy and daddy give me nothing except pay for part of my tuition and give me a place to live rent free. I have to hold almost full time hours, even when the semester starts to pay for it all. After hopping off the bike when done riding, it makes it all worth it. Hopefully knowing that its my money, I wont do something dumb with it.
 
#5 ·
Honestly dude, you need to get those gloves on NOW. There was a poll on this forum a while back if I remember right that asked "What one piece of gear (besides a helmet) would you go with if you could only pick one" the overwhelming majority picked gloves. Riding without gloves is dangerous in way too many ways. Also, I'd highly suggest picking up AT LEAST a leather jacket, because that mesh jacket isn't going to do anything except make a pretty design in your flesh as your skin peels off on the roadway!
 
#7 ·
Truck said:
I have been looking at the Alpinestars Stunt jackets, I think I may pick one up when I get paid again. I had planned on replacing the mesh with leather when money permitted.
Good stuff, also I see we have similar taste in trucks, mine isn't a Z71, just a 2WD ext cab, but I like it, and my bike likes it too!
 
#13 ·
Question for you guys. Ultimately, I'd like to ride it to work, but I work retail, so the parking lot naturally has people all day in and out of it. What kind of security do you guys or girls use to lock the bike up. I've been looking at disk locks.
 
#15 ·
Congrats on the bike. Take it easy and try to avoid any squidly urges.

For sure, WEAR THEM GLOVES! I don't know how many times I've had big ass bugs, pebbles, etc... bounce off my gloves at highway speeds. If I wasn't wearing any, that would've been a lot of hurtin'.

Good luck, and nice bike too.
 
#16 ·
Truck said:
Question for you guys. Ultimately, I'd like to ride it to work, but I work retail, so the parking lot naturally has people all day in and out of it. What kind of security do you guys or girls use to lock the bike up. I've been looking at disk locks.
Short of tying it to a telephone pole you can put all the locks you want on it, if someone wants to steal it they are gonna steal it. Four guys + 2 bars + truck = 30 seconds to steal your bike, it's sad, but it happens. The only security you have is leaving it locked in your garage, I say drive the truck to work, but it's up to you. If you are going to drive it to work, make sure you get theft insurance on it. I guess a motion activated alarm might help, at least then it will make noise as it hauls ass off in the back of a pickup :dunno
 
#17 ·
I would think your biggest problem might be someone knocking it over at work. If you get a large cable and lock, you can run the cable through the frame/wheels and around a sturdy/tall object like a power or light pole. It might also then be out of harm's way for getting knocked over. Also, a cover will help keep people's interest down and keep the kids (and rain) off of it. Park it in a place where it's not likely to get hit or knocked over that also has enough traffic around to deter professional thiefs.
 
#20 ·
Hey man, i know how you feel about taking it to work. I work at the grocery store ( while in college, no crappy job jokes :) ) Anyway, I bought a gixxer 600 and love driving it. Needless to say I drive it to work. The first day I got it i had a disc lock and locked the forks on it. That wasnt enough for me, I was out there checking it every ten min. and hardly getting any work done so i knew i had to do something better. Pretty soon word had gotten around to all the managers that i had gotten a bike and they all liked it so i started parking it on the sidewalk outside the front doors. I made sure all the managers had seen it out there and none of them cared or even hinted to me to move it. So having it parked out front where i can go take a peek at it and make sure everything is allright is a big-time reassurance. I usually go take a peek every hour or two. I also put my cellphone in the storage compartment. It had GPS on it and tracking software, so even if the police cant/refuse to track it, i can always track it myself and inform them where the bike is. I love driving the bike and thats where i get my peace of mind while im at work. I can provide the link for the tracking software if anyone is interested. Good Luck and awesome bike. :headbang
 
#21 ·
taziscool said:
Assuming 2k for the bike insurance.........IMHO there is no bike built worth spending that kinda coin just to ride!
Almost 3k a year, actually its like 2700 I believe. Actually, the bike is only 1k to ride, the truck is 1700 a year. Odd how things work. I guess the v8 and 4x4 raise the rates, but its also 10 years old? :dunno
 
#22 ·
Congrats on a great bike. Good luck and take it slow. I love the older F4i's and just might have one (in like a year :) )

About the parking situation, if you work at a big place, get in good with management and park it in the building's warehouse. If you aren't that lucky, many chains, locks of all sorts, tracking devices, alarms, and covers, up near the store windows where traffic is busy. After that if you are still nervous about it all day, just leave it at home and enjoy her company after you get home.
 
#23 ·
Phly6 said:
I can provide the link for the tracking software if anyone is interested.
Please do.

About wearing gloves. I got most of my gear (Leather jacket, gloves, helment, boots) a month ago and I've been wearing my gloves while I drive the car around. They've been breaking in nicely and when I take delivery on my bike (ex250) about 2 weeks I think they'll be really comfortable.
 
#24 ·
Ok, heres the link. http://www.accutracking.com/ This is the one i use. Please keep in mind that to use this you must have data transfer as part of your plan. I've found that it will connect to the satelites without having data transfer on your phone so you can just leave the program running in the background and if anything bad should happen you can just call up nextel and activate it and you should be able to track it. I thought i should also throw this in my post. http://www.cycletrak.com/ This seems to be a very reliable alternative if you dont have a gps phone or if money just happens to grow on trees for you. I think I'll probably get this soon just for the extra piece of mind. The only thing holding me back is the price. It's a bit expensive but I guess its a lot cheaper then a whole new bike. It's a bike alarm along with some pretty advanced gps. It has geo-fencing which i think means if your bike goes out of a certian boundry it automaticly notifies the police. Anyway it costs about $500 then an activation fee and i think $60 a year. Take a look for yourself and G/L with the bike. Keep us posted :headbang
 
#25 ·
My god... I can't imagine paying that kind of money for insurance. It was said earlier, but there is NO motorcycle made that would make me spend that kinda dime. Man it's great being 32.... LOW insurance ROCKS!!
 
#26 ·
You sound responsible enough, wear those gloves. Whats the natural reaction when calling? Ans: Breaking your fall with your hands, you'll get used to them once you get more seat time. Good luck, be safe.
 
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