[ithicaplasma]

Recently I realized it happened, I am not sure when but I crossed the threshold from a newbie to a somewhat experienced rider. Although 7,000 miles doesn’t seem like much it is when it is spent in heavy southern California traffic, lane splitting and dodging SUV driving soccer moms on my way to work. The 18 mile commute is like an obstacle course and to be honest I am surprised I only dropped my bike once and had only 2 “close calls”.

Sitting in my cage not long ago I was watching a guy attempting to split lanes past me, wobble wobble, walking the bike between cars which had more than enough space to ride thru I was remembering when I was that guy, but no longer. Somewhere between the hours of parking lot practice on the weekend and the endless traffic jams I negotiated thru I began to feel comfortable on my bike. Not that I am under the illusion of being the greatest rider or the most experienced by any means, but I am happy as hell that I am now comfortable on a bike and can control it properly it some sticky situations.

Curious when did you guys begin to feel like you actually knew what you were doing on a bike?

hatyo

 

[Alex Deez]

I still don't feel like I'm an experienced rider, but I have noticed riders that seem a lot less in control of their bikes than I am. It's kind of scary, actually.

 

[mikem317]

None of them.

I've got 10,000 miles logged and I'm learning a few things every time I ride.

 

[snigg]

with around 20k miles under my belt i still wouldnt classify myself as an experienced rider. i say this not because i doubt my riding abilities, i just think experience comes with many years and many miles. ask smitty... :lao

 

[mikem317]

BTW, mileage may not be an accurate barometer. If often times serves as a benchmark, but I often find myself searching for a better measuring stick to measure experience.

 

[TheSollyLama]

there is no threshold to cross. New things happen all the time.

I've had a M/C license for nearly 20 years. Been riding (legally or not) for more than 20 years. I've got air in my HD tires older than alot of the sportbikers i know. Miles I've racked up? Impossible to tell after so many bikes and so many years.

You'll find out after awhile that you simply see variations of the same situations. It ceases to be an individual- just another left turning cager. Another ********** merging without glancing in his mirror. Another patch of sand mid-corner.

 

[BooRidesSB]

I felt comfortable on a bike long before I became an "experienced" rider.
I felt comfortable after a few thousand miles.
I think I was experienced after 5 years/50k miles. I fell off once in the first 50k period.
We should not confuse feeling comfortable with experience, IMHO.
Even now, feeling comfortable on a motorcycle seems to me a deceptive illusion. :boink

 

[Allan]

I felt that I was an experienced rider when a newbie said to me. "Hey you have been riding a while, I have a question about.....". At that point I was able to take my experience I got on a bike and pass it down to someone else.

 

[willvt13]

I've been riding on the street for about 26 years and have in excess of 150,000 miles under my belt. Some might call me experienced, but I try not to think of it that way. Start to get too confident in your abilities, and something comes out of the blue to let you know you don't know it all. You start to get too confident and let your guard down, that's when bad things happen.

Plus, I'm sure there is a lot out there traffic wise I haven't experienced yet, (like lane splitting, I'm in Michigan).

I guess I'm experience enough to know there's a lot I'm not experience in a lot of ways yet.

Bill

 

[bomma]

I've been riding on the street for about 26 years and have in excess of 150,000 miles under my belt. Some might call me experienced, but I try not to think of it that way. Start to get too confident in your abilities, and something comes out of the blue to let you know you don't know it all. You start to get too confident and let your guard down, that's when bad things happen.

Plus, I'm sure there is a lot out there traffic wise I haven't experienced yet, (like lane splitting, I'm in Michigan).

I guess I'm experience enough to know there's a lot I'm not experience in a lot of ways yet.

Bill

What he said basically, every ride is different, although you do see variations of the same 'type' of incident over and over.

To me experience is anticipating things happening before they happen and taking evasive action before it turns into an 'incident', I suppose you could also call it riding defensively.

I'm still learning after 30 years, if you stop learning it means you're over confident, and thats dangerous.

 

[crx81]

with around 20k miles under my belt i still wouldnt classify myself as an experienced rider. i say this not because i doubt my riding abilities, i just think experience comes with many years and many miles. ask smitty... :lao

+1 I'm just under 22,000 in close to 2 years of riding experience. I wouldn't classify myself as a "newb" anymore, but "experienced" doesn't sound right either. I agree with others who said that particular term is reserved for those with years and years of experience. Without putting much thought into it, I'd do it like this:

1. Newb
2. Intermediate
3. Experienced
4. Pro

I'd rate myself a healthy intermediate.

 

[User Name]

I'm just shy of 20,000 miles, and while I'm very comfortable in the bike, I wouldn't necessarily call myself experienced to any great degree. Things that used to give me the 'ol shot of adrenalin - head shakes under hard acceleration, rear tire locking up or spinning (both happened last week in the rain), etc. are taken in stride. I find I actually look forward to decreasing radius turns now that I can confidently lean the bike way over pretty much as far as it'll go. All that's fine, but I don't think I'd consider myself experienced until I racked up a hell of a lot more miles, and had a few track days where I could really explore some limits in a controlled environment.

 

[jim schmidt]

I think it takes about ten times longer to be one than it takes to feel like one.

 

[SynCitizen]

With 25 years and 130,000+ miles on bikes I feel that I am an experienced rider, PLEASE do not confuse this with being invincible. Almost everyday that I used to ride in vegas (see avatar) There is some kind of "close call" with cagers or enviroment. Experience to me means knowing where your envelope is, and staying within it irregardless of number of miles ridden.

 

[ZxHunteR]

when I did my first blind hill crest standup one handed one footed wheelie

 

[nystateboy15]

common sense would tell you, with more miles, you will experience more of different situations.

 

[MINI NSX]

I'm still learning...

(8 bikes, who knows how many miles, and 14+ years riding)

 

[PURR6]

I have about 10,000 miles under my belt and I still feel sometimes that I have a ways too go, I am comfortable with my bike, but I know that there will be a time when something very unexpected can happen and I can hope I react in the right way. My husband has been driving for 24+ years, him and his brother got hit by drunk driver in broad daylight, then 6 years later he hit a deer and to this day he tells me that even though he has been in a lot and done all the crazy things he's done there is always something out there to keep you learning.

 

[fiveninerzero]

when I took the MSF experienced rider course....


Just kidding, if you go around saying you magically became an experienced rider one day, you are deceiving yourself and will lax up and do something dumb and hurt yourself.

You gotta leave the ego at the door and keep your mind open every time you ride, then you will realise at times the way you have been handling a certain maneuver all these years is wrong and this is the way you can do it better.

 

[kenshi]

I have about 1,500 miles (plus about 5 years on the dirt) and would say I'm getting into the intermediate category. I feel comfortable doing all basic activities, such as low-speed maneuvering, emergency stops, etc. That's not to say I feel comfortable in situations that require emergency stops, but I can do them easily. Of course I pretty much had the basics down when I jumped on the bike because of my experience on dirt bikes; I simply had to adapt to an 85 hp 450 lb bike. There are plenty of more advanced things I need to work on, and I hope to get some track time soon to work on them. I have yet to be in a close call situation, either. I had a guy merge into my lane toward me, and a woman pull out in front of me and stop because she just noticed the white car coming from the other direction, but I had plenty of time to react in both situations.Yeah, I'm sure there's a close call coming soon to put me in my place. (At least I hope it's only a close call...)