Canadian Motorcycle Newbie

[Jere]

Thanks for the advice WW.

I haven't been to Squamish in about 8 years now. My uncle and his family live there. When I was a real youngster (2-4 years old) we lived in Britannia Beach!

What's the new Sea-to-Sky highway like?

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by Jere

Thanks for the advice WW.

I haven't been to Squamish in about 8 years now. My uncle and his family live there. When I was a real youngster (2-4 years old) we lived in Britannia Beach!

What's the new Sea-to-Sky highway like?

Jere, you would be very surprised to see Squamish now. It isn't the same place I moved to 4 years ago. The S2S highway is far different and a real pleasure to ride especially with some power to use.
As for Britannia Beach, you would be shocked. The old mine buildings have had a facelift and look pretty good. And thanks to the Olympics in 2010 Britannia Beach will be a lot greener. All of the copper bearing water running out of the old mine is being treated to remove the copper deposits. The beach actually has plant life in the water. Looks a lot more inviting than lifeless water. The treatment plant also pumps out ground water at the beach and treats it to remove the copper. Believe it or not enough copper is removed to make 90 billion pennies every year.

[Jere]

Well, just hit my first 150 km! (100 mi give or take.) I'm starting to get more confidence and am venturing out into slightly heavier traffic. Not going to do too much yet though as I don't have my rider training course for another three weeks.

Down-shifting is starting to get a little smoother. I've learned to open the throttle a little prior to downshifting to get the engine speed right.

I still wobble a little bit at times when taking off, but sometimes it's smooth as silk. :cool:

I definitely need to get some proper riding boots.

[bonehead]

Baby steps!!! Get your confidence level up=experience. Remember, a young ride wants to become an old rider.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Jere

Down-shifting is starting to get a little smoother. I've learned to open the throttle a little prior to downshifting to get the engine speed right.

Another technique, probably even better, is to actually let the engine braking slow everything down BEFORE you down shift down. If you do that, the engine speed won't be as important.
That only works when you have planned ahead, of course! :cool:

[Jere]

I do that. Perhaps I'm downshifting too early then?

An obvious newbie question: when you come to a stop, do you put both feet on the ground or do you keep your right foot on the rear brake?

[VTXorcist]

I keep both feet on the ground. One foot and you risk slipping on gravel or oil, plus the bike won't be perfectly balanced. That should be in your class when you take it in a bit.

The few times I put my foot on the brake is when I need my right hand to do something and need to let off the front brake. However, I only do that if there are no cars approaching from behind or the side (or they're already stopped). You want to keep your hand on the throttle and keep the bike in gear if there's a chance you might need to get moving quickly.

EDIT: By the way, nice bike! I just bought a '99 red GZ250, too. Looks just like that except the pipes are blued at the engine and it has some damage from a drop. Your badges are different (nicer), too. Mine are cheapy decals.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Jere

I do that. Perhaps I'm downshifting too early then?

An obvious newbie question: when you come to a stop, do you put both feet on the ground or do you keep your right foot on the rear brake?

Maybe. Hard to tell without being there. It depends partly on the reason for the downshift.

I get both feet down just a TINY bit before coming to a complete stop. This presumes that you have been able to shift all the way down to 1st AND that you have enough experience to be able to hit the friction point on the clutch just enough so that you can release the front brake and open the throttle a little to take off.......if you are stopped on a hill.

Until you are able to do that, then "holding" a hill with your right foot on the back brake is OK........after a complete stop and stable footing.

[alanmcorcoran]

I leave it in first, pull in the clutch and put both feet down. If I am on a hill (significant uphill) I will sometimes put my foot up on the (foot) brake before releasing the hand brake (when I'm getting ready to go again.) After a while, you get where you can let go of the brake, ease on the gas and let out the clutch all smoothly enough where you don't really need the foot brake, but it's probably safer to use it in case you have a senior moment or something.

Also, for boots, I have had very good experience with a pair of Alpinestar's that come up over the ankle, half a strap, a zipper and Velcro on both sides. I've worn them almost daily for almost a year now and they are still in very good shape. Easy on and off, no slip, and good burn/pipe protection.

[Jere]

Thanks everyone. Obviously with time and learning (from the course and maybe a book) I'll pick up more of the sublties. It's difficult though because I don't have anyone to learn from. Hopefully I meet someone at the course, though they'll be as inexperienced as me!

Thankfully, I have lots of experience with manual transmissions on cars and trucks, so the clutch/transmission concepts have been very easy for me to learn.