Get off the bike!

[bonehead]

If I don't like the answer, I usually wind up arguing with myself. And that really looks stupid.

[Water Warrior 2]

You will never be accused of being a YES man.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by diffluere

I'm still a n00b though (it's only been like 9 months!) so maybe that's it.

after 9 months you should be riding around on that bike and shifting like a pro, at least i would think. maybe it is just me but have never had a problem shifting and things like that. after a month of riding i was going as fast as i could around super curvy roads trying to learn how to take the curves better and figure out the best ways to shift body weight and lean the bike so i cold go around the curves as fast as the other guys on bikes did. after 3 or 4 months i was able to take those curves just as fast as every one else.. and i was bored with the bike, it was time to upgrade by the end of summer i did upgrade to a much bigger bike with a lot more power, after 2 hour on that than hopping back on my gz i never wanted to ride the gz again.

when i upgraded to the new bike it was only after about 6 or 7 months of riding. if you still feel weird and things like this after 9 months i would probably think about giving up motorcycle riding. not trying to be mean or any thing but if you are not comfortable by now and still feeling weird you are probably never going to be comfortable on the bike. don't want any one to get hurt.

if any one disagrees with me or it took them a long time to really get the hang of it pleas step forward and tell me that i am wrong and this guy should keep riding, maybe i ought on faster than most people do. i don't know. i really feel after nine months he should be riding that bike around easy as it is to ride a bicycle

[Water Warrior 2]

Well said BB. We have to remember not everyone will ride as much as others and may not have the life style to allow it. The real biggy is the fact that us boys have more aggressive genes and willingly put ourselves in harm's way more readily. As a result we may develop skills faster and have more confidence but we also have a tendency to fall down more in the process of learning.

[burkbuilds]

Thanks WW, but I decided that I probably came on a little strong in response, so I deleted my post after I'd considered it for a few hours. I guess I should just say that we all have different goals, abilities and we all ride different amounts in the course of a year. I'm currently putting about 14-15,000 miles on my bike, and I've got a cousin that puts over 25,000 on his each year, but a lot of people only get an opportunity to ride a few hundred or a few thousand miles each year and so just measuring how many months someone has ridden doesn't really tell much about their experience level. I hope diffluere and any others won't become discouraged if they feel a little awkward some days, so do I.

Hope you are having some nice weather to ride in out your way. It's been wonderful here for the last week and a half. Low to mid 80's and sunny for the most part. The only bad thing is the pollen count is extremely high and if you park your bike outside for a few hours it turns yellow!

[BillInGA]

For what it's worth, BB, I don't think your response was too strong. I, for one, share your sentiments.

And you're not kidding about the pollen!

[Water Warrior 2]

Oh yes Oh yes, real spring weather is here. Does my heart good to ride without all the heated gear and extras that I pack along just in case.

[diffluere]

1. I am a girl. Thanks.

2. I only ride about 3 miles to school every day, and sometimes I get the treat of a nice long cruise. In the past 9 months I have only ridden like...2200 miles total. That's only an average of 244 miles per month. That's not a lot of practice. Plus - have you been to Florida?! Try to find curves here worthy of mastering! Everything is long, flat stretches, with maybe a hill or two thrown in. I've managed to master skills like maintaining speed, riding around with one hand, stretching my legs out without swerving, and other fun things to do while you're basically going in a straight line. Plus, I'm a girl! It wasn't my first instinct to take the bike out and see if it really will do 90mph. Even on my friend's Ninja I only hit 80 on the highway I think. I don't want to die, I just want to have fun. I'm not a risk-taker and that's probably why I've never been in any type of accident, car or otherwise.

Almost all of my motorcycling takes place in town, with traffic and 50 million stop lights, stupid college kids that cross the street without looking, drunk people in the street (at night), football game tailgaters, etc. I've just developed a city skill set: watch for idiots. I'm glad you get to ride around like a macho man taking curves at ridiculous speeds. I wish I could do that (sometimes) but here in Florida it's just not possible. I'm taking my bike up to South Carolina soon so we'll see what happens up there in the mountains.

3. My first time riding a motorcycle was in the MSF course. So I had 0 experience. No dirt bikes or 4-wheelers, and I can only BARELY drive a car with a stick shift (no one in my family owned one - i learned from friends). I just was never around that stuff. I can drive a boat though, haha! I'm pretty good at shifting gears, and almost all of the time I know what gear I'm in based on the sound of the bike and the speed I'm going, which I'm pretty sure everyone on the GZ is capable of.

I don't feel 'weird' all of the time, it's only on 'weird days' like the others here are describing. Most of the time I get to school and back just fine with 0 'oh shit' moments. I just realized how many times I said 'weird' in my last post. Omg I am so lame! =P

Anyway danny, I think your response was really rude. Luckily I don't care much for the opinion of the internet. My real-life riding buddies say I'm doing 'better than they did as a newbie'. Get the whole story before you tell people to stop doing something they enjoy because of one little message board post. From my other posts here, you could have determined that I'm doing pretty well that this two-wheeling thing. This is a post about people that get a strange feeling on a bike sometimes, which apparently happens to everyone here.

Here's an analogy: we are all at work, sitting in the break room bitching about our jobs. You walk in and tell us all that if we hate it so much, we should just quit! Everyone at some point bitches about their job, (including posts i've read by you) but that doesn't mean we want to quit. It's just something people do so they don't go crazy.

/end rant


IN OTHER NEWS: It's sunny and beautiful here in Florida!!! I went on a 120 mile adventure through Ocala National Forest with my mom's boyfriend. I managed to keep up with his Harley the whole time, with 20mph wind! And, after reading that countersteering post, I was playing around with that on the moderate road curves that happen to be in the forest. Pretty nifty!

[diffluere]

holy shit that was long! sorry guys.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by diffluere

I can only BARELY drive a car with a stick shift

This seems to be something that's unique to America. In every other country in the world, it would appear that vehicles with manual transmission are the norm, with only a few automatic transmission vehicles being around. In England, if you pass your driving test in an automatic, that's all you're allowed to drive. You need to pass the test on a manual (stick shift) before you are allowed out on the road with one, on your own.