first ride!

[i2kdave]

thanks for the tips!
After riding around the back roads for the past week, I finally decided to take the 20-mile ride to work this morning. Everything went well, and 60 mph isn't as bad as I thought it would be. :cool: It's gonna be a hot one riding back this afternoon, though. Probably won't be able to do it again until Friday because of rain in the forecast.

[Jenny]

Originally Posted by i2kdave

Tight turns can be very unsettling at first. Just turn your head the direction you want to go. The bike and your body will do the rest( simplified version). Practice and then practice some more. Most riders find left or right easier than the other. Practice both until you can confidently start out left or right from a stop sign or red light. Empty parking lots are free for the taking and the results are priceless.

It is so important to practice turns! My MSF class didn't focus enough on them. One of the women in the class went home, climbed on her bike, and had an accident her first time on the streets. Why? They forgot to show us how to turn from a stop. For example, if you're at a stop sign waiting to make a turn. So she was at the stop sign, went to make the turn, hadn't done it, made her first attempt on a road, calculated wrong on how to do it, and went off the road. Unfortunately, it was a road with no right-of-way and pavement that was a couple inches higher than the grass along the road. She's fine now (she had a concussion and did something to a limb, but I can't remember what), but she has decided to never be the rider again (such a shame, other than that, she was the best "start from scratch" rider in the class!).

I had a similar problem. I did practice those turns the next day. I was on my way to the parking lot to practice more because I knew that my turns were NOT tight enough to be safe on the road. I was at an intersection making a left, there was a pothole, I misjudged, went off the road, and bent my front wheel and knocked my headlight out of whack (that was on a Virago 535, not on my GZ250). Scared the heck out of myself, but only bruised myself up. I should have had somebody else get me to practice ;-) For a week or two after that, I did make my partner take the bike to the school so that I could then practice my turns. I didn't get back out on roads until I knew for a fact that my turn would stay within the lanes.

Ok, wow, I can't figure out if I should post this. It sounds scary. But the thing is, it's not. Just know how to ride before you get on the roads :-)