It's not just brain ache but physical tiredness, when it's all new you're more tense which has an effect on your abilities/endurance, three deep breaths often makes you aware of how tense you are.

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Anything can happen in the next half hour

Hey thanks for this MickeyD, it's a great read!

I'm reading anything and everything I can get my hands on about how to be a good - and safe - motorcyclist, as I want to get into good habits from the very start.

I've had some great basic training (thanks again, Ride-Tek guys in Melbourne!). But the real skill is actually reading the road and other road users, which is a combination of intuition and concentration, I think. At the moment, in my case, it's all about the latter (hence the "brain ache" and fatigue!) - but hopefully the former will come, the more I'm on the road.

Meantime, reading up on the best techniques for riding is really galvanizing my on-road experience - a good rider is an informed rider, no question!

Jeanie

Well it was all going so well... and then I came off my bike coming back into my own garage!

To be fair, it was the "perfect storm" scenario for me to come off - a right-hand turn into a steep slope going down into my underground carpark. Just as I made the turn, there was a car coming up the slope the other way, leaving not much room between it and the wall to my right. As I tried not to hit the wall to my left or the oncoming car to my right, whilst going down the slope (and over a speed bump on the slope!), my brain overloaded, I lost control and fell sideways.

Luckily, I was going at such low speed, I wasn't hurt at all. Had a weird "slo- mo" moment as I fell, hinking "Wow, so this is what falling off a motorcycle really feels like!" Wasn't worried in the slightest about hurting myself!

Happily, a knight in shining armour helped me get the bike back up and down into the underground garage. Bad news is - the clutch housing has snapped in two, leaving the clutch lever dangling helplessly by the cables. I have no idea how this could have happened, as the bike fell to the right, not the left. :confused1:

Not upset about coming off the bike. VERY upset about how I'm going to get the clutch fixed so I can carry on riding asap and not get hung up on this little incident...

Jeanie

It's funny is that. Lots of people are afraid of falling off, and to some extent it's a good fear... but the reality is often different from what you imagine.

Road work is much more likely to result in injury, but slow speed stuff, where the bike isn't under any real power is the most likely place for a drop. It's the same in an of road situation, the fear of falling is worse than the fall itself - often, but not always, depends on lots of things.

They (the safety police) make a big thing about 'speed kills' but how many fighter pilots die just from going fast ? No speed is your friend, stopping quickly is the problem, its very difficult to fall or drop a bike at speed. Stopping quickly is the one to avoid!

Did you know that your body cannot survive a dead stop from anything over 30mph ? Your internal organs continue through your rib cage and into your shirt! A sobering thought when you are hurtling down the road, hence the previous advice, can you stop in the distance you can see to be clear?

Still we all have motorcycles for a reason, freedom. whoever you ask it pretty much comes down to some variation on freedom.

I hope you get your bike fixed, we learn from our mistakes, and you've picked up a lesson early on. Think about it, and how to avoid it in the future, practice practice practice, but most off all - enjoy.

Not upset about coming off the bike. VERY upset about how I'm going to get the clutch fixed so I can carry on riding asap and not get hung up on this little incident...

Jeanie [/quote]

That's a good attitude. No need for it to put you off, learn from it and move on..

Can you remember what you actually did wrong? Did you grab the front brake too hard? Had you got your balance right on leaving the turn before the ramp? Should you have stopped after the turn to assess if the ramp was clear before progressing? In other words, was it a 'reading the road' or control of the bike mistake that led to you laying it down? Try to figure this out and then you can work on that aspect of your riding.

Sounds as if the slope of the ramp, the fact that you were coming out of a turn, the speed bump (and the oncoming car!!) contributed to affect your slow speed control. Think back to the slow speed control part of your lessons - I bet it was all done on flat ground. Adding road undulations really changes how the bike and your balance and traction points work, so maybe you could practice slow speed control on undulating ground?

I cant offer up any advice on how to fix the clutch, but I'd recommend you try fixing it yourself, or at least watching the person who does so that you learn a bit about repair work.

There's a real sense of achievement to be had from repairing stuff. Anyways, you're OK and that is the main thing!

PS. some folk recommend having all the bolts on handlebar mounting brackets a little looser than normal. This way brake cylinders/wing mirrors/levers etc have a chance to spin around the bars rather than snapping in the event of an off.

If you can try to get off road, not extreme, just tracks and trails on a suitable bike you can learn a lot of bike control and gain a huge amount of confidence in your abilitys, it really does help with road riding.
We all have off days, that never changes no matter how many years in the saddle, although with time and experience they do become less.

Jeanie, one advantage you have over a lot of people new to motorcycling is that you are obviously eager to learn, which will translate into you becoming a far better rider than the "I've passed and now I know everything there is to know about riding" brigade. Continue to practice, continue to ask questions and continue to learn and you will be laughing.

One thing that may be worth while is trying to get hold of a book called 'Motorcycle Roadcraft: The Police Rider's Handbook to Better Motorcycling'. This is the system that forms the basis of Police Riders skills over here in the UK, and I can't think of a better system to try and emulate than this one, it really does show how a motorcycle should be ridden, explaining what riders should be thinking about to ride safely and what they should be aware of and so much more. It's this that forms the basis of what GasUp posted about back on page 1 of this thread.

Thinking about your riding, trying to implement the skills from the Roadcraft book and practicing the basics of bike control are about the best things that anyone can do to improve their riding. Even now after having first ridden over 20 years ago I still take time out (especially with a new to me bike) to practice the 'learner skills' of slow control on a nice empty car park.

DOH! Just realised as I skimmed through the rest of this thread, Gasup actually mentioned the book in his post, so at least half of this post was rather pointless! In my defence I am suffering from Man Flu* today though!



*or maybe just a sniffle, or then again it could be swine flu, it's just hard to tell

Thanks guys - as ever, your advice is gratefully received!

Stevied1969, I will definitely try and seek out that police riding book. Sounds like it will be really useful.

Meantime, the good news is I found the part needed to fix the clutch on my Marauder (handlebar clutch lever mount was broken in two!). Bad news is - it won't arrive for another two and half weeks!! Good news is I got the part at a discount price AND found a new buddy who will help me fix it to the bike for free!! Bad news is, no bike to ride for the next three weeks....

So what do motorcyclists do when their motorcycles are out of action?? Suddenly I'm staring down the barrel of the next two weekends not being able to go out riding... :

Jeanie

Do you not have any bike-breakers (apart from yourself!) anywhere near by? You don't always need the exact part, especially with things like controls, a lever assembly from another bike/model may get you going.
A start for your "spares carried" list
When refitting, slide a washer in the slot that clamps the perch to the bars, then you can tighten the clamping bolt tight and the lever should be able to move on the bars if pushed/crashed on. You don't want it too slack, just so it moves instead of breaking if banged.
Study why/how it happened and what you'd do differently next time

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Anything can happen in the next half hour

Sorry about your off and glad to hear you are OK.

While you are bikeless, get some reading in. The service manual for your bike, anything you can get on general bike stuff like a carb manual, try a bit of Ted Simon or the AMHB (dangerous, leads to wanting to go places). Design yourself a rear carrier of something. Clean the bike and do any bits that need doing like dropping the oil.

Having had a job where I was away from anything with two/three wheels for weeks at a time I can understand this is frustrating, but there are ways to feed the habit.

Oh, and go see all those friends, relatives that usually complain you'd rather be out riding than popping in to drink tea etc. Never hurts me to take the wife shopping while the bikes U/S

Andy

Get drunk and smoke

Hey guys,

Just wanted to say a heap of thank yous to you all, because I'm back on the road, yeeha!

oothef - brilliant advice about sourcing the part from a bike breakers - that's exactly what I did and I found the exact part I needed straight away!

garmei - thanks for recommending I fix the bike myself. I wasn't sure I could, but after a few long hours in the garage getting mucky with a toolkit, I did it!!

Just back from a Sunday morning ride and the clutch lever is absolutely fine. I would have had to wait another 2 weeks for the part from Suzuki if I hadn't done this.

Also had to face my "nemesis" - the scene of my "off". Kept my cool, and tackled the steep slope down into my garage completely under control this time. Admittedly there was nothing coming the other way - that would be the true test! - but my confidence is back up again, which is no bad thing!

Love the fact that the thought of being without my bike for 3 weeks spurred me into drastic action - and it#s paid off, yahoo!

Jeanie

Practice using the rear brake. Learn to lightly drag it in slow speed situations, use it very gently and learn the lock up point. Use it when doing tight circles and U turns. Stay OFF front brake. Lightly dragging rear brake allows very precise control of the bike and makes it easier to turn it tight.

At high speed, entering a corner, light application of the rear brake will reduce front end dive, settle the bike on its suspension and aid in slowing.
This especially good in wet or slippery conditions.

So many riders are not artful with the rear brake, don't really understand its importance. Learn this early on. You should be wearing out your rear brake pads long before the front ones.

Vision:
Where you LOOK is key. You Will Go Where you Look. Look up and through the corner. Or look to the gap ... not at the approaching car, tree, post or ditch. Practice and remind yourself of this every day.

Breath.
Don't hold your breath. Breath deep. Relax. Ride aware. Scan back and forth constantly. Ride Scared (Nick Ienatsch)

Couldn't agree more, absolutely 100% you should be doing this.

Couldn't agree less (sorry Mickey). Far better to get all your breaking done nice and early so you aren't touching the brakes at any point in a corner, especially not when entering one, turn in and then gently accelerate through the bend. Trailing the rear brake at turn in is OK if you are on a track (or off road) but that's purely to load up the front end for maximum grip as you turn in, on the road there is just no need for it.

That said if I miss understood and you just mean using the rear brake with the front while slowing down ready to enter the corner (while still travelling straight) then I 100% agree

What I'm suggesting is that when you brake for a corner, by using the rear brake lightly it means less front end dive. Front braking should be done in two stages, once gently to get the bike settled down, then again, harder.

The rear brake .... used carefully and gently ... helps reduce dive and aids in braking. Once you turn in, no brakes at all.

I'm not suggesting a novice trail brake through the Apex, but sometimes just a hint of rear brake coming up out of the corner can smooth throttle snatch as you transition back on the power. But this is a more advanced technique.

Also, consider riding down a VERY steep downhill Hairpin turn. (come to California to see lots of these types of roads) Like 200 degree type. Here, a bit of rear brake helps get the bike turned more easily. I'm talking at speeds in the 15 mph to 20 mph range on a 9% slope. I generally drag both brakes gently but with very little front brake through the corner.