Biker's Cafe Chatroom

[Kreeeee]

Really glad the Mt10 is working out for you . Now get that ecu sent off

Not possible in this country as they test emissions here, and I'd rather keep the MPG rather than have more power anyway.

 

[Lakeland]

I won't know unless I try, I'm stubborn once I set my mind on something.

That's the idea to get back in shape before doing anything crazy, I've been training and stretching so far.


I had 3 offs as a rider and 2 as a passenger. First was on ice, at low speed, 2nd time I hit a diesel patch and this one was a hit and run.

Looking at the state of the road within the year it's ridiculous, I wouldn't want to hit some of those potholes on a bike... I've an offroad track 20-30 minutes away from my house, it's cheap and there's a big variety of jumps, straights and turns. I'll probably start with a 125 2T or 250 4T, I'll start low power and climb my way like I did on road bikes.

My mates told me to ditch the roads and join them, but I always enjoyed riding around twisties. Track days would get expensive really quickly, I considered all the options and trust me I had a lot of time to think about it. I'll probably fall and there's a high possibility of injury. But there's no cars, police, speed cameras, van drivers and other bs. I can just enjoy myself and think about my riding and the track without worrying that someone might pull out on me again.

I have pretty much done the same thing, I have an old motorbike to keep my hand in the game but I’m pretty much off road only now. It’s way more fun and you know if you’ve came off it’s your own fault. Mostly what I do is green leaning so it’s not really high speed, I’ve not had a scratch from any of the falls so far.

Motox you’re gunning it all the time so if you come off there’s a bigger chance of injury especially with big jumps. I’d just hang fire till you’re fully healed before going off road as if you’re pushing on it’s a matter of time before you fall off rather than will I come off

 

[IC3]

I have pretty much done the same thing, I have an old motorbike to keep my hand in the game but I’m pretty much off road only now. It’s way more fun and you know if you’ve came off it’s your own fault. Mostly what I do is green leaning so it’s not really high speed, I’ve not had a scratch from any of the falls so far.

Motox you’re gunning it all the time so if you come off there’s a bigger chance of injury especially with big jumps. I’d just hang fire till you’re fully healed before going off road as if you’re pushing on it’s a matter of time before you fall off rather than will I come off

What bike you got? I'm looking for ideas lol

 

[Lakeland]

It’s a 2017 crf250l. Trust me your email and I’ll send you a video of some antics

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Did an hour out on the bike today, had to pop to the office to collect something, so took the bike.
Really felt like it clicked, controls are feeling more natural and I am not grabbing the front brake so much and using my rear now I have gotten used to a foot brake.
Still sometimes dropping a gear when I meant to go up (thanks to riding the z50 with semi auto box of oddness) but much more confident to deal with traffic and junctions.
Oh, and I figured out that the indicators can be turned off by pressing the switch in rather than trying to re-centre it with my thumb!
Bike went up to 58mph too, seems to be loosening up after the first 80 miles after the new piston and cylinder.
Still need to adjust the carb/valves a bit as I think this bike is good for 70mph

 

[IC3]

It’s a 2017 crf250l. Trust me your email and I’ll send you a video of some antics

Done.

 

[MowyTone]

Took the lining out of my jacket yesterday as I was starting to get a bit baked. It will soon be time to ditch the winter gloves as well (provided the f'ing rain stops!)

 

[Kreeeee]

It's over 20C this weekend so I'll be out on another little tour of the forests.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Did an hour out on the bike today, had to pop to the office to collect something, so took the bike.
Really felt like it clicked, controls are feeling more natural and I am not grabbing the front brake so much and using my rear now I have gotten used to a foot brake.
Still sometimes dropping a gear when I meant to go up (thanks to riding the z50 with semi auto box of oddness) but much more confident to deal with traffic and junctions.
Oh, and I figured out that the indicators can be turned off by pressing the switch in rather than trying to re-centre it with my thumb!
Bike went up to 58mph too, seems to be loosening up after the first 80 miles after the new piston and cylinder.
Still need to adjust the carb/valves a bit as I think this bike is good for 70mph

Surely they taught you this on CBT?

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Surely they taught you this on CBT?

Which bit?

I do wish they would have told me the indicator bit. The guy kept telling me to cancel it as I kept over correcting the switch early on in the road ride.
I was just extra careful and paid special attention to it for the final bit and he was happy enough.

Gearbox stuff is because almost all my riding before my CBT was off-road over the years and on a z50a with up a different gearbox configuration.

Braking was never really explained on the CBT, it was just here’s the footbrake for the rear, and hand brake for the front. They also made a point of saying don’t yank it too hard or you will come off.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Which bit?

I do wish they would have told me the indicator bit. The guy kept telling me to cancel it as I kept over correcting the switch early on in the road ride.
I was just extra careful and paid special attention to it for the final bit and he was happy enough.

Gearbox stuff is because almost all my riding before my CBT was off-road over the years and on a z50a with up a different gearbox configuration.

Braking was never really explained on the CBT, it was just here’s the footbrake for the rear, and hand brake for the front. They also made a point of saying don’t yank it too hard or you will come off.

Brakes and indicators! I’m shocked that they didn’t explain that tbh.

The only time I used the front brake during MOD1/2 was the emergency stop or braking in a straight line. The back brake is handy/essential for slow speed control, which makes me even more surprised they didn’t cover it.

 

[Freeman]

^ I think he's more explaining that he's getting use to it rather than not being taught it at all. That's how it came across to me?

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Yup, I think there was more that could have been taught at CBT, they seem to really only cover the basics, and very briefly.
Then you are just let out on the road, and if you don't present a danger to anyone else, they "pass" you!

In all honesty, despite "flying through the CBT" (indicators not withstanding) according to my instructor, I feel that it is a totally inadequate system for allowing a total beginner on the road. As someone who has had a car license for years, had been a mountain/road biker, and ridden some smaller bikes off-road once in a blue moon, I was probably in a better situation than most first time CBT takers.

I also did the CBT on a bike that had simply the most terrible gearbox on the planet. It almost put me off totally, seemed to continually produce false neutrals, refused to change at all sometimes, and needed a hell of a stamp or pull to get it to change at all. I kept asking the instructor about the gears, and he just said I had to get used to it and it was normal. However, having ridden another bike, its clear to me now that it was very unwell.

The emergency stop was funny. Both times I did it, I applied the rear brake at full (not used to a footbrake) and skidded to a halt. However, he claimed I had full control of the bike during the skid, so it was ok, and I should just work on modulating the brake pedal.

 

[killsta]

Just remember, for an emergency stop in your test, cover the rear brake, don't actually use it

 

[InvaderGIR]

snip

That sounds very much like the training centre you used is just really, really bad if I'm honest. At the one I used they made sure you had full understanding of all controls and could operate everything correctly before they let people on the road, it did help that they have their own mock mod 1 training area so people can practice riding, stopping, indicating etc. before being released out onto the roads.

Just remember, for an emergency stop in your test, cover the rear brake, don't actually use it

I was going 68 km/h, leant hard on both and felt the ABS kicking in too.

 

[Kreeeee]

I was going 68 km/h, leant hard on both and felt the ABS kicking in too.

With ABS you can just slam them on as hard as you like. Without it you needed to balance stopping in a decent distance and going for a loop.

 

[Freeman]

The emergency stop was funny. Both times I did it, I applied the rear brake at full (not used to a footbrake) and skidded to a halt. However, he claimed I had full control of the bike during the skid, so it was ok, and I should just work on modulating the brake pedal.

Yeah... don't do that lol. You should never be locking your rear.

My instructor wouldn't let me carry on until I had done an emergency stop without locking the rear when I was doing my CBT. Took me 3 attempts.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

We did a little riding around in a tennis courts area first, but it was very low speed (as expected) and you have a lot more time to think things through and get it sorted out than you do on the road.

I think they were keen to get us out on the road, as we all completed the tasks requested, but i would have been happier doing it for longer just to get fully up to speed. I should have said, but they were keen to get out, as were the other riders.

 

[InvaderGIR]

With ABS you can just slam them on as hard as you like. Without it you needed to balance stopping in a decent distance and going for a loop.

Yeah I did it fine and without ABS on the practice surface, I was just going a bit quicker than I'd intended on the test and then also grabbed a lot more brake too, just amused me really having the ABS kick in. I've been over the bars on a pushbike at speed, I didn't fancy doing that on the CBF600.

The place I went would only take you out for your CBT road ride if they felt you were safe and up to scratch...and we did a full morning of riding the bike around the training area with mock junctions, emergency stops etc. Only once they were satisfied we were safe then they'd take us out in the afternoon for the road ride, if by the time the road ride came around they weren't happy with us then you'd not be allowed out and would have to return for more training / another CBT. They were keen to get everyone out though and didn't want to refuse anyone a CBT.
I quite liked the way they handled things really, making sure people were actually ready to ride on the road is important and I know some of the other local training companies aren't as good and will basically force you out onto the road which isn't good for confidence or safety.

 

[NooBish AbbZ]

Don't know whether I posted this in here or not; I don't think I did. Sunday before the one just gone, we actually had some nive weather up around Manchester and Snowdonia so planned a ride out with two biker mates. Main problem being that my SV was on the South Coast. Couple of texts to my dad(they were away in Newcastle) and he said I could use his Pan European

Anywho, all three of us on different bikes to the last time we went out. Me on aforementioned Pan, one mate on Superduke GT 1290 and the other on Speed Triple 1050. We left at 7 and met together at Conwy at 8, spend an hour in a cafe in Betws-y-Coed while the temperature increased before heading around Snowdonia a few times and then down to Ponderosa before returning home around 8 hours and 300 miles later. Pan was incredible on the motorway and I could literally sit with my visor open comfortably at 80mph 70mph. Furthermore, both mates commented that I was getting the Pan leant over more than I do on the SV strangely enough; it just felt so easy, so balanced and this was confirmed when I scraped my toe/the peg on a right hand bend shortly after leaving Ponderosa Scraped my toe once on the road on the SV...at the same time i scraped my bar end, fairing and crash bungs

Pan was far far far too big for me to live with simply because of it's weight when I was moving around the garden and stuff, but i was thoroughly impressed by the experience I rode my SV yesterday for the first time and when i sat on and stood it up from side stand i threw it up like a toy, having become accustomed to the Pan