First week on two wheels

Shock

Shock

Shock

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Joined
28 Sep 2004
Posts
1,279
I passed my test on Monday woohoo! It started at 8:15 and the bike school was late getting things ready so I had no chance to practice anything. This and the early start resulted in a shockingly bad ride and was I convinced I'd failed so you can imagine the relief when he said the magic words.

I got the SRAD insured and took it out for the first time after work. It didn't feel right going from wobbling about on my test to jumping on a GSXR the same day but after a few deep breaths I went for it and bloody hell what a rush! The noise, the lack of instructor and the speed were all incredible. Then winding it back for the first time and watching the world go backwards was even crazier.

Since Monday I've done about 500 miles (mostly in the wet, ******* weather!) and ended up going on a spur of the moment trip to Wales earlier completely unprepared without a map or any waterproofs haha. Ended up in the Evan Valley:

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I've really enjoyed it so far apart from the weather. Have had a few iffy moments but slowly becoming smoother and building up the confidence.

My 'making progress' needs work though. I'm really cautious about overtaking on roads with poor visibility (for obvious reasons) and get held up. Watching other bikers, they don't have this concern and seem to just magically make room down the middle of the road? :eek:

Anyway, If anyone is thinking about learning to ride then do it, you won't regret it!
 
Iffy moments particulary serious ones? If not then don't panic, just part of the learning!

I had a 600 SRAD as one of my early bikes, they are lush aren't they, the noise is just fantastic, could fap to it all day long :D

I know what you mean about overtakes, I've been riding big bikes for 3 years now and I still sometimes find myself thinking will I fit, wont I fit. But best way is to gradually build up confidence and getting used to throttle. On an overtake whack it in second and pin it and you'll overtake in the wink of an eye!
Enjoy it and stay rubber side down!
 
Cheers mate. Nothing too serious really, main one was going too quick round a bend and looking at the ditch (you can guess the rest).

So what bike have you got now?
 
Ah yeah, target fixation, happens to all riders no matter how good you are, just gotta snap out of it and focus on where you wanna go, put always puts the wind up you doesn't it!
I've got a Suzuki TL 1000R atm. Had a bandit before that and the gixxer before that. Seems I love suzukis. Hope you stay with em aswell, they are wonderful bikes.

You had any issues with your srad? Make sure you keep on top of cleaning bits as fasteners etc go fluffy v.quickly!
 
Terrible weather but at the same time... best weather to learn in! Take it easy, you'll learn a lot riding in this crap and come out a better rider. Then you can have more fun in the summer!
 
Nice! Where abouts is the Evan Valley by the way? I was up Snowdonia the other week but your pictures make that place look fun!

As for seeing other riders doing things, remember that they could be new riders too, or just stupid! There may be a lot less of us bike riders about, but there still seem to be a few idiots, especially the closer you get to London! So what i'm trying to say is don't always do what you see! :) I hope that made sense.
 
Looks like a wonderful place to have your first week alone on the bike. Don't take things too fast (not a go at speeding, I mean don't bite off more than you can chew) and try to learn from any mistakes you make.

I found in the first few months of my riding I gained a huge amount from having a good hard think about my ride after I got back home. I thought about what I did wrong and made a point of trying to fix those elements next time I went out. I still do this to this day, 6 years on. Although now I'm at the end of my first years racing I realise how much more I have to learn! :p

Have fun and remember to keep on top of the cleaning, especially when going out in the wet.
 
I want a bike :( When I eventually change jobs to somewhere closer with more money I definately want to do it :)
 
nice one, looks like you having a ton of fun... my only advice is if you ever question yourself before making a overtake or manouvre just don't do it.

most overtakes are so easy on a bike, so space isn't a issue like a car, but just keep eye on if there is side turnings etc up ahead... they are your worst enemy and treat every car at a junction or that you are passing as if he hasn't seen you.
 
I love that road!! After my complaining about the Isle of Man the other day the roads between Rhayader and Aberystwyth are some of my favorite. Can imagine you would have some moments on a bike round there though, some interestingly surfaced roads even in a car.
 
Looks awesome! I want to get a proper bike, but I must admit I'm a bit worried about dying :( rather than falling off..

I've been come off on-road and off-road and been hit before.

Might take my test next year :D
 
Thanks all.

Alex*TLR said:
Ah yeah, target fixation, happens to all riders no matter how good you are, just gotta snap out of it and focus on where you wanna go, put always puts the wind up you doesn't it!
I've got a Suzuki TL 1000R atm. Had a bandit before that and the gixxer before that. Seems I love suzukis. Hope you stay with em aswell, they are wonderful bikes.

You had any issues with your srad? Make sure you keep on top of cleaning bits as fasteners etc go fluffy v.quickly!
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Very nice, the arse end on those look mean! :cool: How much of a difference is it to the SRAD?

Mine seems fairly healthy. Sometimes it's slightly eratic for the first few minutes but I think that's normal. From what I've read they seem to be known as pretty tough bikes...

Griffo said:
Nice! Where abouts is the Evan Valley by the way? I was up Snowdonia the other week but your pictures make that place look fun!

As for seeing other riders doing things, remember that they could be new riders too, or just stupid! There may be a lot less of us bike riders about, but there still seem to be a few idiots, especially the closer you get to London! So what i'm trying to say is don't always do what you see! :) I hope that made sense.
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Yeah it does. It's the Elan Valley btw not Evan, dunno why I put that. As G_D said it's between Rhayader and Aber but the actual valley is pretty crap for riding! The surrounding roads are good though.
 
I had a 600 SRAD for my first bike 2-3 years ago (blue and white S reg also). Had to sell it at christmas though and have been bikeless since.

As much as i love sports bikes i think my next will be a super moto of some description. Just not practical where I live now.
 
AmDaMan said:
nice!

I've just done my CBT but now waiting for DAS dates from the DSA, probably won't make the deadline :(
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DAS demand over the past few months has been ridiculous. The training places must have made an absolute mint!

When my first test got terminated I thought I'd have to do the new one, so got chance to have a good whinge about it to the examiner. :D

I wouldn't worry about it to much. My main concern was riding unfamiliar roads but it's not much of an issue because the test goes so quick! At least you won't have to worry about doing the u-turn on some dodgy incline like I ended up doing, thanks to riding too far up the hill. :o
 
Shock they definitley tough bikes. Mine used to run rough at the start for a bit aswell, just one of those things that I accepted.
TLR is really different from the SRAD. I prefered the SRADs handling, even though my TLR has Ohlins. But the noise a V twin makes is just so sexy, I could stump off to it!
 
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