Motorbike riding lessons

[PhoeniX]

What were you doing on the mountain bike? Were you trail riding or simply riding down the street. There are various skill levels. But if you can ride a bicycle you can ride a motorcycle. You may not be great at first. However, with very little practice you can pretty much master the basics.

On the road. I used to have great balance and dexterity when I was a kid, I'm sure I'd get it back with a bit of practice. Hopefully not many people saw me

[seremtan]

congrats OP only a matter of time before some lucky bastard gets your kidneys, your corneas, etc...

[Scourge]

Road surfaces are generally good here in the Netherlands, but the instructor did warn about markings on the road (like the white lines and everything) that can become slippery especially when it's wet.

Paint lines are like ice when they are wet. Sand, gravel, and oil will lay you over in a hurry also. Generally when it starts raining, I'll pull over for about 30 minutes(if I'm able) or so to let the oil work its way off the surface of the road. After that they are not nearly as slick.

[Doombrain]

Also ice and diesel can be slippy

[Κracus]

I'm guessing one of two things.

1. Gramps has a bike and rides it twice a year.

2. Gramps has a bike and rides it more than twice a year but will invariably do something stupid with it in the future and will never touch it again cause it scared the shit out of him.

This is the vibe I'm getting.

[Ryoki]

I was going to go with gramps has no bike at all, but sees taking lessons as an unmanly thing. Only an effiminate girlman would let someone else tell him what to do - a real man figures out how to do something for himself. Something like that.

This line of reasoning is clearly connected to the insecurities that stem from having a micropenis.

[losCHUNK]

The guy can't be serious, his line of thinking is 'if you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball'

[Κracus]

That's possible.

As you know I use my bike for work to get around. Since it's a bit unusual most people that I meet with always take an interest in the bike and they always seem to have a bike story to tell me. The most common one I hear is how they owned a bike years ago, rode it for a few months then did something stupid with it and never touched a bike again. Or how their uncle, cousin, brother had a bike and got themselves killed on it.

They're dangerous vehicles and demand a high level of respect. I've driven all sorts of bikes starting when I was about 8 or 9 with dirt bikes and I drove street bikes as early as 10 and I would never tell someone not to take a bike course. I still remember driving my uncles Honda 300 street bike when I couldn't even touch the ground. It's complete idiocy to insinuate you don't need to or that if you can ride a bicycle you can ride a motorbike.

I'm hoping to get into an advanced course next year and start racing as a hobby.

[plained]

lol bike stories yea

when i was a kid a guy i knew (march22) had a PE175

he was fooling around with it and was wiping excess oil off the chain holding a rag to it while it was idling on a stand.

the chain grabbed the rag and took his thumb round the back sprocket UNDER the chain, between the chain and the sprocket.

ow, lol he still went riding that day.

after it healed he had a huge sprocket tooth indent in his thumbnail and probbly still does.

[Κracus]

Wow that's a pretty shitty thing to happen, good to hear he didn't lose his thumb anyway. I'm pretty bad when it comes to cleaning the chain, I really need a bike stand so I can rotate the wheel around to do it. I just wax it up before every ride as my old chain had gotten pretty rusty and had kinks in it. I wasn't as pro-active with the old chain and didn't wax it on every ride, still lasted about 20k though.

[losCHUNK]

My 1st bike (about 14) was a kx80 scrambler (dirt bike) with a sticky throttle, I lost count of the times that bike tried to kill me. Also had a cr250 that would pull left on the front brake, sold it after going into a wall. The random scars I got from shit like sprockets, kick starts, exhaust burns n all that too.

Never drove a road bike but dirt bikes are murderous beasts, you can do something 100 times the same way then 1 day, *whip*.

Been about 10 years, just started at looking into getting a new one (2nd hand obviously - It's gonna end up in a wall again). Also considering a buggy though, if I can sort transport and storage.

[Κracus]

I rode a 4 wheeler last weekend at a friends camp. I kept pulling the reverse lever every time I switched gears and kept twisting the handlebars like that'd make the bike go...

(for those that don't know, there's no clutch on a 4 wheeler and the throttle is operated using your thumb and not a twist throttle you'd see on a bike.)

I also want a dirt bike though, not sure what to get for someone my size. Last one I rode was also a kx80 I think, or possibly a 100.

[losCHUNK]

iirc the 100 power band was pretty shit compared to the 80 which pretty much had it through all the gears, it was epic. I loved mine so much I couldn't sell it , it's in the shed. It still tries to buck me off in every gear when I make sure it still starts. 1991. If your kid ever wants to learn respect for something then give him one of those (or its modern equivalent).

The quads I've been on had twist sticks ?, they scare me a bit - with a bike you rag it around, with a quad it rags you around.

Get something light too, I used to take it up the forests so I like to be able to swing it about. 250 at a min though. I'll prolly end up with a 2 stroke Kawasaki again

Edit: actually just remembered my farmer mate has a thumb throttle, I just assumed he modded it. The other one I went on was a rapid fucker, no idea what it was.

[Κracus]

Yeah all the quads I've been on always had the thumb as throttle although I've heard of them having it setup like a bike with a twist throttle on the handlebar.

My 500R is actually a 2 stroke engine, lots of old fellas freak out when they see it.

[losCHUNK]

Mmm, the smell . That thing should fly off the line ?

That's actually pretty epic. Do they still plug 2 strokes into road bikes ?, It's quite rare in dirt bikes now. From what I can tell the big boy KX's were discontinued in 04. Whats even more fucked up is those 2 stroke bikes were producing the same amount of power as the modern 4 strokes that replaced it today.

[YourGrandpa]

I'm guessing one of two things.

1. Gramps has a bike and rides it twice a year.

2. Gramps has a bike and rides it more than twice a year but will invariably do something stupid with it in the future and will never touch it again cause it scared the shit out of him.

This is the vibe I'm getting.

Wrong and wrong. But you're kind of use to that. When you grow up and get a big boy bike, let us know.

[losCHUNK]

I was told I'd initially suck at quadding, having riding experience. Sure enough, my leg instinctively dropped for balance and almost got chewed up in the rear wheels

This is what I bloody hated, on a bike you can drop a foot and slide down, kick the bike away if you lose grip on a bank or sommat. With a quad if it slips you're gonna go wherever it does. Then if you do bail off you need to make sure you don't jump into one of the spinning wheels, or even worse - saddle the sprocket with your testicles.

Murder devices. Fucking hateful things.

[losCHUNK]

Just realised actually, what's a good cheap helmet ?. Just need something to protect my skull.

[YourGrandpa]

I was going to go with gramps has no bike at all, but sees taking lessons as an unmanly thing. Only an effiminate girlman would let someone else tell him what to do - a real man figures out how to do something for himself. Something like that.

This line of reasoning is clearly connected to the insecurities that stem from having a micropenis.

The need for "lesson" kind of implies you have no clue WTF you're doing or have zero confidence in doing things on your own. It also doesn't imply you're going to get any information regarding traffic rules/regulations/safety. Most people who can ride a bicycle can ride a motorcycle and don't require or ever get "lessons". A certified safety/instructional course is always a good idea and is required where I live.

My original comment was more of a joke than serious anyway. But I know you nerds get upset easy, so your reaction was expected.
BTW, I have enough penis to choke out your whore mother. Cheer up.

[xer0s]

Basically, Gramps is a big burly man that wouldn't need any kind of lessons for such a masculine activity...

[Eraser]

[
The need for "lesson" kind of implies you have no clue WTF you're doing or have zero confidence in doing things on your own

Nonsense. If you're learning yourself, you'll only learn your own bad habits.

I could also say that anyone that can watch a YouTube video can learn to play the guitar, and I'm sure that's true for the basics. Strumming chords to your favorite Beatles song, sure. But you'll learn terrible technique because there's no one there to tell you what you are doing wrong. You'll never be a good, let alone a great guitar player. It may have worked for a handful of people, but those are exceptions to the rule.

Besides, how are you going to get hands on experience in traffic without proper rider's license? You can't here in the Netherlands, unless you're with a certified instructor of course.

[Eraser]

Oh, I'd even go as far as to say that stepping on a bike without any experience whatsoever without an instructor is downright dangerous, especially when in traffic.

[Κracus]

Mmm, the smell . That thing should fly off the line ?

That's actually pretty epic. Do they still plug 2 strokes into road bikes ?, It's quite rare in dirt bikes now. From what I can tell the big boy KX's were discontinued in 04. Whats even more fucked up is those 2 stroke bikes were producing the same amount of power as the modern 4 strokes that replaced it today.

Nope doesn't smell cause there's no oil mix like the old dirtbikes had. As far as speed it's quick but not fast. It tops out at 190km/h but it'll get there faster than most cars will unless you're getting into 350+hp sports cars and even then it'd be pretty close but they'd wreck me in top end speed. It is however super light, I weigh almost half of what my bike weighs which makes it handle really well. I go riding with some friends, they all have 600+ bikes but around bends and corners I seem to lose them, scraped the pegs a few times now. As far as how many 2 strokes are being made I don't honestly know, mine is a 2014 so it's fairly new. It cranks out 479cc which is roughly 50hp. Not a whole lot of power but combined with the 6 speed gearbox and it weighing 400lbs that seems to be enough to lift the front tire without trying on 2nd gear if I'm pinning the gas. A lot of sport class tuner cars try to race me on the road but none so far seem to be even close to keeping up.

And Gwamps I don't mean to rain on your parade either, I just think you're giving out pretty stupid advice and I really do hope nothing bad happens to you on your bike but for real, be careful out there.

I wanted a small bike as my first road bike to learn what I didn't know I didn't know. Quite a few lessons learned that if I'd had a bigger bike I might have been in real trouble. I'm not 100% sure what my next bike will be as there's newer and more amazing bikes coming out every year. Right now I have my eye on a kawasaki H2 as my next bike but who knows, it's still a few years away before I get to that point. I know I'll never own a cruiser like Gramps tho, I just don't like the sitting position on them.

[YourGrandpa]

Nonsense. If you're learning yourself, you'll only learn your own bad habits.

I could also say that anyone that can watch a YouTube video can learn to play the guitar, and I'm sure that's true for the basics. Strumming chords to your favorite Beatles song, sure. But you'll learn terrible technique because there's no one there to tell you what you are doing wrong. You'll never be a good, let alone a great guitar player. It may have worked for a handful of people, but those are exceptions to the rule.

Besides, how are you going to get hands on experience in traffic without proper rider's license? You can't here in the Netherlands, unless you're with a certified instructor of course.

Did you even read my post? Because now you're just arguing to argue.

[YourGrandpa]

And Gwamps I don't mean to rain on your parade either, I just think you're giving out pretty stupid advice and I really do hope nothing bad happens to you on your bike but for real, be careful out there.

I wanted a small bike as my first road bike to learn what I didn't know I didn't know. Quite a few lessons learned that if I'd had a bigger bike I might have been in real trouble. I'm not 100% sure what my next bike will be as there's newer and more amazing bikes coming out every year. Right now I have my eye on a kawasaki H2 as my next bike but who knows, it's still a few years away before I get to that point. I know I'll never own a cruiser like Gramps tho, I just don't like the sitting position on them.

I didn't give advice. I made a half joking comment and voiced my opinion on the term lesson as it applies to riding a motorcycle. But I know the thing to do around here for most is to disagree with everything I post, no matter what. I'm okay with that. Will they be okay? Who cares?

The H2 is still a relatively small bike and I don't like that riding position either. Enjoy.