Quake3World

In approximately one hour I'll be taking my first motorbike riding lesson. Yay! Weather here is shit though, but I guess that'll be a good rite of passage though
Will let you know if I've died in a couple of hours.
Or maybe I don't but then you know what that means...

do a live stream

GL

If you can ride a bicycle you can ride a motorcycle, unless you're a homo.

I guess that's true in your simplified world view

It's a proven fact.

So I guess your first lesson didn't go so well.

This forum is a lot less fat and ugly with gwampy on the ignore list

YourGrandpa wrote:If you can ride a bicycle you can ride a motorcycle, unless you're a homo.

A couple of months ago I had a go on a mountain bike for the first time in ~15 years. The phrase "you never forget how to ride a bike" is not true. I didn't fall off but trying to not veer all over the road was fun

That being said one day I'd like to get around to a proper bike license

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.

YourGrandpa wrote: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.

That little addendum is key. It's not like anyone that can ride a bicycle can step on a motorcycle and ride away on it as smooth as whatever. It takes practice. Besides, a bike doesn't have a throttle lever or clutch.

The lesson went great, by the way, but just like stepping in a car the first time, getting the feel for the clutch, throttle and brakes takes time. Within the 70 or 80 minutes I rode, the feeling for the handling grew but I feel I need to practice a lot more before it's all smooth and as automated through muscle memory as it is when I'm driving my car.

Be careful booboo, those things are dangerous.

Eraser wrote:That little addendum is key. It's not like anyone that can ride a bicycle can step on a motorcycle and ride away on it as smooth as whatever. It takes practice. Besides, a bike doesn't have a throttle lever or clutch.

The lesson went great, by the way, but just like stepping in a car the first time, getting the feel for the clutch, throttle and brakes takes time. Within the 70 or 80 minutes I rode, the feeling for the handling grew but I feel I need to practice a lot more before it's all smooth and as automated through muscle memory as it is when I'm driving my car.

So you really didn't need lessons. You needed exposure and practice. I found riding somewhat instinctive. But I guess if you don't know anyone with a bike you may have to turn to a professional for "lessons".

To me riding is an escape, a freedom of sorts. It's a relaxing place to go if you're stressed or a new adventure on an average day. I quite enjoy it. I'm sure you will too.

GLHF.

YourGrandpa wrote:
To me riding is an escape, a freedom of sorts. It's a relaxing place to go if you're stressed or a new adventure on an average day. I quite enjoy it. I'm sure you will too.

Holy fuck is this corny and boring...

YourGrandpa wrote:

Eraser wrote:That little addendum is key. It's not like anyone that can ride a bicycle can step on a motorcycle and ride away on it as smooth as whatever. It takes practice. Besides, a bike doesn't have a throttle lever or clutch.

The lesson went great, by the way, but just like stepping in a car the first time, getting the feel for the clutch, throttle and brakes takes time. Within the 70 or 80 minutes I rode, the feeling for the handling grew but I feel I need to practice a lot more before it's all smooth and as automated through muscle memory as it is when I'm driving my car.

So you really didn't need lessons. You needed exposure and practice.

What the fucking hell ?, seriously ?. I'll admit that it's pretty hard to win an arguement with me but with reasoning like that you must drive people to suicide.

What kind of fucking moron has to take lessons to ride a motorcycle?... Lol wtf?... ...

It's not that simple. Unlike in the US, you don't get your Dutch driver's license for free with a box of cereals. The exam for any vehicle is really strict and certainly not all people pass on their first attempt.

Riding lessons aren't limited to the physical activity of riding a bike (throttle, clutch, brakes, etc) but also about special maneuvers (tight circles, emergency stops, slaloms, complete control of the bike) and of course about how to deal with situations in traffic. I don't live in a rural shithole like you so we've actually got busy traffic here.

Having an instructor to teach you and point out your flaws and how to improve is important to become a good rider and to become it as quick as possible.

YourGrandpa wrote:So you really didn't need lessons. You needed exposure and practice. I found riding somewhat instinctive. But I guess if you don't know anyone with a bike you may have to turn to a professional for "lessons".

Eraser wrote:

YourGrandpa wrote: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.

That little addendum is key. It's not like anyone that can ride a bicycle can step on a motorcycle and ride away on it as smooth as whatever. It takes practice. Besides, a bike doesn't have a throttle lever or clutch.

The lesson went great, by the way, but just like stepping in a car the first time, getting the feel for the clutch, throttle and brakes takes time. Within the 70 or 80 minutes I rode, the feeling for the handling grew but I feel I need to practice a lot more before it's all smooth and as automated through muscle memory as it is when I'm driving my car.

That's great man! I took a course as well even though I already knew how to ride. It was definitely worth it, there's absolutely no harm in doing it and you'll probably pick up a few things you should and shouldn't do you didn't know about. I'm hitting 30k on my bike that I got a year and a half ago so I've definitely been riding mine!

Here's a few tips I learned outside of the course.

- Don't park your bike behind cars along the street, they'll back up into it and tip it even if you leave them 5ft of distance and they don't need to back up to get out anyway.
- Speed happens quickly, stopping not so much.
- Leave a lot of space between you and the car in front of you and always pay attention to it. I had about a 2 second gap between me and a car, glanced away at the scenery and when I looked back he'd stopped hard.
- Play lots of GTA, it'll teach you to avoid accidents when you can't stop in time.
- Driving in the rain sucks, get some rain gear.
- Pay close attention to the road surface. I don't know how the roads are where you're from but around here sand, pebbles and pot holes are a pretty common thing. A pot hole cause a harley and a scooter to both crash a few weeks ago near here but sand is probably the worst enemy, like driving on marbles.

I'd ride my bike every day if I could, I rode mine last year until Xmas and took it back out in Feb which is pretty damn good considering where I am.

edit: Also, gramps is a moron. I raced mountain bikes as an amateur for years, it's absolutely nothing like riding a motorbike.

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.

Yeah, that's another one, don't pop wheelies in the wet. I tried once and instead of lifting the front tire the rear just spun out sending me into a small drift for a second. Fun but not so much when you expect a different outcome.

Κracus wrote:edit: Also, gramps is a moron. I raced mountain bikes as an amateur for years, it's absolutely nothing like riding a motorbike.

You may be the moron, moron. I wasn't directly comparing riding a mountain bike to riding a motorbike.

Eraser wrote: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.

Railroad tracks can also be slippery when wet.

YourGrandpa wrote:If you can ride a bicycle you can ride a motorcycle, unless you're a homo.

YourGrandpa wrote:You may be the moron, moron. I wasn't directly comparing riding a mountain bike to riding a motorbike.

Yeah whatever.

You obviously have comprehension problem.

Hey, nice to see that you survived your first ride! Ride on!

congrats on your first ride. One piece of advice I can give is, drive like your invinsible, and never assume you have the right of way, even if you do. So drive defensively , it's in your best interest. This doesn't mean that you have to ride like a pussy, but just keep in mind that you are at a disadvantage at all times and be mindful of that.

Also, depending on what kind of riding you get into, ride at no more than 80% of your perceived ability. That way when you take that turn that was tighter than you expected, or if you missjudged a breaking point, you'd still have that 20% to save the moment.