first ride, results, lessons, questions

[warpzone]

So! Took my baby out for her and my first ride this afternoon. What a great day for riding in north NJ. About 70 degrees, quiet breeze, not so much of the usually hellacious traffic. I stuck to the back roads around Hopatcong, nice and curvy, though a little bumpy and sometimes dotted with gravel or dry leaves.

Started off like the MSF course, feeling the friction zone, riding up and down the street a few times in a straight line, then lapping the block a few times. Then rode to the local gas station, and took a few trips around town. What a blast, hitting the hills and curves. Indescribable. I never went above 40mph the entire day; I can't imagine what faster will be like.

After putting about 20 miles on the bike, I decide for one last trip around the block before hanging up the armor for the evening. At a fairly innocuous turn, I take a stop,,drop in first, take a look, roll the throttle and let out the clutch as I begin turning...

SMACK!

I'm on my side. All I can think of is what has happened to my baby, w t f did I do wrong, god I hope she starts.

Sigh. Dust myself off, see what the damage is.

Headlight scraped, left signal scraped, left mirror scraped, left peg and center stand leg scraped, speedo scraped and plastic casing cracked, case guard scrapped to all hell, looks like it got cheese-grated on the side, bar end slider scraped.

So much for looking nice and clean. However, the beautiful paint job survived without a ding, thanks to the cushioning of MY LEG. I guess I can't complain, even though I really feel like crying. It's just scrapes.

LESSONS:
- Full gear is fantastic. I didn't feel a thing. Some kneepads would be nice, since I've got some roadrash, but I can't praise my Cortech armored jacket and over-ankle workboots enough.
-Case guards: GET THEM. Saved me a whole lot of hell. The flange weldments are bent from the impact, so I'm going to order another pair, but damn I can't imagine if all of that impact had gone to the engine case.

QUESTIIONS:
-I was wondering if anybody could help diagnose what I did. I seemed like the same left turn I've always taken. I may have hit fallen leaves, but I didn't see too many in the vicinity. You can see my tires on my orignal thread.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=38172.msg428691#msg428691
They don't seem too worn and I didn't see any rot. They say BT45r on the side, so I'm hoping they arent the dreaded excedras. Any idea would be appreciated.
-What should I check, since I dropped? When i restarted the bike after it turned a few times,  it was stuck idling at 3k. Soon as I engaged, though, it went back to idling normal. Operations seem fine. Just need to adjust the mirror and clutch lever.

Thanks a bunch for any help / ideas / suggestions! Hope you don't think I'm too much of a squid.

[frankieG]

on the front brake and dirt

[warpzone]

sh*t you might be right. i started a little quick... i hope i didnt reach out and grab the lever.

stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid arrrrgh

[GeeP]

Hard to say, but I'm going to bet you hit some dirt or gravel as you began the turn.  Squeezing the front brake while applying the throttle would have exacerbated the situation, if that's what you do.

Good for you for wearing gear!

Don't worry about the bike, you're learning.  Don't bother to repair the scratches for a while.  Regardless of whether you drop it again or not, if you repair the scratches now you'll feel more up-tight when you practice.  That's precisely what you don't want.  Do check your controls to make sure they haven't been damaged.  Replace as required.

Things to practice:

Fingers off the front brake before rolling on the throttle.

Take a quick glance at the ground as you're rolling up, but well before you come to a stop.  Eventually, you won't look down but use your peripheral vision.  Maneuver around the gravel as required.  Be sure to have your eyes UP at the horizon and looking straight ahead when you stop, it will help you maintain your balance.

All your MSF manuvers, but especially the cone weaves and the box.  The box really teaches you to look where you want to go! 

Get back out there and have fun.  Let us know how you do, you'll get used to the speed after a while.   

[GeeP]

Oh...  Most of the gravel, broken glass, and misc. car parts will be found in the middle of an intersection and between the lanes at a T-intersection.  Be sure not to cut across it when you make your turns!

[warpzone]

Oh, man, did I dread the box. Wasn't so bad until I watched a fellar dump his bike after a quick glance down.

Thanks for the practice tips. I think tomorrow I'm going to head out to a deserted parking lot with some soda cans, set up the box and the slalom. Also thanks for not making me feel like a total tool.

[CndnMax]

might have let the clutch out to fast and stalled it when turning. Thats what happened to me on my first ride- next thing i know i have one leg over my tank and holding up the bike at and angle with one arm and one leg  wonder what the guy in the pickup behind me thought.

[510]

Happened to me too second time riding. Turns out that I GRABBED the front bake wayyyy too hard at an intersection and the bike ended up on its right side. Thankfully the fairing took one for the team and nothing else was damaged... [/sarcasm]

One of the carb floats (left side) got stuck from this drop, so the left cylinder was running reaaaaaaaally rich for about a day before I realized it wasn't supposed to have that much vibration. You may want to check on this, especially since you indicated that your idle was kinda high right after you started up again. Here's a page that has a helpful trick for the carb floats: http://gstwin.com/float_height_check.htm

[GeeP]

Oh, man, did I dread the box. Wasn't so bad until I watched a fellar dump his bike after a quick glance down.

Thanks for the practice tips. I think tomorrow I'm going to head out to a deserted parking lot with some soda cans, set up the box and the slalom. Also thanks for not making me feel like a total tool.

Tennis balls cut in half work great as practice cones.  With practice, you should be able to do the box inside of three parking spots end to end.  That's a space roughly 20' by 30' and will require lock-to-lock steering.  As you tighten up your boxes, you'll gain confidence in all your low-speed maneuvering. 

Nah, we wouldn't do that.  You're a new rider and need some practice, that's all.   

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

Dropped mine on the right side pulling out of my neighborhood after my first week off riding. Felt pretty stupid, wonder what my neighbor walking her dog thought. Worst thing that happened was I knocked my mirror off, I have signal mirrors so it was hanging by the wires. I just had to laugh and tell myself, "That's why I didn't by a nice new bike."

JoNathan

[DrtRydr23]

You think that's bad, the only time I've dropped my bike was when I wasn't even moving.  I had taken it to the carwash to give it a good cleaning and had put it on the center stand.  After washing it, I go to let it down and it falls away from me onto it's right side.  I felt like a fool.  Since then it's been down twice (both sitting still 'knock on wood').  Once I think the wind blew it over, and another time I'm pretty sure a drunk party-goer at my old apartment building knocked it over on purpose.  It wasn't my party and I couldn't prove it, but I was pretty pissed.  I've almost dropped it doing some low speed practice (I'm not sure what the box drill is as I haven't taken an MSF course, but I think it's what I was doing).  I was doing low speed turns while counterbalancing and almost lost it.  I need to practice it some more.

[shaun]

Those look like bridgestones. If they r that could be part of the problem because they have such a hard compound.

[IN_DET]

I started riding the same way you did.  Took the MSF class, completed it, then came home and did the basics all over again.  One thing my teacher told me that stuck with me was to use a full tank of gas around your own neighborhood before taking the bike onto major roads.  Get the feel for low speeds, tighter turns, and alot of starts and stops in a familiar enviroment before putting yourself in harms way.  On my bike this was 150miles all driven within 5 miles of home, all 40mph or less.

It does sound to me like you applied your brake in a corner which is an easy way to end up lowsiding.  I saw that most people who lowsided at the MSF class did it that exact way, got to close to the person in front of them while swerving around cones, grabbed their brakes while swerving (it POURED both days of my MSF class so the course was a big puddle) and layed the bike on its side.

The other thing to watch for is the fingers on the brake lever.  I used to ride a bicycle alot and I always had my fingers on the levers.  I carried this technique over to the motorcycle and promptly sent the bike across the yard as I released the clutch to fast, felt it going and clamped down on the brake lever, only to realize later that I never rolled off the throttle.  After going to the MSF class I learned why you don't keep your fingers on the lever.  If you have to reach for the lever, you almost automatically roll off, if your fingers are on the lever already roll off takes thought.

Don't worry about laying it down.  A lowspeed accident is the best kind if you're going to have one.  Just remeber what you did when it happened and you'll be less likely to repeat it. 

[Kasumi]

Gawh wish i could still do the 'box' We do it in the UK when your practicing for your motorcycle license. I had a yamaha 125 sort of mini cruiser, all rounder type bike. The box was blissfully easy with handlebars like that. On my ZXR i can't even walk the bike round two parking space widths, the thing just has no turning circle at all but then i spose its not ment to. Still abit of a pain if you want to turn round in a residential street with high curbs, you start from one curb ride slow with your feet down till you touch the other curb then back up abit. Ridiculous. Although it is fast enough to just blast down the road to the next roundabout and come back hehehe.

[warpzone]

The other thing to watch for is the fingers on the brake lever. 

That's it. I've been riding with two fingers extended.  Didn't even realize it. Also, in another thread, somebody mentioned the same stalling issues I had yesterday; I'm not used to revving the engine and slipping the clutch. One of those two, or both, is what put me on the side.

least I know what to practice today.