Woo the rain held off...
Discussion
Waking up to sun this morning I was desperately hoping that it stayed dry so when I got back from work I could go out for the 4th ride on my bike, this time with the girlfriend on the back and a decent run to a pub, a drink and a rest, then rag it back before it gets cold / dark (hell, isn't it meant to be mid August? What's with these cold, damp evenings? When I were a lad, it were all balmy summer evenings.... 
)
OK so back at Sevenoaks the skies were blue, few scuddy clouds, but it'd obviously been raining all day as the ground was wet and there were puddles everywhere. Sod it, let's go anyway...
The new pillion techniques you guys told me about worked - my OH was much more comfortable bracing herself with a hand on the tank, and I didn't have to support her weight. Perfecto. Cruised (slowly) up to Farningham nr Brands, stopped at a pub there then rode back. On the ride back I gave it a few more beans (which resulted in screaming, hee hee) but I feel pretty in control on the road when going at a reasonable pace. Cornering reasonably hard ain't a problem either.
What I'm utter crap at is low speed control. I know I need to practice this, because I'm really wobbly and this doesn't really give my pillion passenger much confidence (and given she binned her bike on her CBT (but got back on and passed) I don't want to dent her confidence). So here's hoping for a dry hour at the weekend to do some slow speed practice in a car park or something.
I'm pretty concerned about dropping the bike whilst practising though. It's not worth a fortune - it's my first sports bike so it's a '99 CBR600 and only worth £1700, and will be living outdoors so showroom condition it isn't. However I'm not built like Arnie and if I let the bike go too far then I won't be able to pick it back up again through sheer muscle alone. I've seen bikes with these rubber / plastic bungs sticking out of their frames (mushrooms?) and given my bike is an F4 with the ally frame, should I be considering getting these fitted just in case?
How much aggro is it to fit these bungs on the frame to prevent wholesale damage when I do finally drop it? Is it a big deal?
(oh yeah, and out of about 6 or 7 bikers coming the other way, not one nod today. Miserable sods. Also suffered the ignominy of having a bloody lycra-clad cyclist overtake me in a village 30 zone - I'd spotted a police car poking its nose out of a side road about half a mile up, and was sticking to 30... this geezer with skin-tight 'clothing' and a carbon fibre bike comes cruising past
Riding down the middle of the road, at least he pulled to the side when the derestriction sign came and I buzzed past - gave him a wave)
)OK so back at Sevenoaks the skies were blue, few scuddy clouds, but it'd obviously been raining all day as the ground was wet and there were puddles everywhere. Sod it, let's go anyway...
The new pillion techniques you guys told me about worked - my OH was much more comfortable bracing herself with a hand on the tank, and I didn't have to support her weight. Perfecto. Cruised (slowly) up to Farningham nr Brands, stopped at a pub there then rode back. On the ride back I gave it a few more beans (which resulted in screaming, hee hee) but I feel pretty in control on the road when going at a reasonable pace. Cornering reasonably hard ain't a problem either.
What I'm utter crap at is low speed control. I know I need to practice this, because I'm really wobbly and this doesn't really give my pillion passenger much confidence (and given she binned her bike on her CBT (but got back on and passed) I don't want to dent her confidence). So here's hoping for a dry hour at the weekend to do some slow speed practice in a car park or something.
I'm pretty concerned about dropping the bike whilst practising though. It's not worth a fortune - it's my first sports bike so it's a '99 CBR600 and only worth £1700, and will be living outdoors so showroom condition it isn't. However I'm not built like Arnie and if I let the bike go too far then I won't be able to pick it back up again through sheer muscle alone. I've seen bikes with these rubber / plastic bungs sticking out of their frames (mushrooms?) and given my bike is an F4 with the ally frame, should I be considering getting these fitted just in case?
How much aggro is it to fit these bungs on the frame to prevent wholesale damage when I do finally drop it? Is it a big deal?
(oh yeah, and out of about 6 or 7 bikers coming the other way, not one nod today. Miserable sods. Also suffered the ignominy of having a bloody lycra-clad cyclist overtake me in a village 30 zone - I'd spotted a police car poking its nose out of a side road about half a mile up, and was sticking to 30... this geezer with skin-tight 'clothing' and a carbon fibre bike comes cruising past
Riding down the middle of the road, at least he pulled to the side when the derestriction sign came and I buzzed past - gave him a wave)Livid said:
nice story :thumbsup , you didnt tell me what you had at the pub though!
A pint each of orange and lemonade. My mission is to build confidence and Becks wouldn't feel safe if I'd had even a half of lager shandy. I'm very inexperienced with 'proper' bikes and want to get good at it... I've ridden this CBR600 4 times in total since I bought it, so she knows that I'm new to the bike as well. She's a great pillion as she can ride herself, but she's had an off during her CBT and is wary as a result. No heroics from me, even 65 mph feels fast at the moment...(though a pint of beer may have relaxed her a tad!
)You should go out for a good night ride when your used to the bike. I almost prefer riding on a cold crisp night then in the day, theres less idiots, a full moon to light your way, it all feels quite surreal and intense.
Accelerating rapidly into the darkness somehow makes me feel completely detached from the world. Obviously its quite dangerous due to only being able to see as far as your headlight, but the adrenaline buzz is worth it, i was out for 2 hours tonight and it was epic.
Think i've turned nocturnal.
Accelerating rapidly into the darkness somehow makes me feel completely detached from the world. Obviously its quite dangerous due to only being able to see as far as your headlight, but the adrenaline buzz is worth it, i was out for 2 hours tonight and it was epic.
Think i've turned nocturnal.
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