I've Bought My First Bike
Discussion
Hi, I passed my full test in April 2006 on a Kawasaki ER-5 & from the day I passed I never rode again as I was in the middle of buying my first house with my boyfriend & he was very nervous of encouraging me to get a bike.
So it never happened....until a friend came round last week for food, on his GSXR-600 & took me up the road on the back. WOW.
Suffice to say the next night a good friend of my boyfriend said that he was selling his bike & I had first refusal before it went on Ebay. So, heart in mouth, I took it out last night & knew that, over the last year, I'd been missing out.
It's a Kawasaki ZXR400 in green with 11 months tax & 10 months MOT & it rides beautifully & sounds gorgeous. I had to ask to have it taken to an industrial estate as I wasn't up to driving straight onto the main road (where the seller lives) after 14 months of not riding. Had a little blat round the estate & drove it back, not going quicker than 40mph but it felt so good, really beautifully balanced & not mental - although I can sense that "mental" is definitely higher up the rev range!
I'm paying for it tonight & picking it up later in the week. The 20 mile drive between our houses I won't be breaking any land speed records that's for sure & I'll probably have a huge tailback behind me as I'm still pretty nervous about it & it's a bit more powerful than what I learnt on.
The plans are to take it out in the day for an hour at a time when the roads are quieter & work up to going quicker, cornering & stopping and getting some confidence. I drive my Cobra pretty hard but that's got four big wheels & I know I need to adopt a different attitude on a bike.
Pic I took last night. Any advice gratefully received.
Hannah.
So it never happened....until a friend came round last week for food, on his GSXR-600 & took me up the road on the back. WOW.
Suffice to say the next night a good friend of my boyfriend said that he was selling his bike & I had first refusal before it went on Ebay. So, heart in mouth, I took it out last night & knew that, over the last year, I'd been missing out.
It's a Kawasaki ZXR400 in green with 11 months tax & 10 months MOT & it rides beautifully & sounds gorgeous. I had to ask to have it taken to an industrial estate as I wasn't up to driving straight onto the main road (where the seller lives) after 14 months of not riding. Had a little blat round the estate & drove it back, not going quicker than 40mph but it felt so good, really beautifully balanced & not mental - although I can sense that "mental" is definitely higher up the rev range!
I'm paying for it tonight & picking it up later in the week. The 20 mile drive between our houses I won't be breaking any land speed records that's for sure & I'll probably have a huge tailback behind me as I'm still pretty nervous about it & it's a bit more powerful than what I learnt on.
The plans are to take it out in the day for an hour at a time when the roads are quieter & work up to going quicker, cornering & stopping and getting some confidence. I drive my Cobra pretty hard but that's got four big wheels & I know I need to adopt a different attitude on a bike.
Pic I took last night. Any advice gratefully received.
Hannah.
Congratulations on your new bike. 
May you both have many safe and enjoyable miles together.
Take it easy and concentrate on the things you were taught during your training/test. It may even be worth looking at a days refresher training if time and funds will allow.
Ride safe and enjoy
May you both have many safe and enjoyable miles together.Take it easy and concentrate on the things you were taught during your training/test. It may even be worth looking at a days refresher training if time and funds will allow.
Ride safe and enjoy
Edited by black-k1 on Tuesday 17th July 13:28
That's a lovely looking bike Hannah. Sounds to me like you are approaching this the right way and with the right state of mind. Ease yourself into it gently, but try not to let yourself get too nervous, as that can be as bad as over-confidence. Stick with your plan and you should be fine.
nice choice!
just sold mine a couple of months ago after riding it "vigourously" for 3 years. It was absolutely freakin fantastic. My advice to you is to ask Maxton in Cheshire to rebuild the rear shock, so that it.........works! Other than that use the best oil you can afford and enjoy.
I wish you many happy miles. Oh yeah, look out for daft drivers and learn about the physics of riding a bike...practise conscious countersteering! Expect anything on the road and you will be rarely surprised!
shane
just sold mine a couple of months ago after riding it "vigourously" for 3 years. It was absolutely freakin fantastic. My advice to you is to ask Maxton in Cheshire to rebuild the rear shock, so that it.........works! Other than that use the best oil you can afford and enjoy.
I wish you many happy miles. Oh yeah, look out for daft drivers and learn about the physics of riding a bike...practise conscious countersteering! Expect anything on the road and you will be rarely surprised!
shane
Thanks for all of your help/advice/comments. I picked it up last night & rode it the 35 miles home along the A11 with my boyfriend behind in his car. It just about fits in the garage with mms to spare.
Lucky to pick a dry calm day to ride it back & couldn't feel my hands or bum (!) most of the way back because I was so tense.
Going to book a refresher course with my local bike school - who I learnt with - on the ZXR, to get a bit of confidence!
Lucky to pick a dry calm day to ride it back & couldn't feel my hands or bum (!) most of the way back because I was so tense.
Going to book a refresher course with my local bike school - who I learnt with - on the ZXR, to get a bit of confidence!
Naughty Magpie said:
Lucky to pick a dry calm day to ride it back & couldn't feel my hands or bum (!) most of the way back because I was so tense.
Going to book a refresher course with my local bike school - who I learnt with - on the ZXR, to get a bit of confidence!
A refresher course is an excellent idea....the key is to relax and never tense up as this could inevitably lead to an off....always look round a corner, if you do this the bike will follow.Going to book a refresher course with my local bike school - who I learnt with - on the ZXR, to get a bit of confidence!
Check over the bike to make sure everything is as it should be and don't forget to check the tyre pressures.....
Good luck & enjoy
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