Am really Scared!!
Discussion
Prof Prolapse said:
I see you have a Landcruiser and a an Aprilia V4 APRC... I'm curious, does the overall reliability experience balance out?
I mean it must be like like owning a tank a two stroke racebike.
I mean it must be like like owning a tank a two stroke racebike.
It did balance out pretty well, oddly I spent more on bits that needed doing on the Landcruiser than the RSV4, although I did do many more miles in it, was a great car!.I must update my garage though as I don’t own either anymore, reliability roles are similar though-a Cayenne Turbo and a Panigale V4
Ryan-nunm9 said:
W8pmc,
What a great bike, congratulations!!
I instruct for Rapid Training and have dates booked in this year already. Get back in touch (it'll be Gary who replies) with some dates that you're available and he will get a local instructor booked in. I don't know the northerners very well so not sure which one you'd get, I'm more Oxford way sorry. You wont go far wrong on a Rapid day (biased in know) but the day will be all about you if you book 1:1, saying that if you know of anyone who'd be of a similar standard then 1:2 ratio is really good as you'll gain alot from watching the other rider and listening in to the debrief of his/her ride.
I had a chap book 1:1 with me the end of summer last year, not been on a bike for 35 years and bought a Triump Street Triple 765. The standard of his riding increased 10 fold, he'd done around 300 miles before the training day and banged out about anouther 130 miles around Wiltshire that day. Safe and smooth into and through the bends as well as more confident in putting the power down out of the corners. You'll even get a written report highlighting the the training points from the day as well as some tips for areas you can improve on going forward.
As others have said, I'd recomend getting out on it and getting some miles in. Just keep it smooth and you'll be fine, it'll all come flooding back to you. It is after all, like riding a bike!!
Congratulations once again,
Ryan
Sounds like exactly what i'm after.What a great bike, congratulations!!
I instruct for Rapid Training and have dates booked in this year already. Get back in touch (it'll be Gary who replies) with some dates that you're available and he will get a local instructor booked in. I don't know the northerners very well so not sure which one you'd get, I'm more Oxford way sorry. You wont go far wrong on a Rapid day (biased in know) but the day will be all about you if you book 1:1, saying that if you know of anyone who'd be of a similar standard then 1:2 ratio is really good as you'll gain alot from watching the other rider and listening in to the debrief of his/her ride.
I had a chap book 1:1 with me the end of summer last year, not been on a bike for 35 years and bought a Triump Street Triple 765. The standard of his riding increased 10 fold, he'd done around 300 miles before the training day and banged out about anouther 130 miles around Wiltshire that day. Safe and smooth into and through the bends as well as more confident in putting the power down out of the corners. You'll even get a written report highlighting the the training points from the day as well as some tips for areas you can improve on going forward.
As others have said, I'd recomend getting out on it and getting some miles in. Just keep it smooth and you'll be fine, it'll all come flooding back to you. It is after all, like riding a bike!!
Congratulations once again,
Ryan
The weather has worked against me for the last couple of weeks, so the bike's still not turned a wheel. Hoping to get a few miles under my belt next week if the forecast stays as is, once over the initial fear i'll be getting some 1:1 training booked in.
w8pmc said:
Ryan-nunm9 said:
W8pmc,
What a great bike, congratulations!!
I instruct for Rapid Training and have dates booked in this year already. Get back in touch (it'll be Gary who replies) with some dates that you're available and he will get a local instructor booked in. I don't know the northerners very well so not sure which one you'd get, I'm more Oxford way sorry. You wont go far wrong on a Rapid day (biased in know) but the day will be all about you if you book 1:1, saying that if you know of anyone who'd be of a similar standard then 1:2 ratio is really good as you'll gain alot from watching the other rider and listening in to the debrief of his/her ride.
I had a chap book 1:1 with me the end of summer last year, not been on a bike for 35 years and bought a Triump Street Triple 765. The standard of his riding increased 10 fold, he'd done around 300 miles before the training day and banged out about anouther 130 miles around Wiltshire that day. Safe and smooth into and through the bends as well as more confident in putting the power down out of the corners. You'll even get a written report highlighting the the training points from the day as well as some tips for areas you can improve on going forward.
As others have said, I'd recomend getting out on it and getting some miles in. Just keep it smooth and you'll be fine, it'll all come flooding back to you. It is after all, like riding a bike!!
Congratulations once again,
Ryan
Sounds like exactly what i'm after.What a great bike, congratulations!!
I instruct for Rapid Training and have dates booked in this year already. Get back in touch (it'll be Gary who replies) with some dates that you're available and he will get a local instructor booked in. I don't know the northerners very well so not sure which one you'd get, I'm more Oxford way sorry. You wont go far wrong on a Rapid day (biased in know) but the day will be all about you if you book 1:1, saying that if you know of anyone who'd be of a similar standard then 1:2 ratio is really good as you'll gain alot from watching the other rider and listening in to the debrief of his/her ride.
I had a chap book 1:1 with me the end of summer last year, not been on a bike for 35 years and bought a Triump Street Triple 765. The standard of his riding increased 10 fold, he'd done around 300 miles before the training day and banged out about anouther 130 miles around Wiltshire that day. Safe and smooth into and through the bends as well as more confident in putting the power down out of the corners. You'll even get a written report highlighting the the training points from the day as well as some tips for areas you can improve on going forward.
As others have said, I'd recomend getting out on it and getting some miles in. Just keep it smooth and you'll be fine, it'll all come flooding back to you. It is after all, like riding a bike!!
Congratulations once again,
Ryan
The weather has worked against me for the last couple of weeks, so the bike's still not turned a wheel. Hoping to get a few miles under my belt next week if the forecast stays as is, once over the initial fear i'll be getting some 1:1 training booked in.
At the end of the day I was riding more smoothly, with better anticipation than before and the pace was certainly fast enough without taking any liberties with the law.
Rawwr said:
On the plus side, the Fireblade is a total pussycat, relatively speaking. Each year brings us faster litre bikes but they also go to great lengths to make them easier - or perhaps safer - to ride.
This appears to be correct & not a bad thing for me
Now need to RTFM & work out the various different ride modes before my first ride. Ideally i'd like to set off in pussy cat mode rather than roaring Tiger.
w8pmc said:
Now need to RTFM & work out the various different ride modes before my first ride. Ideally i'd like to set off in pussy cat mode rather than roaring Tiger.
I probably shouldn't admit this on here but most of the time, I leave mine in mode 3 because it's super smooth, although the throttle response is a bit lazy. On nice hot, sunny days, I'll use mode 2 and sometimes if I'm super bored but know I have my sh*t together, mode 1, although that's a bit too firm and uncomfortable for the road.Rawwr said:
I probably shouldn't admit this on here but most of the time, I leave mine in mode 3 because it's super smooth, although the throttle response is a bit lazy. On nice hot, sunny days, I'll use mode 2 and sometimes if I'm super bored but know I have my sh*t together, mode 1, although that's a bit too firm and uncomfortable for the road.
Fluorescent bender.
e.Rawwr said:
I probably shouldn't admit this on here but most of the time, I leave mine in mode 3 because it's super smooth, although the throttle response is a bit lazy. On nice hot, sunny days, I'll use mode 2 and sometimes if I'm super bored but know I have my sh*t together, mode 1, although that's a bit too firm and uncomfortable for the road.
So Mode 3 is the let's call it 'Comfort' & 'Safe' Mode, with 2 being a little more raw & 1 being the nutter setting?Is that it, just 3 modes?
If the thought of just being on a bike is scary then what's the point? Sell it, take the hit and take a bit of time out off Fb.
If it's because it's more powerful then I've never really understood that argument. If your self control is that poor you probably shouldn't be riding in the first place.
I find higher powered bikes more relaxing to ride, you're more often well within their performance envelope and they give you more options when confronted with 'decisions'. For reference I went from my trusty CG125 which was pinned everywhere to a Bandit 1200, this was 20 years ago but I still remember that day.
If it's because it's more powerful then I've never really understood that argument. If your self control is that poor you probably shouldn't be riding in the first place.
I find higher powered bikes more relaxing to ride, you're more often well within their performance envelope and they give you more options when confronted with 'decisions'. For reference I went from my trusty CG125 which was pinned everywhere to a Bandit 1200, this was 20 years ago but I still remember that day.
ChocolateFrog said:
If the thought of just being on a bike is scary then what's the point? Sell it, take the hit and take a bit of time out off Fb.
If it's because it's more powerful then I've never really understood that argument. If your self control is that poor you probably shouldn't be riding in the first place.
I find higher powered bikes more relaxing to ride, you're more often well within their performance envelope and they give you more options when confronted with 'decisions'. For reference I went from my trusty CG125 which was pinned everywhere to a Bandit 1200, this was 20 years ago but I still remember that day.
Not sure if that's meant to be contraversial or if you've not read my original post?If it's because it's more powerful then I've never really understood that argument. If your self control is that poor you probably shouldn't be riding in the first place.
I find higher powered bikes more relaxing to ride, you're more often well within their performance envelope and they give you more options when confronted with 'decisions'. For reference I went from my trusty CG125 which was pinned everywhere to a Bandit 1200, this was 20 years ago but I still remember that day.
Having not ridden a motorbike in probably 9yrs or so & having not owned a powerful motorbike for over 15yrs (last bike owned was a touch more powerful than the Fireblade but was heavier), it's just i hope a natural fear of returning to something tinged with a little danger that i've been unfamiliar with for many years. That & just my natural observation driving on the road which shows driving standards & care for others has most certainly dropped over the last decade. Lastly the condition of the roads is most certainly poorer than it was a decade ago.
My heads coming round in preparation for my first ride on this bike & training once a few miles solo have been covered will be booked.
What does 'take a bit of time out of Fb' mean?
Prof Prolapse said:
Rawwr said:
I probably shouldn't admit this on here but most of the time, I leave mine in mode 3 because it's super smooth, although the throttle response is a bit lazy. On nice hot, sunny days, I'll use mode 2 and sometimes if I'm super bored but know I have my sh*t together, mode 1, although that's a bit too firm and uncomfortable for the road.
Fluorescent bender.
Walter Sobchak said:
Firstly enjoy the new bike!, I really like Fireblades, have had a couple myself including the most infamous model on this forum they’re very easy to ride which is part of the attraction.
I came very close to buying the same bike, in some ways I wish I did now as mine is due another substantial list of recalls!..
Take your time to get used to it and enjoy it, unfortunately you’ve picked the worst time of year to get used to riding one!.
what? MORE recalls? O_O they’re very easy to ride which is part of the attraction.I came very close to buying the same bike, in some ways I wish I did now as mine is due another substantial list of recalls!..
Take your time to get used to it and enjoy it, unfortunately you’ve picked the worst time of year to get used to riding one!.
I was in a similar situation although I had not had a bike for 25 years so was really out of practice.
My last bike in 1993 was a Kawasaki ZXR400 and I never really got on with it, I was also living in central London at the time which did not help.
Having toyed with the idea of a bike for the last 20 years or so I finally decided to take the plunge last year and was tempted by the likes of the Fireblade, Ducati Supersport, Street Triple etc. However I bottled out in the end and went the sensible route, to try and get my eye back in first.
I splashed £3k on a 67 reg KTM 390 Duke with 1200 miles on it, first time out I was very rusty and have to say that my heart was going like the clappers when I got back home. However I have done about 1k miles now and really got back into it, enjoyed the fact that it is light and only 44bhp so can give it some beans round the bends, and feel like Zarco, without riding well beyond my limited abilities.
It doesn't really help if you have already taken the plunge with the big bike, but has proved a good way to get back into biking without the fear factor, I feel I am ready now for something with a bit more grunt (got my eye on a Street Triple)..... and after 6 months or so you can probably get your money back on the "training" bike so works out cost effective (with a bit of man maths) in the long term.
My last bike in 1993 was a Kawasaki ZXR400 and I never really got on with it, I was also living in central London at the time which did not help.
Having toyed with the idea of a bike for the last 20 years or so I finally decided to take the plunge last year and was tempted by the likes of the Fireblade, Ducati Supersport, Street Triple etc. However I bottled out in the end and went the sensible route, to try and get my eye back in first.
I splashed £3k on a 67 reg KTM 390 Duke with 1200 miles on it, first time out I was very rusty and have to say that my heart was going like the clappers when I got back home. However I have done about 1k miles now and really got back into it, enjoyed the fact that it is light and only 44bhp so can give it some beans round the bends, and feel like Zarco, without riding well beyond my limited abilities.
It doesn't really help if you have already taken the plunge with the big bike, but has proved a good way to get back into biking without the fear factor, I feel I am ready now for something with a bit more grunt (got my eye on a Street Triple)..... and after 6 months or so you can probably get your money back on the "training" bike so works out cost effective (with a bit of man maths) in the long term.
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