[YORCHI]

‪Bloggie and RAM camera mount test ride‬‏ - YouTube

Alright so I've had my bike for two weeks now and I've ridden around my parking lot race track for 65 miles. I've practiced a lot of slow turns, lots of u-turns, and I've practiced stopping and starting into turns like I'm turning from a stop light or stop sign. I've even practiced starting up hill. I feel good on the bike and I think I'm ready to start venturing out into the street. I want to take the bike to work for the first time this Friday so I have tomorrow and Thursday to ride around my block and the streets here and get the last 10 miles in that I feel I need.

It's a very short trip, 9 minutes if I take the freeway, but I want to take the streets and only ride the streets for at least another hundred miles or so before I take it on the freeway. There is hardly any traffic in the mornings going to work but there is a lot of traffic in the afternoon on the way back which is what worries me the most right now.

With all that being said, take a look at the video I just made testing out my camera mount and Bloggie set up and let me know what you think I'm doing wrong or right from what you can see and hear. I have tough skin so I can take the criticism but please keep the death insults to yourself...I don't wanna be told that I'm going to die and crash on my bike, it's not nice

I swear this is not just a shameless way to get the view count up on my video, I really do wanna know what I should work on so I don't wind up as another dude with a busted up bike...

 

[BlackBoar]

You've done 65 miles in a parking lot??? I admire your patience. Now get out on the rode and ride your motorcycle somewhere. You're plenty ready. Keep your eyes open, assume no one can see you, and have fun. Good luck.

 

[YORCHI]

You've done 65 miles in a parking lot??? I admire your patience. Now get out on the rode and ride your motorcycle somewhere. You're plenty ready. Keep your eyes open, assume no one can see you, and have fun. Good luck.

Ugh don't remind me...I've spent hours upon hours there in the heat with all my gear on doing circles, u-turns, slow turns, and riding around over and over again...I wanna practice to the point that I can do everything I couldn't do before without being scared and I think I'm getting there

 

[zartan]

please keep the death insults to yourself...I don't wanna be told that I'm going to die and crash on my bike, it's not nice

That is not how we roll here...

Go west young man!! the time has come. Do some street riding before the freeway. Can you take back roads to work the first few times? You have to get used to reading drivers intent and then you are still just guessing. The biggest skill you will need is to see what is coming and what is behind you and plan your escape... that will only come with practice. Stay focused. No earbud tunes and no road rage, no blue tooth phone.
Good luck!! let us know how you are doing and get the heck out of that parking lot. You are driving your neighbors crazy!

 

[Zandit]

I like what you are doing but there are a few comments that I hope will help you.

I recall you saying that there is no one living in a few of those apartment blocks, so start playing with quicker take offs, and kicking up through the gears quicker.
Then when you have them nice and smooth, do your emergency stopping using both front and back brakes and clicking down through the gears quickly so when you come to a complete stop, you are already in first.
Personally I hate the idea of going to neutral unless you are switching off the bike, so I just sit at the lights in first and hold in the clutch. Don't worry you won't hurt it, maybe just need to adjust the slack more often.
Why do I hate going to neutral? The thought of someone coming up behind me too quick ensures I am ready for a quick getaway. My advantage over you guys, is that there is not as much waiting time for the lights to change here in Tassie, so I can handle holding in the clutch for 30 secs max with no worries.
When I was watching the vid, I noticed you accelerating but not changing gears. Let me give you a tip, when you take this bike into a set of twisties or Canyon, you will be doing nothing but changing gears, so the earlier you play with them the more natural you will find it later!
Thats me done for the moment, but if you have any questions, just ask!

 

[spooph]

Yorchi, first and foremost, many kudos to you for taking the time to prepare yourself for the road. If more people did this, there would be much less need for helmet laws and other some such nonsense... Anyways, good on you for putting your ego aside and getting this done right the first time!

Next, Zandit has some excellent pointers! I'm not going to recommend anything else which hasn't already been said, but I will add emphasis to his recommendation of quick stops, take-offs, and shifting. The 250 doesn't have a whole lot of power, and the only defense a rider has against cages is maneuverability. While venturing out on the road, also make sure to practice hard braking, hard accelerating, and keeping the 250 in the power band (8K-12K). If I'm not mistaken, you're still in break-in, yes? I can't remember how you chose to break the bike in, but if you feel that those RPM's are too high, then make sure you're extra vigilant. I'm not lecturing you, you have your head on straight and are going about this in an EXCEEDINGLY safe manner. Like I said, you are an example to be emulated, so I have no doubts you'll be very vigilant and safe. Keep it up, and keep us posted please! This is very exciting!

 

[YORCHI]

I like what you are doing but there are a few comments that I hope will help you.

I recall you saying that there is no one living in a few of those apartment blocks, so start playing with quicker take offs, and kicking up through the gears quicker.
Then when you have them nice and smooth, do your emergency stopping using both front and back brakes and clicking down through the gears quickly so when you come to a complete stop, you are already in first.
Personally I hate the idea of going to neutral unless you are switching off the bike, so I just sit at the lights in first and hold in the clutch. Don't worry you won't hurt it, maybe just need to adjust the slack more often.
Why do I hate going to neutral? The thought of someone coming up behind me too quick ensures I am ready for a quick getaway. My advantage over you guys, is that there is not as much waiting time for the lights to change here in Tassie, so I can handle holding in the clutch for 30 secs max with no worries.
When I was watching the vid, I noticed you accelerating but not changing gears. Let me give you a tip, when you take this bike into a set of twisties or Canyon, you will be doing nothing but changing gears, so the earlier you play with them the more natural you will find it later!
Thats me done for the moment, but if you have any questions, just ask!

I know exactly what you mean and I appreciate the comments. The reason I was going into neutral was so I could turn it off and get off the bike. I never go into neutral when I'm stopped waiting for a turn or for a light. I always go into first and just hold the clutch in. It was how I learned at the MSF course and it's just what I've always done as well from driving a regular manual car. I keep it in first in case I need to move out of the way, it's saved me once before in the Mustang and I've been doing it that way ever since.

Now as far as the shifting, yeah you're right I don't go shift quickly at all. I still feel like I'm feeling everything out and I'm still in the break in period so I don't think the bike has even gone over 8k rpm yet. I haven't spent enough time on the bike to memorize how it sounds in every gear at different speeds and in different scenarios yet so I'm still working on that. I know that will come with time and I am trying to take my time getting there. I was the same way when I first got my Mustang, I drove it carefully until I wasn't even thinking about doing things. It started to just come naturally for me and that's what I expect will come to me with the bike.

Yorchi, first and foremost, many kudos to you for taking the time to prepare yourself for the road. If more people did this, there would be much less need for helmet laws and other some such nonsense... Anyways, good on you for putting your ego aside and getting this done right the first time!

Next, Zandit has some excellent pointers! I'm not going to recommend anything else which hasn't already been said, but I will add emphasis to his recommendation of quick stops, take-offs, and shifting. The 250 doesn't have a whole lot of power, and the only defense a rider has against cages is maneuverability. While venturing out on the road, also make sure to practice hard braking, hard accelerating, and keeping the 250 in the power band (8K-12K). If I'm not mistaken, you're still in break-in, yes? I can't remember how you chose to break the bike in, but if you feel that those RPM's are too high, then make sure you're extra vigilant. I'm not lecturing you, you have your head on straight and are going about this in an EXCEEDINGLY safe manner. Like I said, you are an example to be emulated, so I have no doubts you'll be very vigilant and safe. Keep it up, and keep us posted please! This is very exciting!

Thanks a lot! I feel like I'm a mature and responsible person and I know that I have to take it a level higher when on the bike because of how open I am to mistakes. I take this very seriously and I want to be the safest rider I can be so I don't mind practicing and learning.

You're right, I'm still in the break in period. The bike has 84 miles as of this morning so that is one reason why I'm hesitant about revving it up higher than I feel it needs to. I shift slowly and take my time because I'm still learning to feel it out. I feel that it will come with time and lots of practice until it becomes muscle memory. I just drove the bike to work for the first time yesterday and already I feel like I've learned a ton just from that short experience. I drove it again today and again learned a few more things on my own that I didn' experience yesterday. I'm planning on spending all day on Saturday out on the bike. I want to ride around until I have to fill up the gas tank.

I take all the advice you guys give very seriously. I want to practice more of my quick starts and quick stops but I feel like I should practice things as I go on. I can't move on from one thing until I feel strong in it so that is my reason for not practicing everything as much as I do one thing. My first real fears were slow turns so I practiced those the most. Then my next fears were out in traffic so I started driving around my block and now I'm driving to work. Next things I don't feel good about I think are the quick starts and stops so that is what I plan on practicing more and more of. The good thing about driving in the street is that it gives me more practice that I can't get in my parking lot. I've already grown in skill at starting from a stop and don't feel like I'm a turtle in everyone's way anymore. Like I said, I know it will come with time and I don't mind putting the time in to get there safely.

Here's the video of my first ride to work...I'm sorry if it's boring, I can assure you it was very very exciting for me lol

‪First ride to work‬‏ - YouTube

*edit* how the hell do you embed youtube videos here?

 

[zartan]

Exciting!! Shifting work is needed but you know that. It will come with practice.
Rememeber storm drains and painted lines if wet will drop you fast!!

 

[YORCHI]

Exciting!! Shifting work is needed but you know that. It will come with practice.
Rememeber storm drains and painted lines if wet will drop you fast!!

That's really only if I'm turning on one of them right...If I'm just riding carefully along in a straight line over them I should be fine right?

My complex is really wet in the mornings from all the sprinklers on at night so I take it really easy when I leave and when I'm leaving my streets before I make it to the main streets and speed up

 

[BlackBoar]

About a minute and a half into your video I started to wonder if you were going to drive through a parking lot all the way to work!! Then you found the road. Nice work.

 

[YORCHI]

About a minute and a half into your video I started to wonder if you were going to drive through a parking lot all the way to work!! Then you found the road. Nice work.

yeah it's a really big complex where I live in...that's why I apologized for the video being so boring lol

 

[spooph]

Yorchi, well done! You're still waiting to take the MSF course, right? Well, these are some things you will learn in there as well... Don't ride in the middle of the road - it usually has the most debri/oil whatever on it. Right in either the right or left side of the lane. I tend to try and stay closer to the line than farther away because my headlight shines in cars' side mirrors, which forces them to see me - my headlight is adjusted properly, so I"m not blinding them and I don't follow ridiculously close either...

Also, concerning wet paint/metal plates/storm drains/rail-road track... There is a route I sometimes take home after work which crosses rail road tracks. The tracks cross the road at about a 30-degree angle. If I'm hard on the gas over the tracks, even when dry and warm, my back-end still kicks out. I scared the crap out of a car as we both went over the tracks at the same time, side-by-side. I knew to expect it and waited the few milli-second to clear the tracks when the tires regained grip, but the driver's eyes were quite large watching me go side-ways for a short while. I waived at the driver to show everything was OK and I was in control. He smiles and waived back. I tell the story so show you that metal and paint are not your friend. Try riding around them whenever/where ever you can, and if you have to ride over them, make sure the bike is as upright as possible, and you're as neutral on the controls as you can be (don't change your throttle/brake/turning inputs while riding over slippery stuff). Otherwise, very good for being self-taught!

 

[YORCHI]

Yorchi, well done! You're still waiting to take the MSF course, right? Well, these are some things you will learn in there as well... Don't ride in the middle of the road - it usually has the most debri/oil whatever on it. Right in either the right or left side of the lane. I tend to try and stay closer to the line than farther away because my headlight shines in cars' side mirrors, which forces them to see me - my headlight is adjusted properly, so I"m not blinding them and I don't follow ridiculously close either...

Also, concerning wet paint/metal plates/storm drains/rail-road track... There is a route I sometimes take home after work which crosses rail road tracks. The tracks cross the road at about a 30-degree angle. If I'm hard on the gas over the tracks, even when dry and warm, my back-end still kicks out. I scared the crap out of a car as we both went over the tracks at the same time, side-by-side. I knew to expect it and waited the few milli-second to clear the tracks when the tires regained grip, but the driver's eyes were quite large watching me go side-ways for a short while. I waived at the driver to show everything was OK and I was in control. He smiles and waived back. I tell the story so show you that metal and paint are not your friend. Try riding around them whenever/where ever you can, and if you have to ride over them, make sure the bike is as upright as possible, and you're as neutral on the controls as you can be (don't change your throttle/brake/turning inputs while riding over slippery stuff). Otherwise, very good for being self-taught!

I did take the MSF course in May I think, it was amazing, and that's how this whole thing started lol

 

[spooph]

ah, oops, sorry, confused you with somebody else. Lots of newbs around hea as of late. My bad.

 

[YORCHI]

ah, oops, sorry, confused you with somebody else. Lots of newbs around hea as of late. My bad.

no worries...just remember me for being better than the rest :dance: