Advice to a new biker

[killa]

For the first time since he picked up his Triumph 675 I went for a quick blast with my mate in the Cotswold’s.
I randomly saw him in town when we had both finished work, I asked if he wanted to go for a quick spin so he followed me. I don’t ride out with that many people because i never really feel comfortable around someone I don’t know that well or trust. It wasn’t a problem with my mate as he is so bloody slow. Well, he might not be that slow, i might be a little fast. Anyways, I got to the top of the hill we were travelling on and pulled up at the petrol station, as i was filling up he eventually parked up.
I said we should go for another ride soon. He told me that he’s enjoying the bike but he’s still not that overly confident with leaning in and trusting the rubber. He has a pair of those Pirelli’s (super corsa’s?) On the bike so he’ll have no trouble in this weather. When i next see him I’ll give him some tips for riding positions etc, his ride out position isn’t great, he seems to stay single file almost instead of the preferred diagonal position so you can see him. Also he needs to trust the tyres more.
What do you think is the best advice to give someone at this stage then without making it too much to think about. I had a thought that although i think it’s fairly normal to be doing what I’m doing, I don’t want him pushing his limits and coming a cropper.

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Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history

[Poseidon]

Can he counter steer? I was nervous as anything when I first started riding, but then once I learnt how to counter steer and felt like I had control in the corners, I had the confidence to lean it in further. Counter steering has given me more confidence than pretty much anything else I have learnt whilst riding.

The way I first figured it out was on a straight road doing 60mph. Just out of curiosity I wondered what happened if I turned the bars at speed. As I turned the bars to the left, the bike leant right... and so on and so forth. It was just a case of applying that to the corners and jobs a good'un!
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[metalangel]

Tell him to ride for himself... there's no rush to keep up, go at his own pace. It's really tempting to want to push it to keep up with someone faster and then suddenly you're on a bend a lot faster than you want to be.

Have you considered letting him take the lead so he doesn't feel pressured to keep up?
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Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[Blau Zedong]

[chris-red]

[Dr. DaveJPS]

[Poseidon]

[soulgreed]

along with the counter steering, could say to push down on the footpeg in turning as well... that advice helped me!

[killa]

Thankfully he’s sensible enough to not try and keep up beyond his limits. The counter steer is a good tip, I was also thinking of how I can get him to trust that rubber. They are super sticky, i know the feeling is good when you realise how good the tyres are and then from there you don’t tense up as much.
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Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history

[Poseidon]

[G]

Some roundabout surfing can be good for confidence in the bike - can just go round and round getting a little quicker each time.
Less scary than trying to attack a bend you've never seen before a chunk faster.

[MarJay]

Before he does anything else, before he pushes further and tries to go faster he needs to be relaxed on the bike. He needs to get comfortable and not tense when entering a corner. It makes so much difference IMO.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[SamJL]

Tell him not to try and keep up with you, and to ride at his own pace, gradually learning how to control the bike properly. You don't want him have a serious accident trying to keep up with you. Also, Iv'e said it before and I'll say it again, TRACK DAY!! Nothing teaches you how your bike handles like a track day, tell him to book one, go in the novice group, and just learn to ride the bike round a track!
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2009 CBR1000RR
2004 KTM 200SX
2004 KTM 65SX

[Smooth]

[Sam_Y_93]

The counter steering is good advice but make sure you explain it right, I'm still a learner and when I was first told about counter steering it confused me and I was going into corners all wrong, but then I realised that I had been doing it with out realising before and managed to sort it all out
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Bikes Past: Yamaha Aerox (sold) Yamaha R125 (written off)
Bikes Current: Honda VFR 400 (awaiting restoration) Honda CB600f F-4
Theory passed July 21st Mod1 passed August 3rd Mod 2 passed 26th August

[MonkeyKnuckle]

[MarJay]

[swiftb]

[herulach]

Theres a huge one in the middle of an industrial estate by me. That + sunday morning = win

[G]

[Clanger]