More Questions From A Newb

WildGoose · White Van Man Joined: 20 Mar 2002 Karma :

Geared Motorbikes, where are the controls

which foot is the back brake on and which is the gear change?
which hand in the clucth and which hand is the front brake?
and how do you change down? push the lever the other way?

as you can see these are obviously very basic questions for you guys, but i know nothing, i am a moped rider :P

Also would you guys buying new or second hand, i bought my moped new but wish i hadnt cos when i sell it im gonna lose so much money

a new bike is obviously nice, but once you see passed the excitement of gettin a new bike is it practical and more economical to buy second hand?
what about reliabilty?

answers to any of these would be good , thanks

kind regards

bikerboy · Guest

well the back brake is down near your right foot (you push it wth your right foot) the gears are down near your left foot! the clatch is the left brake on a moped (don't forget it's a clutch or you will be fucking if need to stop) the front brake is the same as a moped on the right hand side! you change gears by pulling the clatch in and pressing the thing with your left foot (but only one gear goes te diff way) for e.g gear1 goes up or down (depends) and the restgo the othe way (you only hv to press dwn or up on the lever) have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Embarassed

Phil.S · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Don't be daunted by the gears & brakes it becomes second nature,
i was worried as i had little experience so i went to the place i was going to do my CBT (MSM)and they gave me a free 1/2 hour to learn the gears.
Remember that as part of your cbt they explain everything.
but i would see if you can get a little go off someone.

TiN · Pocket Tin Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Karma :

Yeah, they'll teach you everything that you need to know in the CBT...I went in with absolutely no knowledge about bikes, and came out with a CBT at the end of it!...ok, it took me an extra day, but they only charged me for bike hire on the second day, and a full days tuition was completely free!

...I had to extend my knowledge 4 years driving mentality to a bike, I'm not sure what it's gonna be like converting from a moped though...

Tin

RFT · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 06 Feb 2002 Karma :

I managed to get my CBT in one day without having ridden before- it's not that hard. in a lot of ways shiting gears is easier on a bike then a car because of the sequential nature- it's just "up" and "down" in a lot of ways The only real problem I had was kickstarting the CG- I just couldn;t get tha knack of it...

RichT
____________________
2 strokes is all it takes...

TiN · Pocket Tin Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Karma :

Hey, I didn't say that learning the gears was hard, just different...shifting up gears is definately easier, but sometimes I just wish that there was a way to change from 6th to 1st in one step!...I'm just a lazy bugger... Razz

As for the kickstart, I got used to it by the end of the first day, but it can be a pain in the arse...when I got out on to the road, I was almost running on empty in the main tank, so the damn thing kept stalling and I was left behind at junctions and traffic lights!...it's quite scary when you stall in the middle of the road, especially when you need to kick start it...

The main thing is though: Don't worry too much about the basics, you will be taught everything at the CBT, and you can't really learn anything without actually practising on a bike...

Tin

Shamrock · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

TiN · Pocket Tin Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Karma :

Stevo · Guest

I know what you mean m8, on my zx6r i often skip gears comming down the box, by changing down 2 or 3 gears before letting the clutch out. As you said the sort of situation is when your going fairly slow in top, and you approach a set of red lights. Going down all the gears one by one, is then unnecassary, and wastes time. The other example is if you wanna pass a car really quick, and your just pottering in top gear, you might make two down changes to get back in the power. Of course you also dont worry about gears if braking hard, or doing an emergency stop.
In some ways its probably best for a novice rider to keep going up and down the gears one by one, as he will get used to shifting more quickly, until it becomes second nature.

WildGoose · White Van Man Joined: 20 Mar 2002 Karma :

so if you shift in one direction to go into first, then in the opposite direction for the rest of the gears, dont you go back into neutral on the way to second?

btw: ive done my CBT but only on a moped, do you have to take another for a geared bike?

i was just gonna go straight for the restricted access course when im 17

im confused, hehe

kind regards

Phil.S · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

err sort of but it always seems to go past it in fact
finding nuetral is generally harder on any bike
it sits between 1&2nd