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Relative Newbie : Overcoming Rider's Block

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JvD
L Plate Warrior



Joined: 26 May 2017
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PostPosted: 12:47 - 27 May 2017    Post subject: Relative Newbie : Overcoming Rider's Block Reply with quote

Hi bike fam,

Been lurking on motorcycle forums for a year now, looking up tips/advices from people who may have experienced what I am going through..but nothing helped. So I decided to come out of my shell (read introvert) and shout out a cry for help here.
A little background:
I'm 26, been fascinated with motorcycles since I was a kid, dad owned a blue Yamaha 2-stroke motorcycle, the first one in our little town. He sold it a few years after I was born, due to fear of being bike-jacked by militants (common in the Eastern part of India at that time) and bought a scooter. Few years later when things had calmed down, we got another motorcyle, nothing special, just a single-cyl 4-stroke commuter, which dad regularly used to get to and from work. I learned to ride on that motorcycle. Dad got me a gearless scooter when I was in high-school and I had a lot of fun riding it. Over the years I have ridden many commuter motorcycles and some sub-250cc sporty ones-for commuting and weekend trips.

Here's the worrying part, since the last two years I havent been feeling the same connection while riding as I used to. I felt like something was off, I panicked more often, wasnt as smooth as I used to be, shoulder pains and backaches. Had a couple of crashes too, didnt hit anyone, but panic braked and skid.
So, last year I decided to sell my bike as I had purchased it used, it was quite old and had some problems too. I was frustrated and wanted to start fresh, to buy a proper beginner motorcycle and hoped things would improve.
I got myself the CBR250R last year. Its been a year now, the shoulder pains and backaches are gone, but I still dont feel the connection with my bike. Earlier it was as if the bike was an extension of my own body, communicating as if telepathically, but now its not the same. Right turns are a breeze but left ones make me scared and extra alert, I m not relaxed while riding, still panic a lot.

Things I tried:
I observed the way I rode, the first thing I noticed was that I could tackle any right handled turn with ease, but not the left handed ones.
I thought since I had mostly ridden upright seating commuters, maybe I m doing something wrong, tried different riding techniques, body positioning, foot placement, countersteering, relaxed grip.
Rode some friends' motorcycles and found out that its not the bike but me.
Practiced on a playground and found I could do a right handed u-turn keeping the steering locked easily, but left u-turns still are uncomfortable.
Looked up everything on the internet including spine mis-alignment, incorrect body posture-which scared me even more.

At this point, I am desperate Sad There are no motorcycle riding classes where I live, and very few riding friends and they are spread across the country, so I am on my own. I had always loved riding, the freedom, the control and connection with the bike. I just want to be able to ride well again.

Has anyone here ever experienced anything like this? Do u have any tips that might help? What do you guys think m I doing incorrectly, any suggestions? Is it fear/lack of confidence? Could it be because of incorrect body posture or a spine-related problem? Any help would be great, guys.

Thanks!
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Sometimes the only way out is through.
"...Be like water, my friend" - Bruce Lee
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notabikeranym...
Formerly known as
meef



Joined: 02 Apr 2014
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PostPosted: 13:02 - 27 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://www.charlottefive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/F5xpGWu-1448911614.gif

Do a track day, or go round a fat (preferably deserted/quiet) roundabout 30 times trying to get your knee down, then hit up some twisties with someone more experienced and follow them through the corners as best you can. Obviously keep your own pace, or you'll lock up and crash quickly if you try to go above your limit, but have a look at what they're doing and try to emulate it. If their bike can do it yours probably can too.

Also loosen up. When you go out riding thinking "I'm not very confident today" or "going to try x y z to be faster today" then try to ride past your ability, you're going to target fixate/skid/crash. Try taking it easy and building up your speed slowly.

You could also could just try hitting the same left hander every time and repeating this until you're comfortable with lefts. Starting off slow, progressivley building speed and lean angle until you're satisfied/confident with left handers again. You'll get a feel for the body position/speed/feel of the bike if you repeat it on the same bend over and over. It'll help with the rest of your cornering confidence because if the bike can lean that far in one bend, it can lean that far in another.

I had a bit of an issue with right handers till I tried to get my knee down round a roundabout a billion times. Now they're just as natural feeling as lefts. I think a lot of people have a dominant side that feels natural and a side that needs work.

HTH Thumbs Up

Edit: watch this two or three times https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OQF7tygAi0
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Teflon-Mike
tl;dr



Joined: 01 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: 17:26 - 27 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

A cornering preference is quite common.

Here in the UK, that s usually a preference for right handers rather than lefts, because we drive on the left hand side of the road.

Has India decided what side of the road to drive on yet? There didn't seem to be any convention, last time I was there, though steering wheels did seem to be set on the right hand side of most cars and buses! Wink

In UK preference for rights over lefts is because you tend to have a better sight line through right hand bends, and the camber of the road, which is already tilted away from the vertical of the bike; on lefts, the bike is effectively already 'leaning' to the right, so tilting to the left, the contact patch has to go back through 'center' before learning 'in' to the bend so you can 'feel' the bike walk over two corners of the flat it normally runs on a straight line, as you tip-in, especially on more squared tyres.

Heads getting closer to hedges, on the other hand, is more a simple psychological 'thing'... personally I am far more comfy sticking my head in a hedge than over the white line into the path of an coming Scania truck... but psycology is a strange thing!

BUT.. first thing is that its a 'natural' thing, and there are a fair few reasons for it.... but severe cornering preferance can be a problem.

There was a lad when I did my part 1 test training umpety decades ago, who rode across Birmingham every Saturday for his lesson, without turning 'right'... when he wanted to turn right? He'd ride straight on, take the next left, then the next and then the next and hope that his little left hand loop put him on the road he wanted and not up a dead end! It was very amusing watching him do the slalom through the cones! Laughing If it's THAT severe, you don't need motorcycle tips.... you need a psychiatrist!

If NOT... bikes turn left, as well as right; get a grip man!

Spine anomalies?!? No! Just no! I have a friend who put his back out gawd knows how many times weight lifting; Every one does very bad "Now is the Winter of our Discontent" Shakespeare's Richard III 'hunch-back' jokes, when he' topples off the bike, he rides so 'skew'.. IF you have a disability that severe, again, you don't need tips on riding a motorcycle, you need an osteopath and possibly surgery!

Bike can go left, bike can go right... you have tried other bikes and proved that it's you that has the issue, not the bike; and it's almost guaranteed 99% of it is purely psychosomatic; a mental block.

Advice: Training: Practice; more training; more practice, possibly a bit of off-roading, more practice.

There's not a lot else I can suggest, really.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'
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Andy_Pagin
World Chat Champion



Joined: 08 Nov 2010
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PostPosted: 22:27 - 28 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Buy a bicycle, practice turns until you're confident, wear elbow pads and push your luck. Only real difference between a 125 and a bicycle is the engine.
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the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer
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JvD
L Plate Warrior



Joined: 26 May 2017
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PostPosted: 15:00 - 29 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Meef wrote:

Do a track day, or go round a fat (preferably deserted/quiet) roundabout 30 times trying to get your knee down, then hit up some twisties with someone more experienced and follow them through the corners as best you can. Obviously keep your own pace, or you'll lock up and crash quickly if you try to go above your limit, but have a look at what they're doing and try to emulate it. If their bike can do it yours probably can too.

Also loosen up. When you go out riding thinking "I'm not very confident today" or "going to try x y z to be faster today" then try to ride past your ability, you're going to target fixate/skid/crash. Try taking it easy and building up your speed slowly.

You could also could just try hitting the same left hander every time and repeating this until you're comfortable with lefts. Starting off slow, progressivley building speed and lean angle until you're satisfied/confident with left handers again. You'll get a feel for the body position/speed/feel of the bike if you repeat it on the same bend over and over. It'll help with the rest of your cornering confidence because if the bike can lean that far in one bend, it can lean that far in another.

I had a bit of an issue with right handers till I tried to get my knee down round a roundabout a billion times. Now they're just as natural feeling as lefts. I think a lot of people have a dominant side that feels natural and a side that needs work.

HTH Thumbs Up


Teflon-Mike wrote:

Has India decided what side of the road to drive on yet? There didn't seem to be any convention, last time I was there, though steering wheels did seem to be set on the right hand side of most cars and buses! Wink

Bike can go left, bike can go right... you have tried other bikes and proved that it's you that has the issue, not the bike; and it's almost guaranteed 99% of it is purely psychosomatic; a mental block.


Andy_Pagin wrote:

Buy a bicycle, practice turns until you're confident, wear elbow pads and push your luck. Only real difference between a 125 and a bicycle is the engine.


Thanks @Meef, I guess its practice that I really need, and lots of it! Went on an out of town solo trip early in the morning yesterday and was able to put this into practice. Thanks to lack of traffic, I was quite confident too. Thanks for the encouragement and the confidence bump-up!

@Teflon-Mike: Haha, we drive/ride on the left too, at least some of us do, unfortunately most don't. Its total chaos during rush hour - riding on pavements, wrong-side, one-ways, jumping lights-all while texting on their smartphones Laughing
In India, two wheelers are mostly seen as a means of transport, commuters and scooters fill the streets, these are not enthusiasts/bikers, they use their wheels to to get from A-B. For the few percentage of riders, and I m sure you'll agree, the '-' between A and B is the fun part!

As you said, it could all be in my head and messing with my confidence, and some of it could be because of the fear of being rammed into by a cager while he's busy texting! Evil or Very Mad

@Andy_Pagin Thats really interesting, I hadn't thought of this before, considering I loved riding bicycles before I could ride a motorcycle. I look forward to visiting my parents next month, they stay in the countryside so I will surely get a lot of practice there.

Teflon-Mike wrote:

There was a lad when I did my part 1 test training umpety decades ago, who rode across Birmingham every Saturday for his lesson, without turning 'right'... when he wanted to turn right? He'd ride straight on, take the next left, then the next and then the next and hope that his little left hand loop put him on the road he wanted and not up a dead end! It was very amusing watching him do the slalom through the cones! Laughing

Mr. Green Mr. Green that killed me
Mr. Green

And oh guys, i found this picture of Ted Simon on his website, u know the guy who rode around the world on his Triumph! (Attached) That address on the board: Ledo, Assam, is not far from where I grew up! I stumbled upon this picture when I was searching for riding tips, and I was like "whoa, he was here?!!"
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Sometimes the only way out is through.
"...Be like water, my friend" - Bruce Lee
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