Feeling like I'm starting to get it....

[Tamsin]

So, its been a month and a half since I passed my CBT and about 5 weeks that I've been on the road on 2 wheels.

I'm still making some proper noobish mistakes but I'm actually really starting to feel like I'm beginning to get the hang of this motorbike malarky

Still nervous of speed but on the way into work this morning I got stuck in some pretty gnarly traffic and found myself in a group of 4 more experienced bikers and I was handling things in the same way as them (apart from one instance where they filtered and I chose not to - but I caught up with them at the next lights) which gave me some confidence.

I found myself exercising the slow control, clutch bitey point stuff, trying to keep the bike moving rather than having to put my foot down etc and it actually felt pretty good.

I'm learning to relax and trust myself and the bike a bit better, and slowly beginning to up the wick a little bit - I'll happily gun it upto about 25 at the moment and then be reluctant to go much quicker - the bike feels so much faster than the car...

[Karlbristol]

Congrats - sounds like your doing really well! Keep it up. The longer your on the road on two wheels, the more second nature it will feel and the more your skills will improve. Just keep plugging away at it. Give it a couple of months and you'll be amazed how far you've come!

Oh and it's good to have the confidence not to squeeze through a filtering gap if your not comfortable just because other riders are. For all you know they are might not have been doing it safely. I often sit in a queue of traffic whilst people pass me - nothing to be ashamed of!

[maph3rs]

The more you ride the more it will become more confortable.

Only problem with that is when you get on a bigger bike (if your riding a 125 that is) its another new ball game!!

I got wrong for using the snail crawl too much when riding. Especially when coming to a stop :-/

Filtering will come in time, just make sure its safe to do so.
You'll soon be whizzing through the traffic jams

[MC]

Is this your fortnightly update? Just kidding. The longer you ride the less $hit moments you'll have, but you're always learning, getting better. Come summer you should be ready to do your tests, get a bigger bike, then feel like a noob all over again

Edit: 25 Always found the opposite, 30 feels quick in the van, 60 feels slow on the bike.
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[DottyDuck]

[Nobby the Bastard]

The biggest difference between riding a tiddler and a big bike is the weight.

On a little bike, the instinctive response if things go wrong at slow speed it to brake and hold the fucker up.

Do that on a big one and you'll find out quite quickly just how heavy it is.

The correct response is to open the throttle up which will stand the bike up. It is completely conter-intuitive though.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[maph3rs]

[MC]

On a 125 you can get away with controlling the bike with just the throttle pretty much all the time, on a big bike you have to use the clutch a lot more. I still miss my 125 for whizzing round side roads, but in every other respect a big bikes better.
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[Tamsin]

Ride back from work was good too, prob best run I've had so far happily holding it at an indicated 35 (apart from passing the scamera)

[MC]

35, so you were in a 20 zone then? If you ever feel like the speed your doing's too fast, accelerate another 10mph, then back off again. Soon you'll find the original speed no longer an issue.
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[Tamsin]

I generally get held up by cagers in the 20 zone, but thats OK - I'm quite content to bimble behind em

[Sabs]

Nothing wrong with a bimble, I quite enjoy one myself, there's usually no rush
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