First full week as a biker

[Kamikaze Bob]

After a few hiccups last week, I've ridden in and out of work every day this week. Had a few goes at filtering on the motorway, some back roads, and a few idiots who don't look out for bikes. Or do look out and purposely try to block me!

A few small things I've noticed in the past week on the VFR:

Filtering is tiring when doing it a lot - it took longer getting home last night on the motorway than my usual back road route, mostly due to almost constant bumper-to-bumper traffic. I took it easy but my arms and upper body were sore last night, although I may be tightening up a little as I'm not used to it yet

The slightly bent-over riding position isn't killing me as much as I thought (I have a very old back injury which I was expecting to kick in) but the base of my neck hurts after a while. Could that be due to the backpack I'm wearing?

The inner gloves I bought are already scrapped. Put them on yesterday on the way in as my fingers were almost numb earlier this week, [edit - numb from cold, not vibration or anything, should have said] they just caused me to lose feeling on the throttle. Couple that with more end-to-end traffic and loads of filtering and my right arm was stiff yesterday morning

Also, overall I feel more tired than usual from riding, but I expect that will be from more constant riding, rather than just lessons for a few hours every week or two.

One thing I do want to ask - how do most people handle riding in the pitch black on the back roads? I drove the A71 from Blackburn to Wishaw once a week after work all summer and loved it. Done it Wednesday night and got to my destination with slightly brown underwear! I kept the speed up but not being able to see the road in front of me was a bit daunting to say the least! Tried using the pass light to give me a snapshot of the road but is it alright to keep doing that?

Oh, and the Fi light was flickering last night on the way home. Some research and subsequent testing on the ride in this morning tells me the earth box is probably fecked, so that's my weekend sorted! The missus will have a fit when she finds out....
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2001 Honda VFR800fi

[barrkel]

[Kamikaze Bob]

Cheers barrkel - I should have made it clearer tho, the numb fingers were from the cold, nothing to do with vibration or anything. Tried the pair of inner gloves as insulation but lost the feel of the throttle. For my half-hour commute the cold fingers at the end were easier to live with.

Have told the missus I want to get the Shark Evoline helmet, as a flip-front would help with my specs and I like a bit of wind in my face at slower speeds. Tried it on at my local J&S at the weekend and I really like it, but don't have £320 to spend just now. Will probably get some gift vouchers at Xmas but will still have to put a fair whack to it myself.

Is there anyone in the Motherwell area who would be able to help out with the earth box at all? I'd be able to find my way, but as it's my first bike I don't want to fuck it up trying to get to it.
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2001 Honda VFR800fi

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[chickenstrip]

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[Kamikaze Bob]

Thanks for the replies guys. Should have edited the initial post after barrkel's post - the numbness the other day was from cold, not vibration or anything. Tried the gloves for warmth but all they did was lose feeling on the throttle and didn't help with the cold much anyways.

Took off from work an hour early today and rode the same A71 stretch in the daylight and it was much easier. Except for the massive side-wind threatening to blow me into oncoming traffic! Just need to slow it down in the dark as suggested, take it easier.

Did manage to shake a nut loose today, resulting in my exhaust hitting the ground. Got it back on well enough to get to my local garage and get it sorted, but that was something I didn't expect. Won't be using the backpack much longer, have a tankbag coming - free gift for a subscription to Ride - and it should be big enough to cover the work stuff.

Have also decided, for times' sake as much as fun, to keep taking my back road route rather than the motorway. At least I have the chance to overtake on most of it instead of picking my way through traffic, and I'm sure my average speed is higher. Should also help me loosen up a bit if I'm not trying to constantly watch my flanks for idiots in Audis or vans, and at least I know that filtering isn't as bad as some make out and I should be fine if I ever have to do it again.
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2001 Honda VFR800fi

[chickenstrip]

Cold hands; handlebar muffs (very effective but look awful) or heated grips - bliss!
And of course there are heated gloves available, tho' personally I CBA with wires hanging out/connecting up every time etc. So plenty of methods to try.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
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[Kamikaze Bob]

Well there are heated grips on the bike, just need to get a controller and wire them up. But want to get the Fi light sorted first, no point getting the hands heated if the bike's gonna break down.
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2001 Honda VFR800fi

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