DAS training - day 2 or...

...."Why didn't anyone tell me that air was so thick?"

Well this motorcycle training has been a real voyage of discovery. On day 1
I discovered (many times) that motorbike indicators don't normally self
cancel. Well today, I learnt that contrary to appearances, we live at the
bottom of a sea of treacly stuff. ;-)

It was a wet and blustery morning here in Ayr this morning and I got a call
from the trainer early on asking about the local weather and wondered if I
still wanted to go out. Well, not wanting to be thought a wimp I said yes
and when I arrived at the training centre I suggested, half jokingly, that
as it was windy I might be better with a heavier bike (looking towards the
Honda CBF 500s parked nearby).

After a quick phone call to confer with my trainer on Tuesday it was agreed
that I could try the 500 (woo hoo!). I was a bit apprehensive about coping
with the weight of the bike but after a bit of walking around with the bike
it felt okay so it was time to hop on and fire it up. Almost immediately I
was impressed with the extra stability that the weight confered and after a
weave in and out of some cones for practice, it was into town to play with
the traffic.

I won't bore you with all the details but it was showery & blustery but I
think I handled the bike okay. Certainly I got positive feedback from my
instructor.

After an age of messing about in traffic we returned to base to pick up
another rider who passed his test yesterday but wanted to join us for a ride
out in the country. I had my Garmin strapped on so you can see where we
went.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85134276

All in all spent about 3 and a half hour riding and covered 66 miles.
Enough for a second day as my head was getting a bit sore from the helmet
and my arms from the unaccustomed effort of hanging on against the wind.

Tim

 

Part of the problem is your extreme speed. It is well known that speeds
over 55 mph cause breathing difficulties due to the low pressure inside
the helmet. Do be careful.

 

I also found that the 500cc bikes are easier to learn on (once you've
learnt enough throttle/clutch technique not to wheelie into the scenery).

Try leaning forward more - the wind then supports you.

 

"Tim Downie" wrote in message

Well you covered plenty of interesting roads for a beginner on a bigger
bike.

It was bloody windy in Killie too, so I don't envy you trying to learn to
ride a bike in that!

I see you're training with Pegasus, they were very helpful when my son did
his CBT a wee while back.

Is Pauline still with them?

--
Frooty

GSX1300RX Hayabusa - Inter Continental Ballistic Motorcycle
TT250R - Wee dirty wan
Lifan LF50QGY - Wee monkey wan
Down to just three toys :-[


--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

 

Yep. It was Pauline who took me out yesterday.

Tim

 

She obviously didn't do a very good job as you're still here.