FFS, I'm going to change my name to Captain Drops... After not riding at all for the last 3 weeks due to gob-smacking amounts of family health drama, unavailability of shadows and pretty intense rain (for Perth) last weekend, I was feeling pretty twitchy and really needed some bike time yesterday. My shadows came down from the hills but drove down with their families. Once they were here, one of them rode my bike, and I went in a car with the other to a hidden little road I know, as all I wanted to do was practice my low speed drills and e-stops, so they could just stand on the side of the road and watch. So we pulled up on this road I picked, pretty straight and level-ish, gravel shoulders and drainage ditches on both sides, about a kilometre long, open field on one side, giant sound-reducing wall on the other, hiding us from the highway this road paralleled. I got my gear and helmet on, hopped on the bike, rode maybe 60 metres and did a u-turn and promptly dropped the poor ZZR! What the hell? Turns out i stuffed a change and attempted to U-turn in neutral. Idiot. My shadow and I checked the bike. A few scratches on the fairing but nothing else so I hopped back on the bike, rode back up the road, performed a pretty unstable turn and came back down the road. Went past the car, did another unstable turn, went back and did another wobbly turn in which I stuck out my leg (i didn't put the foot down but it still pissed me off), went back and did a very good e-stop at the car. Chatted to the boys for a sec, headed off, did another turn and dropped the f#cking bike again! God-d@mn it! More scratches and I'd loosened up the brake lever but otherwise seemed fine so, back on the bike, back up the road and I'm not happy with a new noise from the front wheel. Do a three point turn and I slowly ride back to the car. We put the bike up on the centre-stand and spin the front wheel and notice that the outer edge of the brake rotor is making a little scrape at one point as it goes through the caliper. Can't see any real damage but I'm not having a happy day. One of the boys says he take it for a test to make sure it's all good. When he rides off his dad says "You know, I don't think you've picked a very good road here." "Why not?" "Well, you've got gravel shoulders which often messes with your head when you are trying to start a u-turn from the gravel and we paced it out and I'm not actually sure this road is 6 metres wide. From gravel to gravel I make it about 5 and a half." "Too narrow?" "Well, you're not making it easy on yourself." Other shadow comes back, declares the bike rides fine but the brake lever is a bit bent and loose, then continues up the road and does a U-ey. I am thrilled to see that he can't do it either! His dad is next to me pissing himself that his boy ran out of road attempting the turn but I notice he's not volunteering to show us how it's done. So, I get the bike back, do three or four more wobbly turns (it can be done, dammit! I just can't do it smoothly), do a couple more e-stops and call it a day. My shadow takes the bike, I hop in the car with his dad, and we all go home. "You know, high speed or low speed, dropping the bike can shake any of us up." he says. "Sure, I get that but I'm not anywhere near as shaken up as I am pissed off! Doing it twice really annoyed the **** out of me." "Well, I think a narrow road, with gravel shoulders, with a definite hump in the middle compared to the edges may not have been the best place to do turns." I appreciate him trying to make me feel better but I'm still annoyed so I just leave it. We get home and sort out the brake lever while chatting to my wife and she says "Yeah, I reckon not actually riding down there may have contributed to the problem." "Why's that?" "Well, you haven't been on the bike in 3 weeks, you don't ride it down to re-acclimatize yourself with it and then the first thing you do is a U-turn? I reckon that's a bit dumb." Lol, thanks babe Whatever, I'm still a bit annoyed about the drops but I've got two lessons with the instructor this week, on my bike, so that should help me and I'm really looking forward to those sessions. Apparently I need them On another happy note, I should be getting my long-term project this week but I'll share that once I pick it up
Why do people want to U turn with their feet up? Wats the point? I never turn in a small area with my feet up ..... small sports bikes arnt made to do it .... I always have my foot down ready to stop falling any time Im riding at very slow speed Just like our stupid P testing .... go round cones and do sharp U turns .... **** thats useful for riding on the roads
Yeah, I figure it's like push-pull steering when I did my car licence; learn it for the test, never do it again. Mind you, every time I ask anything similar I'm told "...because it proves you have control over the bike..." Fine, whatever it takes to pass the test....
The way to learn control over a bike is to ride .... ride , ride , ride .... then ride some more And I dont mean just out on country roads ..... traffic , intersections , roundabouts! Then u might find u have much more confidence to do things like U turns
Think you got it...........whatever is required to pass the test no point fighting it, will you use it again...probably not???
I can tell by your posts and wat your doing that u have no confidence ... thats not a criticism just an observation Youre trying to do tricky manouveres without having confidence in your ability to control the bike And as I mentioned ..... ride the bike ..... ride ride ride ..... dont let others do it .... you do it When u do hours of riding in all situations then you will be able to do anything without thinking twice about it..... the control will just come naturally.
I'm more than happy to do hours and hours and hours on the bike, but first I need to pass the test so I can ride without having to find shadows to ride with me
Just reading up on your Learners in WA ..... well aint that a stupid way to do it you have to have someone with u for 25 hours? ..... and they even suggest as a pillion???? ...... how DUMB is that? We go for a weekend course , answer a few questions then away u go for up to 12 months on Ls and do wateva u want on a LAMS bike.
They don't call it Wait Awhile for nothing... for your firearms license you have to buy a gun first and then get the license. Makes sense doesn't it!??
Yep, Grey, it's pretty dumb and when your shadows have to ride 90 minutes to join you and then 90 minutes home...well, it get's tough to convince them I've envied your system for a while, but what are you gonna do? And weren't we (Wait Awhile) also the last state to introduce LAMS?
Agreed the P's tests cone weave and u-turn are totally irrelevant to real world ridding. I had to pretty much burn out my old clutch to get the mc22 to get it to do what was requested "motorbikes wet clutches can handle it" they say, my clutch started slipping the next day.
I think the cone weaving, figure of 8's and u Turns are about showing the examiner that you can handle the bike in both slow moving traffic and at speed. Good on you Jazzhunt for having a go, maybe you should see if you can get a few lessons from your local riding school, they might help you with technique which will help build confidence when out on the road.
Yep, all set @kiffsta, one tomorrow, one on Friday, one next Tuesday and we'll see how we go from there The testing folk tend to be very grim if you haven't had at least one riding school lesson before you rock up for the test in any case Personally, I'm pretty damn happy about it just because I can get another ride! The whole 'every ride has to be accompanied by an instructor or shadow with 4 years experience' while on your L plates makes it pretty damn hard to get as much riding as I'd like.
get on the net, you got places like https://www.perthstreetbikes.com/forum/ and i am sure others on FB and the like. put a post up and see if anyone is around and can go for a ride with you. i know lots of people do that in groups here in BNE and always get people saying yes and taking learners out for a ride.
Mate, shame I'm not in Perth because I would be more than happy to travel with you, alas I no longer live in W.A. Think the advise given is sound and valid........get out there and ride, more hours in the saddle= more confidence
The ACT doesn't have LAMS. We have a weird power-to-weight-ratio rule instead. Some LAMS bikes don't meet the criteria and some bikes are legal for ACT "Learner and Novice Riders" (i.e. L and P platers) but not LAMS-compliant! We do have the mandatory Pre-Learner and Provisional courses and no need to be shadowed or ride with an instructor though...
