Advice for beginners
 

When you first started out (or set out to learn how to ride), what is the best piece of advice someone gave you? And what did you learn along the way that you WISH someone had told you (that might have helped you or saved you some frustration?)

best advice i got- "dont die, i will kill you if you do!"

i love you pc :hug:

Just about everything they taught in the MSF class was good advice. I still apply those riding techniques and principals today. Keeping a clear mind while riding can also save your ass. If your head is not in the game when you first sit on the bike, you're going to be in a world of hurt in a very short time.

I was given the "mantras" of riding: Take your MSF class, wear your gear, and ride your own ride (all great pieces of advice everyone should be told).

But I was also (thankfully) warned that a 600 is not a "little" bike (when I first decided I wanted to get a bike, I wanted a then-new ZX6R 636, and was operating under the mistaken impression that it's "only" a 600 :lol: ).

As for what I WISH I'd been told? Hah, how friggin addictive riding is!!!!

ABSOLUTLEY.

i was never really offered any advice when it came to starting to ride on the street. i started racing offroad, got a job at a mc shop for the discount and learned to ride streetbikes on old used bikes from the barn :lol:

I wish somebody would have help me buy gear and how it should fit.

I can always say take the BRC MSF course. Did I "no" did the DMV thing. Then I got talked into taking the BRC MSF ridercourse, but I learn a lot at the BRC. Then later I took the ERC MSF course.

Now I work with a MSF RiderCoach school.

It does not take too much skill to actually get the motorcycle rolling and going down the rode. Being a safe, efficient and effective rider is an ongoing experience and anything that might improve my skills is worth taking.

Best advice I could give a beginner...

1) Take the MSF class
2) Make sure to set aside money for riding gear
3) Check your ego at the door. Don't go out and try and buy the latest and most powerfull GSXRZX1000RR as your first bike.
4) Never buy a new bike for your first bike. You will drop it. Things happen.
5) Take the MSF class
6) Practice, practice, and practice everything you learned in the MSF class
7) Find some good riders to surround yourself with and support you. The key word being good riders.
8) Always ride your own ride. Don't try and keep up with anyone, don't try and show off to anyone, Don't try and break any land speed records. Any idiot can twist the throttle and go fast in a straight line.
9) Respect the bike always.
10) When you think you are ready for that GSXRZX1000RR and have outgrown your starter bike. Think again. Go take an ERC MSF class. Go do a track day. You will learn more about your bike then you ever thought you could.

I think the two most important things a beginner can be told is:

1. ALWAYS WEAR GEAR
2. Ride your own pace.


When you try to keep up with faster riders bad bad bad things happen.

This is one I wish I would have gotten but learned the hard way


No front brake on gravel :wtfru:

you wouldn't Learn how to drive in a Lamborgini Diablo... it's got way to much power for a new driver to learn... JUST LIKE you don't need a 1000cc bike to learn on... if you truely love riding you'll eventually go there or figure out that 1000cc's isn't needed for you to enjoy 2wheels

your gear is a MANDATORY non negotiable part of purchase of a motorcycle... Factor it in and if you must downgrade something... Downgrade the bike (what ever you get will be more than enough to put a smile on your face)! The GEAR is what's gonna keep you safe!

The MSF is the same as gear... Should be required by law. Take it and practice!

And remember:
The people who care what you ride don't matter... The people who do matter... Don't care!

Oh... and if your not having fun... your not doing it right!

neon... you forgot to put in there... kick your MSF instructor in the balls. If its a woman, kick her in where she wishes she had balls.

Oh and by the way, me and the wife took the MSF last year (me going for moral support and outriding the instructor..thank you thank you), and I had taught her everything they were teaching and more... on my own...

Sorry... you going to build my side car for the chop to carry my ego... cya later... :D

Hehehe, as part of the range rules, we have added Rule # 11. Never, ever, ever hit the rider coach. Remember we're the ones that grade your written and riding evaluation at the end of the weekend :devil:

Thats only because you didn't take the class with me. I would have taught you a few new things. :whistle:

:cheers:

Well the true part was... the instructor would bust my balls to my face, made me go first on EVERYTHING with minimal explanation of what to do, but when I did it all Aces he would tell the rest of the class watching.. "that is how you do it. notice he is doing this or that. do it like him and you'll pass!"

Of coarse 2 of the 3 days we rode to class.. chopper and all. i even threatened to bring the chop on the coarse to show them how you do it on a 9' long raked out beast.

They even made us do a panic stop in mid corner at speed. I endo'ed the little bike while in lean and landed it. About a 90 degree turning stoppy. The guy's jaw dropped. It rocked! :lol:

hah do we even have to worry about newbies? i mean come on, they'll figure it out one way or another. or they'll wreck and die.

We are here to help people before that happens.

true, but i'm fairly sure that the only members on this board right now know exactly what to do with a bike between their legs...

We wont always be full of experienced riders. We will get newbs that will our need help.

yeah, true true... and when they come, i will post the same old crap i've always posted.

too bad i dont have my nifty newbie thread anymore.

Lets not scare the newbs away.

We want newbs. Hell if it wasn't for TWF I wouldn't of started out on a SV and worked my way up to the rider I am today. I want to educate people and teach them the right ways to get into this world. Let's not run em off to kill themselves. However, we can only help the ones that want to listen. Darwin helps us here.

+1

It's only a matter of time before you wreck, you better be prepared, and buy a solo seat bike.

The day you come back from a ride and say "I didn't learn anything today" is the day to park the bike. I've been riding for 43 years and always learn SOMETHING when I ride, no matter how small...either about the bike or my skills. Even when you run out of talent and toss it, you at least found out where your limit is.

There are two types of riders: Those who have been down, and those who will be down. Don't buy a brand new bike at first because it will hurt you a lot more to drop that than an old beater.

Hey now. Everyone on here has been a newbie at one time. Nobody gets on a motorcycle and can ride like Rossi from day 1. Heck I considered myself a newbie for almost 2 years, and that was with almost 20,000 miles under my belt.

As was mentioned in this thread already, i'm always learning new skills or practicing old skills. Motorcycling is an ongoing process. As my sig says, motorcycling is like playing chess. Anyone can learn the moves, but it takes a lifetime to master the game.

TRUTH!


but NtS's post was VERY sarcastic... he just doesn't believe in smilies

Taking the MSF course was the best thing I could have done.

My husband taught me in a parking lot and I had very little confidence...after completing the class I felt so great about my abilities. :beers:

The whole wearing gear thing was an always thing for me...I like my skin! :yes:

ya im all about helpin my fellow rider.

but im not all about expressing fake emotions on the internet like a madman.

:lol: it's ok... we understand

Advice for noobs?

Don't ride like an asshole.

BOOM.... our slogan! WELCOME TO TWFix... Don't ride like an asshole!


I LIKE IT!:rockwoot:

+1 on the new slogan

:diitb:

:lol: I think if things ever get slow drewpy should rename smilies :lol:

Advice for newbies? Ride the track first, best place to learn your bike.

The Course! GEAR!! Take it slow! The end!

What Was The Worst...
 

..piece of advice or riding lore you were given?

Mine was; "Don't use the front brake; it'll throw you over the handlebars". this was in the days of transition from drum fronts to single solid disks; about 30% of the braking power of today's stuff. Sillyness.

Never, ever, Never ....Armor-All a motorcycle tire !! :whistle:

Keep the shiney side up and the rubber side down....

DON'T RIDE YOU WILL KILL YOURSELF! :panic::jump:

To reiterate what has been said already - Start on a Used bike You are going to drop it most likely. Probably just in your driveway, garage, a parking lot, or trying to off road it (cough what dumbass would do that?), kickstand on asphalt on a hot day, etc etc but most likely its going to hit the ground at some point in time

AWESOME advice...

I dropped mine trying to load it in my truck by myself... :whistle:

and again when trying to pump up a plugged tire...

and it was on it's side again in the parking lot because some fuck'n kids... wierdly enough... it didn't cause any new damage...

get comfortable with the throttle....i made that mistake 24 hours after getting my buell and i wound up with a broken ankle and fuct-up buell race exhaust....
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ator676822.jpg

how you do that?? land it on a curb or something??

Careful with the seat too :lol:

and the hand grips! and the rubber on stock foot pegs!(actually seen it!)

Or your husband will drop it!!! :willy:

Yep, doing the seat is a good way to crack the ole' walnuts upon braking though, and yes, I speak from experience :lol:


:doh:

I was think'n more from sliding off in a corner... but damn... OUCH! :lol:

You are 100% correct!!:dthumb:

HOLY SHIT!

I rode with a newbie once. He skidded through a stop light because he only used his rear brake (and he was going WAY too fast for the road). He was lucky nobody was coming or he'd have been done. I asked why he wasn't able to stop, because I was (yes, I was going too fast too). I discovered he wasn't using his front brake because he was afraid it would flip him. I showed him I could stop using ONLY my front brake, without lifting the rear tire off the ground. He tried it and was amazed.

What's the best advice I can give newbies? Don't panic. Look where you want to go, trust your tires and your brakes. If you are looking at the object you are afraid of, you will hit said object. If you look where you actually want to go (which is to the side of said object), you will miss the object you fear. Your tires will do more than you can imagine. Obviously, don't just grab a handful of front brake, but you must use it as it provides most of the stopping power of your bike.

PRACTICE,PRACTICE,PRACTICE!!! Find someone with experience and the patience to mentor you. Go out ALONE or with your mentor and ride familiar stretches of road or in deserted parking lots to hone your skills. Take the time to really get familiar with the controls and what they do,down to the turning signal switch! Try to understand how the machine works and the basic principles involved;countersteering,brakes,suspension,drive train,etc. For god's sake get someone to help you learn how to maintain your bike and READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL!!! If I see another 600 with a rusty chain dragging the ground, bald tires,and brakes squealing at every stop sign!
Btw,I don't agree with learning on the track as that's how my '95 FZR1000 got totalled. Some newbie doing 40mph in a 80-100mph blind corner! I found out later that this kid have only owned the bike a couple weeks.....

1. Take the MSF
2. Wear your fucking gear
3. Practice x3
4. Study
5. No matter how good you think you're getting, you're still really slow

yup changed my mind because I grew up around the NMB area and dragstrips stretched.slammed,chrome which I still like but I want a performance machine before I start working on a trailer queen but now i'm hating life my bitch is still fun but I think a 600cc with upgrades and soft rubber my skill level will improve even more but a new bike is not looking so good with these house payments I have now that I didn't have before but i'm gonna just stack my chips and pay cash on a nice used 600cc beast there are a million on craiglist and ebay but may take me till the end of the summer to get the loot

:spam:

Never really got advice when I first started riding. When I started getting more and more serious about getting fast, I did a lot of reading on form, shifting and other things. Met some good guys in Vegas who helped me out a lot too.

So my suggestion would be to read and learn as much as possible.

Ride within your ability and know your limits. Don't ride to show off, ride for your enjoyment. And pretty much anything else that your Local Safety Course says.

6. practice
7.practice
8.practice
9. fix your bike when NOT if you fall
10. practice
11. when you think youve mastered something... practice more.
12. upgrade equipment/gear
13. practice...

Take the MSF course.
Read books like Proficient Motorcycling (Very helpful to me when I was just starting)
LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO!!!....this was the most effective advice for me, and saved my life once when an SUV was completely in my lane in a curve once, and I was only riding about a year
Wear gear! This gal thinks guys in leathers and a helmet look much cooler and sexy than guys with a t-shirt and backwards baseball cap! (Helmets are voluntary here in PA)
And what took me too long to discover? How much fun track days are!!!

Well, that's why I'm here. I think the most important thing for me personally is that I know that there is a lot I don't know.
(I had to re-read that a few times to make sure it made sense.)
A lot of what I learned doing track events in a car has transferred over to the bike: look ahead, look where you want to go, check your mirrors, get all your braking done before you turn, etc. Being able to read a turn and know my turn in point, apex and track out has helped considerably on the bike where in car, your margin for error is far more forgiving.
I started to be on of the fastest cars in my run groups and then one day I let a semi-pro drive my car and then I learned how little I knew about car control and how much I had to learn. :lol:
So, since I am a bike noob, I know that there is always going to be a lot to learn, even once I think I know what I am doing.

So to sum up most posts...I should practice? :)

I know a polish guy at work and I overheard him talking to a friend of mine (who is interested in getting his license) and he was saying never use the front brake, only the rear. I could NOT get through to this guy that the front brake does almost all of the stopping done right so he went off talking about all his "experience" riding, apparently he toured Europe in the 70's, all using just his rear brake. The guy knows 6 languages but how the hell he is still alive I'll never know!

front brake is awesome on street, rear brake is awesome on dirt/gravel.

tell him to find a track, place cones out and have a bike go the same speed (say even just 25 mph or kph or whatever) for 3 runs: Have 1 hit just the rear brake at the cones and measure the distance it took to stop... then have the 2nd hit just the front brake at the cones and measure the distance it took to stop... on the 3rd run hit both and measure the distance it took to stop.

Then kick the guy in the balls for being a dumbass. The gene pool is contaminated enough.