Just finished first ride, tips to be safe?  By  an1m3n00b (Read 2,542 times)

You need to just take it slow. At this stage you need to spend time getting used to how you and the bike work together. I have been riding for 20+ years and when I get a new machine I am very cautious with it for the first 100 or so miles especially with how it turns and brakes. Take it slow ride easy roads slowly. Or find an empty parking lot and run figure eights and circles right and left. Get a feel for the brakes learn how a when the back tire locks up. Go slow that machine is to pretty to destroy. Even worse I'm sure there are folks that will miss you too...

Not much to the brights check the 2 connections and the the switch itself. I use the jiggling method and then I get out my meter...

alright, so next time i'll definitely try to take it slower. And keep on the throttle. And overall just try to remember all the stuff they crammed into two days of riding...

Been driving for over 25 years on 2 wheels.
It took me quite a few falls to learn to drive, and from there learn the limits of the tires.

I'm not saying I'm a pro racer, but I kind of can predict with 80% certainty, how much a certain type of road will grip to my tires, or my tires to the road.
Comes with experience. Braking hard sometimes makes you slip and fall. Once you know how hard you can brake, because you slipped (went past the tire grip), you'll be more careful next time ;D

I know when I'm approaching a less stable ground, like a deep paddle of water, or a gravel road in a corner, about how fast I should enter.
I know that I probably could do 15-20% faster, and occasionally would go 10% faster, but always leave a margin for uncertainty,
Uncertainty like traffic, your environment, unexpected road conditions like slippery, or potholes, etc...

Estimating road conditions is only one of the multi tasking tasks you need to do on the road.
Your primary focus should be traffic, and environment.
Always expect the unexpected.
If you see a car parked to the side of the road, pass by it with at least 3ft distance, should the driver decide to step out of the car, and open the door.
Should you see a truck parked to the side, slow down and pass 3-5ft away from it, as there always can be a person in a hurry trying to cross the street without looking; and since it's a truck, it would block your view, and you can't see the person.

NEVER TRUST EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE!!!
ALWAYS LOOK, WHEN YOU CAN!!!

With that I mean, do not make a sharp corner on the road, to enter into another road, without looking if both on the past and coming road there are no obstacles, like objects, pedestrians, or vehicles that could block your way, or where you would block theirs.

Learn the skill of defensive driving. Expect the unexpected.
When lane changing always BML (BLINK, MIRROR, LOOK BACK), or blinkers on, look in the mirror, and if the mirror is ok, quickly look backwards before making the turn.
Don't look backwards too long, or the car before you might stop and when you look forward again, find yourself kissing the other car's rear trunk!
I usually let go of the throttle at the moment I quickly look back.
I don't need to stare backwards to get a clear view.
All I need to do is glimpse backward, for less than 1/2 second, which is good enough for your brain to process the situation behind you, even after your head is turned forward again..
A sharp clear image is not necessary. You don't need to know what the person behind you is doing besides riding. You need to know the locations of the cars, their entry speed, and calculate from there, if you can make a turn or not.
Sometimes spotting close cars in your mirrors again before making the turn...

Anyway, too much to tell...
Start with learning defensive riding.
Then start with learning the grip of the tires, by braking while riding in a straight line.
Also learn cornering (cornering usually is done <20MPH. Ride, and look at your speedo, see how fast you're going. After a while you'll 'feel' the right speed, rather than read it from the speedo.
going 45 in a 40MPH road, will 'feel' too fast.

Something just occured to me, my tires were at 47psi up front and 40psi in the back. The walls of the tires say "47PSI FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT" but the stella manual says 22 front/ 29 rear. I should mention these are tubeless tires, with good tread (the guy i bought it from said they were new). Could that explain my uneasy feeling in the back end and my lack of grip? And what PSI are the tires supposed to be at?

So I'll deflate them to 22/29 before I go riding tonight and see how that goes. Hopefully nothing goes boom...

Good luck dude! have fun

Here are a few tips.

I tend to watch the road ahead when I'm scootin. I dodge things like potholes or bumps.. sewer holes.

If I'm going over rough terrain like gravel road or dirt I stay erect. No leaning, or not much cause the road under is inconsistant and you will feel it just riding over.

Do what the MSF teaches: look, press, lean, roll right? something like that..

Basically, press into a turn and look where you want to go, and the entire thing will tend to follow.

That's all I got for now. Cheers

Have you practiced a panic stop yet?? This is another biggie... not only to figure out how quickly you can stop, but to make sure something doesn't go 'pop' or give out when you apply threshold pressure.
Also it's good to find the skid threshold of your rear brake... because if you have to go down, they taught us about forcing a low-side fall by locking up the rear brake. Evidently you have less chance of surviving a 'superman' high-side fall...