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Getting back in the saddle

Nelly

Nelly

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Hi everyone,
For some of us the new season is just around the corner.

I just wanted to post up a "take your time" to get back in the saddle thread.
If anyone has a good routine for getting back on the bike after such a long winter please share your experience with us.

Last year we had 12 riders drop their bikes, some were just plain old accidents and some could have been avoided.

So enjoy the new season and importantly take take your time to become re acquainted.

Good luck

Nelly:thumbup:
 
Nelly said:
Hi everyone,
For some of us the new season is just around the corner.

I just wanted to post up a "take your time" to get back in the saddle thread.
If anyone has a good routine for getting back on the bike after such a long winter please share your experience with us.

Last year we had 12 riders drop their bikes, some were just plain old accidents and some could have been avoided.

So enjoy the new season and importantly take take your time to become re acquainted.

Good luck

Nelly:thumbup:
Click to expand...

On a more serious note:

One of the main problems here in Denmark when the season starts up again, is the fact that all the cages have gotten used to the fact that anything motorized on the roads per definition is a moped ....
It takes a months or so for all the cage drivers to get back in "summer mode", where they actually consider what it is comming towards them, and how fast it might be going.
Only thing we can do about this is to always expect that the cages DON'T see us, - slow down, be ready to emergency brake, make sure you have a way out.
 
Good call on this Nelly, this is the time in the UK when biker deaths go through the roof, mainly due to people pulling their litre superbikes out of the shed, slipping into the old leathers, trying to take a fast corner like Rossi and realising way too late that they've lost some of the sharpness of reaction that naturally builds up during a riding season.

It's not just your bike that needs a bit of TLC, the rider does too... for example, I haven't ridden a bike for a couple of months since my cruiser got written off, and I took my girlfriends fazer out for a half hour run (on private roads of course). Five minutes into the ride and my clutch hand and wrist are cramping like mad, I've lost all the strength in my clutch muscles through not using them. Now that's an easy fix, I can get a set of those hand excercisers.

But how do you train up other areas that have lost their edge, like reaction times? Speed perception? The "feel" of what the bike is doing?

Easy... take is slow and steady, build up speed just like you did when you first started riding. Your body remembers things, most of your memory for this stuff is in your muscles not your brain, it'll all come back. And by the time the sun starts shining regularly, you will be cornering like Rossi again, and you'll live through it.
 
Parking lot practice time.

Max braking.

Most important skill we have. The ability to shed speed quickly. Gotta keep that tool sharp.

Thanks Nelly.

I am all excited about warm pavement and hot tires.
 
I rode my bike not too long ago (moving) and boy was I rusty! I am SO looking forward to better/warm weather so I can start riding. I still have brand new tires that need to be put on! Can't wait.
 
Balance is just about the only thing that's not a LEARNED behavior of motorcycling.
I try to ride whenever it's dry out(not a rain rider, yet) to keep my skills refreshed, plus you just get that itch that can only be fixed by a nice ride.
I like to go out to some empty roads and practive hard acceleration and hard braking.

I recently went out to a tricky mountain rode I hadn't ridden in months and I felt my riding skills have actually been improved, despite not riding for a while. I felt more confident in turns, leaning, and the chicken strips on my tires got narrower.
But my senses came back to me when I hit a patch of sand or dirt in a sharp downhill turn and almost lost it. I don't know if it helps or not but my immediate, uncontrollable reaction when my rear tire breaks loose is to put my right food down on the pavement to keep my balance. Not sure if it helps or makes it worse, but I got to work on that.
 
A great example Pete,

"Its only a 15 mph corner", yet it went all to wrong.

[quote from Pete]

Trust your gut

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I had the afternoon open and headed up to Lime Creek Road, the only real stretch of twisties around here. It was on odd ride on the way out. The traffic was weird. It's hard to put my finger on it but it just felt weird. Kinda like in Iraq, some days didn't feel right so you laid low, today was like that. Traffic was busy, dorks were in my way, etc. I got to Lime Creek and there was a dead squirrel in the middle of one corner, then a couple of corners later an old, deaf, black lab slowly crossed the road. I throttled back and just cruised. As I got into the twisty area I opened it up until I caught a pick up and slowed down. As we came up on a corner I was trying to figure out how I was going to get around the truck. Suddenly he stopped. WTF??? Then I saw a blue SV650 in the ditch with the rider trying to pull the bike out. I stopped and asked him if he was okay. He just nodded. I parked and took my helmet off and asked him again if he was okay. He replied he couldn't get his bike out of the ditch. The odd part was he was totally up right, wheels on the dirt, and tugging at the bars. He pulling and pulling, nothing was happening. I clicked the bike out of second and into neutral and we got the bike on the shoulder of the road. He started going on about, "It's only a 15 mph corner, I should have made it." I asked the rider, wearing only a mesh Icon jacket and a "tribal" helmet, if he'd ever ridden the road before. "No, but I heard it was good." I told him to pre-ride the road, only 9.6 miles, and look for rocks, dirt, gravel, animals and police. I also told him that on the way down the hill the corner are decreasing so go slower into them. I also warned him that the residents will call the police if you ride like an ass. I asked him a third time if he was okay and he nodded yes and got back on his bike. Hopefully he made it down the road okay and thought about what happened. Oh and here's the good part. He managed to stop about 4 feet from a rock wall. Any further and splat!

So as Spring approaches be on guard for gravel, cagers and most importantly your brain not being fully ready to ride. Remember all of the crashes we has last Spring???

When in doubt lean more, until you drag hard parts!!!!
 
Great thread Nelly. On my commute this morning I was thinking about the days getting longer and (slowly but surely) getting warmer, and of course about doing some riding other than the commute.

Last year as you said there were a lot of (unnecessary) accidents at the begininning of the season.

FZ6Sa has a good point too, the cagers are not really used to bikes being back on the roads .

Take it easy out there, and get used to riding your baby again;).
 
so, are you guys in the UK legally restricted from riding? Or just talking about people who dont winter commute?

I was of the understanding that weather here in Portland was much like the UK, wet and cold but rarely snowy. The only time I dont ride my fizzer is on the snow or *sometimes* when its just THAT crappy out.

Of course my buddy was telling me that he was riding in what felt like gale force winds over there, looking for a highway exit at 40-50 mph (i know km over there but the conversation was here) and riders were passing him at closer to 80-90.

So, long story short, I was confuse by your statements along with Jedi's:

"and I took my girlfriends fazer out for a half hour run (on private roads of course)."

Either way, the road welcomes you back. ;)
 
Winter is never a problem for me. Where i live it doesnt get colder than 35 or 40. Even that only happens for a day or two, after that it hovers in the mid 60s range. South Texas summers on the other hand.........usually mid 90s up to low 100s with 90% humidity....boy i cant wait:rolleyes:



*Farenheight (i think i miss-spelled it)
 
Last edited:
doc_simple said:
so, are you guys in the UK legally restricted from riding? Or just talking about people who dont winter commute?

I was of the understanding that weather here in Portland was much like the UK, wet and cold but rarely snowy. The only time I dont ride my fizzer is on the snow or *sometimes* when its just THAT crappy out.

Of course my buddy was telling me that he was riding in what felt like gale force winds over there, looking for a highway exit at 40-50 mph (i know km over there but the conversation was here) and riders were passing him at closer to 80-90.

So, long story short, I was confuse by your statements along with Jedi's:

"and I took my girlfriends fazer out for a half hour run (on private roads of course)."

Either way, the road welcomes you back. ;)
Click to expand...
Hi Mate,

No we are not restricted from riding in the winter (not sure where that came from) sorry for the confusion.
My idea with the thread was just to make people a bit more aware of returning back to two wheels after the bike has been stored over winter.

In the UK we have a huge population of bikers who are labeled "fair weather bikers". These bikers are typically in their 30's to 50's and have a bit of disposable income.

Sadly Jedi is correct. Every year guys get back on their bikes thinking that they were as sharp as the were when they stored their machines for the winter.
Last year on the forum we had 12 drops /offs in the first few weeks of the nice weather starting again.


Nelly
 
Fz6Sa said:
Maybe that came from my posts, - here in Denmark we have insurance rules that bans driving from dec 1. to march 1.
Click to expand...

Partly, but also from Jedi.

"for a half hour run (on private roads of course)."

I was thinking, "Why does it matter?" I guess he meant for safety till he gets back in form. Seemed odd, but we do plenty of odd things on our side of the pond so I figured I'd ask.
 
doc_simple said:
Partly, but also from Jedi.

"for a half hour run (on private roads of course)."

I was thinking, "Why does it matter?" I guess he meant for safety till he gets back in form. Seemed odd, but we do plenty of odd things on our side of the pond so I figured I'd ask.
Click to expand...
I think that's what Jedi means mate (sharpening up his skills again).
Like you I am lucky and have ridable weather all year round.

Nelly
 
Thanks Nelly, good point. For those of us who ride year round, I find it helpful to take a week off here and there just to get a break. I'm not sure why, but I always feel like I ride better after a few days off the bike - not too many, but a few.
 
Sorry for the confusion... I should have clarified when I posted that I haven't passed my bike test yet, which means I'm legally restricted to a 125cc bike. So when I do ride my girlfriends bike, it's not on the open road!
 
Jedi said:
Sorry for the confusion... I should have clarified when I posted that I haven't passed my bike test yet, which means I'm legally restricted to a 125cc bike. So when I do ride my girlfriends bike, it's not on the open road!
Click to expand...

:) That opens up for such a load of chauvinistic comments ..... (I won't contribute with any, but it was just the first thing that hit me :))
 
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