hammerheadshadow
Junior Member
So now you have just completed the purchase. Your newly purchased bike is right in front of you, the keys are in your hand. You are all smiles overwhelmed with delight and joy. You are itching with almost irresistible temptation to ride your new bike home.
If you had just got your license after MSF course or rode your buddy’s bike let’s say about 5-7 times (even on somewhat busy streets) and got your motorcycle permit, then do you hop on the bike and take off to your destination whatever it might be?
Well the answer is NO! Again, it is the most definite NO!
There are a number of reasons for it.
Your new ride could a very different machine from the one you had for your initial training! For example a 500/600/650 cc (new bike) versus 250 cc (trainer). Cruiser (trainer) VS Sport touring (new bike). The weight, acceleration, braking and overall handling characteristics could be very different! Even very experienced riders had been known to drop their new rides, especially when these were bigger and heavier motorcycles.
Chances are that you are not too familiar with a road home from the dealership, you do not know every pothole, sleek spot, gravel spots and possibly your exact route home.
You will have to watch out for every single hazard listed above and sometimes deal with multiple road hazards at once. If you had never ridden a bike on the highway before you might get absolutely terrified or worse “petrified” of cars, trucks, tractor-trailers etc. passing you at speeds in excess of 70-90 mph.
Would you know how sleek the road would become if you catch a light drizzle on the way home? How would you handle your bike then?
Even riding in the quiet backstreets could be a very dangerous affair. At this point you do not know your new bike’s instincts too well. You do not know a right amount of clutch release/squeeze in order to gain/loose traction, throttle knob travel (turn/release) to get the right amount of acceleration/deceleration, you do not know how agility and responsiveness of your motorcycle, you do not know proper gear shifting (are you able to detect that you are in neutral just by feeling that gear shifter position with your left foot?). Also it is likely that you will be stalling out a lot on your new ride even if you take it to practice on the parking lot.
You might hit the engine cut off button unintentionally which will kill your engine instantly while doing 75mph on the highway with 6th gear engaged. You do not know if the tires have a correct number of PSI’s (tire pressure) in them, you do not know the condition of the brakes. If this is a used motorcycle do you know if the proper (not too grabby brake pads) or good grip (soft rubber, quick warm-up, sticky) tires were installed?
In case improper brake pads were installed (too grabby) or pads are worn out or brake fluid level is too low or your tires are heat damaged….Then you might head into disaster during your first ride!
With brakes too grabby you will easily lock up your tires and yes you WILL go into the frontal/rear skid. Even if the skid is not too severe and manageable for a more experienced rider it might spell disaster for you. The skid combined with your inexperience can instantly progress to a case of panic resulting in further slamming the brakes, fighting with your steering and attempting to brake or gain balance with your feet while moving at 60 mph. All these frantic actions can send the bike and yourself into low/high side (low/high altitude flight in other words).
With worn out brake pads/discs, low brake fluid lever it will take and extra long distance to stop. You might not have the luxury of having all the extra space in front of you.
Heat damaged, worn out, improperly installed/balanced tires will result in a very significant reduction of road surface grip/traction and hitting the oily/sleek spots could become disastrous.
To make the story short, get your new (used : ) bike either delivered (negotiate with the seller to either drive the bike to your place or deliver it in the truck) or load it in your (buddy’s) truck and bring both of you home together safely. By the way bike fasteners (to put the bike on the truck) cost like $10 at Walmart, motorcycle ramp could be more expensive, but will nevertheless come very handy in the future.
Finally, if all else fails ask a well experienced motorcyclist friend (you know his experience for a fact) to bring your new bike home. You can also get a rental truck with a trailer that usually has a ramp, roll the bike in and drive it home.
:Sport:
If you had just got your license after MSF course or rode your buddy’s bike let’s say about 5-7 times (even on somewhat busy streets) and got your motorcycle permit, then do you hop on the bike and take off to your destination whatever it might be?
Well the answer is NO! Again, it is the most definite NO!
There are a number of reasons for it.
Your new ride could a very different machine from the one you had for your initial training! For example a 500/600/650 cc (new bike) versus 250 cc (trainer). Cruiser (trainer) VS Sport touring (new bike). The weight, acceleration, braking and overall handling characteristics could be very different! Even very experienced riders had been known to drop their new rides, especially when these were bigger and heavier motorcycles.
Chances are that you are not too familiar with a road home from the dealership, you do not know every pothole, sleek spot, gravel spots and possibly your exact route home.
You will have to watch out for every single hazard listed above and sometimes deal with multiple road hazards at once. If you had never ridden a bike on the highway before you might get absolutely terrified or worse “petrified” of cars, trucks, tractor-trailers etc. passing you at speeds in excess of 70-90 mph.
Would you know how sleek the road would become if you catch a light drizzle on the way home? How would you handle your bike then?
Even riding in the quiet backstreets could be a very dangerous affair. At this point you do not know your new bike’s instincts too well. You do not know a right amount of clutch release/squeeze in order to gain/loose traction, throttle knob travel (turn/release) to get the right amount of acceleration/deceleration, you do not know how agility and responsiveness of your motorcycle, you do not know proper gear shifting (are you able to detect that you are in neutral just by feeling that gear shifter position with your left foot?). Also it is likely that you will be stalling out a lot on your new ride even if you take it to practice on the parking lot.
You might hit the engine cut off button unintentionally which will kill your engine instantly while doing 75mph on the highway with 6th gear engaged. You do not know if the tires have a correct number of PSI’s (tire pressure) in them, you do not know the condition of the brakes. If this is a used motorcycle do you know if the proper (not too grabby brake pads) or good grip (soft rubber, quick warm-up, sticky) tires were installed?
In case improper brake pads were installed (too grabby) or pads are worn out or brake fluid level is too low or your tires are heat damaged….Then you might head into disaster during your first ride!
With brakes too grabby you will easily lock up your tires and yes you WILL go into the frontal/rear skid. Even if the skid is not too severe and manageable for a more experienced rider it might spell disaster for you. The skid combined with your inexperience can instantly progress to a case of panic resulting in further slamming the brakes, fighting with your steering and attempting to brake or gain balance with your feet while moving at 60 mph. All these frantic actions can send the bike and yourself into low/high side (low/high altitude flight in other words).
With worn out brake pads/discs, low brake fluid lever it will take and extra long distance to stop. You might not have the luxury of having all the extra space in front of you.
Heat damaged, worn out, improperly installed/balanced tires will result in a very significant reduction of road surface grip/traction and hitting the oily/sleek spots could become disastrous.
To make the story short, get your new (used : ) bike either delivered (negotiate with the seller to either drive the bike to your place or deliver it in the truck) or load it in your (buddy’s) truck and bring both of you home together safely. By the way bike fasteners (to put the bike on the truck) cost like $10 at Walmart, motorcycle ramp could be more expensive, but will nevertheless come very handy in the future.
Finally, if all else fails ask a well experienced motorcyclist friend (you know his experience for a fact) to bring your new bike home. You can also get a rental truck with a trailer that usually has a ramp, roll the bike in and drive it home.
:Sport:
