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Wrider wrote:

olebiker wrote:A rider that has never dropped a bike scares the "crumb" outta me. I never relax till the bike has gone down at least once.

Can I ask you why that is??? I mean, I'm relatively green, I've got ab 6 months and 3800 miles under my belt, but I'm a better rider than most of the people around my home town. Why? Honestly it's because I got lucky and I seem to take to it... I've had the rear tire skid, slip out on the stripes, skid out on water, skid out on snow, I've had the front tire lock up, I've had it skid out on the three mentioned above, but I still haven't gone down...
I also have the confidence to ride the "crumb" out of a cruiser... Top speed, no problem, scraping pegs, also not a problem. Still haven't done the top speed scraping pegs though!
So can you explain why it scares you?
Just a relatively new rider asking...
Wrider

I find that riders who have never laid a bike down tend to get overconfident or even cocky. I've ridden for over 25 years on various bikes but I still have laid the bike down on occasion. It usually involves local dirt roads near my home and loose sand or gravel but I am usually not going more than 10 mph when it happens. BTW, I've been riding a 250 Rebel for several years and find that I enjoy the smaller displacement bike because it suits my needs. I also have a CM400E which I am restoring so I guess I haven't been influenced by the "bigger is better" or the "my Big Johnson brand motorcycle is better than yours" crowd. I enjoy the ride just as much as the next guy. What I'm saying is don't let the "me too" crowd influence you.

olebiker wrote:Not buying the sport bike yet is a wise decision.

+1. Simple, yet perfectly stated.

I'm glad your first day went well, Bravehearted. Keep us posted as to how you end up and what bike you decide on.

My plan was foiled. lol I did not pass the test.

I can't do the damn u-turn box to save my life. Everything else went pretty well. I swerved perfectly, quick stopped great, and curved well.

Any tips on how to stay in that little box to do the u-turns? I end up going out of the lines. I use the friction zone to try to maintain a slow speed, but I end up putting my left foot down once or twice. I also did it in second gear...should I be doing it in first?

Thanks again!

Bravehearted wrote:My plan was foiled. lol I did not pass the test.

I also did it in second gear...should I be doing it in first?

Thanks again!

Yes

Bravehearted wrote:My plan was foiled. lol I did not pass the test.

I can't do the damn u-turn box to save my life. Everything else went pretty well. I swerved perfectly, quick stopped great, and curved well.

Any tips on how to stay in that little box to do the u-turns? I end up going out of the lines. I use the friction zone to try to maintain a slow speed, but I end up putting my left foot down once or twice. I also did it in second gear...should I be doing it in first?

Thanks again!

Hey man, sorry about this go 'round. Get in there and see if you can retest. As for the test itself. Do everything perfectly and blow the box. Just take it in 1st, try to stay in the lins and if you don't, just go wide but do not put your feet down! Going wide more than once only nets you a max -5 so if you're good on the other tests, you'll easily pass with a score in the 90s.

Yes you can do it in first. We were given the option to do it in second or first and the instructor told us that, personally, he'd do it in first.

So we did. And everyone passed. You can feather the clutch or drag the rear brake (not the front!) and that'll help some too. Other than that throttle control is key. Go in easy to the turn and give yourself some throttle coming out of it.

And be sure to do a figure 8, and not an oval. I was extremely nervous about the figure eight and, while I did it fine in practice, I did an oval on the test lol. Forgot to cross over. Tester had me redo it and be sure to cross over. Not good for the nerves.

Thanks guys, I am going to retake on nov 4. It's the only retest date. It sucks because I am sure to be rusty by then because I will have had almost a month of no practice. I was so damn nervous during the test, even though I did everything(except the box lol) perfectly on the practice run. I was so nervous that on the curve, I hadn't turned on the fuel valve and I had to redo it.

We'll see what happens, thanks for the encouragement!

You should get a chance to warm up and practice before taking the retest.

Hmmm, you didn't pass because you blew the box? In MD, you can't lose enoug points on that to NOT pass. Losing points, just means you've got less 'fudge room' point wise for the other parts.

P

Lion_Lady wrote:You should get a chance to warm up and practice before taking the retest.

Hmmm, you didn't pass because you blew the box? In MD, you can't lose enoug points on that to NOT pass. Losing points, just means you've got less 'fudge room' point wise for the other parts.

P

Same here in Jersey. I didn't stay in the box and I didn't fail.

If you practiced the box in second gear, then ride it in second gear. Switching now, will throw everything off. I've ridden it in both first and second, and I found it easier in second. It might depend on what motorcycle you're riding.

We coach the box this way: Actually, I try to never use the term "The Box" when discussing it beforehand. I call it "The classroom." Think about it, The Box is probably about the same size (or maybe half the size) of the classroom where you did the book part of the course. The entry point is the 'front door' and the exit point is the 'back door.'

1. Enter thru the front door and ride straight along the 'wall.'
2. About 2/3 of the way along the "wall," you need to turn your head OVER YOUR SHOULDER to look back at the front door and shift your weight to the right (counterweighting). Then turn the bars to the left to execute your turn. Cover and trail the REAR brake lightly, and use plenty of friction zone to keep the bike stable. If it feels like the bike is going to tipover, add throttle and the bike should straighten up so you can continue.
3. Cross the box diagonally toward the front door.
4. Again, about 2/3 of the way there, turn your head and shift your weight to the LEFT (counterweighting) look OVER YOUR SHOULDER at the back door. Now, execute your turn, using the rear brake lightly, and friction zone to keep the bike stable.
5. Straighten the bars, roll on the throttle smoothly, and ride out the back door toward the swerve.

Keep a couple things in mind as you do The Box:
DON'T look at the lines (they are not going to go anywhere).
Keep your chin/eyes up and look where you need to go.
A pronounced head turn is VITAL to success.
Keep your hand OFF the FRONT brake.
>I watched two very capable riders blow their evaluations because they had a brain burp and tweaked the front brake as they turned. Down goes the bike. . . park it. You're done.

P