Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Well, after looking around all weekend for a bike and coming up short, I found a nice used ex 250 on craiglist and went and bought it monday. I think I may have overpaid a bit, but what the hell. Anyways, it's my first bike and I had just finished my safety course and taken my license test , on saturday, so a 250 was really what I needed. I got my insurance on Tuesday, and had it temp tagged and titled today. So today was the first day that I could take it out on the street. Man this thing is so swweeeet. It's unbelievable. I felt like a real kid on this thing. I have'nt had that much fun since I was probably 17. I rode it around my sister's neighborhood for about an hour and then decided to take it out into traffic a little. My only real problem was people tailgating me. But I guess they thought that I was an experienced rider and were expecting me to be flying up and down the street. I actually stalled it once at a light when a guy with a r6 pulled up beside me and I was looking over at his bike. Lol, I am sure he called me a noob. I even got it up to about 60 mph in I think 4th gear, lol. I still need to learn to keep track of what gear I am in and my downshifting needs to be worked on because I am not fully sure when to downshift. One quick question, just so I don't have to make another post. I was coming down a hill and the hill had a curve to the right and then a curb back to the left. Well, I was'nt sure wether to try and brake while I was in the curve with the bike leaned over and wether to use the front brake or the rear or both. So in that situation, should I brake while leaned over or just close the throttle some and coast down the hill in a lower gear? Also, with my downshifts, should I close the throttle and apply the brake at the same time? This is what I was doing and it really seemed to slow the bike down too much. For instance if I hit the brakes and closed the throttle in 4th gear, then downshifted to third it seemed like the bike would be to slow for third gear. But a couple of times when I did'nt apply the brake and I just closed the throttle a little, when I let the clutch out the tire screeched and the bike jerked a little. Well any help and suggestions with my shifting problems would be great. I seemed to do alright upshifting as long as I kept the rpm's around 7-8k. It's a used bike but it only had 906 miles on it so I was still trying to go by the break in sticker that was on it.

cool. has the bike had it's 600 mile service?

congratz on your new bike. i could tell you were excited because you forgot to add some paragraph breaks in there makes it easier to read

bok wrote:congratz on your new bike. i could tell you were excited because you forgot to add some paragraph breaks in there makes it easier to read

Lol, sorry about that. Yeah excited as all hell. Thanks for the answers to my questions also. I think I might not be letting the clutch out smoothly because that sounds like what was happening to me. Oh well have to practice more tomorrow after work. Thanks again for the help.

i found that the clutch on the EX250 that i got for my fiance the friction point was right near the end of the clutch travel, so you might be thinking your clutch is all the way out when in fact it is still half engaged.

The braking on a down-hill curve question is a really good one. It was one of my major early questions too. As far as I can tell many motorcyclists never ride in an area with hills so they never really need to know how to do that properly. MSF courses are all done on flat level parking lots and the like so they don't teach you what you need to know either. I ride roads that are steep enough that if you have *any* throttle on through the curve you'll be going way way WAY too fast by the time you reach the other end of the curve. You end up having to transition to braking and that's not fun either.

The truth is that you don't really need to accelerate through a curve... you just need to be smooth through the curve. No surging, no grabbing the brakes, no radical changes. If you have a down-hill curve, just hold the back brake on through it or use engine braking until you are through the whole curve.

Beyond that....

Tires have a certain amount of traction. That traction can be distributed to different tasks or goals. It can be shifted to cornering... it can be shifted to braking... it can be shifted to acceleration... or it can be left as "reserve"... but the combination of cornering, braking, acceleration (and yes you can brake and accelerate at the same time... front brake on and throttle on does just that) can't exceed the total amount of traction or you are going to have a bad time.

Most riding instructions try to simplify how you apply that traction budget. They say "brake or turn"... why? Because it is a lot easier. However, there is nothing saying you can't brake and turn. It just requires more practice and more attention. Look up trail braking for some details.

However... that's an advanced technique, which means "play with it but be really really careful"... I've got quite a bit over 3000 miles on my ex250 and I'm just starting to feel out that part of the envelope. Which means I play with it in safe environments but I never count on it when I'm riding the "real world".

I agree with dieziege. Always slow down before you actually enter the corner. If you're not sure how much to slow down, slow more than you think you'll need. It's better to go too slow than too fast! If the car behind you gets pissed, let them be pissed, don't rush yourself.

On a downhill corner I prefer to engine brake because it seems to hold a more consistent speed than dancing on the foot brake.

When to downshift just depends on your bike. You'll get a feel for it soon and it will tell you when it wants to go down a notch. If you're getting jolted or losing rear traction on downshifts, you're doing it too early! If you wait until the bike gets all clunky and sick sounding though, you're doing it too late! Tricky tricky

Have fun and stay safe.

Hey, first - congrats on the bike! Sounds like you ARE having a blast!

The more you ride, the more familiar you will become with what gear you are in based on your speed and rpm - that'll come so don't worry. Initially, I was counting up & down until I got more used to my bike and now I can tell without counting.

Turning/cornering - what everyone said above. Take it easy on the brakes in a corner & don't stomp or grab the brakes when your wheels are turned. A good discussion of cornering techniques and turning can be found in David Hough's "Proficient Motorcycling" - great book.

For downshifting, after you shift, reapply the throttle and let the clutch out smoothly to get your engine speed to match to the gear, even as you are slowing, at least I do. If you are getting jerked somewhat, this may help. I don't usually have to apply much brake if I am downshifting but I DO flash my brake lights, especially if someone is behind me so they know I am slowing (hopefully this may prevent a car up the tailpipes).

Good luck and have fun.

First - Congrats on the new 250. I love the one Bok bought me and have a blast riding anytime I can (curse the Calgary hail storms this week)

One piece of advice that Bok gives me most times I am going out and feel a bit hesitant is..... relax, ride your ride, and "F*$# dear, speed up".

I have noticed that the EX feels a bit light as you get up to speed, and for a brand new rider (I just started in April) it is unnerving. Just relax and don't let it off, you will get used to it.

On downshifting, the one major thing they drilled into our heads is to do a quick double rev after you've shifted and before you let the clutch out. It helps to keep the engine in a similar rev range and you don't get that lug and nose dive feeling when you slow down to fast.

So the steps would be: clutch in, downshift, rev - rev, clutch out slow and smooth.


Sari.