Total Motorcycle Community Forums

So, after having my bike for a week, here are some of the stupid things I've done:

--U turns. I fail at life in general, women, gift giving, and fixing carburetors. But one things I hope to get better at is U turns (on a motorcycle), which I'm giving myself a sure "F" in right now. Half of the time I can do a lock to lock turn feet up, but what I have a hard time doing is judging (with cars and bars etc) just where I can make u turns. If I approach it assertively, it usually works.

--My bike is fast. It's just a 550cc Zephyr, but when I wring the throttle, there isn't much on 4 wheels that could keep up. The magazine tests rated this bike new in 1990 as going 0-60 in 3.65 seconds. I actually feel as though that has helped me more than anything - I can move in front of traffic rather than be stuck behind it. But it has caused me to take some overly spirited speeds through turns that I've had to brake in and have almost gone off both sides of the road. Yikes.

--I took it up to 85mph, which was really fun, and for some reason felt better than at 60pmh, although it could have been due to heavy winds where I've been riding. I suppose that was a stupid move, but it'll probably happen again. This would only be on empty 55pmh backroads. That's just too fun.

--I was turning right out of a parking lot, when a cute little devil made me smash my brakes for her on her bicycle.....ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! Now I know in a 2 lane road, I have to look in 4 ways - one left for left and right moving traffic, and one right for right and left moving ignorant college girls.

--Yesterday, I made a right turn after scanning for traffic on a red light. This was in town. The road I turned onto had one block before I had to cut accross 3 lanes to get to the left turn lane to get to class. Anwyays, I went and decided to cut left right away, and turned back once more to check for cars as I began entering the far left lane. As I looked forward, a car had just pulled out a bit from the sidewalk....and was gaining speed entering my lane. F#&% me, I was aiming for the rear doors! I started to turn away to the right, and the car kept coming. I pressed and pressed.....and I made it! HOLY #$%# was I shaking! Surprised my knee didn't leave a mark on their bumper.

Here's a grubby little pic I made. Boxes are cars parked on the side of the road. I couldn't draw it, but there were a lot of college girls with that wide eyed freaked look staring at me. But you know what they say about attention.



And finally, a moment of silence please for a downed mc brother on a main road here today - apparently he's alive. That's not saying much.

*****
Yes I'll be more careful, but I have to note:

Motorcycle has been the single thing to have raised my capacity of life to live! For in just a few seconds, I can go from stopped with two feet on the ground to the zen wind roaring rush as if falling down from heaven like the devil's angels.

Hehe, add yourself to the list. I'm willing to bet a fair number of us have had the same problems you have. I've got a story almost exactly like yours with the parked car in my blog. He pulled up beside me to yell at me, after pulling into my lane and getting the horn. Damn cagers.

Keep up the hard work, enjoy the rides, and don't even stop. There's a reason those guys say "live to ride."

Lol glad you made it! I had to scrape pegs today to get away from a car that decided he wanted to be in my lane, during a turn in the road, going about 50 MPH! lol So yeah, I know the feeling you get there!
Wrider

siebel horn for both the car and the girl on teh bike

especially the girl on the bike. College girls are funny when they are scared, mad and indignant.

storysunfolding wrote:siebel horn for both the car and the girl on teh bike

siebel horn?

\/\/

549,

Good job keeping your wits about you and not target fixating on that car.

Also, being a drummer has probably given you an edge with the hand foot coordination. Multitasking.

Ride safe.

Flipper

BlueBomber wrote:

storysunfolding wrote:siebel horn for both the car and the girl on teh bike

siebel horn?

\/\/

stebel, my bad

Not sure how accurate your picture is, but drifting across three lanes while making a turn is a bad idea, as you've found out. On a one way street (which looks like what your pic describes), anything could be coming from the other side. While the car that pulled out probably checked their mirrors to see if there was any traffic coming down the street, they wouldn't have expected to see you coming from the angle that you did.

If you had hit the car, and you happened to be in Arizona, you would have been ticketed. Here, when you make a turn, you're required to turn into the lane that is closest to you. IOW, you must turn into the rightmost lane when making a right turn, or the leftmost lane when making a left.

Dont take this the wrong way...plus I cant really talk since ive only been riding for about 6 months, but it seems to me you might be a little overly reckless at times. As a recent new rider you should be super cautious and take it easy. You may not want to be ripping through turns, making aggressive manuvers, etc. until you have lots more riding time under your belt. You have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk if you know what I mean.

lol dont worry. i had similar experiences in my first week...
and now youll only get better