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Last night was my first ride on my new bike, and it was great. Last Saturday I went to Albemarle, NC and bought a 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 250R, low miles in great condition. Last night was my first chance after getting a helmet, insurance and title that it wasn't raining to ride.

Here is me and the bike, sitting in front of my apartment right after taking it from inside.


I started practicing and refreshing my memory down my street, before setting off on some of the roads near where I live. I had tried to pump my tires up a bit with a bike pump, but that yielded crap results. :p So I road to the nearest gas station, yet the air pump was blocked by a giant tanker. I so turned around and went to the next closest, down through my neighborhood. The ride was a bit wobbly for some reason. When I got to the air pump, I figured out why. My front tire was 10psi too low, and my back tire didn't even register on the meter! It actually had less than 5psi in it. So then I fiddled with the pump, trying to get the nozzle onto my back valve; this took about 10 minutes of backing the bike up, pushing it forward, burning myself on the exhaust, etc.

After that, all was well. Rode it through my neighborhood for a while, trying to get myself to lean appropriately and learn how to use a correct amount of brakes and engine brakes. When I was finally done, I spent a good half hour trying to get it into the house and parked without scratching it. I think tomorrow I'll go get a bike cover lock so I can start leaving it outside.

Happy bike day!

Congrats!

Your pic doesn't work for me though.

Happy Bike Day!

Congrats! But yeah, the pic doesn't work for me either. I'm going to assume it's the same as your avatar though.

Happy Bike Day!

Weird, works well for me. Here is my photo album with the same pic in 3 different sizes: http://picasaweb.google.com/bmgibben/Bike but it is the same as my profile pic.

Hopefully, your tire pressure issues won't be too frequent, but may I suggest one of those portable air compressors? They plug in to the 12v power adapter in your car, and aren't too expensive. That way, you don't have to ride on soft tires to get them inflated.

Congrats!

Yeah, I need to get one of those. I had a hell of a time trying to get the back tire inflated due to how the valve points in to the spokes. Can you recommend one that isnt too expensive and works well with bikes?

Campbell-Hausfield makes them, and I believe Walmart carries them. They seem to get more and more compact with each version, too. They run b/t $20 and $40 dollars, usually closer to $20.

I imagine the problem you had with the valve stem was related to the softness of the tire--it will sink right away from you as you try to inflate it. Just have to hold the stem at first, and as the tire firms up, this should improve. The other most common problem is that of not getting the air nozzle square to the valve stem. It's a little bit tougher to access than on a car, too.

Hope this helps.

Pittance wrote:Yeah, I need to get one of those. I had a hell of a time trying to get the back tire inflated due to how the valve points in to the spokes. Can you recommend one that isnt too expensive and works well with bikes?

Go to Harbor Freight in Raleigh and pick up this $8.99 portable compressor that you can run right off your bike's battery or car's cigarette lighter.

Or pick up this $4.99 foot pump that adds 10 psi to my back tire with about 15 seconds of pumping.