I'm learning to ride a motorbike...

[Matt]

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I'm going to start learning to ride a motorbike next month here in the UK. Is anyone else out there into bikes or has learned to ride them? If so can you share your experiences with me on what i could expect to gain from biking, how you went about learning to ride and also what sort of bike you ride? Im mostly looking for responses from bikers in the UK but anyone else who wants to chip in with their advice is welcome to do so.

I'm also thinking of getting myself a Kawasaki ninja 250R 2008 as my first bike and would like to know your thoughts on it for a beginner bike?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jlzKWAnQzI

(probably wont go for the lime green one though as i hate the day glo scheme!)

:p
 
Ask Repiv, he rides a motorbike. Can't think of any other members though.
 
Ask Repiv, he rides a motorbike. Can't think of any other members though.

Bastard :(

I don't know TOO much about streetbikes, but what I know is that it's generally better to stay away from the literbikes and replica bikes for your first bike.

I've heard that the 250 makes for a great beginner bike. I know from personal experience that dual sports also make for great beginner bikes.
 
I didnt know you used bike.

SOOWWWWWIII MAN! <3
 
Oh damn, I was gonna suggest you talk to Repiv too xD. Bastards beat me.

Good luck with learning though, I hear it's a lot less strict compared with driving.
 
I don't usually do this but.. in before repIV.
 
I'm going to start learning to ride a motorbike next month here in the UK. Is anyone else out there into bikes or has learned to ride them? If so can you share your experiences with me on what i could expect to gain from biking, how you went about learning to ride and also what sort of bike you ride? Im mostly looking for responses from bikers in the UK but anyone else who wants to chip in with their advice is welcome to do so.

Always happy to share the joys of biking. :)

You chose the right time to learn to ride - it will be much harder and more expensive come October.
The first thing I will say is, riding is a commitment. It demands a wide-ranging skillset, constant development and a responsible attitude - if safety isn't your primary concern, and you can't be arsed to continue learning long after you've passed your test, don't ride. It's infinitely more involved and demanding than driving a car, and the results of getting it wrong are catastrophically more severe.
Any accident you have above walking pace is highly likely to result in serious injury, if not death. The kind of accident that's a minor inconvinience in a car may well see you with multiple fractures.
Also, get good quality gear. Sliding along the tarmac at a mere 70mph will shred your legs down to the bone in less than a second, and jeans will wear through after travelling about four feet.
I'm not trying to scare you off, it just pays to be aware of the consequences of coming off a bike. They're usually devastating. Accept that and then take steps to minimise your risk level, and you won't become a statistic.

Riding is simply brilliant - it gives you freedom, excitement and involvement in a way that no car could ever hope to, and bikers are the last global brotherhood so there's a strong sense of community and identity that you don't really find elsewhere anymore.
You'll gain great experiences and great friends.
As a means of transportation, it's a lot cheaper and quicker than driving. You'll never get stuck in traffic again, and even a budget commuter bike can outrun a supercar.
If you drive, riding will also improve your driving skills massively. And it's a rewarding hobby anyway in that you get out what you put in.
If you intend to ride through winter, that's a challenging experience. No matter how warm you wrap up, you'll still freeze your bollocks off and the ice, grit and all the other crap that's on the road in the winter combined with your lower visibility to other vehicles and the fact they don't expect to see a bike in winter offers a very hazardous riding experience - but it will vastly improve your summer riding to have that experience.

I learned via Direct Access - had to do my CBT three times, because I couldn't get the hang of clutch control. I kept stalling the bike all the time. It will either come naturally to you straight away or it won't, but if you do find the CBT challenging don't let it put you off - it's actually a very demanding day and a hell of a lot of new information is thrown at you in a very short space of time. Some people take longer to learn the skills than others, but it will all fall into place. I hired a 125 after I got my CBT and after a couple of weeks I was much, much better. I then did the training on 500s and passed first time, 3 minors.
You must be acutely aware that learning to ride only begins with passing your test, in fact many of the things they teach you to do to pass your test would fail you on an advanced riding examination.
In particular, do some research on counter-steering - criminally, they don't actually teach you anything about steering, and learning how to do it properly could very well save your life.
Also target fixation - you MUST know how to manage this reaction, or you will end up in hospital one day. Another thing they don't spend much time teaching you.
I can't stress enough just how far removed the test is from real riding skills - I recommend you also read this book and this book is concerned with advanced machine control, perhaps a little too indepth to look at straight away, but certainly check it out in the near future. It will teach you the basics of safe, fast cornering techniques and avoiding instinctive survival reactions that can kill you in an instant (grabbing the brakes, tensing up, looking at what you want to avoid, etc).

I'm also thinking of getting myself a Kawasaki ninja 250R 2008 as my first bike and would like to know your thoughts on it for a beginner bike?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jlzKWAnQzI

(probably wont go for the lime green one though as i hate the day glo scheme!)

:p

You can't buy them in the UK, as such I wouldn't recommend them. It will be very, very costly to buy replacement parts and it could be difficult to insure. As your first bike, you will drop it, and as it's got a full fairing, it will cost hundreds of pounds to repair it each time.

Any of the commuter 500s or streetbike 600s make good first bikes - the Honda CB500 and Kawasaki ER-5 are great, reliable machines and they only put out 50-something horsepower but to you I can guarantee they will feel like rocketships.
For something with a bit more punch, look at the Yamaha Fazer 600 (the older FZS models are better), Honda Hornet, Suzuki Bandit or SV650. These machines put out between 75 and 100hp, but without being threatening.
You can buy a good example of any of these bikes far cheaper than you would obtain a Ninja 250.
I wouldn't recommend getting any kind of sportsbike as a first bike, I imagine even the Ninja 250 would be harder to get to grips with than any of the above bikes. The riding position is not condusive to maintaining proper control of the machine, and the suspension is usually too stiff to handle less-than-perfect road surfaces. Your visibility in traffic is also heavily reduced over a more upright bike, and you won't learn as much.
Basically, with something like a Bandit or Fazer, you can concentrate on your riding - with a sportsbike, half the battle is learning to actually manage the bike.
Plus, they're bloody uncomfortable.
 
I've been street legal for bikes for about 9 years. Logged a few thousand miles on them.
That is a fantastic, first bike.
 
Oh damn, I was gonna suggest you talk to Repiv too xD. Bastards beat me.

:p

Good luck with learning though, I hear it's a lot less strict compared with driving.

Only to ride mopeds and very small capacity bikes.
It's quite a bit harder to get a full bike license than it is to get a car license, and it will become far more difficult still in October.
Having said this, it pays to recognise that you're really just jumping through hoops - passing your test really doesn't teach you all that much about riding a motorbike.

I don't usually do this but.. in before repIV.

:p
 
I hope to buy one when I get older. They're neat.
 
Whatever you do dont get the 250 as a first bike get a 600cc like me . Its very easy to ride and i have no experiance with bikes and when i baught my 2007 Kawasaki ninja ZX6R I'm glad i went with a 600 cause anything less or more would be to much or too little. I also rode it off the lot, i was scared but i managed. The dealer taught me right there in the parking lot it was AWSOME!!!
 
Whatever you do dont get the 250 as a first bike get a 600cc like me . Its very easy to ride and i have no experiance with bikes and when i baught my 2007 Kawasaki ninja ZX6R I'm glad i went with a 600 cause anything less or more would be to much or too little. I also rode it off the lot, i was scared but i managed. The dealer taught me right there in the parking lot it was AWSOME!!!

Dude, the ZX6R is a flat-out hooligan bike that will lift the front wheel with ease simply by winding on the throttle. It's an unforgiving piece of mechanical insanity aimed at riders who aren't particularly interested in seeing their 30th birthday.
If you think anything less would be "too little", I can only assume you don't have a habit of accessing the upper end of the rev range. :)

Edit: they let you ride supersport bikes over there without any formal training whatsoever? That's scary...
 
Formal training is highly encouraged, but no. I'm not famailiar with the process though, because I did get formal training and was instantly qualified for the license.
 
Formal training is highly encouraged, but no. I'm not famailiar with the process though, because I did get formal training and was instantly qualified for the license.

Damn...

It used to be the same way here, of course back in the 70s there was virtually no traffic compared to now and the machines were a lot less powerful, but even though there are shitloads more riders now, there were almost twice as many people killed on bikes back then.
In contrast to those times, on major routes now, coming off will mean almost certain death here due to the massive volume of close-following traffic that's sure to run you over. It just goes to show the importance of training.

You have to go through all this lot to get a full license here, and as I understand it, even the CBT is vastly more involved than the course the MSF offers.

Even this is completely inadequate in my eyes. So many critically important riding skills are not even mentioned in the syllabus, so many pointless fatal accidents occuring not through recklessness but sheer incompetence that could easily have been avoided through proper training.

Motorcycling is such a complicated activity and so much is at stake all the time - when something so seemingly innocuous as closing the throttle in a corner can result in death, it strikes me that the basic training packages need to be miles better than what is currently on offer.
 
The guy in the video makes me think he had a few too many un-helmeted crashes on his unmotored bike as a child.
 
Wow, I just learned how to ride my bike. And I graduated from college. :(
 
You know, I don't want to get flamed for saying this... but I hope you don't become a smear of blood on the highway.
 
I rode a ZX10 Kwakasaki for a while and my experience tells me that a cut-down version of such a bike will put you in a lot of grief. You want to start out on something small first, like a honda motard. Something that is flickable and will be hard to outride. also something you can drop and spill without having you forking out round 500 for a new fairing :( so maybe a nekkie to start with eh?

lol heard on news a bloke in queensland bought his first Kwaka ZX10 then highsided it around a roundabout (i personally think he tried to outcorner the bike on cold tires, fuggenidiot), then the bike was run over and crushed by a tractor.

in any case, choose your first bike well because what you learn on it will stay with you for your entire riding life. Enjoy mate, and keep it upright
 
Any of the commuter 500s or streetbike 600s make good first bikes - the Honda CB500 and Kawasaki ER-5 are great, reliable machines and they only put out 50-something horsepower but to you I can guarantee they will feel like rocketships.
For something with a bit more punch, look at the Yamaha Fazer 600 (the older FZS models are better), Honda Hornet, Suzuki Bandit or SV650. These machines put out between 75 and 100hp, but without being threatening.
Hmm, what's your opinion on the Aprilia Pegaso Trial? I've been interested in one of those...
 
Hmm, what's your opinion on the Aprilia Pegaso Trial? I've been interested in one of those...

Don't have an opinion on them...I've never seen the point in riding offroad bikes on the road. :)
 
Don't have an opinion on them...I've never seen the point in riding offroad bikes on the road. :)

Sometimes you get involved in those movie styled chases where you have to break away from the city and go out into the surrounding countryside to evade your pursuers.
 
Sometimes you get involved in those movie styled chases where you have to break away from the city and go out into the surrounding countryside to evade your pursuers.

Been there, done that. Except it only lasted about 30 seconds because no cop car on earth can keep up with a fast bike.

No need to disappear across the grass. :p
 
Always happy to share the joys of biking. :)

You chose the right time to learn to ride - it will be much harder and more expensive come October.
Yea that was explained to me when i went for a riding assessment a couple of days ago. I feel sorry for anyone going for a test after that date as the test looks overly complex plus the added expense is going to be a downer.
The first thing I will say is, riding is a commitment. It demands a wide-ranging skillset, constant development and a responsible attitude - if safety isn't your primary concern, and you can't be arsed to continue learning long after you've passed your test, don't ride. It's infinitely more involved and demanding than driving a car, and the results of getting it wrong are catastrophically more severe.
Any accident you have above walking pace is highly likely to result in serious injury, if not death. The kind of accident that's a minor inconvinience in a car may well see you with multiple fractures.
Also, get good quality gear. Sliding along the tarmac at a mere 70mph will shred your legs down to the bone in less than a second, and jeans will wear through after travelling about four feet.
I'm not trying to scare you off, it just pays to be aware of the consequences of coming off a bike. They're usually devastating. Accept that and then take steps to minimise your risk level, and you won't become a statistic.
Cheers for the concerns over my safety! :D Just to let you know I've held a UK drivers licence for 12 years now so Ive had over a decades worth of on the road experience without an accident simply because i value my life. Im certainly not a nutter when it comes to speed and even caught myself the other day idling at 55MPH in the slow lane when i hit the motorway on my way to my riding assessment appointment.

In terms of gear I'm certainly going to be getting gear that i can upgrade with an armour pack of some sort or maybe gear with armour built in. I would prefer textile gear but im not sure what to go for. Ive been looking at this site for some gear aswell as a few local shops. Any good textile gear makers you recommend?

http://www.getgeared.co.uk/index.html
Riding is simply brilliant - it gives you freedom, excitement and involvement in a way that no car could ever hope to, and bikers are the last global brotherhood so there's a strong sense of community and identity that you don't really find elsewhere anymore.
You'll gain great experiences and great friends.
As a means of transportation, it's a lot cheaper and quicker than driving. You'll never get stuck in traffic again, and even a budget commuter bike can outrun a supercar.
If you drive, riding will also improve your driving skills massively. And it's a rewarding hobby anyway in that you get out what you put in.
If you intend to ride through winter, that's a challenging experience. No matter how warm you wrap up, you'll still freeze your bollocks off and the ice, grit and all the other crap that's on the road in the winter combined with your lower visibility to other vehicles and the fact they don't expect to see a bike in winter offers a very hazardous riding experience - but it will vastly improve your summer riding to have that experience.
My sister has been riding bikes now for around 3 years and she says the same thing as you about the biking community and she regularly goes out on the roads with a local group of bike enthusiasts who aim to have a fun day out as well as to learn from each other how to safely and responsibly ride a bike. Im hoping i can further learn from them after ive passed my test. On a sidenote its quite funny to see my sister on a large Honda when she's only just under 5 feet tall and can only just reach the floor with both toes despite the bike binge lowered as far as it would go. Thankfully im not so much of a sort arse at 5"9 :cheese:
I learned via Direct Access - had to do my CBT three times, because I couldn't get the hang of clutch control. I kept stalling the bike all the time. It will either come naturally to you straight away or it won't, but if you do find the CBT challenging don't let it put you off - it's actually a very demanding day and a hell of a lot of new information is thrown at you in a very short space of time. Some people take longer to learn the skills than others, but it will all fall into place. I hired a 125 after I got my CBT and after a couple of weeks I was much, much better. I then did the training on 500s and passed first time, 3 minors.
You must be acutely aware that learning to ride only begins with passing your test, in fact many of the things they teach you to do to pass your test would fail you on an advanced riding examination.
When i went for my riding assessment the other day i managed to pick up clutch control pretty fast probably due to me having lots of car clutch experience under my belt as well as being familiar with my sisters bike. 15 minutes in i had managed to go 3 times around the courtyard and change into 2nd without stopping which surprised myself. The hardest part for me will probably be remembering the locations of the controls as compared to a car its all backwards to me! :p Your change gears with your feet and control the clutch with your hands along with the addition of 2 brake controls for the rear and front wheels as opposed to a single one for a car. Rewiring my brain to think like a biker may take time. :p

In particular, do some research on counter-steering - criminally, they don't actually teach you anything about steering, and learning how to do it properly could very well save your life.
Also target fixation - you MUST know how to manage this reaction, or you will end up in hospital one day. Another thing they don't spend much time teaching you.
I can't stress enough just how far removed the test is from real riding skills - I recommend you also read this book and this book is concerned with advanced machine control, perhaps a little too indepth to look at straight away, but certainly check it out in the near future. It will teach you the basics of safe, fast cornering techniques and avoiding instinctive survival reactions that can kill you in an instant (grabbing the brakes, tensing up, looking at what you want to avoid, etc).

Duly noted. Ive bookmarked the police riders handbook for my next mass amazon book/CD or whatever purchase! I know a little about counter-steering beforehand (back wheel slips out so you turn the front into the direction of travel a little like speedway riders use?) but ive not heard of the others but im willing to learn. :)

You can't buy them in the UK, as such I wouldn't recommend them. It will be very, very costly to buy replacement parts and it could be difficult to insure. As your first bike, you will drop it, and as it's got a full fairing, it will cost hundreds of pounds to repair it each time.
Dont they have any plans to bring them to the UK?

Any of the commuter 500s or streetbike 600s make good first bikes - the Honda CB500 and Kawasaki ER-5 are great, reliable machines and they only put out 50-something horsepower but to you I can guarantee they will feel like rocketships.
For something with a bit more punch, look at the Yamaha Fazer 600 (the older FZS models are better), Honda Hornet, Suzuki Bandit or SV650. These machines put out between 75 and 100hp, but without being threatening.
You can buy a good example of any of these bikes far cheaper than you would obtain a Ninja 250.
I wouldn't recommend getting any kind of sportsbike as a first bike, I imagine even the Ninja 250 would be harder to get to grips with than any of the above bikes. The riding position is not condusive to maintaining proper control of the machine, and the suspension is usually too stiff to handle less-than-perfect road surfaces. Your visibility in traffic is also heavily reduced over a more upright bike, and you won't learn as much.
Basically, with something like a Bandit or Fazer, you can concentrate on your riding - with a sportsbike, half the battle is learning to actually manage the bike.
Plus, they're bloody uncomfortable.
The main reason i was looking at the 250r was the simple fact that i want something nippy to get around town with but i'm scared of having too much power between my legs (not a phrase you hear to often coming from a bloke :D ). However my sister also recommended me to go with a 500 or 600 as a first bike because you dont need to change gears nearly as often as you do on a less powerful bike so me having a look at the 250r may be due to me just having a lack of knowledge. I'll certainly be asking my riding instructors their opinions on a good first bike also.
 
Yea that was explained to me when i went for a riding assessment a couple of days ago. I feel sorry for anyone going for a test after that date as the test looks overly complex plus the added expense is going to be a downer.Cheers for the concerns over my safety! :D Just to let you know I've held a UK drivers licence for 12 years now so Ive had over a decades worth of on the road experience without an accident simply because i value my life. Im certainly not a nutter when it comes to speed and even caught myself the other day idling at 55MPH in the slow lane when i hit the motorway on my way to my riding assessment appointment.

Ah, that's good to know. The road experience will certainly help, the main challenge will be adapting your thinking to the different characteristics of a bike I guess. It's not like having a two-wheeled car at all, it's a totally different experience. :)
Nothing wrong with high speeds, so long as you know when and where to use them and have the skills to back it up. Unfortunately all too many people don't. The only potential problem I can see here is that you might end up not being particularly assertive or decisive on the road, which you need to be to assert your position, make overtakes and filter safely (which you'll no doubt want to do on a bike).
But that's a much better position to be in than buying an R6 as your first bike and ragging it everywhere the day you pass your test (short life expectancy).

In terms of gear I'm certainly going to be getting gear that i can upgrade with an armour pack of some sort or maybe gear with armour built in. I would prefer textile gear but im not sure what to go for. Ive been looking at this site for some gear aswell as a few local shops. Any good textile gear makers you recommend?

http://www.getgeared.co.uk/index.html

On the subject of textile/leather, it really depends on what kind of riding you're going to be doing. If you're only planning to ride in good weather for enjoyment, I would strongly advise going for a leather race suit (2-piece is much more convenient). They have far superior protection to textile gear (you could slide down the road at 200mph and it wouldn't wear through), fit better and are more comfortable and aerodynamic on the bike.
If you want a set of riding gear that will see you through all seasons and all weathers, definitely go for textile. It's waterproof of course, much warmer in cold weather and you can wear it over normal clothes.
I went for textiles initially because I ride in any weather, it's my transport - but I picked up an Alpinestars racing suit a few months later and loved it. It's so much more comfortable on the bike (not great for walking around in), I don't get buffeted by the wind at high speed like with the textiles, being vented they're much better in hot weather and I believe the extensive armour in them saved my leg when I had my big crash, I would have been in a world of hurt with the textiles.

Rukka do the best textile kit, but they tend to be expensive. If you have a more reasonable budget, I would suggest going to Hein Gericke. They have a wide variety of quality clothing that you can try on. I've never heard of any of the brands on that website you showed me, so I would steer well clear. You can't go too far wrong with Rukka, HG or Halverssons gear. Aerostich do the ultimate textile suit, which has levels of protection very close to top quality leather, but it's very expensive.
Don't buy riding gear mail order, you need to try everything on. You might find the knee armour sits around your shins. Especially with leathers, they're supposed to fit skintight for two reasons - you can get friction burns sliding down the road if they're a loose fit, and if you have a terrible accident, they keep your body in one piece and stem the bleeding. It can mean the difference between amptuation and a complete recovery.
If you do go for leathers, there are a number of good brands - Alpinestars, Arlen Ness, Dainese (although a lot of people question their quality in recent years), Spidi, Crowtree, BKS, Spyke, Hideout...there are many.

You'll also want a good pair of boots, gloves and a back protector. Alpinestars SMX-4 are pretty much the perfect boot for all situations, they have race levels of protection, and they're also waterproof. Mine survived a 60mph toe-on impact with a tree with only the slightest dent, perfectly resuable and saved any injury to my foot bar a dislocated ankle.
I also have some Hein Gericke boots (I bought the Alpinestars later because the HG boots don't fit over leathers), which look much more presentable for wearing off the bike - again the gear you buy depends on what you need it for.
Gloves are, in my opinion, second in importance only to your helmet in terms of importance - in a fall it will almost always be your hands that go down first, and if they get shredded, even at relatively low speeds, you're ****ed for life. Legs heal, hands don't stand up so well to that kind of punishment. Get some good quality (?60+) leather sport gloves with knuckle protection, if you ride through winter aswell you'll want a pair of winter gloves. You can't get gloves that will see you through the whole year, so don't bother trying to compromise in that way. :)
I've got Alpinestars GP Pro gloves, they're excellent - very tough leather, a lot of armour, vented, the little finger is joined to the one next to it to prevent it from snapping back in the event of an accident, and the wrist is hard plastic. I reckon they stopped me from breaking my wrist, judging by the scuffs.
You don't need to go that overkill though, they cost 120 quid and they're also not the most comfortable gloves in the world due to the plastic wrist and joined fingers. It's entirely up to you.
Do make sure that they fit properly though - you want all five fingers if possible to be very near the fingertips of the gloves - not quite up to the edge, as the leather will go supple and give a better fit with wear.
You may need to try on a lot of gloves to get ones that fit properly.

Back protectors are often overlooked, but they can save you from being paralysed and they take five seconds to put on. They can be uncomfortable in really hot weather and make your back all sweaty, but you can get breathable ones that can help to alleviate this. Try anything from Knox, Alpinestars or Dainese. Make sure you try it on with your kit to make sure it fits under. The foam back protectors that come with a lot of textile jackets are basically useless, you want a proper armoured one.

My sister has been riding bikes now for around 3 years and she says the same thing as you about the biking community and she regularly goes out on the roads with a local group of bike enthusiasts who aim to have a fun day out as well as to learn from each other how to safely and responsibly ride a bike. Im hoping i can further learn from them after ive passed my test. On a sidenote its quite funny to see my sister on a large Honda when she's only just under 5 feet tall and can only just reach the floor with both toes despite the bike binge lowered as far as it would go. Thankfully im not so much of a sort arse at 5"9 :cheese:

It's a good height to be - at 5 foot 7 I find a lot of sportsbikes too tall for me. I can just about reach the floor on my friend's R6 on tiptoes. Most bikes should fit you like a glove.
Riding in a group is great, and can teach you a lot of valuable things - but it can also be very dangerous. There can be the pressure to "keep up with the group" which can lead you into some very dangerous situations if you ride outside of your comfort zone or skill level.
What are these people like? Are they in it for the scenery or the adrenaline, do they ride like hooligans? If they do, that's not necessarily a problem - most of my friends do. But ride at your own pace or you'll get into trouble. I very nearly had a nasty accident once following an acquaintance of mine, on an unfamiliar bike (I was test-riding his, looking at buying it) - followed him into a bend at about 70mph which turned out to be a 90 degree right hander, very nearly stacked it into the scenery.
Another lesson can be learned from the above also - if a corner tightens up on you, for god's sake don't grab the brakes. Don't TOUCH them at all. That will either sit the bike up and cause you to run even farther off course, or break traction and you'll go down. Braking also weights the front end of the bike, which removes grip from the rear wheel you're using to power you through the bend. Bad news.
Any bike you get will outperform you at this level, so if that happens (and it's likely to at some point, some corners can be very deceptive), trust the bike and lean it further over. The tyres will stick firm at seemingly terrifying angles of lean.

When i went for my riding assessment the other day i managed to pick up clutch control pretty fast probably due to me having lots of car clutch experience under my belt as well as being familiar with my sisters bike. 15 minutes in i had managed to go 3 times around the courtyard and change into 2nd without stopping which surprised myself. The hardest part for me will probably be remembering the locations of the controls as compared to a car its all backwards to me! :p Your change gears with your feet and control the clutch with your hands along with the addition of 2 brake controls for the rear and front wheels as opposed to a single one for a car. Rewiring my brain to think like a biker may take time. :p

Yep - if I ever learn to drive, I imagine I'll have the same problem. :D
I'd never operated a motor vehicle before my CBT, so it didn't come naturally AT ALL. But it sounds like you're off to a great start.

Duly noted. Ive bookmarked the police riders handbook for my next mass amazon book/CD or whatever purchase! I know a little about counter-steering beforehand (back wheel slips out so you turn the front into the direction of travel a little like speedway riders use?) but ive not heard of the others but im willing to learn. :)

Not quite...counter-steering is the method used to steer any two-wheeled, single-track vehicle at anything above walking pace. Basically, you turn the handlebars in one direction and the bike leans over to the other. All you need to remember is push right, go right - and push left, go left. Try it on a bicycle if you have one.
A lot of people try "leaning" the bike, which does absolutely sod all - they manage to steer it by unconsciously adding steering input into the bars as they shift around. You can hang right off the bike, one and a half arsecheeks in the air, knee sticking out at a rightangle, and the bike will continue to travel in a perfectly straight line.
They won't teach you this in your course because idiots at the DSA think it could be dangerous to teach it to learners, but believe me - this is the ONLY way your bike will steer, and if you do it consciously then you will have far more accurate control over your machine - and when it really counts, it could mean the difference between life and death.

Dont they have any plans to bring them to the UK?

Nope, 250s and 400s haven't been available in the UK for years - they went out of fashion when 250s stopped being learner-legal. They're all imports.
After 125s, you're looking at 500s or 600s really.

The main reason i was looking at the 250r was the simple fact that i want something nippy to get around town with but i'm scared of having too much power between my legs (not a phrase you hear to often coming from a bloke :D ). However my sister also recommended me to go with a 500 or 600 as a first bike because you dont need to change gears nearly as often as you do on a less powerful bike so me having a look at the 250r may be due to me just having a lack of knowledge. I'll certainly be asking my riding instructors their opinions on a good first bike also.

You'll be absolutely fine on a 500 or 600, especially with your attitude. I wouldn't worry about it. At the end of the day, the bike only goes as fast as you make it, and the power on any of the above bikes is delivered in a predictable, reassuring way.
The SV650S is probably the ideal starter bike - it's sporty-looking, has a slightly sporty riding position, will do 122mph but being a V-Twin the power delivery is entirely linear. It will never surprise you.
Four cylinder bikes, such as the Fazer with its R6-derived engine, have narrow powerbands - they are typically pretty tame at low revs, but take off like a cannonball when you hit the powerband. Not quite so newbie friendly.
I found that the bigger bikes were actually a lot easier to ride than the 125s - they're a lot more stable, have a lot more presence - generally a lot more reassuring than a flimsy little learner bike.
 
There are more disadvantages in riding a motorbike than advantages.
 
There are more disadvantages in riding a motorbike than advantages.

That depends entirely on where you live and what your priorities are. And wherever you live, motorbike is by far the quickest form of transport, unless there's loads of snow or ice.

I live in London, and I don't need to ferry people about or take lots of stuff anywhere - what the hell use would a car be to me?

This without even going into the fact that paying out thousands for something that would bore the shit out of me is a ridiculous waste of money.
 
3 extra seats that would never get used is indeed a waste of cash for me considering i dont have the drive space for a car to fit in! :)
 
As soon as I've got some cash I'm gonna learn to ride motorbikes. My whole family are really into bikes. My dad had three, but he sold one (his old BMW he bought off ebay) and so now just has his two red Ducatis (an old one and a new one).
My brother was going to start learning to ride but he missed his first lesson ehich was in Blackburn.
 
my buddy is into street bikes and i rode his and its a lot of fun. I myself into dirt bikes and ride YZ450F. nothing better than a weekend at the desert or the track. riding is awesome, you will love it no matter what kind it is :smoking:
 
my buddy is into street bikes and i rode his and its a lot of fun. I myself into dirt bikes and ride YZ450F. nothing better than a weekend at the desert or the track. riding is awesome, you will love it no matter what kind it is :smoking:

Aye. To me, riding is the greatest experience in life. Far superior than the fleeting pleasure of sex, or even the thrill of flying a stunt plane.
It's so raw, allows such a perfect connection and harmony with the world around you through a machine that's operated as if it were an extension of your body. It's as if you're discarding all the shackles of life's woes, and experiencing pure joy.
It's just a shame crashing hurts so much. I discovered today that it's likely that walking will cause me pain for several years to come, it will be a couple of years before I can play any sports or run or anything, and I'll need crutches to walk longer distances for a few years - all for one fleeting mistake.
It's not fair, my friends have had far worse crashes and got off much more lightly. I'm going to have to make absolutely goddamn sure I do not have another accident.

The price is worth paying, though. I'd rather be on crutches for life and have my bike than be deprived of my bike and have normal use of my legs. Not that I intend to be making such a sacrifice, of course.
 
trees are evil repiV... we need to start a war on trees so that bikers can live in eternal peace without fear of a damn tree jumping out into the middle of the road!
 
Fleeting pleasure lol.

Also get out.

Says someone who has never ridden and never will...

trees are evil repiV... we need to start a war on trees so that bikers can live in eternal peace without fear of a damn tree jumping out into the middle of the road!

Damn straight. Once we've conquered the tree people, we can then take down the Armco alliance and the hedge bastards. That will leave us open for an all-out assault on women in SUVs...
 
**** women in SUV's... or as they're called by the Clarkson - Chelsea tractors :s
 
**** women in SUV's... or as they're called by the Clarkson - Chelsea tractors :s

They really are awful. Can't drive for shit, never pay attention. Be very cautious of them - and all SUVs for that matter.


I thought I'd let you know how I got on at the hospital today. Not that I'm being attention seeking or anything, but hey. It's so frustrating - I was expecting to be mostly back to normal within the next couple of months, but that's not the case at all.
They're keeping the ex-fix in my leg until at LEAST the 24th of April (that'll be over six months!), then I'm going to have the leg in a full plaster cast for another two months after that.
The doctor says I shouldn't be riding until September at the earliest, because if I had even the most minor fall, the leg would shatter all over again and I'd be back to square one. Only worse this time, because they wouldn't be able to put another ex-fix in place to fix it because of the holes the current one has created, and the only other solution for fixing a fracture this bad is an internal plate. But based on the amount the pin sites have oozed, he reckons I have a high chance of getting a bone infection if they used a plate - which is usually untreatable and results in amputation. I have about a 5% chance of getting such an infection at the moment.
It will take two years to heal properly, I've got localised osteoperosis in my ankle and foot due to lack of use, and to regenerate the bone, muscles and tendons will take years. Walking will be painful and difficult for several years, and even when I'm 27 I can expect to be using a cane to walk any real distance. Basically the injury will be causing me problems for the rest of my life.
FFS, who would have thought a simple broken bone would cause so many problems?

I hope at least that my experiences will serve as a warning to someone so they don't make the same mistakes. Don't let it happen to you.
 
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