Taking my Ninja to work tomorrow for the first time..

[Rosie]

So, I decided to take my practice to the next step. After 3 weeks of parking lots and local roads under my husband's strict supervision, I decided to take my first commute to work by myself tomorrow. The commute will be 12 miles each way, no highway. Hubby and I rehearsed the route back and forth over the weekend together. BUT he won't be there with me tomorrow, and that's the thing that scares me the most!
Please.. wish me luck!

[backinthesaddleagain]

Riding to and from works make them both more fun. Whats a better way to start the work day than riding to work.

[00NissanNinja]

Coo, I just started commuting on mine too, about 70 miles per day. Good luck just take it easy and be safe about what you do on the road, be vigilant!

[dicer20]

good luck and be safe... i'm planning to do the same soon

[backinthesaddleagain]

Start out on time, don't want to rush, allow more time than you would with the car (for gearing up). And if a bad day at work, keep it off your mind on the ride home.

[00NissanNinja]

Originally Posted by backinthesaddleagain

Start out on time, don't want to rush, allow more time than you would with the car (for gearing up). And if a bad day at work, keep it off your mind on the ride home.

That is also good advise

[Rosie]

Thank you guys! I'm planning on leaving about 10 minutes sooner than I normally would, so I can gear up and warm up my baby a little bit before taking off. It'll be around 60 degrees tomorrow morning around 7 a.m. so I'm planning to put the liner back in my jacket and take it out on the ride home. I'm so excited and scared at the same time!

[Yoda]

Fellow bike commuter here.

Personally before I leave work I start the bike up, have a smoke. Then get my gear on just to give myself a good 5 to 10 minutes to relax and start zenning out. Much much easier IMO to deal with traffic when Im relaxed then aggravated from work.

[welcome2thedawn]

good luck! you'll do fine...and on the plus side, it gives you a reason to look forward to going to work

[WindMeUp]

Be seen...turn your High Beam ON in the daylight, if you aren't already

[CZroe]

Rode mine to work hundreds of times and started doing it every day the moment it was done with and back from the first service (hit the service limit driving it home from the dealer several states away). It's great! Lane-splitting here in SD REALLY helps when you'd otherwise be late.

[Cali619]

One good habit to have is to flash your break lights a few times in case you arnt at the front of the pack/or split at a stop light, and you have no car behind you.

[ally99]

I love riding to work. You'll do fine Rose. Just stay loose. Let us know how it goes! You'll be the coolest chick in your parking lot! LOL!

[spooph]

Yay! Good luck and have fun!

[PitBull]

I'm jealous!!! I work from home so I dont get to ride to work. Have fun!

[Flashmonkey]

The commute to work makes the work week much, MUCH more bearable! Enjoy it and good luck.

Edit: woot 1000 posts!!

[RedCromwell]

Originally Posted by welcome2thedawn

good luck! you'll do fine...and on the plus side, it gives you a reason to look forward to going to work

+1

It's what gets me out of bed on a workday. The thought of being able to hop on my bike and enjoy the ride.

Originally Posted by PitBull

I'm jealous!!! I work from home so I dont get to ride to work. Have fun!

I'm jealous you get to work at home! I'd ride evenings and nights when it's cooler during the summer and not have to worry about waking up early to go to work. Just roll out of bed the next morning and you're at "the office".

*****
I commute to work on the bike whenever the weather is good (no rain) and actually take a more scenic route so I can enjoy more ride time.

Because of that I actually leave about 15 - 30 minutes earlier than I normally would if I drove my car.

Plus with kids going back to school now traffic is heavier now.

[drowe531]

I try to take my bike to work as much as I can, but my problem is I am not a morning person at all. So if I am tired and unfocused I take my car, I try not to zombie drive as much as I can but if I have to i'll do it in the car.

[Blackwidow]

you are one gutsy girl! updates please.

[Rosie]

Sooooo... for all of you who were waiting for an update. I made it!

I left about 10 minutes earlier than I normally would, also because the route I chose is a bit longer since I'm choosing not to go on the highway yet. The traffic at 7:00 a.m. is not too bad, even when I hit a normally very congested road (Mira Mesa Blvd for those of you living in SD).
Only one issue along the way.. I get to a stoplight with a bunch of cars ahead of me and a lot of space in between cars, so I did my first lane splitting and got all the way upfront and I think "this is cool!".. then the light turns green, I roll the throttle and.. nothing happens. I'm in neutral!! WTF?? I really though I was in first, plus there was NO neutral light until I started giving some throttle

So yeah.. I had to quickly get the bike in first and leave, but I lost some ground on the cars beside me

I wonder what happened.. it happened one other time before that I really thought I was in first, but when I was ready to leave it turned out I was in neutral Any insight?

[backinthesaddleagain]

Glad to hear you got there. Great way to start the day, other than the neutral thing. If you try to put bike in N does light come on like it should?

[Blackwidow]

YAY!!!! so have you showed off your bike to your co-workers yet?

[Rosie]

Originally Posted by backinthesaddleagain

Glad to hear you got there. Great way to start the day, other than the neutral thing. If you try to put bike in N does light come on like it should?

Yeah it does. I never have a problem finding neutral when I need to, just sometimes it seems to go there when I DON'T need to
Not sure why the light doesn't come on in those cases though.. maybe I'm half way between first and neutral?

[Rosie]

Originally Posted by Blackwidow

YAY!!!! so have you showed off your bike to your co-workers yet?

I sure did! It feels goooood!

[backinthesaddleagain]

Originally Posted by Rosie

Yeah it does. I never have a problem finding neutral when I need to, just sometimes it seems to go there when I DON'T need to
Not sure why the light doesn't come on in those cases though.. maybe I'm half way between first and neutral?

Could be. Maybe someone with a pregen has had the same issue. If you don't get any responses here post under pregen tech. Nice to ride to work on the bike, even nicer to ride home.

[Rosie]

Originally Posted by backinthesaddleagain

Could be. Maybe someone with a pregen has had the same issue. If you don't get any responses here post under pregen tech. Nice to ride to work on the bike, even nicer to ride home.

I'm sure I'm the one doing something wrong.. probably not pushing down hard enough as I downshift

It was indeed really nice to ride it to work this morning, I need to put more miles under my belt so I get more and more comfortable and this is a great way of doing it. I can't wait to go on fun rides with hubby, once I get more experience!

[drowe531]

I would probably say its not shifting up/down hard enough. I have done this once or twice on a newgen and I completely believe it was my own fault.

[GeneJunkie]

Great job! I ride to work every day, but 2 miles is much shorter than 12. I used to get stuck in neutral but I think it was from not down shifting firmly enough, I haven't done that in a long while.

[Cali619]

Originally Posted by Rosie

I'm sure I'm the one doing something wrong.. probably not pushing down hard enough as I downshift

I think its getting it from 2nd to 1st past neutral not engaging properly, I usually can feel it clunk into first from second, do the tap dance on the shift lever to make sure as your slowing down.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by Rosie

Yeah it does. I never have a problem finding neutral when I need to, just sometimes it seems to go there when I DON'T need to
Not sure why the light doesn't come on in those cases though.. maybe I'm half way between first and neutral?

Hmm... does the pregen have a "positive neutral finder" like the current gen? What it means is that if you are stopped in first gear, you just have to pull the lever up to get in neutral (no need for a "half pull"). I get into false neutrals often enough but it's almost always at speed between higher gears (the light doesn't light). I have had cases where the light would not come on and it wouldn't enter first because I downshifted after I stopped. It just seems to keep springing back up with no "clunk" until you move the bike and try again. To prevent it, you want to be in first before the tires stop then use the positive neutral finder to get neutral. From there, you can get a positive shift back into first and the indicators will work.

[Blackwidow]

it happens Rosie, i have a brand new ninja, and there are times while trying to shift up to 2nd i get stuck on neutral. Since your foot is already on the gear, you should be able to get out of neutral fairly quickly. It may be the amount of pressure you put on the gear, (not enough from 2nd to 1st or not enough from 1st to 2nd). like yesterday we were riding around town, and I was in neutral but my light wasn't on...I had to click down harder to get it in first gear.

[ally99]

Hey Rosie. It can sort of catch in N when downshifting from 2nd to 1st, particularly if you shift while still rather than while moving. My N light doesn't always come on when this has happened. You should feel a nice, resounding "Clunk" in your boot that lets you know you are definitely in first. If you don't feel it, try rolling the bike an inch or two while snicking downward just to be safe and make sure you're in 1st. I do this sometimes at red lights if I didn't feel the clunk or if I didn't get it all the way down to 1st before having to stop.
I hope this help. Congrats! I teach at an elementary school (well, until this year anyway), and I used to ride my bike to work all the time. The kids loved it! :-)

[Rosie]

Originally Posted by GeneJunkie

Great job! I ride to work every day, but 2 miles is much shorter than 12. I used to get stuck in neutral but I think it was from not down shifting firmly enough, I haven't done that in a long while.

2 miles?? I'm jealous..

yeah.. I don't wear the best boots either (old hiking boots, saving up for the real deal).. so that might be a factor too

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by Rosie

2 miles?? I'm jealous..

yeah.. I don't wear the best boots either (old hiking boots, saving up for the real deal).. so that might be a factor too

Heh... that's about what my commute consists of as well. I hit Mira Mesa at the Black Mountain intersection, cruise a few miles down to Genetic Center, and I'm there.

[Rosie]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Hmm... does the pregen have a "positive neutral finder" like the current gen? What it means is that if you are stopped in first gear, you just have to pull the lever up to get in neutral (no need for a "half pull"). I get into false neutrals often enough but it's almost always at speed between higher gears (the light doesn't light). I have had cases where the light would not come on and it wouldn't enter first because I downshifted after I stopped. It just seems to keep springing back up with no "clunk" until you move the bike and try again. To prevent it, you want to be in first before the tires stop then use the positive neutral finder to get neutral. From there, you can get a positive shift back into first and the indicators will work.

Yes, pregens have the positive neutral finder as well, and now that you mention it, that might have actually been the case, where I downshifted to first AFTER I had already stopped. Next time I'm not sure if I'm really in first I'll try shifting to neutral first and then back down to first!

[Rosie]

Originally Posted by ally99

Hey Rosie. It can sort of catch in N when downshifting from 2nd to 1st, particularly if you shift while still rather than while moving. My N light doesn't always come on when this has happened. You should feel a nice, resounding "Clunk" in your boot that lets you know you are definitely in first. If you don't feel it, try rolling the bike an inch or two while snicking downward just to be safe and make sure you're in 1st. I do this sometimes at red lights if I didn't feel the clunk or if I didn't get it all the way down to 1st before having to stop.
I hope this help. Congrats! I teach at an elementary school (well, until this year anyway), and I used to ride my bike to work all the time. The kids loved it! :-)

I figured it was "operator error" and not mechanical.. The whole downshifting experience is still tricky to me.. but I'm glad I found out what I was doing wrong. Your input is helpful!

[Rosie]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Heh... that's about what my commute consists of as well. I hit Mira Mesa at the Black Mountain intersection, cruise a few miles down to Genetic Center, and I'm there.

Lucky you... they're talking about taking my office all the way down to Otay Mesa.. THAT would be a heck of a commute to me!

[Blackwidow]

Originally Posted by Rosie

2 miles?? I'm jealous..

yeah.. I don't wear the best boots either (old hiking boots, saving up for the real deal).. so that might be a factor too

ever consider getting the ICON hella boots? they are awesome. i love them

[ninjagirl]

Congrats! I can't wait to ride my bike to campus one of these days. Just need to figure out how to take everything with me lol. (books and laptop etc). On the N thing..my bike does this all the time. The newer models find N by themselves when stoped for a certain amount of time (and the N light will not turn on). I just roll the throttle back some to check if I'm in N or not right before the light turns green. Either that or I just put it in N to be on the safe side Congrats once again!

[Rosie]

Originally Posted by Blackwidow

ever consider getting the ICON hella boots? they are awesome. i love them

I considered them actually (they look awesome!), but I'm a bit thrown off by the high heel. I NEVER wear high heels and my feet hurt when/if I do. I know these boots might be a different story, but my feet normally prefer to lay flat on the ground..