First 500 Miles

[Proteus]

I turned over mile #500 on my way to work this morning! I got the Ninjette on July 21.

Here's a summary of my riding experiences so far. My previous two-wheeled experience was limited to occasional dirtbike riding as a kid, a year of riding our Elite 80, and the MSF course.

The first two weeks I stuck to surface streets, which I was pretty comfortable on after a year of scooter riding. I think it was a good move to start on the scooter as it let me practice riding skills and traffic safety without worrying about shifting or having too much power. I really learned the limits of my bike and how to be safe around cars in Chicago. 250cc immediately felt like a lot more power, but not unmanageable. I’ve been commuting to work (it takes 45min-1hr each way on surface streets). I did have a few close calls with cars not seeing me, etc. but I knew how to handle them. It’s kind of a frustrating ride, though, as there’s nothing but stop lights every 2-4 blocks for most of the way.

I did my first highway ride on Friday, and have been commuting that way since. It’s a bit faster, usually closer to 45 minutes, but I feel much safer and the few spots of stop-and-go traffic are better than all the stoplights. Highway riding was a bit unnerving at first, as I felt like I was getting blown around a lot and didn’t want to go above 55mph. I’ve read a ton on here about highway riding and dealing with wind and now I feel very comfortable cruising at 70mph, tucking when I need to (except with lots of traffic, so I can stay visible).

I’ve been working on body position – I stay upright and hold my weight with my legs and core instead of my hands. I’m pretty good when moving, but I’m struggling with not putting so much weight on my wrists in 1st gear stop-and-go. I noticed that I tend to have the middle of my feet on the pegs so I’ve been trying to keep the balls of my feet there instead.

Other than commuting to work and riding to school I’ve been taking the bike out for any possible errand around town. The other day I took my wife on the back for the first time and we rode around our neighborhood and downtown for a bit. Not a ton of fun with so much traffic, we’ll need to get out of the city for some fun rides.

Altogether I’m on the bike about 2 hours a day and am loving it. I’m working on “riding” the bike instead of “driving” it and trying to improve my skills, riding my own ride. I’ve named the bike Donatello after my favorite Ninja Turtle, and I got a little Lego Donatello keychain to match. I think we’ve got many miles of fun ahead of us!

[NevadaWolf]

Congrats!! Getting out and gaining experience is a fun adventure, isn't it?

Donny looks good, though I do now expect to see some purple on him. Maybe grips? Or brake lines?

(IMO, Don was always the best turtle. My friends always liked Leo or Mikey, but Don is my favorite too.)

[Proteus]

I remember wanting to like Michelangelo or Raphael, because they were the "cool" ones, but in my heart I knew I was Donny.

Purple tank grips would be cool! I've been looking at Stomp Grips.

[NevadaWolf]

Ralph had too many anger issues. Sure, he got things done, but his fuse was really short. Mikey was just too laid back for my liking. Leo was the stereotype Type A hero.

One of the reasons I liked the Turtles, each of them had their strength but they also had very real weaknesses and those combined made the group what it was. Nothing was ideal about any of them.

Oh purple tank grips would be different. Do those come in colors? Only seen them in black or clear (I look at TechSpecs as they are local to me).

[Proteus]

Agreed.

I haven't seen any tank grips other than clear or black, I just realized that you were talking about hand grips.

[NevadaWolf]

Oh. Hahaha yeah sorry. Just installed new ones on mine so "grips" had a clear mental image of what I meant.

[iamjacob]

These would look awesome to make it a Donatello bike!

You need three other friends with the same with bike and blue, red and orange grips. That would be too cool.

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by iamjacob

These would look awesome to make it a Donatello bike!

You need three other friends with the same with bike and blue, red and orange grips. That would be too cool.

First I would need to get three friends though...

[Desmoluci]

Sounds like you have a good attitude towards safety
Just remember to ride like you're invisible and that other vehicles will do the unexpected bone-head move.

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Desmoluci

Sounds like you have a good attitude towards safety
Just remember to ride like you're invisible and that other vehicles will do the unexpected bone-head move.

That's the general MO - assume that no one sees me and that they will try to hit me.

[Hero Danny]

Beautiful bike! I have the same one.

Keep on riding!

How was riding with a passenger? It seems like it would be difficult on the small 250.

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Hero Danny

Beautiful bike! I have the same one.

Keep on riding!

How was riding with a passenger? It seems like it would be difficult on the small 250.

Thanks! I love it.

It was totally manageable. We've spent a lot of time riding on the Elite together and that thing is tiny! She wants a gel seat and I need to work on smoother downshifts. We didn't have any problems even with low speed maneuvers like pulling in and out of the parking lot or U-turns.