August 20th, 2011, 07:22 PM | #1 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Rob
Location: Orlando, FL
Join Date: Aug 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 ZX6R Posts: 147
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My first ride after MSF!
Well as of yesterday, I am now legal to operate a motorcycle on public roads! I had my bike about a week before my class, and I rode around the parking lot a ton. However, today was the first day I actually went for an extended ride. For anyone from Orlando, you know how bad the drivers are here, so needless to say I was pretty nervous, but I had to do it soon. My bike was delivered with under a 1/4 of a tank of gas left. So ultimately I had to just get out there and put what I learned to use.
First off, I had a blast! This little bike packs a pretty good punch. What was supposed to be a quick 10min ride to get gas turned into an hour tour of east Orlando! I just had no interest in turning back so I kept going. Plus about halfway into my ride a R6 rider joined me and followed my path for quite a bit. He could have easily gone around me as many of the roads were 4 lanes, but he kept right behind me. So that was pretty cool and made the ride even more interesting. While nothing went wrong, I still have quite a ways to go to becoming a "good" rider. My up shifting seems to be real jerky. Any tips on that? My downshifts are fine. When I up shift, I close the throttle, pull in the clutch, shift, then release and slowly add throttle. Should I be more aggressive on the throttle when I'm trying to increase speed fairly quickly? Beside it being jerky, I am getting blown away by pretty much everyone ha. I don't care all that much as once I get in the higher gears I catch up, but I would like to be able to do faster takeoffs eventually. Also I have pretty much given up on the factory break in. 90% of roads in Orlando have speed limits of 45mph and higher so there is just no way of keeping it under 4k. I know it's a highly debated subject, but I can't imagine how anyone in this region could follow that for 600 miles without getting run over. So I'm pretty much doing the "hard" break in. I already can't wait until work tomorrow as I will be riding my bike in! Then an extended ride after! |
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August 20th, 2011, 07:57 PM | #2 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Timon
Location: Utah
Join Date: Feb 2011 Motorcycle(s): Ninja EX250R Posts: 80
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Welcome to the addiction.
You're right on adding more throttle when up shifting. Most of my up shifts involve clutch, release throttle, change gear, release clutch, 50%+ throttle. Also as far as starting out you should easily be the first one out of the red light with no problems. Just make sure you rev it up a little higher when starting off. |
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August 21st, 2011, 07:08 PM | #3 | |
ninjette.org member
Name: Rob
Location: Orlando, FL
Join Date: Aug 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 ZX6R Posts: 147
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Quote:
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August 21st, 2011, 07:13 PM | #4 |
ninjette.org sage
Name: Joseph
Location: Winter Park, FL
Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 250R Black, 2005 ZX-6R Blue Posts: 623
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Where in East Orlando? I am near Aloma and 436. I meet with some riders every Thursday at the Steak N Shake near there.
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August 21st, 2011, 07:19 PM | #5 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Mark
Location: Viera, Florida
Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 250r pearl se Posts: 120
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I pull on the clutch lever enough to disengage the clutch. About half way down. Or two fingers still left on the grip. I found that helped my up shifts a whole lot.
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August 21st, 2011, 07:40 PM | #6 |
ninjette.org sage
Name: .
Location: .
Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 Ninja 250R SE GREEN! Posts: 562
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Try clutching and throttling in one motion. Also the faster you do the shift the smoother it'll be because the rpms have less time to drop
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August 21st, 2011, 07:46 PM | #7 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Rob
Location: Orlando, FL
Join Date: Aug 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 ZX6R Posts: 147
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