Advice for beginners

[GearGrabinGuy]

Keep the shiney side up and the rubber side down....

[Mr Lefty]

Originally Posted by OTB

what's the worst..piece of advice or riding lore you were given?

Mine was; "Don't use the front brake; it'll throw you over the handlebars". this was in the days of transition from drum fronts to single solid disks; about 30% of the braking power of today's stuff. Sillyness.

DON'T RIDE YOU WILL KILL YOURSELF!

[pickle.of.doom]

To reiterate what has been said already - Start on a Used bike You are going to drop it most likely. Probably just in your driveway, garage, a parking lot, or trying to off road it (cough what dumbass would do that?), kickstand on asphalt on a hot day, etc etc but most likely its going to hit the ground at some point in time

[Mr Lefty]

Originally Posted by pickle.of.doom

To reiterate what has been said already - Start on a Used bike You are going to drop it most likely. Probably just in your driveway, garage, a parking lot, or trying to off road it (cough what dumbass would do that?), kickstand on asphalt on a hot day, etc etc but most likely its going to hit the ground at some point in time

AWESOME advice...

I dropped mine trying to load it in my truck by myself...

and again when trying to pump up a plugged tire...

and it was on it's side again in the parking lot because some fuck'n kids... wierdly enough... it didn't cause any new damage...

[Mule]

get comfortable with the throttle....i made that mistake 24 hours after getting my buell and i wound up with a broken ankle and fuct-up buell race exhaust....

[Cutty72]

how you do that?? land it on a curb or something??

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by Mule

get comfortable with the throttle....i made that mistake 24 hours after getting my buell and i wound up with a broken ankle and fuct-up buell race exhaust....

HOLY SHIT!

[Captain Morgan]

Originally Posted by OTB

What's the worst piece of advice or riding lore you were given?

Mine was; "Don't use the front brake; it'll throw you over the handlebars". this was in the days of transition from drum fronts to single solid disks; about 30% of the braking power of today's stuff. Sillyness.

I rode with a newbie once. He skidded through a stop light because he only used his rear brake (and he was going WAY too fast for the road). He was lucky nobody was coming or he'd have been done. I asked why he wasn't able to stop, because I was (yes, I was going too fast too). I discovered he wasn't using his front brake because he was afraid it would flip him. I showed him I could stop using ONLY my front brake, without lifting the rear tire off the ground. He tried it and was amazed.

What's the best advice I can give newbies? Don't panic. Look where you want to go, trust your tires and your brakes. If you are looking at the object you are afraid of, you will hit said object. If you look where you actually want to go (which is to the side of said object), you will miss the object you fear. Your tires will do more than you can imagine. Obviously, don't just grab a handful of front brake, but you must use it as it provides most of the stopping power of your bike.

[Mrs. Colleen]

Originally Posted by pickle.of.doom

To reiterate what has been said already - Start on a Used bike You are going to drop it most likely. Probably just in your driveway, garage, a parking lot, or trying to off road it (cough what dumbass would do that?), kickstand on asphalt on a hot day, etc etc but most likely its going to hit the ground at some point in time

Or your husband will drop it!!!

[pickle.of.doom]

Originally Posted by Ebbs15

and the hand grips! and the rubber on stock foot pegs!(actually seen it!)

Yep, doing the seat is a good way to crack the ole' walnuts upon braking though, and yes, I speak from experience

Originally Posted by Mrs. Colleen

Or your husband will drop it!!!