New motorcycle & new to motorcycling

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48 posts

Geek

#1421409 5-Nov-2015 09:29

Welcome to the motorcycle family. I'm a 27 year motorcycle veteran and a kiwibiker member. Did you have a bad experience with them? Generally the locals give each other sh1t but in person are a friendly bunch. In regards to your bulky gear, it does break in fairly quickly and you'll find it easier to move around the more you wear it. A bit of practice with the clutch and I'm sure you'll get over your stalling issues. Might pay to get your friend who is experienced to watch your technique and give you feedback.

There is a local learner group ride in Lowe Hutt on a Wednesday night run by kiwibiker members that you should check out. You'll meet some great characters and get some good advice. I quite often come along myself just to go for the ride. It meets at the Avalon Park duck pond at 6pm most Wednesdays.

Look for a silver Yamaha FZ6 with a top box or or an older model Ducati supersport like in the profile pic and come say hi.

lokhor

2858 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1421510 5-Nov-2015 11:24

That sounds like a good idea. I am going to get my gear lever adjusted as I can't fit my boots under and the shop said they will help me out.

I was just lurking on Kiwibiker and the atmosphere seemed quite negative. Maybe I just feel like I fit in more with the geeks where I belong :)

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#1421513 5-Nov-2015 11:31

pdath: Try jumping on http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/ and see if you can find a mentor in your area. Telling you how to do something is very hard compared to someone showing you, letting you have a go, observing you and then giving you some tips.

I'd be wary of that site, there are a significantly higher than average number of extremely unpleasant individuals on there, in the "general" areas at least.

@KnightNZ

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#1421526 5-Nov-2015 11:33

pdath:
Sideface:
johnr: ... BMW drivers please don't get me started

What about BMW motorcycle drivers?

The police are ditching the BMW's motorcycles. Heading over to Honda's from memory.

They changed to ST1100's quite a while ago as unsurprisingly, the maintenance costs on the BMW's was too high apparently.

Not sure what the current model is they're using.

@KnightNZ

BTR

1527 posts

Uber Geek

#1421569 5-Nov-2015 12:08

Any advice for someone wanting to get their bike license? Is there a way for a more mature (older) person to progress through the licensing system in a shorted time?

lagbort

263 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#1421598 5-Nov-2015 12:30

BTR: Any advice for someone wanting to get their bike license? Is there a way for a more mature (older) person to progress through the licensing system in a shorted time?

No more so than anyone else (in fact older new riders having much higher accident rates than any other riders was one of the main causes for changes in the licensing system a while back).

The fastest way through at the moment is:

- Basic Handling Test
- Learner Theory Test
- CBTA Restricted test, can be done any time after getting your learners licence
- CBTA Full Test, can be done 1 year after the restricted.

The CBTA tests are harder and longer than the normal AA tests, but cut 6 months out of each licence.

lokhor

2858 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1421632 5-Nov-2015 12:55

lagbort:
BTR: Any advice for someone wanting to get their bike license? Is there a way for a more mature (older) person to progress through the licensing system in a shorted time?

No more so than anyone else (in fact older new riders having much higher accident rates than any other riders was one of the main causes for changes in the licensing system a while back).

The fastest way through at the moment is:

- Basic Handling Test
- Learner Theory Test
- CBTA Restricted test, can be done any time after getting your learners licence
- CBTA Full Test, can be done 1 year after the restricted.

The CBTA tests are harder and longer than the normal AA tests, but cut 6 months out of each licence.

How experienced would I need to be before going for the CBTA Restricted?

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

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lagbort

263 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#1421633 5-Nov-2015 12:58

lokhor:
lagbort:
BTR: Any advice for someone wanting to get their bike license? Is there a way for a more mature (older) person to progress through the licensing system in a shorted time?

No more so than anyone else (in fact older new riders having much higher accident rates than any other riders was one of the main causes for changes in the licensing system a while back).

The fastest way through at the moment is:

- Basic Handling Test
- Learner Theory Test
- CBTA Restricted test, can be done any time after getting your learners licence
- CBTA Full Test, can be done 1 year after the restricted.

The CBTA tests are harder and longer than the normal AA tests, but cut 6 months out of each licence.

How experienced would I need to be before going for the CBTA Restricted?

The CBTA restricted test is the hardest test now, but as long as you were comfortable riding around confidently, no stalling, constantly looking around, spotting/identifying hazards, you should be fine.

I understand you can opt to do a 'mock test' beforehand where they will tell you what you need to fix before the real thing

Makoura

49 posts

Geek

#1421646 5-Nov-2015 13:01

BTR: Any advice for someone wanting to get their bike license? Is there a way for a more mature (older) person to progress through the licensing system in a shorted time?

Hi. After a few years of riding a scooter to work I decided to get License a few weeks ago. It is as quick as you want it. I had never ridden with gears before so that was a bit daunting but had a lesson and Motorcycle competency test done one Saturday through this company They were great and I then did theory test on the Monday (this was a mission I practised a heap and just scraped in) I could have then done CBTA on the Monday afternoon and had restricted straight away. Then done CBT Full the next day and a year later would have full license.

I haven't done this as I still have to get a bike and not really in a rush. (well I am but the wife said no to the MT-07 I was dreaming of for now) But that's what is possible.

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#1421731 5-Nov-2015 15:25

I did my full license test on a borrowed DR250, which was awful as it'd lift the front wheel if you didn't hold your tongue just right, plus it was blowing a gale. Most disconcerting especially when being following by a police car the whole time.

Roadsafe do most of the training courses in Wellington, Andrew (I've not met his wife) who runs it is a pretty clued up bloke who has been running the courses for >20 years. Some of the courses will knock significant time off the licensing process.

@KnightNZ

compost

295 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1422937 7-Nov-2015 19:42

Don't escalate. One day that honking tailgating prick in the Audi won't be a puffed up exec, it'll be a junkie car thief who isn't cognisant of the consequences of their actions.

It's not a race. Think of all those extra minutes with your baby you'll get just from filtering through stationary/very slow traffic.

Treat falls as learning opportunities instead of shameful events nobody must ever hear about. Your healthy paranoia about other road users and feel for braking limits can improve out of sight.

A time-poor geek is hardly a geek at all

lokhor

2858 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1423057 8-Nov-2015 09:31

I am going to do a couple of the Roadside courses - the Urban Commuter and Bronze look good for me. Need to figure out when I can do it though as my wife is due to give birth any day now so don't want to risk having to cancel.

I got the shop to adjust my gear lever a little it upwards yesterday so my boot fits under a little more easily. I am slowly gaining confidence and went on the highway yesterday. I only stalled at the lights once, so definitely an improvement.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

Guv

94 posts

Master Geek

#1505912 4-Mar-2016 12:06

Hi Lokhor

Hows the progress with the new riding. I'm contemplating the same for myself soon and would be interested to know hows its going.

Guv

rphenix

985 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1505920 4-Mar-2016 12:22

lokhor:Last night when I rode the bike after the shop dropped it off I put all my gear on and I had a lot of difficulty with changing gears/stalling, particularly when going from 1st to 2nd gear. Not sure if anyone has advice for learning when wearing quite thick gear. My boots in particular are Alpinestar Roam and I am having difficulty feeling the gear lever with them on.

You will get used to the boots they will take awhile to wear in and loosen up. Regarding changing gears pretty common fault my old Aquila can be a pain as well but easy to avoid the problem my recommendation - try to avoid fully stopping with just the brake use the motor a little to slow down towards the end so you end up using either second or first gear for the last bit of breaking then you can more easily click it in neutral. If your stationary letting the clutch out in first so the bike rolls a little forward then clutch in (as its moving a tiny bit) will also help to get it into neutral.

On the way home I usually get the bike into neutral as its still moving on my driveway so by the time I want to do a u-turn to back into the garage it's in neutral and coasting makes dong the u-turn easy and something I don't even think about. You will probably find the most reliable method for hitting neutral is to do it while its still moving rather than trying to rock it forwards a little to flick into neutral which is a bit more problematic.

RileyB

247 posts

Master Geek

#1529890 11-Apr-2016 09:46

Wouldn't bother with kiwibiker, unless you're a seasoned racer with a couple TT's under your belt and ride nothing but 1000CC+ bikes they will treat you like a piece of S%^T born yesterday. For every helpful answer you will get 10 more mocking your ride/gear choice, and berating you for daring to ask such a dumb question.

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