Riding before course date (already registered)

[Stewart]

you kids make me laugh, back in the day, there was no m1-m2, training courses, be a man and just do it!

[zeniceguy]

remember....
turn left to go right and turn right to go left, Im not kidding.

[wormburner]

you kids make me laugh, back in the day, there was no m1-m2, training courses, be a man and just do it!

Hells yeah!

I'm in the same position as the OP, but I'm just waiting for the first decent day to take out my brand new CBR. Now, that said, I have a buddy who's an accredited instructor who will be walking me through the basics. He's even going to go over some of the classroom stuff with me before I get on the bike.

Unless you're in a similar position, I'd stick with he recommendations from the experienced riders here.

[gjones4487]

do what your comfortable with. if you feel like you can do it, go for it. I took my R6 Up and down my drive way (its about 100m) a week after I got my M1 before my course, stalled it a couple times, then got the hang of it and took her out for a ride following one of my dad's buddies that has been riding for 40+yrs, I ended up ok.
And if weather permits ride your bike to RTI, I rode mine there the second day for my course.
What ever you do, be safe, and take it slow.

Cheers,
Geoff

[Bweixz]

watch m13's tutorial on how to ride a bike on youtube . . . thats how i learned how to ride.

[Hammer]

I"d say wait... you learn a lot of valuable skills at the course...

[Acadian1974]

you kids make me laugh, back in the day, there was no m1-m2, training courses, be a man and just do it!

Yes, it's called progress.

To the OP, heed the advice given and just wait until you've completed your course. If you're going to drop the bike your first time out... better a course bike than your shiny new toy. Depending on which location you booked you may even be on my site that weekend...

[conundrum]

Yes, it's called progress.
Depending on which location you booked you may even be on my site that weekend...

Currently booked for North York (can't remember the parking lot location off the top of my head, but the class is at the Radisson). And yeah, will probably wait, although if it were much more than 3 weeks then I'd likely try going around the block a few times no matter how hard I tried not to lol.

[nakkers]

do what your comfortable with. if you feel like you can do it, go for it. I took my R6 Up and down my drive way (its about 100m) a week after I got my M1 before my course, stalled it a couple times, then got the hang of it and took her out for a ride following one of my dad's buddies that has been riding for 40+yrs, I ended up ok.
And if weather permits ride your bike to RTI, I rode mine there the second day for my course.
What ever you do, be safe, and take it slow.

Cheers,
Geoff

lol. I rode my HD to RTI both days. Live in London and rode to Guelph. You couldn't remove the smile from my face for the whole riding season.


However to the OP. If you've never had any riding experience at all, I'd hold off. I've see folks wanting to stop, twist the throttle while trying to stop, the brakes didn't engage like they thought and let out the clutch and took off. Only to panick and wipe out.


It's one thing to know how to operate a vehicle with a manual transmission. It's quite another to operate a motorcycle.


That and riding those bikes at school, you don't feel too bad if it gets dropped or you make a mistake.

[Red695]

you kids make me laugh, back in the day, there was no m1-m2, training courses, be a man and just do it!

Yeah, I would say go for it myself. Watch a few youtube videos first, there are some really good ones out there.
All I got was a five minute lesson from my dad when I was 11yrs old and away I went. Mind you it was a dirt bike and used, but I never dropped it or crashed. It's not rocket surgery

[nakkers]

Yeah, I would say go for it myself. Watch a few youtube videos first, there are some really good ones out there.
All I got was a five minute lesson from my dad when I was 11yrs old and away I went. Mind you it was a dirt bike and used, but I never dropped it or crashed. It's not rocket surgery

I learned this way too. Not my Dad but, my cousin. You ask him today, he would be happy either way. Proud he showed me to ride without wiping out. Or it I wiped out, he'd laugh his arse off. It was a win win not matter what. The OP has a new bike with shiny plastics and paid a princely sum for it. Bent handle bars or shift lever is no biggie on a dirt bike. Don't think their new bike would fair as well on asphalt. Just say n.

[Baggsy]

you kids make me laugh, back in the day, there was no m1-m2, training courses, be a man and just do it!

Yes, that may be one of the reasons that so many people suck at driving.
I'm hoping that the people taking courses can start swinging the balance the other way.

[flexrider]

Just a quick question I've been mulling over in my mind...

So my bike will be delivered on March 9th, and I have all gear, M1, and registered with RTI for April 7th/8th (Easter Weekend). What I am still debating is, should I play around with the bike a bit before taking the course, or just wait it out a few more weeks and completely learn on their bikes?

If I did play with mine, it would only be in subdivisions, and would largely be to figure things out at my own pace beforehand. It is a new bike (but will have frame sliders on it before I'd try anything), and although I have no motorcycle experience I've driven manual cars since I learned to drive almost 15 years ago (so 'being smooth', clutch engagement and feel, having to listen to the engine are not new things to me).

Hey , i'm a newbie rider as well and had not been on a bike before until i took the RTI course. It seems already that you are prepared to drop your bike as you mentioned you would install frame sliders first before trying anything. So if thats the case, go for it. RTI treats every rider the same, so you could be a seasoned rider for years or a newbie, they start you off with the bike being off the first day and you walking with it. What i learned is that you are always learning so whatever you think you know now, i guarantee you will learn more and gain more confidence after/during the course. btw manual cars and bikes are two different machines, though the concept is the same, the feel is different. Be safe.

[Orangepeel]

You've got a one up on some that will be at the course by being able to drive stick .

Sure wish I had that to start!

Hubby took me out to a large parking lot with a starter bike we didn't fear to take a drop... TW200. It was nice to get an idea of clutching and shifting and braking before the course, but I had help. Spent two days just going up and down the lot...letting the clutch out and braking, then spinning round and going back the other direction, just because I wanted to brake properly .

But mistakes do happen, and can happen quickly. I saw a nasty fall on course, and if you take a spill and hurt yourself, having someone there to assist you is crucial to your well being and safety.

But here's a sweet video on countersteering that explains it better than any other I've seen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFm3h...e_gdata_player

[SunnY S]

Yeah, I would say go for it myself. Watch a few youtube videos first, there are some really good ones out there.

Yeah, there are some good ones out there for sure.............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9zNUPDmnz4

[Red695]

Yeah, there are some good ones out there for sure.............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9zNUPDmnz4

Lmao! Well, at least he had his gear on...he probably took a course too...

I was thinking more like this video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdySkge4aKM

[conundrum]

But here's a sweet video on countersteering that explains it better than any other I've seen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFm3h...e_gdata_player

I know they will explain this fully in the course but I figured I'd ask it here too -- I've seen/read a LOT on countersteering, and one point still confuses me. When they say 'push left to go left' or 'push right to go right', do they mean push down (or pull up) on that side of the handlebars or do they mean actually push it forwards a little bit (or pull it a little bit) to initiate the lean?

The video link above makes it seem like you just push down on the handlebars, which kinda makes sense based on what I saw in Keith Code's Twist of The Wrist II (DVD) as well -- since on that one they actually bolted bars to the nose/windscreen-area and countersteered with those while leaving the handlebars locked straight/untouched (so obviously those bars couldn't turn at all being bolted to the bike and not the forks).

[Bweixz]

I know they will explain this fully in the course but I figured I'd ask it here too -- I've seen/read a LOT on countersteering, and one point still confuses me. When they say 'push left to go left' or 'push right to go right', do they mean push down (or pull up) on that side of the handlebars or do they mean actually push it forwards a little bit (or pull it a little bit) to initiate the lean?

The video link above makes it seem like you just push down on the handlebars, which kinda makes sense based on what I saw in Keith Code's Twist of The Wrist II (DVD) as well -- since on that one they actually bolted bars to the nose/windscreen-area and countersteered with those while leaving the handlebars locked straight/untouched (so obviously those bars couldn't turn at all being bolted to the bike and not the forks).

yeah it means push the bar a little down, your basically LEANING to turn (countersteering) instead of TURNING the handle bars but when you lean its as if your TURNING your handle bars the other way . . . once your over 15 km/h you'll see lmao you can do it on a bicycle going down hill

[conundrum]

yeah it means push the bar a little down, your basically LEANING to turn (countersteering) instead of TURNING the handle bars but when you lean its as if your TURNING your handle bars the other way . . . once your over 15 km/h you'll see lmao you can do it on a bicycle going down hill

Hmm ok, with it being warm this weekend I might break out the bicycle and try it lol. One other thing I read (I think it was in Lee Park's Total Control) was that after initiating the lean you then still do turn the handlebars (slightly) in the direction you want to go)? That's what confused me, in that if you do push the handlebars forward (or pull them) to countersteer, then as soon as you actually turn in the direction you want to go, wouldn't it pull it out of the countersteer/lean?

If all you do is push down (on right to go right or left to go left) then turn the bars slightly (turn to the right to go right and turn to the left to go left) as you would at low speed, just nowhere near as much, then stop pushing down and straighten the bars to come out of the corner, all this makes more sense lol.

[victorbrca]

That's in the parking lot for my work... around Sheppard and 404 area.

Btw, I'm a new rider too. I had a 1 hour walk trough with my cousing in Brazil back in December. After that I came back bought a bike and started riding. But I spend all my free time reading, watching movies and trying to educate myself as much as I can. And when I do go out I'm very careful.

If you never rode a bike there's a huge chance that you will gas too much as soon as you start moving... see if someone is whiling to give you a quick tutorial in a parking lot... and be very careful. I've been riding for a month and already had two cars almost merging on me...

Currently booked for North York (can't remember the parking lot location off the top of my head, but the class is at the Radisson). And yeah, will probably wait, although if it were much more than 3 weeks then I'd likely try going around the block a few times no matter how hard I tried not to lol.