Late to the game but here I am | GTAMotorcycle.com

Late to the game but here I am

cainnar

Member
37 year old downtown guy here and just finished M1 and riding course, waiting patiently until September for M2. Insurance company is OK with insuring me as M2 because of certificate, so I'm picking up my first bike tomorrow! Looking forward to finding ways to get some practice in downtown before I can get on highways.
 
37 year old downtown guy here and just finished M1 and riding course, waiting patiently until September for M2. Insurance company is OK with insuring me as M2 because of certificate, so I'm picking up my first bike tomorrow! Looking forward to finding ways to get some practice in downtown before I can get on highways.
Welcome to GTAM! May I ask what bike?

Ride safe and practice in parking lots
 
Got a Yamaha R3. I live really close to Skydome, so I'm thinking on days when that parking lot is empty-ish it might be nice and I don't have to go far. Just want to make sure I get a good amount of ride time before storing it and hopefully won't be too rusty in the spring
 
Got a Yamaha R3. I live really close to Skydome, so I'm thinking on days when that parking lot is empty-ish it might be nice and I don't have to go far. Just want to make sure I get a good amount of ride time before storing it and hopefully won't be too rusty in the spring
Nice. Good choice. Still got 3 months to practice. Can easily ride till end of October. People here, myself included, push it to November, some even early December.
 
Welcome to the forum!

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Welcome and nice choice in the R3.
 
Similar age (ish) and downtown (ish) and just got my first bike having done M2 course (maybe we were on the same course!). Was going to get a naked street bike but ended getting a ninja 300: after doing course on a CBR125 I decided I wanted something similar to learn on!
 
Nice. Good choice. Still got 3 months to practice. Can easily ride till end of October. People here, myself included, push it to November, some even early December.
Hmm. Reminds me of my 1 year journey of riding.

Got insurance for an R6 on M1, no course (they said it wouldn't matter).
I kept the bike at a storage facility (indoor) on the 2nd floor so I had to use the inside elevator to take the bike out. Practiced in the parking lot of that facility for 3 days (1 hour each day).

It was the end of the month, I got my M1 and I didn't need to renew the rental agreement. Also space at my home became available so I didn't want to waste the money. I was "forced" to bring the bike back to my home (in the same city).

On the 4th day (end of the month and 1st day of M1) I took the bike onto the road. I remember thinking I was going "fast" but then giant cars were flying by me (upset). I looked down and realized I was going only 35 km. Could have sworn I was flying.

First 30 days was abit of a stressor. As much as I really wanted to get the R6, I had a hard time balancing fun, and not dropping/crashing it. Needless to say, I'm one of the only people I know who has never dropped their first bike, and also one of the the only people I know who have never stall the bike the first time it was touched. Funnily enough, I stalled it 1 week after riding it at a traffic light and crushed my balls :/

Anyway...

Odd because I've been criticized for my self education and said I was a fool for using an alternative means of learning. Yet, the kids that came from the schools knew about a quarter of what I did, all dropped their 250s several times, and stalled their bikes maybe 100 times at the beginning.

Also...I've heard things like " I rather ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow" and all that. Funny stuff. Not true for me. After 30 days I doubt anyone on the road would say "that bike is slow". I dont see why I HAVE to be able to jump on a bike and race around on it right away. Took time with my 600 and around the month mark it became more fun.

Still I remember on the 7th day I took the highway from Mississauga to Scarborough (which I shouldn't have but my car was down) and the one thing I didn't calculate or think of was the wind :/ I mean I did but it was ridiculoust that day. It felt like I was in world war 1. Or 2. It was 35 km wind and my tires were pumped a bit hard so I was blown around. For a first time, 35 km wind on the highway is something.

Now...I know there's stages of riding where probability of death is higher. I'm entering a new stage now where I think I'm "king ****" so cheers to surving this one :/

Happy that I have the bike I've always wanted though. Although no bike is worth a life, I always said that if I'm gonna risk my life, it better be on something that looks good lol





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Similar age (ish) and downtown (ish) and just got my first bike having done M2 course (maybe we were on the same course!). Was going to get a naked street bike but ended getting a ninja 300: after doing course on a CBR125 I decided I wanted something similar to learn on!

If you were at the Celestica lot on the 28/29th, yeah. I did my second day and evaluation on a CBR125 as well, it served me well :) There was a Ninja 300 on the course lot as well, and I gave that a test ride after the evals were done. Definitely a lot nicer than the 125, probably due to the fact that it was just sold to the school months ago, rather than they years of abuse the CBR125 had ;) Enjoy the Ninja, it was one of my contenders when I was looking, but the deal I got on the R3 was too good to pass up.
 
...
Also...I've heard things like " I rather ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow" and all that. Funny stuff. Not true for me. After 30 days I doubt anyone on the road would say "that bike is slow". I dont see why I HAVE to be able to jump on a bike and race around on it right away. Took time with my 600 and around the month mark it became more fun....
What you heard and how you chose to interpret it are two different things.
One day you will get blown away by how good some other guy can ride and it won't seem to matter what he's riding he will still blow you away. Riding motorcycles well, be that fast, over huge obstacles, doing aerobatics or whatever is as much rider ability as bike advantage. Learning your limits and the motorcycles limits are much easier on a bike that has limits the rider can reach. Learning on a limitless bike and never having experienced anything else will be a deficit. Starting on a big powerful bike serves only to extend your learning curve.
... don't expect you to agree with this right now but give it about 40 years and several crashes ;) you'll figure it out.

Stay safe, learn lots & have tons of fun rider.


edit oops, just noticed you're already 37 :| make that 20 years and several crashes.
 
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(sigh)

When you don't know what you didn't learn, you don't know learning it would have been beneficial.

Genesis, although you always seem to suggest you're a pro rider and didn't need all that learnin' stuff, you don't know what you missed. STOP suggesting to other people that they don't need it, that it's not beneficial, or that it's a waste of money, etc etc etc.

I always tell people that what you learn at a motorcycle course can and very well may save your life someday when you find yourself in an emergency situation and your brain actually knows what to do...instead of panic, lock the brakes, target fixate, and crash..which is what a lot of untrained riders do.

Even riders who have been riding for decades and then take a training course of some sort, provided they are not so conceited (or afraid to admit that, *gasp*, might not have known everything!) will readily admit that they learned something during that course.

I hope you never get yourself into a scenario where you need the emergency skills you never learned.
 
reminds me of a rider here couple years ago who was bragging about quick learner, martial art skills etc decided he'd outgrown his 250 and bought a 600ss after 3-4 months on the 250.
Last time I saw him I came around a corner on a twisty road and his spanking new SS was on it's side in a few pieces. We patched it together with duct tape and he was VERY lucky his low side and his head stopped short of the butt end of a guard rail by about a 1/2 meter.

Chasing riders better than him on roads he didn't know on too much bike. He was mid 30s too I recall.

There are things long term riders do to stay safe that are ground into the bone so you don't even think about them ....saddle time is critical.

I'd also HIGHLY recommend new riders get some time in the dirt.

OP ...I know you are new but try and join a group of civilized riders going to Pennsylvania and find out about roads that will take your breath away mile after mile.
5 hours and you are in motorcycle heaven.
 
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OP ...I know you are new but try and join a group of civilized riders going to Pennsylvania and find out about roads that will take your breath away mile after mile.
5 hours and you are in motorcycle heaven.

Most noobs are nervous just leaving their driveway for a 20 minute ride.But you think he should ride to Penn? Bad advice for a lot of reasons.
 
(sigh)

When you don't know what you didn't learn, you don't know learning it would have been beneficial.

Genesis, although you always seem to suggest you're a pro rider and didn't need all that learnin' stuff, you don't know what you missed. STOP suggesting to other people that they don't need it, that it's not beneficial, or that it's a waste of money, etc etc etc.

I always tell people that what you learn at a motorcycle course can and very well may save your life someday when you find yourself in an emergency situation and your brain actually knows what to do...instead of panic, lock the brakes, target fixate, and crash..which is what a lot of untrained riders do.

Even riders who have been riding for decades and then take a training course of some sort, provided they are not so conceited (or afraid to admit that, *gasp*, might not have known everything!) will readily admit that they learned something during that course.

I hope you never get yourself into a scenario where you need the emergency skills you never learned.
Lol I hear you.

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Lot safer riding to PA with some responsible riders than trying to learn on GTA roads. He's not a 16 year old.
 
After a few days going out with no destination in mind I think I'm getting the hang of it, but obviously still a rookie. One thing's for sure, GTA is 95% straight roads, so not much in the way of practicing twisties. Also the wind REALLY blows you around on a small bike compared to a car like I'm used to, even at 80-90k/hr.

A ride somewhere nice might be good but might still be a bit early, so maybe in the spring. By the way, what are most people using for communications on those types of trips?
 
Hand gestures. :thumbup:

+1 for that.Screw the electronics.Enjoy the pure two wheel experience and focus on the ride.(but to each their own i guess)
 
I actually bought a book about hand gesture communication for MCs a long time ago. Read it a couple of times and didn't use the more extravagant hand signs. Then again I don't ride with large groups that I have to communicate with.
 

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