First commute downtown, paranoid... | GTAMotorcycle.com

First commute downtown, paranoid...

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Nwhiteside

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After a few weeks of building confidence in my local neighborhood -- I tackled the dreaded commute ride to work downtown this morning.

Not as bad as I expected, until I hit the core and was riding the clutch constantly. Definately need a squishy ball or hand exerciser to train up...

But, am I the only one who walks to the office window every half hour to look out at my bike on the street and check that its ok? Will this nervous nanny stuff go away?
 
No, I work security and am constantly checking bike on the cameras
 
no it wont go away lol. espeically if u have a window that can see ur bike lol.
 
Around my office we kinda of all park the bikes beside each other. So its not as nerve racking.

Your clutch hand will toughen up in a week or so.
 
Drat, left the ignition in 'park' mode with the parking lights on for the last 3 hours; now I have the added anxiety of wondering if it will turn over for the ride home...I feel like such a newb.
 
Nwhiteside said:
Drat, left the ignition in 'park' mode with the parking lights on for the last 3 hours; now I have the added anxiety of wondering if it will turn over for the ride home...I feel like such a newb.
Click to expand...

Did that once last year - bike was fine afterwards. Good luck!
 
Nwhiteside said:
After a few weeks of building confidence in my local neighborhood -- I tackled the dreaded commute ride to work downtown this morning.

Not as bad as I expected, until I hit the core and was riding the clutch constantly. Definately need a squishy ball or hand exerciser to train up...

But, am I the only one who walks to the office window every half hour to look out at my bike on the street and check that its ok? Will this nervous nanny stuff go away?
Click to expand...

It is my first commute to work today as well....it was pretty smooth ride until I hit the core but it was not as bad as some people complains on this website....got to work half an hour late cuz I'm still under M1 restriction and have to take local roads all the way from Ajax....I miscalculated the total commuting time so basically its my fault.....My bike is parked under my building's canopy in front of the main entrance. I left my extension with security and ask them to keep eye on it......lol....

Hope the ride back with be same....
 
ManUtd9 said:
It is my first commute to work today as well....it was pretty smooth ride until I hit the core but it was not as bad as some people complains on this website....got to work half an hour late cuz I'm still under M1 restriction and have to take local roads all the way from Ajax....I miscalculated the total commuting time so basically its my fault.....My bike is parked under my building's canopy in front of the main entrance. I left my extension with security and ask them to keep eye on it......lol....

Hope the ride back with be same....
Click to expand...

I'm curious... what route to did you take for city streets from Ajax to Toronto? I'm from Whitby and wouldn't mind trying your route before taking the 401/DVP.

Thanks,
 
Nwhiteside said:
After a few weeks of building confidence in my local neighborhood -- I tackled the dreaded commute ride to work downtown this morning.

Not as bad as I expected, until I hit the core and was riding the clutch constantly. Definately need a squishy ball or hand exerciser to train up...

But, am I the only one who walks to the office window every half hour to look out at my bike on the street and check that its ok? Will this nervous nanny stuff go away?
Click to expand...

Deadlifts and shrugs are your friends. Spent 16 hours just doing slow riding + sharp turns stuff in a parking lot using the clutch to fix up some stuff RTI taught me and I sucked at.

On the other hand, my brother goes to UofT and told me he's more scared of motorcycles being stolen then bicycles, and DT does have quite a high theft rate since everyone is so packed. Not really your fault, but I'm definitely gonna stick to bus if I go down there.
 
Repooc said:
I'm curious... what route to did you take for city streets from Ajax to Toronto? I'm from Whitby and wouldn't mind trying your route before taking the 401/DVP.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

This best route from out east I find is Kingston Rd. Even my GPS tells me that from Port Union the ETA taking Kingston vs 401/DVP is only 4 mins longer. Factor in traffic and I always take Kingston.

Sent from my Desire HD
 
Repooc said:
I'm curious... what route to did you take for city streets from Ajax to Toronto? I'm from Whitby and wouldn't mind trying your route before taking the 401/DVP.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Well Kingston Rd is the better option if you are not familiar with local roads in Scarborough. To be honest with you, my route will only going to confuse you bcuz i took my twist and turns just to avoid traffic and stop lights. I would suggest stick to Kingston Rd if you are just riding for the first time.
 
Nwhiteside said:
After a few weeks of building confidence in my local neighborhood -- I tackled the dreaded commute ride to work downtown this morning.

Not as bad as I expected, until I hit the core and was riding the clutch constantly. Definately need a squishy ball or hand exerciser to train up...

But, am I the only one who walks to the office window every half hour to look out at my bike on the street and check that its ok? Will this nervous nanny stuff go away?
Click to expand...

No one is going to steal your bike. They look for the Ducati, Harley, high performance sport bikes etc..... They don't look for beginner bikes since the market is already saturated with them. I ride a SV650 which is also considered a beginners bike, no one is going to try and steal it.

If you are very worried though, you can get a Gorilla alarm for very cheap and install that. They even have a pager you can get for it that will tell you remotely if your bike is being tampered with and in which way it is being tampered with. You'll be fine downtown, there's to many people around for the professionals to try lugging your bike into the back of a truck anyways.
 
The nervessness for riding will go away but not the security of your bike. Or even worse, on super hot days wondering if your bike will tip over because of the pavement.
 
Yeah dont worry about it being stolen.

Mines parked on a walkway. I'm more worried about people knocking it over than it being stolen.

And in general if you park in a regular parking spot, park further out of the spot than in it. That way, idiot drivers wont smash into your bike thinking they scored an empty parking spot.
 
Nwhiteside said:
Drat, left the ignition in 'park' mode with the parking lights on for the last 3 hours; now I have the added anxiety of wondering if it will turn over for the ride home...I feel like such a newb.
Click to expand...

Hahah, I always used to leave that on aswell! Never knew it even had that function...thot I screwed up my bike =P
What is that for anyway?
And yea, your wrist and forearm will toughen up soon...stretch and massage it often to reduce the healing pain.
 
Kuro said:
Yeah dont worry about it being stolen.

Mines parked on a walkway. I'm more worried about people knocking it over than it being stolen.

And in general if you park in a regular parking spot, park further out of the spot than in it. That way, idiot drivers wont smash into your bike thinking they scored an empty parking spot.
Click to expand...

That's a great tip bout where to park in a parking spot.
 
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