First day riding

Got my M endorsement this morning, then registration/title, and went for about 3 very short rides on flat road. Lackluster but doable. "I don't think I can take this up any hills ..."

Then I came home and put new spark plugs in as part of an earlier ignition diagnosis. Shazam! I bought the bike about a month and a half ago and today was the first time I realized how it's supposed to be. It makes the same horsepower as my riding lawnmower, but all that thing does is cut grass.

I rode all over my little burg this afternoon, and into the evening. One of my first ventures ... I slowed near a side street as a huge pickup approached the street I was traveling on. At my speed and the truck's speed, guess what was timed perfectly between my line of sight and the truck driver's head? The big side mirror on the door. It completely blocked the driver's face from me. I kept looking at her head and when her mirror kept blocking her line of sight I knew it was no bueno.

With no possibility of being seen I slowed even more, and sure enough, the driver went through the stop sign and cut me off. While on her phone. Of course.

The rest of the day was awesome, because I am after all, easily amused ... not to mention gratified at being able to finally enjoy the cash and time I've tossed at this so far. Everywhere I went, down little side streets, past people outside their houses, I waved. It was just natural. I mean, they're looking right at you, so why not wave? If it were a car they wouldn't even look up. But the majesty of a cherry CM200T in full glory is apparently too much to resist, who can blame them amirite?

Cars I passed on the road, they sometimes got a wave. Everytime I negotiated an intersection, my turn to go through, I waved. You'll laugh, but I meant it as a "thank you for letting me pass and not killing me." They waved back. Yes, I am literally that nicest person you meet on a Honda.

I'm glad everything is working out, it's been a challenge for you. Good call and great situational awareness with that truck, keep it up. Never blindly trust that you're seen by anyone.

I went though empty parking lots, briefly practicing figure-8s. The middle school front lot has an awesome little front lot for doing broad sweepers at 20-25. I stopped in a spot off a road and a car pulled up with someone's out-of-town grandparents there to see the high school football team play. "Do you know where the school is with the football field? They said it's not the high school but it has the football field ..."

"Yes, it's one of the elementary schools now ... it used to be the high school decades ago. It's still where the high school games are played."

"So it is that direction?"

"Yeah, follow me!" And off we went, and about 3 turns and 2 minutes later through the neighbored we were there.

I headed for home, good samaritan deed done, and took the last straight a little too fast? and slowed a little too quick and the bike died at an intersection. Good thing no one was there, I thought ... 10 cars went by before I could get it restarted. 4 people asked me if I needed help. Yeah, with my pride, not with the Honda.

LongDistanceRider said:

I'm glad everything is working out, it's been a challenge for you. Good call and great situational awareness with that truck, keep it up. Never blindly trust that you're seen by anyone.

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This motorcycle is going to make me a better car driver, maybe. I've been driving my car and trying to pretend I'm riding and being "as aware," but the car or truck just glosses over everything. On the bike there's that ballet of clutch, brake(s), throttle, and so on. I went past a few streets I intended to turn onto because I didn't see the stupid street sign. OK, slow down next time. Force that SUV behind you to slow. Signal early, slow. It's so weird, because in a car you're not sitting any higher, but something about the perspective makes it easier to see some things. On the bike it's more of a constant L-R scan.

I can sense some aspects coming naturally, and others I will need quite a bit of practice and experience before decent proficiency exists. Stopping on a hill at an intersection No issue, I can feather that clutch. But I am clumsy with the clutch on gear changes in both directions, letting it out too quickly. I practice slow speed turns in a parking lot and see myself getting impatient. OK, settle down, don't be a moron. Friction zone.

My brake behavior is good, and I have a good sense of trail braking and using both brakes and breaking early so as not to get into trouble on curves. I'm guessing compression is great because this thing has excellent engine braking. (I have a gauge, it's on my list of things to verify.) Most corners, ease off the throttle and no brake are needed. Even in 4th the bike just slows.

LongDistanceRider said:

... it's been a challenge for you...

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More of a learning experience, less of a frustration so far. I enjoy the process so long as the peg keeps moving forward. If I hit a roadblock that's when you'll see me ask for help. Otherwise my posts that just say, "this is weird, it's not working right" is me kinda working through it. Your help has nevertheless been amazing and a major reason I'm as far along as I am. Thank you.

As Jim said, it was a good call on the truck with the mirror blocking their view of you - situational awareness is a big part of us surviving in today's traffic, anticipating what those who aren't paying attention might be doing next. And your statement about the bike making you a better car driver is absolutely true, the requirement of constant scanning the landscape left to right and back is what keeps us safer on bikes, and it crosses over to driving a car once you're used to doing it. Good to hear about the very positive progress, glad things are working well for you now.