How was your ride? There's nothing to fear, just ride defensively and you should be able to have enough time to react to any situation that might occur.
Thanks for asking and the words mate. I ended up taking it out for a short ride in the traffic, never got to where I wanted with the twisties. However it was fine. I was expecting local drivers to be morons with bikes but they were pretty fine to ride with so far. The weather was pretty bad and I barely avoided some eavy rains.How was your ride? There's nothing to fear, just ride defensively and you should be able to have enough time to react to any situation that might occur.
Some good advice there. To be honest I haven't seen a single rider out on that road. It's usualyl got 3-4 cyclists and that's about it. And a few cars. It's where I used to practice car driving when I was young. Basically it's a very unpopular road, got some twistes (not tight corners though) and some good amount of straight road, perfect to practice smooth shifting.I don't recommend going to the twisty on the weekend, there will be a lot of (weekend) bikers doing the same, and some might be riding aggressively, which can be intimidating and might catch you off guard if they fly past you fast or overtake you in a corner.
If you do intend to go anyway, remember to just stick closer to the road shoulder area, and give them way/let them pass, so that they are not tail-gating you which also might make you lose focus/feel pressured to go faster since someone is behind you.
What I would recommend, if you can, is to search for a quiet/less traffic area, and just ride round and around, practice your throttle control, braking, turning/u-turn, once you start to get comfortable with all that, you won't even think twice about riding on the streets, all your experience in handling the bike will be instinct to you by then.
Usually what I say to my friends when they gonna try some new combo or trick "Let me record... might be a youtube crash"Go for it. If something does go wrong it will be a YouTube hit.
Not so many cars but still had to ride along with them which felt dangerous but not so scary anymore. I was just trying to be extra cautious due to possible rider error that I could do. I'm just not 100% aware of how the bike will behave (or how my skills will behave) so it felt right to let the cars pass by me instead of riding thru them.
Thanks for the bike compliment Appreciate it. I'd say it's inbetween. I tend to lean a little forward when riding in traffic but my foot position is not as high and behind as on an R6 for instance. I can ride upright (the handlebar position does let me do that, or I just have long arms haha) when I'm riding on lower speeds. I just find tad bit lean forward gives me a little more comfort when riding in traffic aerodynamic-wise.It would infact be safer to attempt to ride along at the speed of the traffic, rather than riding slower, and all the traffic is having to overtake you?
Nice looking bike, plus sporty with it. Are you finding you are leaned forward, to reach the grips - like a typical sport bike position?
To be honest, that might not be the best riding position to start out. A bike that sits you more upright, might give you more confidence (plus feel more natural), plus you'd be able to see further up the road then too (being sat higher and more upright).
As you are doing, take it slowly and get out during busier times more and more, to build confidence.
Plus its better to be more cautious (as you are), than a false sense of confidence, which gets you into an accident.
Keep at it !!!
Yeah, riding at night, its a lot more difficult to calculate distances (of vehicles ahead / bends / even the apex of a bend) - as you have limited visibility, more so if you ride along rural roads at night (with little to no street lighting plus no other vehicles). You might also not spot hazards in the road! Plus as you say, there's glare, and all sorts of light reflections going on. But you indicate your night riding was mostly urban?
I upgraded my Headlight bulb, to help me see quite a bit further, for night riding, it helps but still isn't brilliant. At least it gets rid of the 'glow worm in a glass jar' look, I had before!
But I'm seriously considering a HID headlight kit for the best light output. Even in daylight, I ride with lights on, to give car drivers the best chance of spotting me!
Your bike! I actually had to zoom in to your Photo, looking at the stickers (signage), to realize it WASN'T a Kawasaki / Suzuki / Honda, or similar. It does look quite impressive.
Plus compared to a smaller 125cc bike, you should find more performance out of yours, being a larger capacity.
At the end of the day, confidence and experience comes down to just getting out on the bike and riding - be it in the day, at night, in sun or rain !! Ride safe.
those look cool. My only problem with what I have is the fact that it puts out light a few feet away from me, it's good to see upcoming bumps and all to dodge but you don't see the imediate neighboring area. Might get something like this. Although for the most part, visibility ain't a problem for me at night. It's the glares and well, the traffic.My Honda PC800's headlight was about as useful as a glow worm. I added a pair of these.
What a difference! Single LED each, but low current draw, and bright enough that I could barely see my stock low beam's footprint when these were on. Go for the 25* beam angle rather than 45* to put the light where you want it. I mounted them low on the forks to not blind oncoming drivers. And the red ones (which matched that bike) were $5 cheaper.
My Shadow came with a light bar but it shorted out and I had to remove it, so right now I only have an LED bulb in the stock headlight. It's all right, but when I have a bit more money I plan to buy another pair of these (chrome this time) to really light up the road, and be seen better during the day.
damn didn't know about the illegal lighting. I think cops here won't mind. Honestly, I'm pretty positive that there is not a single law that is motorcycle oriented. You pay the same price for parking here same price for everything else as you would with a car, despite the difference in dimensions and all. I guess it's just that they're not used to it yet. There are barely 100+ motorcycles in the entire city (and I'm in the capitol lol) and most of them don't commute, they just ride around on weekends and all.The LED units look neat. But would only really compliment a Touring / Adventure / Naked type bike?
Where might you mount some on a Sports bike, as there's no sticking out bits, its all sleek and covered by the fairing?
I was looking into Lighting kits for inside the fairing, to light the bike up a little at night (for style, plus to be more visible to car drivers) - but routing electrical cable around a boiling hot engine, probably isn't the best decision. Also in a lot of cases, such a kit is illegal on a bike used on public roads (at a show would be fine).
Kinda thing...