I'm chuffed to bits!

[sburrows87]

Well, after the long cold winter, I have managed to take the bike out the past three days in a row! It's been cold out, so the rides have been short ones but I have still throughly enjoyed it and all the work done in the garage has paid off coz the bike feels great!:pedro:

I am trying to get out as much as possible to regain my confidence back after my off last year, and I have only done 425 miles on the monster in total since I bought it in september last year which is a poor effort I know, but I am very reluctant to take it out with all the salt down but as the roads have been bone dry the past few days I just couldn't wait, plus when I get back, I clean all the crap off and get loads of WD on the exposed areas of the bike.

God I love the monster though, makes me smile everytime I get on it, soooo much character!!!

Anyway, not long now til the weather gets better (I hope!!) :mand:

Pics of the bike to follow soon...

[He11cat]

Just go easy .. no great rush is there.
I am the same need to force myself to get out on my bike on my own.
No confidence either.
But bomb about on my 125 without a care silly really.
Just take it slow and enjoy :)

[jerry]

Confidence ...Errr thats a difficult one for me ..i can happily ride a 1000 miles in 3 days and then a few days later i find i have fear and trepidation just pottering around on the bike ,,,,the confidence drains out of me.

[jimbo696]

I find the more I ride the more confidence I have...however, I am reminded of the old proverb... "pride comes before a fall"....
Why not book on to a bikesafe course or an IAM course....

[big pete]

Think the confidence thing is the same to some degree with us all, quite sure its down to not being able to ride for long periods of the year for what ever reason. The most confident are usually those who ride all year round (note, I dont mix up confidence neccesarily with ability!). Found that when I was riding a trials bike regularly my road skills increased measurably.

[cairojay]

Think the confidence thing is the same to some degree with us all, quite sure its down to not being able to ride for long periods of the year for what ever reason. The most confident are usually those who ride all year round (note, I dont mix up confidence neccesarily with ability!). Found that when I was riding a trials bike regularly my road skills increased measurably.

This is very true....I lived on a farm and was riding single pot 2 stroke scramblers from about the age of 7 onwards. By the time I was 10 I was riding around on an RM480 which was nuts but in the scheme of confidence in handling a bike it has never gone away as a result of those early days. I didn't ride a bike again from about 22 until I was 38 but skills stayed with me. Took my time to remember but it was all there. Riding sense on the road however is another matter, I ride all year round and it makes a big difference knowing how the bike feels in the wet/snow but anticipating a car pulling out on you or filtering at a safe speed only comes with lots of defensive riding. Can't bang on enough about how good additional training is and if you work on the premise that you can never assume what another driver is going to do then that will stand you in good stead.

[rac3r]

I've been riding on and off through winter when it was kind of clear but I'm now starting to enjoy riding again!

If haven't ridden for a few weeks and I get on my bike again I tend to have that kind of feeling where you have butterflies in your stomach but then as soon as I pull away they're gone :D

I have to admit though the less riding 'breaks' I have the more my confidence sticks around!

(Oh and get them pics up! I need to see what the competitions like :chuckle: )

[jerry]

I get to ride all year round but somedays still have no confidence in myself or the machine??????one day i ride like Rossi the next like Homer simpson?????

[big pete]

Homer is a riding god!! Hells Satans rool:cool: