Hello All,


Well let me see... where to begin. I bought my '91 F2 in May of that year and - at the time - I wasn't even fully certain as to what I had just purchased! My wife liked the (black/pink/blue) color scheme and if she was happy, I knew I wouldn't here any "lip" over the purchase. My thinking was - if I didn't like the idea of a "sportbike" I assumed I could sell it pretty quickly since it was state of the art - er,ummm... back 1991 that is.


In any case, I've never looked back and I still own that same bike today. After getting laid off twice in the past 15 years, buying a house, and bringing a child into this world, I just simply couldn't afford to "upgrade". Hence - why I'm here. My Dad made a point of telling me I would never own a motorcycle as long as I lived under his roof and he paid the bills. It seems right after he got out of the military he bought and old HD Electra-glide - with a suicide-shifter next to the tank - and it poceeded to almost kill him. So his son would never have to deal with that problem as far as he was concerned. At least as long as I lived under his rules. I respected his wishes - with protest of course - yet he did tell me that once I got out on my own and began making my own money - if I wanted a bike then - I could pay for it.

Well... it took quite a few years for that to happen, but I bought my first bike at the age of 30. I guess that's usually a little on the "ole man" side of life [especially] when owning a sportbike... . But hey - the way I've got it figured - age is simply a state of mind! Now where did you say that curvy road was... .


So... here I am after two low-sides - (one this past summer) which were both basically my fault because I was carrying too much speed into a corner for my riding abilities. I came to the conclusion that I needed to learn how to do - at least - some of my own maintenance as it was becoming quite "expensive" to repair the carnage I was casuing! Not to mention the wife was becoming less and less tolerable of the repair cost.


I found CBRFORUM.COM and I'm really looking forward to picking many of you "do-it-yourselfers' brains as I attempt to keep this freaking thing on two wheels once more.


Glad I found you guys!


Dave

 

Welcome! From one old guy to another.

 

Welcome. I am 35 and just got my first bike a few months ago.

 

From one old dude to another, welcome aboard!

 

Hello Dave, we're glad you found this sight too. It's always nice welcoming experienced riders such as yourself to the forum. I'm sure you have plenty of knowledge in return to offer younger, less familiar riders.
Welcome to the forum

 

Welcome to the Forum !
Ah, you're still a youngster..............he he he
Growing old is mandator, growing up is optional...........
Enjoy whats on offer here.

 

Without knowing the specifics, I would guess you could have made the turn, but panicked and either chopped the throttle or grabbed the brakes while leaned over. That's usually what causes a lowside.

If you haven't taken any instruction lately, I would highly recommend it. A lot of us who are older and have been riding a while start doing things on autopilot, without taking the time to really think about what we're doing. As a result we get lazy, and our skills stagnate. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Experienced Rider Course, Lee Parks' Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic, or any trackday instruction will be fun and worthwhile.

 

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/ho...ays/index.html

HOW TO VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=...en&view=videos

You may find these interesting...........

 

Er,ummm... yep that's EXACTLY what I did! With my first low-side I did panic and I - reactively - rolled off the throttle a bit and "fingered" the front brake. I could instantly feel the front tire wash out. Might have actually saved it had I rolled on the throttle just a bit...

With my second and most recent low-side I - once again - had a &%@#* panic-attack and simply stood the bike up hoping - that by going off into the grassy median - it would be "more forgiving" than the pavement. And to that end - it was. That is until I slid into a freaking cement culvert!

I've had a little training - (i.e. the local Motorcycle Safety Foundation Course) - but never any "track" training, which in some ways I guess is what I need. Expense and the fear of TOTALLING my F2 is what has kept me away from that adventure.

I KNOW the bike still has more "lean angle" simply because I have that tale-tale sign on my tires of what they call the "chicken stripes" .

I don't know - maybe now that I'm older (48 in body-20-something in mind ) I realize "fixing" this thing when I do wreck it, plays into my psyche and it makes me do stupid stuff, when if I've seen - first hand - what this thing is really capable of, maybe I would have more ability to "override" my psyche. I don;t know...

Either way it is quite frustrating...

And to all you other "old" guys who have responded I say: thanks for the encouragement! But in the same token you guys make me jealious with your avatars! I can only assume those photos are of each of you on the track!

In any case... thanks for the warm welcome.