Hey guys this is my first thread, and I wanted to make it a good one. We just bought my girlfriend a Ninja 250, she has NEVER ridden a bike before, and to be honest she hasnt exactly mastered driving a car yet. So I have the task of teaching her how to ride a bike. She is thinking of taking the course next spring, but wants some experience before she goes. She would also like to save the money and put it towards a 600 if possible. I started off by "racing" motocross, and never really had a learning period, just kinda did it, and of course the street bike was a pretty smooth natural transition. So what I am asking of my fellow Honda lovers is for any advice on riding/training that I may overlook or take for granted as coming "naturally". I told her to take the safety class, but she wants to learn from me. She gets frustrated very easily, so it has been a little hectic, but she is making strides every time she is on the bike.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Teach her counter steering ... my dad taught me this when I was 16 and I have never looked back!! :-)

One more thing ..don't rush it ever .. slow and steady at all times ..you have your whole lives ..there's no rush ...

Sorry one more thing .. no 600 for a while ... keep to the 250 ... 600's can surprise a novice ..they can even surprise the experienced when they hit full chat or you grab a handful at 8-9K ...

Jules

 

you can remind her that when she is riding "where she looks is where she is going to go". dont look at the ground!!!! i am assuming she has moving from a stop down now?

 

She can do it, wouldnt say she has it down yet, she just started riding on the road, she has to get used to telling the bike where she wants to go, not vice versa. She just has to get used to riding more.

 

I think you should ditch the Ninja and start her off on a ZX-14.

 

I made sure that my girlfriend knew that at some point, everybody falls. Make sure shes aware of it and it doesn't mean she has to stop riding. Also make sure she knows to be concious of the bike but not scared of it. Maybe its not a problem because its a 250, but when my gf started to learn it was crazy.

She had her bike for about a week and we were going over some railroad tracks when the traffic backed up. She braked hard only with the fronts and ended up dumping the bike. It was a good month before she would go for a ride again.

 

Pics and I can have her riding at expert level in 2 weeks, until then I can't help you sir....

 

hmmm

things that come natural..

i came from your same position..

what i can think of now:

use the front AND rear brakes when coming to a stop.
look where you want to go
mastering the clutch
counter-steering (maybe after shes getting comfortable)
proper downshifts
smooth downshifting when slowing down or coming to a stop/stoplight
proper egronomics (wrists flat, ***** of feet on pegs, etc)

thts all i can think of now.

 

The ninja 250 is a excellent choice for a beginner bike. She may outgrow it quickly, but it will absolutely help build confidence. I suggest not waiting till next spring to take the MSF course. I do not give a damn how old you are, how long you've been riding, there's nothing like getting back to the basics to help correct some bad habits that you may have picked up along the way and to teach the correct method from the beginning. The MSF course is basically mandatory for all military personnel who wish to ride on any facility and I was one of the original holdouts. Back in the day on the whole issue. Hell, the Marine Corps sent some guys off to track school. So they could come back and teach everyone else who wanted to know what they learned. I'm just throwing that out, there as a primary example of how classroom work and basic repetitive skills training can and will pay off in the long run. Have her take the MSF course now and in the spring, send her back for the advanced riders course. Isuggest you take it with her some facilities will not allow you in a class with anyone else, you know, others have no problem with this. You speak of the transition from dirt to pavement. The methods used to handle both bikes are not as similar as you might think, if you made the transition without a problem as most have. It's only because you mastered the one basic skill, keeping it balanced and upright to some degree and overcoming the natural fear of that first basic skill. I have spent more than half my life on two wheels. Everything from drag racing to tracking a bike, and I'm telling you that there were some basic things. I was overlooking, most of them were safety precautions, but still it's little things like this that your life depends on. God for bid something happen andShe is severely injured. Maybe for the rest of her life. Would you want that weight hanging over your head. Just thinking that maybe you had done everything you could to prepare her for the open road. Or would you like the satisfaction of knowing that you have provided every possible advantage to her beforehand. Tobetter preparing her for the unforeseen future and give herthe necessary tools to succeed

 

If my girlfriend started riding today I would send her off to MSF first thing. most girlfriends will get realy frustrated when you try to teach them something they are scared off or not that good at, but msf is neutral and they are used to going slow with people and will go at the a structured pace. I had already been riding a little while before i took MSF and I still learn alot, but i wish i had taken it alot sooner because they would have taught me alot of what i had to learn on my own.

any ways, send her to msf, then go riding with her and give her pointers, MSF has alot more experiance teaching riders that have never been on a bike. I will save you the head ache in the long run and she will be a better rider.