Nearly gave up

On Sunday my OH and I were out on our bikes. We stopped off for lunch at a burger van and as I was leaving the car park, I dropped my bike.

I was so annoyed with myself. The previous Sunday, I really felt my riding was starting to come together and I was getting used to the bike etc. Dropping my bike made me think perhaps I'd got it all wrong - I shouldn't be riding a motorbike.

I also couldn't pick my bike up as I'd never been shown the technique and was so upset. I think that only made my opinion of my riding even worse.

My OH helped me right my bike and I told him all my frustrations with riding. Feeling I hold him back when we're out together; some days everything comes together really well and others (like Sunday) where it all goes wrong; feeling really uncomfortable moving off at slow speed, especially when a tight maneuver is necessary. The list went on a bit more than that, but that's the main things. I was all for selling the bike and being done with it.

My OH told me how good I was getting and that I wasn't holding him back. Also, I'd been through more than that (cracked ribs; 5 failed tests) and got back on the bike. He had a good point, but what if I dropped my bike and he wasn't there to help me and no-one else would?

Once I'd calmed down a bit, my OH moved our 2 bikes so he could give mine a going over to check there was nothing broken with it. Visually, it was fine, except a small scuff to the off-side crash bung (it did it's job, then!). It started okay and my OH got on it to move it off and stop it in a very short gap (5 metres or so) to check the throttle, clutch and brakes all worked okay.

That's when he discovered what was causing some of my problems with slow speed control. Once the revs are set and the clutch starts to be released to get the engine to the bite, the revs drop by about 1000rpm. The times I'd had an issue I had thought more like a car driver pulling away, where the bite can develop as you move off (think about it, when was the last time, other than a hill-start you got to the bite with the hand brake on at a junction?). Also, I wasn't using enough revs. More revs before engaging the clutch would mean even when the revs dropped, there would still be sufficient revs for me to move off safely.

The drop in revs seemed a bit strange, but I've now discovered this is a "feature" of a restricted bike. Here was my OH and I thinking it just affected top end speed. A bike salesman had mentioned something about it a while back, but we hadn't totally twigged what he meant.

Discovering this made me feel so much better about my riding (can you tell my riding school was top notch?!). Now, everything that as causing me an issue finally made sense. I tried moving off and stopping with this "new" way of finding the bite with higher revs. I instantly felt in control. Up 'till now, I often felt the bike was riding me (especially at slow speed and tight maneuvers) than me riding it.

We rode to an industrial estate so I could try the new technique. Wow, that felt so much better. I even managed to move off from behind a parked car safely, starting from the bike being about 1/2 a car length away from the car and parallel to the road. Before Sunday, I would have moved the bike to be at an angle before moving off. I had been able to do this with the EN, but it was a much smaller bike.

My OH also found a path with grass either side of it. He rode the Pan onto the path and horizontally parked it (intentionally), turned round and said "right, pick it up". I now know I can lift a Pan European and my Hornet. It's all about technique. That makes me more comfortable. Strangely, I think if I'm less worried about picking my bike up when I drop it, I'm less likely to drop it in the first place!

As we rode home, I felt so much more comfortable. My OH noticed I looked more in control of my bike and more comfortable. I just wish I'd know all of this before Sunday. Well, we learn by our mistakes, don't we?