Confidence

[Borislav]

After that little spill I had the other day, ive noticed that i lost some confidence in myself and have been kinda hasitant riding, and its not doing me any good. I've been entering conrners slower, kinda scared to lean the bike to much... I know its making me a worse overall rider, but its hard to supress i guess.


Guess i will gain it back with time.... Messed up thing is it wasnt even a bad wipe out, bike is totally fine, im totally fine, and its arguebly not my fault that it happend.. Ohh well

[VinceF2]

I can relate... The race that I had my first and to this point only crash in was the first time I pushed it up a notch and would have actualy placed... got my knee down for the first time the lap before the crash... I felt great and was having such a good time.... I spun the back wheel out coming up the hill through turn 4... lowsided... walked away perfectly fine... just a tweaked front-end... didn't think much of it until I went to get back on the bike for the next weekend... and it was like I had never been out there before... I went 3 notches back from my 1 notch up....

Needless to say I was not pleased with myself... but I lost confidence in me and the bike.... the rest of the season I couldn't get it back... which was really only 2 more weekends... but anywho... I'm setting the bike up top notch this winter... so the only excuse will be me... I hope to quickly overcome my reservations and get back to that awesome time I was having the lap or 2 before my lowside...

I think the first time down is the hardest to get through... it probably gets easier from here... of course I'd rather not test that theory...

[beet]

its like wow im not doing that no more. but once i get on the bike .i go in2 game mode blinders on
dont think about anything but the ride. even more so when im ripping

[VinceF2]

I've always played more on the cautious side... regardless of the activity.... we all make it through in our way... sometimes I wish I had blinders to put on... but then other times I'm glad I don't....

[VinceF2]

Originally posted by T-595 Greg
you could sign up for an ERC, that might help rebuild your confidence...

Ironstone

Already have... it's just the way I am... I'll regain it with a few good runs next year... no worries....

[beet]

can i join even if im from ct ????

[Honclfibr]

Yep. I took my beginner rider course with ironstone in MA, even though I'm from NH. They didn't seem to mind so long as I paid my tuition

[beet]

i get looks from buddys when i tell um 2 read this or 2 try this
i love 2 lern every time i go out it seems im lerning
that could b why i like riding
i see a lot of guys who have bikes just 2 say they got bikes

even when i started riding the old bikes i got a iron ass right off
i used 2 work at a local bike shop & used 2 work on harleys had 2 go 2 the pike 2 get parts all the time the owner of the harley shop asked me 2 work for him so he says man you got balls coming in here on rice burners all the time + you dont seem 2 like my harleys so you wont b steeling parts from me
i was laid off for the summer & blew up my dirt bike so i went down 2 see my boy chet who owned the shop so next thing i know im working there under the table so im kind of bored & rambling ok joe this might come around 2 the skunk story if im here long lol
so ya ever here bout my first minibike my old man said no.
so i get this used 1 from down the street it was a rupp no jack shaft or t.c. 3 1/2 hp blown motor
so i get this motor off a cement mixer it was a 8 or 10 horse i had 2 notch the frame head bolts so i put this motor on
im talking this fucker was wow no muffler big strait pipe
so ya lay down on the bars hold on 2 your ass
this fucker would smoke the tire 0-70 bout 2 secs if ya had the balls
so i busted the frame picked up a go cart frame
this fucking thing would scare the shit out of ya
smoke the tires one end of the parking lot 2 the other

[stoinkythepig]

Holy crap Beet, that's got 2 B a record post 4 u.

I took the ERC in NH a couple of years ago and it was fun. Zero sport bikes in the class, mostly cruisers and sport tourers.

[sahd03]

I took the basic course in NY and it was pretty cool. I know that the SRNE guys (sportriders.com) try to put together an ERC every summer, that's geared toward sportbike riders. One of Tony's instructors (Ken C) is also an MSF guy. Anyway, there was talk of an early-season ERC for next summer... this year's got cancelled due to lack of interest - if we get some NESR participants it could be a really cool day...... you do learn some cool shit.

[Borislav]

I took the begginers course to. Would be kinda silly to take that again so soon, Ill just keep riding and hope the upleasent feeling goes away.


ERC might be the ticket though!

ill look into that

[Stoneman]

I hear ya, boris. I had a violent crash a couple years ago, on Mother's Day. To make a long story short: I got a tank slapper while taking an off-camber right hander with a big ol' uneven crack running down the center of it. Bounced off an oncoming car (I hit it so hard I knocked her tire off her wheel!), and me and the bike went ass-over-tea-kettle into the woods...

It actually took me 'til this year to get comfy taking right handers at a decent clip. Believe it or not, it was racing that got me back into the groove. Even got my knee down in T-3 (nasty right hander) my first race!

But to this day I won't ride a bike without a steering damper, and I will NEVER ride on Mother's Day again...

[Ken C]

I've found there to be a difference when you know exactly how the crash happened and what you can do to prevent it from happening again and crashing without any insight into how you can prevent a future occurrance.

An example of a controllable situation is crashing because you gas it too hard out of a corner: next time, use the "ratchet" technique to feed power to the rear wheel.

An example of an uncontrolable crash is when a car blasts out of a side street that is completely hidden from view where you couldn't have possibly seen it coming. The solution is harder to find, except that you must accept that sh*t happens and slow down when riding through hidden side streets.

What can you do to further improve your odds of avoiding another crash? MSF is good. We (SRNE) will offer another ERC next spring. The ERC will be revised for next year and will have new exercises with less classroom time. The SRNE ERC will address more "sport" issues.

Once you've done that, sign up for a track day to practice what you've learned.

The idea that seat time is enough to improve riding only goes so far. Yes, seat time will give you immediate feedback, but it can also perpetuate bad habits. Which is where learning from those who know the common issues is most valuable.

[Borislav]

thx for all the great feedback

[OMG]

I know it's a little late in the season, but I am taking my ERC tomorrow in Seekonk with Ironstone... Can't wait, hope it dosen't rain much.. however a little to practice in would be ok I guess..

OMG