First Ryde

[KipDM]

today my :spyder2: finally came home!
it got here about 11:40 AM so i proceeded to suit up (or should i say gear up?) and get on the road around noon!
i had not ridden since 87/88 so i started real slow in the neighborhood. yep, i even started with the slow speed stop/starts it suggests in the manual. now i cannot say i did all the practice drills (as i had originally intended) but i got a reasonable feel.
after a while of this i decided to get just a few miles under my belt so i rode my baby out to work (about 8 miles) and parked for a bit to show some co-workers, then realized "oh :cus:! it's 2PM! guys i gotta ryde home and get a shower so i can come back to work! see you in about an hour!"
so....just got home from work about an hour ago (i woulda posted earlier but i was reading other threads) and enjoyed a nice 47 degree ryde home. now i need some NON-summer gloves but my leather jacket, fully zipped, felt GREAT!

i was so excited to get my gear on and ryde i forgot to get any pics :opps:
hope to get some pics and post them tomorrow (maybe even posted before work).
since i spent plenty of time in the neighborhood (and local high school parking lot) i think i only logged 60 miles in my (roughly) 2 hours of ryding.
hopefully tomorrow i can log closer to 100 more!!

at least now i won't be losing sleep every night daydreaming of ryding. now that she is home i can just walk out the door.....what monster hath been created? ;)

[DeeKay53]

:welcome::congrats: it only gets better from here. Just remember, don't hang on to tight and let the Spyder do the work.

Good luck.

[Lamonster]

:congrats: :ohyea:

[fispyder]

:congrats: on your :spyder:and first ride :ohyea:

[BMF_RACING]

Good deal ! :congrats:

[fastfraser]

:congrats: On your new :spyder2:.


We love pics .:popcorn::popcorn:

[boborgera]

:welcome::congrats:

[dltang]

:congrats: so glad you enjoyed your ride and many more to come.

[Yfactor]

:congrats: :welcome:

[BikerDoc]

:welcome::congrats: ride safe

[NancysToy]

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

[SpyderRyderTV]

KipDM, congrats on the homecoming of the :spyder2: and enjoy all the ryding that will come the future. :ohyea:

[ARtraveler]

:congrats: and :welcome:. It looks like you have been bitten by they :spyder2: bug. You have the right idea about learning the techniques of riding the bike. After about 250-500 miles it will all come natural. Enjoy your new ryde.

[KipDM]

yeah, i hope so. i find i still want to go s l o w in turns, at least the "sharper" ones. and almost always lean into a turn, even slight ones. probably because at 305 lbs i don't want to run the risk of my fat butt stressing out the stability controller (and it going on strike LOL).

i also need to really work on left turns, i still roll on the throttle just a little when i try to maintain speed. for the short term i have adopted the "throttle off" approach to left turns, i figure it is much safer in traffic.

going out to take pics of my baby once i get the car moved....will post...if i don't jump on her and ride for another hour....:2thumbs:

[Marker]

:congrats::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

[JJW SpyderRider]

i also need to really work on left turns, i still roll on the throttle just a little when i try to maintain speed. for the short term i have adopted the "throttle off" approach to left turns, i figure it is much safer in traffic.

going out to take pics of my baby once i get the car moved....will post...if i don't jump on her and ride for another hour....:2thumbs:

:welcome: & :congrats:

The one thing I did to keep the throttle steady when turning was put my thumb on the throttle body to act like a throttle lock. This keep me from turning the throttle as I rotated the turned the handbar.

[DynamoBT]

:congrats: and:welcome: !!!!!! Your life is going to change like you would not believe!!!! :D

[BentGamer]

yeah, i hope so. i find i still want to go s l o w in turns, at least the "sharper" ones. and almost always lean into a turn, even slight ones. probably because at 305 lbs i don't want to run the risk of my fat butt stressing out the stability controller (and it going on strike LOL).

i also need to really work on left turns, i still roll on the throttle just a little when i try to maintain speed. for the short term i have adopted the "throttle off" approach to left turns, i figure it is much safer in traffic.

going out to take pics of my baby once i get the car moved....will post...if i don't jump on her and ride for another hour....:2thumbs:

When turning try looking ahead. This helped me when I first got the :spyder2:

[Love2Ride]

Great news!!! I know it felt good too!:2thumbs:

[COOLMACHINE]

Most Excellent KipDM !! Have fun.

[Hawk Eye]

:welcome::congrats:

Pete:yes::yes:

[JOESPY]

:welcome::congrats:

The fun is only beggining

[SpyderWolf]

:congrats:

Glad to hear you are on the road. Take it easy and continue practicing as you are now. Things will get easier with time to the point you won't even think about it anymore. Leaning into the turns is exactly what you are supposed to do on the Spyder, so you are good in that regard. :2thumbs:

[KipDM]

:welcome: & :congrats:

The one thing I did to keep the throttle steady when turning was put my thumb on the throttle body to act like a throttle lock. This keep me from turning the throttle as I rotated the turned the handbar.

thanks, i will try that tomorrow. of course knowing me i will accidentally turn on the hazard lights (like i did yesterday while getting on).
since i am doing slow speed stuff in the neighborhood and then going to a parking lot i have still only put about 82 miles on her even though i have been riding it for almost 5 hours since she came home.

[KipDM]

:congrats:

Glad to hear you are on the road. Take it easy and continue practicing as you are now. Things will get easier with time to the point you won't even think about it anymore. Leaning into the turns is exactly what you are supposed to do on the Spyder, so you are good in that regard. :2thumbs:

thanks, but i mean i even lean for 13 mph turns (usually sharpish in neighborhoods - and these i lean a lot for). once i am on an open road and just hitting "standard" turns in the road its more of a slight lean.

i have intentionally avoided "rush hours" because i go to work around 3PM at the latest and get off work after midnight.

and even though the :spyder2: gives more light than my car, i drive a lot slower at night (than i do in my car).

once everything is more natural, i may even start speeding again :2thumbs:
but as it is now, if i am not following a car, i tend to naturally go a little under the speed limit. some of that has been that it is very windy right now, and part is the getting used to wind buffeting me again. and of course some is that "unusual" vehicles get noticed....and therefore ticketed.

[SpyderWolf]

thanks, but i mean i even lean for 13 mph turns (usually sharpish in neighborhoods - and these i lean a lot for). once i am on an open road and just hitting "standard" turns in the road its more of a slight lean.

i have intentionally avoided "rush hours" because i go to work around 3PM at the latest and get off work after midnight.

and even though the :spyder2: gives more light than my car, i drive a lot slower at night (than i do in my car).

once everything is more natural, i may even start speeding again :2thumbs:
but as it is now, if i am not following a car, i tend to naturally go a little under the speed limit. some of that has been that it is very windy right now, and part is the getting used to wind buffeting me again. and of course some is that "unusual" vehicles get noticed....and therefore ticketed.

Slow speeds you can usually just turn the bars without the lean, but higher speed curves you will want to lean some to fight the g-forces trying to throw you off the Spyder. You are doing things the right way, and it will all come naturally soon enough.

I blew the chances of ever getting out of a ticket with my Spyder quite a while ago. After all, there is no way I can say "That was not my Spyder". ;)

[fleegeds]

:welcome: and :congrats: on the new spyder. I almost got that color but then I saw the Orange:yes:. It was a task to get my wife's "approval" to go with the orange but it was worth it. Now I think she may even like it a little :2thumbs:. Have fun a you are doing things the right way. :popcorn: keep us posted.

[SpyderAnn01]

:congrats: and enjoy the ride