daveinva
New member
... in addition to my Spyder! :joke:
2007 Ninja EX250 with ~1,600 miles on it. Bought a few weeks back, but been keeping it a secret because I only got around to finally riding it this morning after I got it home from the shop. The bike was in good shape, but ollllld, a real Craigslist special. Needed a full-up inspection, new tires (not riding on 8-year-old rubber, no thank you), fluids replaced, a replacement brake lever (I can only assume the Ninja took a gentle parking nap at some point in its life, there's very minor scuffing on the right front fender and that's about it), and worst of all, a carb cleaning (NOT cheap, grrr).
Anyway, what possessed me to buy this? Well, the Spyder is technically my first "bike"-- until this past month, I had only puttered around in parking lots on motorcycles over the years, most recently back in fall 2012 on my GF's late & lamented Vespa GT250, but I had never *seriously* ridden two-wheels.
The plan before I bought my Spyder back in May 2011 was to take both a 3-wheel MSF BRC *and* a 2-wheel MSF BRC and then choose which I wanted. Stupid me scheduled the trike class first... and a Spyder bit me! :doorag: I took a 2-wheel jumpstart class the next weekend, about three hours on two-wheels, basically nothing; I never did end up taking the full-up 2-wheel MSF, content as I was to buy and enjoy my Spyder RS.
Flash forward to this spring: I kinda sorta always regretted not learning to ride two wheels; eventually, I couldn't take the regret any longer, so I bought a spot in a BRC back in the beginning of June.
Now, before I continue: intellectually, I know how to ride two wheels. In three years of Spyder ownership, I've read probably close to two dozen motorcycling books, watched half a dozen DVDs, read a zillion websites. Again, intellectually, I understood everything that makes two wheels different than three: counter-steering, front & rear brakes, leaning, cornering traction, clutch & friction zone, the whole kit and kaboodle.
Well, all that pretty much went out the window on my first day of the BRC-- no plan survives contact with the instructors!
pps:
My biggest problem, quite simply, was just coming off from the Spyder to a bike. I spent the entire weekend struggling against my muscle memory and instincts honed on three years' worth of Spyder riding. Sure, I could counter-steer, but counter-steering *enough* felt unnatural, especially going right (My lefts? Gorgeous and Rossi-smooth. My rights? I prefer not to talk about thatpps
. Braking I had to really focus on using the handbrake vice stomping on the rear, either in straights *or* in corners (which you can obviously get away with on the Spyder). And the less we talk about my slow-speeding turning, the better (eff that effing box and that effing figure-eight... eff it all to effing 'ell :banghead.
But I passed. Didn't need to-- already had my M license, and while last year Virginia split to separate M2 and M3 licenses, I was grandfathered into a universal M license by virtue of passing my BRC in 2011 on the Spyder. BUT... I passed just the same.
By Monday, I had an appointment with a kid from CL to buy the Ninja. I rode on a TU250 in class-- always wanted to try one, loved it, may still buy one someday for the giggles, but the Ninja appealed to me for a variety of reasons:
-- I've got my Spyder for touring, I'd like to sportbike on two wheels;
-- The things, ubiquitous as they are, are cheeeeeeeeeeeap to buy and cheeeeeeeap to repair;
-- I could easily get one nice and pre-scratched so I won't feel bad if (when?) I drop the thing
!
The 24-year-old kid who sold it to me in June literally just bought in May, he had barely put two hundred miles on it before he decided that he wanted a bigger bike (prolly didn't want to pay the price I did at my mechanic to bring the bike "back to life"). I'm in no rush for a bigger bike-- I've got the Spyder as my "big bike"-- I just wanted something light, simple, and small to practice on in the lovely and scenic parking lots of Northern Virginia until I really learn the ins-and-outs of riding two wheels. Honestly, for the rest of the summer, I'll be happier teaching myself Gymkhana and Police Rodeo on the Ninja and saving the street riding for the Spyder. I will feel FAR safer on three wheels for a long time to come, with good reason-- but I also want to teach myself a new skill.
So, how do I like it? It was a fun morning.
2007 Ninja EX250 with ~1,600 miles on it. Bought a few weeks back, but been keeping it a secret because I only got around to finally riding it this morning after I got it home from the shop. The bike was in good shape, but ollllld, a real Craigslist special. Needed a full-up inspection, new tires (not riding on 8-year-old rubber, no thank you), fluids replaced, a replacement brake lever (I can only assume the Ninja took a gentle parking nap at some point in its life, there's very minor scuffing on the right front fender and that's about it), and worst of all, a carb cleaning (NOT cheap, grrr).
Anyway, what possessed me to buy this? Well, the Spyder is technically my first "bike"-- until this past month, I had only puttered around in parking lots on motorcycles over the years, most recently back in fall 2012 on my GF's late & lamented Vespa GT250, but I had never *seriously* ridden two-wheels.
The plan before I bought my Spyder back in May 2011 was to take both a 3-wheel MSF BRC *and* a 2-wheel MSF BRC and then choose which I wanted. Stupid me scheduled the trike class first... and a Spyder bit me! :doorag: I took a 2-wheel jumpstart class the next weekend, about three hours on two-wheels, basically nothing; I never did end up taking the full-up 2-wheel MSF, content as I was to buy and enjoy my Spyder RS.
Flash forward to this spring: I kinda sorta always regretted not learning to ride two wheels; eventually, I couldn't take the regret any longer, so I bought a spot in a BRC back in the beginning of June.
Now, before I continue: intellectually, I know how to ride two wheels. In three years of Spyder ownership, I've read probably close to two dozen motorcycling books, watched half a dozen DVDs, read a zillion websites. Again, intellectually, I understood everything that makes two wheels different than three: counter-steering, front & rear brakes, leaning, cornering traction, clutch & friction zone, the whole kit and kaboodle.
Well, all that pretty much went out the window on my first day of the BRC-- no plan survives contact with the instructors!
pps: My biggest problem, quite simply, was just coming off from the Spyder to a bike. I spent the entire weekend struggling against my muscle memory and instincts honed on three years' worth of Spyder riding. Sure, I could counter-steer, but counter-steering *enough* felt unnatural, especially going right (My lefts? Gorgeous and Rossi-smooth. My rights? I prefer not to talk about that
pps. Braking I had to really focus on using the handbrake vice stomping on the rear, either in straights *or* in corners (which you can obviously get away with on the Spyder). And the less we talk about my slow-speeding turning, the better (eff that effing box and that effing figure-eight... eff it all to effing 'ell :banghead.But I passed. Didn't need to-- already had my M license, and while last year Virginia split to separate M2 and M3 licenses, I was grandfathered into a universal M license by virtue of passing my BRC in 2011 on the Spyder. BUT... I passed just the same.
By Monday, I had an appointment with a kid from CL to buy the Ninja. I rode on a TU250 in class-- always wanted to try one, loved it, may still buy one someday for the giggles, but the Ninja appealed to me for a variety of reasons:
-- I've got my Spyder for touring, I'd like to sportbike on two wheels;
-- The things, ubiquitous as they are, are cheeeeeeeeeeeap to buy and cheeeeeeeap to repair;
-- I could easily get one nice and pre-scratched so I won't feel bad if (when?) I drop the thing
! The 24-year-old kid who sold it to me in June literally just bought in May, he had barely put two hundred miles on it before he decided that he wanted a bigger bike (prolly didn't want to pay the price I did at my mechanic to bring the bike "back to life"). I'm in no rush for a bigger bike-- I've got the Spyder as my "big bike"-- I just wanted something light, simple, and small to practice on in the lovely and scenic parking lots of Northern Virginia until I really learn the ins-and-outs of riding two wheels. Honestly, for the rest of the summer, I'll be happier teaching myself Gymkhana and Police Rodeo on the Ninja and saving the street riding for the Spyder. I will feel FAR safer on three wheels for a long time to come, with good reason-- but I also want to teach myself a new skill.
So, how do I like it? It was a fun morning.
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