advice on progressing riding ability

Right i'm a newbie both to this forum, and to the world of motorcycles..

I passed my test only last June and brought myself a new kawasaki z800... nice bike! however so uncomfortable (had a constant pants in bottom scenario )

my SD 06 is only my 2nd bike.... and its a massive grin factor. (dont like town riding) but thats the only down fall.

ive done a Police BIKE SAFE, but now feeling like i need to up my skills further

slowly working on my chicken strips!!!

So basically what would you suggest i do next?

Learn what the bike can do and you.

Or go out with the numerous advanced road riders in the UK who take you out and point out your road craft.

A novice track day will allow you to explore greater lean angles, deeper braking etc in a safe and enjoyable environment. Could be a good next step

Book yourself some advanced rider training ON TRACK. It will be the best bike money you will spend. Ive been riding bikes for over 40 years, but my track tuition a few years ago taught me so much more about my and my bikes abilities in one day then all those years on the road.

Make sure your bike is set up suspension wise for you. The biggest hurdle in progressing your skills is learning to trust your bike. When you know the bike is right you can then start to explore your boundries with more confidence.

Its a learning process. Take it slowly. Good luck.

It's a difficult one. Practice makes perfect as they say. Riding with people more skilled than yourself is always good if you watch them and they watch you and pass on tips, however you may stray out of the speeds ect where yours skills at this point in time are good enough to get you out of trouble. Especially if they are riding at speeds to their own skill level. Getting on the track and using the free instructors is also a good way to go, although more expensive than road riding but of course much much safer if you do make a mistake. And no cars, tractors, walls, telegraph poles to worry about either. Oh and police!

All good advice - particularly that about ride, ride, ride, and ride some more; riding schools; trackdays; and Klinck's bit about what we refer to (well known article) as the "The Pace" by Nick Ienatsch (http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/pace, and many other places on the interwebs).

Which leads me to another resource I've found invaluable: Books. While gasoline and tyres (=miles) are always money best spent developing one's craftsmanship as a rider, books are a relatively cheap means to improve.

Some picks I find myself pointing folks to regularly:

- Mr. Ienatsch's own "Sport Riding Techniques: How To Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety, and Confidence on the Street and Track".

- Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques (Lee Parks)

- Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well (David L. Hough)

- The Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Guide to Motorcycling Excellence: Skills, Knowledge, and Strategies for Riding Right (Motorcycle Safety Foundation).

- A Twist of the Wrist Vol. 2: The Basics of High-Performance Motorcycle Riding (Keith Code).

I recently finished (and should bash out a review ...) "Troy Bayliss: A Faster Way" (by Bayliss and long time Sport Rider editor Andrew Trevitt). While I wouldn't immediately recommend this to a novice-and-progressing street rider (any more than I would a well-experienced racer), there are certainly aspects from this volume that translate well to street application.

Like all here I can only encourage that you get out and ride as much as possible - with responsible people (OK - at least somewhat responsible); get your suspension sorted; go to an advanced/performance riding school; maybe do a trackday (or several); and read some.

Good luck, enjoy the ride, and welcome to the zoo.

Thanks for the input very much appreciated.

On the book side of things im currently half way through Keith code book (twist the throttle) and have been trying to apply as much as possible..

im defiantly noticing that my skills are coming along, more so with this bike, (after a short period of bike adjustment)

actually my only major issue that i keep getting is going from 1st gear into 2nd. I seem to hit neutral quite a bit, other than that im loving it..

The 990 gearbox is shall we say "a little agricultural" Be firm with you shifts both up and down as tentative shifts can lead to false neutrals. These are a real problem if you get them coming down the box coming into a corner. The sudden loss of all that engine braking can really catch you out and end in tears before bedtime... hospital bedtime at that! Correct use of the rear brake can save the situation and get you around the corner but it's not a skill I have mastered as my several trips over the grass at Cadwell Park will testify too. Fortunately I've somehow always stayed upright but on the roads chances are there will be a ditch, hedge, tree ect where the massive run offs on a track would be.

You live quite near me so I have a few suggestions about roads to ride and how to ride them. Also I have a bit of first hand experience of the advanced riding options available down your way.

East Kent IAM. meet at Ashford. Despite their IAM affiliation there are some pretty good riders amongst all the old giffers and road captains. Worth a wander along to one of their social evenings but 50/50 whether you will get someone that wants to have some fun in a ride. Ok, if your face fits and you get in with a decent crowd. I used to like going but I was tutt tutted as a bit of a tearaway. The IAM motto is ' anyone slower than me is inexperienced and needs my guidance and anyone faster than me is a dangerous idiot'. I used to like ruffling a few feathers but to their credit, they ride swiftly enough, all year round so very often they were my riding companions through winters when my usual riding mates hibernated their sports bikes.

A better option is meeting up with Kent Better Bikers. These guys are all ex IAM / ROSPA but escaped before all the fun was sucked out of them. They are a breakaway from EKAM so anything positive I said about the IAM applies equally to these guys. I used to ride with most of them at one time or another and have done Germany and France with them as well as thousands of miles around Kent. Over the years they have got a bit more sensible, havent we all, but it doesnt take much to get them hooning about. Once they are sure you wont end the ride in a field or an ambulance. Ask for Miles Moseley, if you want a personal recommendation pm me your details and I will
introduce you. They are a not for profit crowd and I think membership is about 15 quid per year, good people. I only turn up now and then as my riding time is limited and I am too selfish to spend much of it herding nervous wobblers around good roads, did my bit of that when Freestyler came down.

There is a ROSPA or Rospa smart group that meet on Sunday Mornings at Mickey's Diner on Bluebell Hill. They go for ride outs but personally I found them a bit too dull and worthy and far too slow. Nice crowd in the main, so I will probably end up riding with them again once I get a bit more decrepit and senile.

Oh, nearly forgot

Get some tracktime. Lydden Hill do / did Saturday trackdays for not much money and that is a good way of getting more confident quickly or getting quicker more confidently or something?

Best get that in, in case Ducati Pete is still lurking about on his ban.

Thanks Stupid Luke and Colonel Klinck

will definitely give Kent Better Bikers ago i have a friend thats just taken membership with east kent IAM (i think his finding it hard to fit in).

I want to go out and thrash it.. but i need to learn to walk before i can run. I like to think i'm half sensible

Everyone has offered a lot of good advice so I'm only going to add one thing. You say that you are having false neutral problems a fair bit. Make sure your shift lever is properly adjusted for your foot. It can make a world of difference.

Comrade: My experience with having ridden with some brilliant riders over forty odd years is that while they are brilliant, very few can actually explain what it is that they do. In contrast, many of the schools try to analyse what are the really important bits for fast and safe (track) riding and try to teach that. Some are probably better than others. I haven't attended many schools but I have always been impressed by the California Superbike Schools because Keith Code tried to analyse what is important and build that into a fixed curricula. Essentially that curricula is the same world-wide and there is a fixed programme for the instructors as well. Over time Code has changed some of his ideas about riding but only in a minor way. He also has books that try to illustrate his ideas but I've found that to be less useful than actually being on a track with a person that can ride at well over 160Kms per hour whilst looking backwards and giving one hand signals. I think what I'm trying to say is that with proper analysis and a proven curricula, that curricula will help most riders to become good riders as long as they practice what they have been taught. In other words, many schools (and not necessarily CSS) make decent riders our of even average students. On the other hand people like Rossi, Marquez, Lorenzo Etc might not be able to teach the likes or you and me because they may not be able to describe what they do - they are Aliens with some sort of God given talent but might not be able to teach mere Earthlings.

I can't really add anything that hasn't been said already.

My advice is a repeat of all the above.

Go out and ride as much as you can and get the hours and experience in. It's like a fighter pilot in WW1 - you got to survive to learn how to survive more.
You seem to be focussed on 'riding techniques' but you also got to learn to ride defensively because everyone is out to kill you.
Road craft comes with experience and time - strive to reach that point where you get a sixth sense for what other cars are going to do.
Unless you have really good mates who are experienced and yet empathetic to a newer rider it's not always best to ride in a group.
If you do get in the first three of the group because if you are further back you are at far more risk playing catch up all the time.
You can learn a lot riding on your own at your own pace, you might be surprised at how quick you actually are when you catch up other riders on popular roads!
It's much better to learn to be smooth and calm than fast and furious. You will be quicker and safer in the long run.
Go out riding in the wet as much as possible - this will make you smooth and calm!! And then when it's dry you will be really laughing.
Practice doing stoppies and wheelies when there is no other traffic and the road surface is good.
Not to learn to be a hooligan but because it teaches you how hard your bike can brake and accelerate and how good your tyres are.
When you think you are ready don't go and try and get your knee down on a roundabout, (like we all did). Go and book a track day instead where it's easy.
1st to 2nd is prone to false neutral but only when you are rushing! Smooooth and calm it never happens;)

Good luck

Not to repeat all the good advice given previously and a little out of season now but my tip for improving your riding would be to ride through the winter. I learnt more about getting the “feel” of a bike riding a DRZ400SM through winter than I have on any track day, unless of course you are only wanting to improve your speed on dry road/track.

It's all ass in the seat time.

The more you get out there and experience things the more you'll feel comfortable doing it.

Just stay loose on the bars, and you'll be alright

Oh and look out for decreasing radius turns, those fookers are sneaky.

i am becoming a wimp on the hole wheelie idea. i go to give it a go (goes a bit violent) then i poop myself and plod on.

using this guy trick

[youtube] https://youtu.be/RF1t4vnMT1U [/youtube]

I've found for power wheelies get it to around 6000 or 7000 rpm's in first then just slam on the throttle and let the front end come up a little and chase it out. First gear is good to learn in since you don't have to worry about the brake all you have to do is chop the throttle and it's guaranteed to come down.

Once you get a feel for it then you can worry about covering the rear brake. So work on throttle control first, then add in the other things where you have to spend your attention.

Then you can work on slipping the clutch in second gear and being even smoother.


This is a pretty good tutorial.