kamilshka
11-10-2011, 05:33 PM
I couldn't decide where to put this, because it's a mix of my first big bike, and a tiny ride report, but it really is a tiny report so i thought it best to plonk this in new riders (feel free to move it mods if you prefer). :):
So first of all, yaaaaay i have my first big bike! :wootrock: Decided to go for a sports type for now, as i have found that the sit-up position for cruisers and adventure bikes was hurting my back quite a bit, and a sports position is much better for me. I bought it mid-September, a few weeks after passing my test. I paid £1700 for a great condition 2001 red Suzuki Bandit 600cc and aaaargh it's going to take me two years to pay it off, lol. Ack. I am now living on cereal and pizza. :lol:
Anyway, because i know you all looooove photos and because i've been rubbish at keeping up with the forums here, i thought i owed you some pictures! :yahoo:
Here is me with my new Bandit on the day i went to sign paperwork and such:
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-bike1.5.jpg
I also had a little ride around:
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-bike2.jpg http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-bike3.jpg
And a very short and cautious drive-by as i have a go on it around the little estate where the motorcycle shop was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwPzTJoPBVI
I've named him Sparky. :D: I had him delivered home (it was an hours drive away on major roads) a week later. It's been a very steep learning curve since then. I was so confident on my 125cc, i really enjoyed riding him and felt happy as larry in all situations. I'd driven it down tiny lanes and on dual carriageways up to 75mph.
Getting this 600cc was one hell of a step back. He is SO heavy compared, i have no idea how you guys *learn* on a 600cc!! I would have given up, i am fairly convinced. I am loving driving him, but parking and stopping is another matter, and i've dropped him twice already due to the weight/balance (only dropped my 125cc once in a year and that was only due to lowering the side-stand rubbishly and it folding back up at a petrol station!).
However, he is a lovely bike, and i am taking it steady and trying to take it slow and enjoy it rather than put any pressure on. It's taken a lot of getting used to a sports-bike sound, i am so used to a cruiser sound, so i was hardly revving at all when i first got it and was taking off so slowly at lights i swear the cars behind me were wondering why i was virtually going backwards, lmao! :roflmao:
I'm much better now, i'm happy to hear the revs now. :cool:
Here he is up at Exeter at dusk after i drove up for a weekly appointment:
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-bike4.jpg
(phone camera is awful, makes him look tomato-soup colour!)
Oh, i have to tell you, this made me laugh so much (afterwards!). When i first got him it was 9pm at night, delivered outside my house. I walked him down my driveway , which is down a steep incline. Got to the bottom, facing a skip, and thought 'okay so i will reverse and park to my left'. Tried to reverse. Can't. Can't reverse up an incredibly slightly incline. So i am standing there holding the handlebars with my eyebrows raised thinking 'i am actually stuck. i will have to stay here for the rest of my life. what the hell do i do now??'
After phoning my dad to come help i actually managed to reverse the bike, but i think i got my strength from a stubborn desire to not have to be rescued, lol. I really laughed about it later, how casually i walked it down and then tried to go back and nope, not happening. I've learnt now, about inclines when parking!!
Anyway, i went out a for a short 40min spin last weekend, and wanted to show you some roads. I can't take photos as i drive and didn't want to park, so i taped my camera to the left mirror stalk and took some video! I went on a little loop, from Exmouth where i live to Budleigh Salterton, a village nearby with a lovely pebble beach. The route goes over a little common.
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/bikeride-exmtobud.jpg
Bit of a boring trip, but it gives you an idea of my local area and i figured i can point out some highlights and you can just skip through the video to get an idea. :)
The camera position means you can't see much, but i don't have a helmet mount so this is the best i can do. If you just want to see the best bit, watch the third vid, it's the least boring think!
Exmouth to Budleigh loop Pt 1
This bit is fairly boring actually, just roads to get out of the town, one nice road at 2:34, you get a nice view of a residential area on the outskirts of the town as you go down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIklzps9xqA
Exmouth to Budleigh loop Pt 2
0:38 - I am still such a new rider that little things still really please me, like being able to look for traffic and turn into the road without having to stop completely at this junction.
1:30 - lovely little wooded road, fast too.
2:30 - turn off onto the road that leads to the common.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJzb0uzvQXk
Exmouth to Budleigh loop Pt 3
0:10 - the start of the common. You'll see the band of dirt/sand in the middle of the road, it makes cornering tricky as if your tyre goes anywhere near that you slide, and this is a very fast road (60mph limit).
0:45 - right up on the common now. Wish i had the camera helmet-mounted so you could see the surrounding views!!
0:58 - cyclist! :):
1:25 - lovely pair of smooth twisty turns
1:38 - another cyclist.
3:37 - the road does this a lot in Devon, narrows down to one car width (this is quite wide), makes being on a bike much better than a car as you can just sneak through, no slowing required!
(Sounds cuts out a for 30 seconds in middle, sorry)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFx52X-eGX8
Exmouth to Budleigh loop Pt 4 - Budleigh beach
My memory card ran out of memory and tap-control got upset and started shutting off the camera so it refused to record after the first 15 mins of the drive. Managed to get it to record 8 seconds of the approach down to Budleigh beach near the end though! So you do get a bit of a view. :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDuom7yx4gw
Oh, and some bonus photos... This is what i get when i am out in my boiler-suit cleaning and winterising (ACF-50 for the win, it smells of STRAWBERRIES!!) and polishing sparky:
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-cat1.jpg http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-cat2.jpg
"Why are you lavishing attention on that boring bike?? Rub my tummmyyyyy!!"
Hope you enjoyed! Uploading the vids has taken me forever, and i am driving the bike to a town 30mins away for a dentists appointment tmrw morning, so better head to bed. :D:
So first of all, yaaaaay i have my first big bike! :wootrock: Decided to go for a sports type for now, as i have found that the sit-up position for cruisers and adventure bikes was hurting my back quite a bit, and a sports position is much better for me. I bought it mid-September, a few weeks after passing my test. I paid £1700 for a great condition 2001 red Suzuki Bandit 600cc and aaaargh it's going to take me two years to pay it off, lol. Ack. I am now living on cereal and pizza. :lol:
Anyway, because i know you all looooove photos and because i've been rubbish at keeping up with the forums here, i thought i owed you some pictures! :yahoo:
Here is me with my new Bandit on the day i went to sign paperwork and such:
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-bike1.5.jpg
I also had a little ride around:
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-bike2.jpg http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-bike3.jpg
And a very short and cautious drive-by as i have a go on it around the little estate where the motorcycle shop was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwPzTJoPBVI
I've named him Sparky. :D: I had him delivered home (it was an hours drive away on major roads) a week later. It's been a very steep learning curve since then. I was so confident on my 125cc, i really enjoyed riding him and felt happy as larry in all situations. I'd driven it down tiny lanes and on dual carriageways up to 75mph.
Getting this 600cc was one hell of a step back. He is SO heavy compared, i have no idea how you guys *learn* on a 600cc!! I would have given up, i am fairly convinced. I am loving driving him, but parking and stopping is another matter, and i've dropped him twice already due to the weight/balance (only dropped my 125cc once in a year and that was only due to lowering the side-stand rubbishly and it folding back up at a petrol station!).
However, he is a lovely bike, and i am taking it steady and trying to take it slow and enjoy it rather than put any pressure on. It's taken a lot of getting used to a sports-bike sound, i am so used to a cruiser sound, so i was hardly revving at all when i first got it and was taking off so slowly at lights i swear the cars behind me were wondering why i was virtually going backwards, lmao! :roflmao:
I'm much better now, i'm happy to hear the revs now. :cool:
Here he is up at Exeter at dusk after i drove up for a weekly appointment:
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-bike4.jpg
(phone camera is awful, makes him look tomato-soup colour!)
Oh, i have to tell you, this made me laugh so much (afterwards!). When i first got him it was 9pm at night, delivered outside my house. I walked him down my driveway , which is down a steep incline. Got to the bottom, facing a skip, and thought 'okay so i will reverse and park to my left'. Tried to reverse. Can't. Can't reverse up an incredibly slightly incline. So i am standing there holding the handlebars with my eyebrows raised thinking 'i am actually stuck. i will have to stay here for the rest of my life. what the hell do i do now??'
After phoning my dad to come help i actually managed to reverse the bike, but i think i got my strength from a stubborn desire to not have to be rescued, lol. I really laughed about it later, how casually i walked it down and then tried to go back and nope, not happening. I've learnt now, about inclines when parking!!
Anyway, i went out a for a short 40min spin last weekend, and wanted to show you some roads. I can't take photos as i drive and didn't want to park, so i taped my camera to the left mirror stalk and took some video! I went on a little loop, from Exmouth where i live to Budleigh Salterton, a village nearby with a lovely pebble beach. The route goes over a little common.
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/bikeride-exmtobud.jpg
Bit of a boring trip, but it gives you an idea of my local area and i figured i can point out some highlights and you can just skip through the video to get an idea. :)
The camera position means you can't see much, but i don't have a helmet mount so this is the best i can do. If you just want to see the best bit, watch the third vid, it's the least boring think!
Exmouth to Budleigh loop Pt 1
This bit is fairly boring actually, just roads to get out of the town, one nice road at 2:34, you get a nice view of a residential area on the outskirts of the town as you go down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIklzps9xqA
Exmouth to Budleigh loop Pt 2
0:38 - I am still such a new rider that little things still really please me, like being able to look for traffic and turn into the road without having to stop completely at this junction.
1:30 - lovely little wooded road, fast too.
2:30 - turn off onto the road that leads to the common.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJzb0uzvQXk
Exmouth to Budleigh loop Pt 3
0:10 - the start of the common. You'll see the band of dirt/sand in the middle of the road, it makes cornering tricky as if your tyre goes anywhere near that you slide, and this is a very fast road (60mph limit).
0:45 - right up on the common now. Wish i had the camera helmet-mounted so you could see the surrounding views!!
0:58 - cyclist! :):
1:25 - lovely pair of smooth twisty turns
1:38 - another cyclist.
3:37 - the road does this a lot in Devon, narrows down to one car width (this is quite wide), makes being on a bike much better than a car as you can just sneak through, no slowing required!
(Sounds cuts out a for 30 seconds in middle, sorry)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFx52X-eGX8
Exmouth to Budleigh loop Pt 4 - Budleigh beach
My memory card ran out of memory and tap-control got upset and started shutting off the camera so it refused to record after the first 15 mins of the drive. Managed to get it to record 8 seconds of the approach down to Budleigh beach near the end though! So you do get a bit of a view. :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDuom7yx4gw
Oh, and some bonus photos... This is what i get when i am out in my boiler-suit cleaning and winterising (ACF-50 for the win, it smells of STRAWBERRIES!!) and polishing sparky:
http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-cat1.jpg http://www.peripheralvisions.co.uk/storage/forum-cat2.jpg
"Why are you lavishing attention on that boring bike?? Rub my tummmyyyyy!!"
Hope you enjoyed! Uploading the vids has taken me forever, and i am driving the bike to a town 30mins away for a dentists appointment tmrw morning, so better head to bed. :D: