L@mer|2
wrote:
Only times I dropped a bike was due to my own ****-ups. Once I forgot to undo the steering lock. Stupid. Second time I forgot to remove the disc lock. Stupid. Third time, slowly (<5 km/h) coming up to a roundabout, I was following the car in front of me WAY too close. Car rolled over a hub cap that was on the road and threw it right in my path. The second the front wheel went over it, that was it.
All of these were avoidable.
If you're randomly dropping the bike and then blaming it on 'luck' and 'twich reaction', I am seriously concerned for your saftey on the road. What's up with your attitude? I think postitvity is very important in riding bikes. If you go out there pre-programmed and convinced you are going to fail, that's exactly what's going to happen.
My attitude its reactionary, based on the attitudes of the posts I quoted previously. This is familiar ground that has been gone over many times on this forum, and every time a newbie gets told 'don't buy an expensive learner bike, buy good gear and be prepared to have a crash or two or drop your machine once or twice' people always chime in with shit like 'only idiots drop their bikes' etc. Implying that if you've ever had an off, it's your skill that's lacking. Even if this is the case, it is a redundant argument as learners, by definition, are inexperienced and unskilled. Just because there are those of us that were
lucky enough to make it through thus far without having to put a machine down, does not make it the norm.
I've been riding for 25 years, and I still get into hairy situations, it's only through gaining experience in dealing with these that you learn what to do and how to do it, and yeah, sometimes I've come off second best, and a lot of the time, it's been something I could of done differently but didn't know until I learned better. You don't become a long term day-to-day rider by reading a book and passing your basic handling.
also, agree with eSol on the looks of the MC22, it's kinda cool semi-fared.