| Author | Message | ||
     Mattl |
Hey all, I recently got a 2006 xb12s and figured I better learn how to ride it. So I signed up for the Rider's Edge New Rider course at Carolina HD in Gastonia. It started this past Thursday night and ended today (Sunday) evening. My experience on bikes in the past has been very limited. I rode a roommates 89 Honda CBR600 for about 6 months, and another roommates 93 Suzuki crotch-something-rocket. I enjoyed my time on them, but really hated them both. That was about 6 years ago. Have had lots of time on quads and 3wheelers, and about 20 minutes on a couple dirt bikes my brother used to have, but that's about it on powered cycles. So obviously, I was a good candidate for the new rider class. I studied a bit and passed the NC motorcycle permit test a couple weeks ago, so I had the book knowledge ahead of time. I also pre-read the Rider's Edge booklet they mailed out to me. So those two things pretty much made Thursday and Friday night rather boring. I rode my bike to and from class every day, so the few things we did learn in class, I tried applying each night on the way home. The big advantage of the classroom time was just getting to know everyone in the group, as well as the teachers. But for me, I'm a visual or hands-on learner, so I really needed seat time. Saturday morning we start bright and early and get to know our Buell Blasts. I got a 2007 Blast in white. No one else knew anything about Buell's so they didn't care when I piped up and said I wanted the white one, knowing it would be a 2007 model. Basic checks and controls of the bike were covered first, then starting, and power walking them. Finally a quick riding exercise, more power walking, lots of stop and go's and learning the "friction zone." We then started some basic turns, real slow stuff. We had a break and when I get back I hear that one of the students had been booted out because the instructors said "she wasn't paying attention" but we all kinda' knew she wasn't feeling real comfortable on the bike (lots of gear grinding and stalls) and didn't really blame the instructors for letting her go. I felt real bad that she didn't get to finish the class, and hope she gets her money back, but probably not since that spot could have been filled by another paying student. So back on the bikes for some more stop and goes and a few slow turns. Honestly, up to this point I'm rather bored and frustrated and how SLOW we are going. I've been riding a xb12s for the past few days, so this is killing me. But it was good practice to piddle around real slow, learning low speed handling and the friction zone. Then it happens, I hear one of the Blasts revving through the roof and hitting the rev limiter, so I quickly glance over just in time to see one of the riders clinging onto her bike as it careened up and over a curb and glanced (about 45 degree angle) off a guard rail, sending rider flying over the rail and bike tumbling back onto the parking lot. She hit going redline in 1st gear, so I'm thinking 25 or so? We all just kinda' sat on our bikes for second unbelieving what we had just seen. The instructors were immediately over the rail and at her side. She got up real slow and sat for a while catching her breath, then tried to get up to walk, and could barely move. She had tweaked her knee real bad flipping over the rail face first while the bike had her leg pinned against the rail perpendicular to her travel. Overall, she fared pretty well. A few scratches on her leg was the only visible sign. The bike had pretty much lost all of its turn signals, a busted fly screen, and all other plastics scraped up. It will definitely live to be ridden another day though. After taking a long brake to calm down, we just decided to go to lunch a bit early. During lunch I could tell the other riders were freaked out about the accident, and they could all imagine that being themself once we got back on the bikes. But after lunch, everyone climbed on their bikes and got back to it. The downed rider decided to head home for the day, and none of us could blame her. So now we were down to four riders and really got moving. There were two women and two men left. Me and the other guy were both really getting into the turning, and each time we went back to get in line for our next turn at a challenge, we would both kinda' do some figure 8s or just piddle around the lot. The instructors didn't mind so it gave us additional riding time as well as kept the breeze blowing on us. It was hot! I had been wearing a Vanson leather jacket, and had to eventually go in to the dealership and buy a long sleeve shirt. They had one Buell shirt in the entire store, and luckily, it was a long sleeve shirt, and perfectly my size. It was already marked down on clearance, plus the sales lady felt bad they didn't have any other Buell stuff so she gave me an additional 10% off. It's a really neat shirt, but I'm not quite sure what it's designed for. It has all kinds of little pockets, and some velcro side vents, so it seems like a riding shirt, but it is WAY to thin to ride as your only clothing on a bike. Anyway, not sure what it is, but I like it and it worked perfectly. So back to the breeze, it was definitely nice to be able to keep moving on the Blasts. Definitely kept us a bit cooler. By the end of the first day, we had done quite a bit of low speed turning, a few quick stop exercises, a couple upshifts even though we weren't going anywhere near fast enough to upshift, and had just touched on Look Press Roll for higher speed cornering. I was VERY tired at the end of the day, and had a massive headache from the heat all day, but I had to ride 45 minutes home. Once I got reacquainted with my bike (way different clutch feel and peg placement) I was zooming down the rode and my headache went away. On the rodes up to my house I was able to practice some of the principals at real speed. It really began making sense and I immediately felt more comfortable on my bike. After riding 45 minutes down to Gastonia, we got back to it early this morning. Today went great. We all were doing quite well, were getting a little more speed, and everyone was having fun. Plus it wasn't quite as hot, and no accidents all day. I was encouraging the other riders to go faster (for one, so they could really feel the counter-steering effect, and for two, so I wouldn't be so bored). The ladies never really got it, but the other guy was doing great, and we stuck with our own little routine of doing our own thing after reach exercise. We did some higher speed emergency swerves and stops, which was GREAT to practice in a controlled environment, and I would encourage everyone to do so in an empty parking lot. I guess I got a little too free with my spare time because I was trying to do some stoppies on the Blast and got yelled at. I never did get the rear off the ground, but I did slide the rear tire around a few times just for fun. I think the screeching rear gave away the fact that I was goofing off. So, I got back in line with my tail between my legs. We finally got to the skills test, and all four of us past, which made the women squeal with joy. Back in the classroom, we all aced the written exam as well, so more squealing. We got our little certificates and some cake and chatted some more. They handed out little awards for various goofy things. I ended up getting the "Top Turner" award because I was pretty much lapping the field on the little oval they had drawn out, and had some pretty good lean here and there. Got real close to draggin' pegs a few times, but didn't wanna lean much more because I was afraid I'd drag my big ol' boots first. Not sure of the geometry of all that so not sure what would hit first. I'll have to investigate on my bike I guess. All in all, it was a great experience. It was great to practice everything in a controlled environment on such a great, light little bike. It was good to see someone crash to give us all a reality check... well, not good someone crashed, but good that we... ah never mind. The instructors were both great. One was an old military guy that had been riding motorcycles for at least a few hundred years, and other was a bad ass chick who rode a killer VRod. They both made us very comfortable and were great at explaining everything. Also, the other male student seemed awesome. He is a Carolina native, and has a Sportster Custom on order. Once he gets his bike (5-10 days), hopefully we can get together for some rides. Anyway, I would recommend it to anyone who has never had official riding training. The first couple days of classroom are painful, and so is the first few hours of range riding, but it gets better and is worth it in the end. I also wouldn't discount a Blast as a perfectly good bike to have a lot of fun on, and a great around town kind of bike. I may just pick one up someday if I ever find a great deal, just to have around to play with, or a spare bike in case a buddy wants to go riding. Eventually, they should have some pics of us up on their website. Looking at their site now, they look like they are a bit behind. I'm hoping they get on the ball because one of the instructors said she got some good pics of me through the turns. BTW, we heard from the downed rider today. She went to the hospital and they gave her a brace for her leg. Nothing broken, just twisted. She felt much better with the brace supporting the knee. And she said she would definitely be back for another try! Thanks for reading my tale! Sorry it ended up so long. | ||
| Ulywife |
Matt - great tale. The Rider's Edge course is a great starting place for new riders. Be sure to come over to Carolina Corner Carvers and maybe hook up with some other Buells. I think my husband also got "yelled" at during his motorcycle safety class! Glad to hear the injured rider is doing OK. Sometimes we only have to witness the lesson for it to benefit us. Kristi | ||
| Jlnance |
a bad ass chick who rode a killer VRod Was she a blond named Susan? Glad you liked the class. I can't say enough good things about it. I took Riders Edge when I first started riding, and a year later I took the MSF class, which Riders Edge is based off of, at Johnson Community College. It's a lot less painful to learn from the class than it is to learn from your mistakes. :-) As to the Blast, it is a great bike. I bought one after I took Riders Edge because it was the only bike I knew I could ride. It was my accidental introduction to Buell. I've owned an M2 Cycleone, and currently have a Ulysses as well. But I still have the Blast. I put 200 miles on it yesterday. It is a fun little bike. | ||
| Bigdaddy |
Matt, Good story. You're right between me and Spectrum and you're always welcome to join up for a ride. Last week took a little mountain run with U4 and had a blast. Whenever's a good time to ride  I'd like to get our side of the state a bit more active in all things Buell,,,,we got the roads just need some participants. G2 | ||
| Mattl |
Great to see all you NC folks on here. Definitely want to hook up for some C3 rides. Next couple weeks are booked, but hopefully by October I'll have a couple free weekends. The female instructor was Amy. Maybe "bad ass" wouldn't be the best term. She was just really cool, had a really cool bike, and was a great rider and instructor. I guess I shoulda' mentioned how the lady crashed the Blast. She had a high throttle wrist position and wasn't covering the clutch. The bike lurched a bit, straightening her right arm, thus making her high wrist go straight and twisting the throttle. She couldn't reach the clutch, and away it went. Yikes! Two good lessons; straight/flat wrists and learn the friction zone to avoid lurches. | ||
| Jlnance |
wasn't covering the clutch. They tell you to always cover the clutch and never cover the brake. I had the opposite problem, I wanted to cover the brake. After I found myself laying under the Riders Edge Blast surrounded by pieces of motorcycle I decided to do it their way.  Experience is a good teacher if you can survive it. I'm glad she is comming back to try again. |
