How long before you were comfortable riding on the highway?

[Lynart]

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How do you stall by pulling in the clutch? Did you mean leaving the clutch released?



Back in '82 there weren't as many vehicles on the road. Some of the roads were curvier, now they've gone and straightened things out so people can save a few seconds here and there, the problem is that highways are straight and boring now. I wonder if more people are running off the road now because of everything being so monotonous.

I don't know. I'm pretty sure I had it pulled in but may have released it slightly out of panic (God knows why I'd do that, all 3 times I've had "accidents" I had the clutch pulled in completely). I still don't know why I stalled then....

I also still don't know why making a right hand turn at 60 ended up with my rear wheel shaking when getting back up from the turn =/

 

[nippondecker]

Right after my third beer.

So I am new rider and everytime I go out my confidence is building and I am getting more and more comfortable.

So to those of you who ride the highway, how long was it before you guys actually felt comfortable doing so??

 

[short stop]

A few weeks after getting my first bike. Up until then I took secondary roads to get to work. Of course, back then my commute was ideally ALL highway, so I had to work up my courage. My first time on the highway was early in the morning, and I carefully chose which on-ramp and off-ramps I was going to use. I didn't want to choose any ramps where I'd need to turn 180 degrees before speeding up and merging. I remember at first it felt as though my fingers were being peeled off the handlebars, and my head felt like it was buffeted like a bobble-head. But after doing it many times I became used to the wind, and I eventually tried trickier ramps. I find that the highway is relatively safe, boring, and not as much fun. It can be a necessary evil for some, but I'm lucky now in that my commute is ZERO highway. I do NOT miss the 401 during rush hour on a hot day.

 

[Smutty]

I'm not going to say I've been on the 403 for an exit, because that would be irresponsible since I've only had my bike license for 2 weeks. I have gone 80 when appropriate and a little more with my dad last weekend on some back-country roads. I felt comfortable and I'm confident in my bike's ability to stop when I need it to. The scariest part about the ride (5+ hours to Cobourg and back) was on Kingston Rd. He was leading and stopped at a yellow. I hit the rear brakes a little too hard and caught part of the white line of the crosswalk (you know, the part that's extra slippery) and had about a 2' straight line skid. We were only travelling the speed limit, but the sudden stop mixed with the white line made me poop a little bit. Everything was fine though.

 

[evang]

yeah, that's about right for me too.

I don't know if this was wise or not, but to get comfortable, I deliberately went on the highway when there was lots of congestion. That kept the speeds down, and allowed me to get comfortable with the surroundings.

I did the same thing. I would take the DVP north in traffic that was slow.. then it would gradually get faster as i passed the 401.

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