New rider frustration | GTAMotorcycle.com

New rider frustration

pants

pants

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After dreaming about it my whole life, I finally got me a motorcycle. Bought a Ninja 300 one month and 3 days ago, and I have yet to let a sunny afternoon go by without hopping on it. I have put about 3500 km on it and I am distressed every evening when I have to put it away.

I am, however, not the most graceful swan, and I am very frustrated at what feels like a lack of "progress." I have a bad habit of watching first-person videos on YouTube, and everybody is shifting so smoothly that it looks effortless. I feel like my shifts are choppy and poppy, not smooth and almost undetectable like in the videos. I get more and more frustrated as each day goes on.

I know it's only been a month, but I feel like after 3500 km I should be getting the hang of it a little better. This riding business matters a great deal to me, and doing it smoothly and correctly is very important to me---if I'm going to do something, I'll do it with passion and pride. If I'm making mistakes, I want to proactively identify them right away and correct them.

I think I may benefit from some time with a private instructor. I have been doing most of my riding with an amazing friend who has been the most wonderful and accomplished riding partner imaginable, but I suspect I'd benefit from someone well-versed in the ways of neophyte errors.

I'm having a bit of trouble identifying places that offer private lessons from accomplished instructors. Can anybody recommend a place or a person? Even better if they're in the Northumberland area, though I have bike/will very gladly travel :)
 
No reason to be frustrated. It takes time. I'm sure you didn't master your cycling skills in one week either.
Private lessons will cost you. I would recommend you signing up for a group course. You will also benefit from watching others learn.
 
Do some practising on your own first before committing to private lessons.

Find a safe parking lot and practise both up shifting and down shifting. Use that friction zone, increase the throttle and slowly release the clucth - think about placing the clutch at the end of its travel as compared to just letting go.

Most schools will offer private lessons with their senior instructors if you want to go that route.
 
BlackBeast said:
Do some practising on your own first before committing to private lessons.

Find a safe parking lot and practise both up shifting and down shifting. Use that friction zone, increase the throttle and slowly release the clucth - think about placing the clutch at the end of its travel as compared to just letting go.

Most schools will offer private lessons with their senior instructors if you want to go that route.
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I remember when I started I had a bit of trouble with shifting a friend of mine gave me some advice that worked really well for me; He told me to learn the feel of the clutch by slipping it in and out of the friction zone while stopped at red lights, etc while keeping your thumb and index finger around the grip. Other then that you'll learn to shift between gears as you ride.
 
pants said:
After dreaming about it my whole life, I finally got me a motorcycle. Bought a Ninja 300 one month and 3 days ago, and I have yet to let a sunny afternoon go by without hopping on it. I have put about 3500 km on it and I am distressed every evening when I have to put it away.

I am, however, not the most graceful swan, and I am very frustrated at what feels like a lack of "progress." I have a bad habit of watching first-person videos on YouTube, and everybody is shifting so smoothly that it looks effortless. I feel like my shifts are choppy and poppy, not smooth and almost undetectable like in the videos. I get more and more frustrated as each day goes on.

I know it's only been a month, but I feel like after 3500 km I should be getting the hang of it a little better. This riding business matters a great deal to me, and doing it smoothly and correctly is very important to me---if I'm going to do something, I'll do it with passion and pride. If I'm making mistakes, I want to proactively identify them right away and correct them.

I think I may benefit from some time with a private instructor. I have been doing most of my riding with an amazing friend who has been the most wonderful and accomplished riding partner imaginable, but I suspect I'd benefit from someone well-versed in the ways of neophyte errors.

I'm having a bit of trouble identifying places that offer private lessons from accomplished instructors. Can anybody recommend a place or a person? Even better if they're in the Northumberland area, though I have bike/will very gladly travel :)
Click to expand...

Definitely go take a course for your m2. It's surprising how much you can learn in that type of an environment. Most of those schools you can go to will offer private lessons. I know RTI does anyways. :thumbup:
 
brownelvis said:
I remember when I started I had a bit of trouble with shifting a friend of mine gave me some advice that worked really well for me; He told me to learn the feel of the clutch by slipping it in and out of the friction zone while stopped at red lights, etc while keeping your thumb and index finger around the grip. Other then that you'll learn to shift between gears as you ride.
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I always do that at red lights because I get bored just sitting still. :) It's a very good way to learn clutch control and how to feel when the clutch engages and will make your shifting smoother.
 
OP, you are being way too hard on yourself. Smooth takeoffs and shifting comes with practice and experience. Frankly, a larger V-twin can be a lot easier to take off with and shift. Like the trucks I drive you just gently let the clutch out and the torque is there to get you going. No worries about dialing in enough throttle to avoid stalling. Similarly, smaller engines rev faster and lose rpm faster so the cadence is more difficult than a larger engine. Bigger V-twins do not lose rpm as quickly as something like a 300cc parallel twin.

The more you ride the better you will get. Just do not get too cocky and/or complacent when your skills get to a high level.
 
Your motorcycle comes with an assist/slipper clutch. When upshifting ( or down shifting) look out for a characteristic "CRACK" sound, indicating your clutch at work.

I have the same bike, am a new rider and have a 1000ks only.

We will learn. Our starter bikes ( any starter bike for that matter) were designed with us in mind!:)
 
danp said:
Eh? I have a 300 and never noticed any crack sound.
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My co-worker bought a Ninja 300 and I am coming with him tomorrow when he picks it up. I will keep an ear out for how the engine, clutch, and trannie sound on the ride back to his place. Interesting...
 
i dont think bikes are supposed to make a ''CRACK'' sound, with or without slipper clutch...i've ridden bikes with both...never has that happened....i heard it a few times when i FIRST started, but that was because my chain wasnt lubed properly and it was a bad shift so it made a ''crack crack crack crack''
 
If you feel your friction zone is too far out, adjust your clutch lever/cable. My gf's R6 has the clutch way out and it makes taking off smoothly more of an effort.

When you're shifting between gears, I find the faster you shift the smoother it is, I never hold in the clutch and slowly let it out, feeling the friction zone, unless I'm downshifting and taking a sharp corner using the friction zone. Otherwise, just quickly blip the throttle and pull in and release at the same time and kick your lever; takes half a second.
 
I don't slip the clutch at all when shifting between gear 1 through 6
only slip the clutch on take off, otherwise just dump the clutch and get back on the gas
 
I also find using less clutch lever makes it easier and smoother to shift. Atleast for me. Try to pinpoint what makes your shifts choppy. Letting the clutch out to fast or to much throttle ?
 
Rnoodles said:
I also find using less clutch lever makes it easier and smoother to shift. Atleast for me. Try to pinpoint what makes your shifts choppy. Letting the clutch out to fast or to much throttle ?
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This. Find your friction point and become comfortable with it, if you're doing what I think you're doing: rolling off throttle slowly, pulling the clutch all the way in, shifting, dumping clutch out and coming on the throttle after (takes about 2 secs maybe?) that's why it's choppy. If you know where the friction point is, you roll off, engage the clutch at the friction point, shift, and roll on power AS you let go of the clutch all in under a second. The clutch and throttle are being operated simultaneously, not seperately (i.e one after the other). This brings your RPM up back to where they need to be and makes the shift butter smooth. It takes time and practice.
 
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It is all come down to practice and burning that reflex in your muscle memory.......
Find a quiet residental area with lot of stop signs and keep practicing stop & go. You will eventually get the hang of it.
If you're talking about downshifting while braking then it will take A LOT OF practice.
 
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