Advice please

Firstly I would have to explain my crash,
If you don't already know me and Dave went to the lake district on a bike trip last week, it came to saturday morning. The road was greasy so we were taking it easy.
Going around a roundabout, and then the majority of it is quite blanked from my memory, but i think that my back wheel went from under me, then slid across the roundabout. I managed to get up and walk away without even a scratch. Managed to turn the bike off after it slid the other way across the roundabout and stopped at a kurb. Nicely an ambulance was coming around the roundabout after us. Dave stopped and ran over to check i was alright, Dave and the paramedic managed to get the bike up. Took a while, but managed to get it started again. Back brake foot pedal slightly bent but useable. Crash bungs took the majority of the hit. There is also leaking oil, which is either the cause of the crash or a result of it. Was very slow in riding it back home the next day as managed to get oil on my back wheel as i was going along.
Anyways since then I have lost all confidence in turning corners, especially turning right.
Anyone got any ideas in how I could regain my shattered confidence?

Whilst I'm on here I wanted to ask all the shorties (and others) if anyone has ever has any problems in the weight of the 'cat? I have a very nice Dave who is happy to wheel it round for me. But I really struggle as I am 5 ft 5 and a bit of a weakling......
How do you get over the weight issue? Because those two are my main problems riding the 'cat at the mo. Thanks

Sorry to hear that.

I think the only way to get over it to to get the mileage in again.

Glad you're ok though

Really sorry to here about your accident Anna, balls to the bike glad you're okay, bikes can be fixed and replaced. I just hope it doesn't put you off riding which I'm sure it won't and testament is the fact you got back on.

The issue with the cornering is obviously a mental issue, I went through something along the same lines recently. I wanted to go our riding regardless of the weather and found myself being TOO over cautious on corners and bends. This problem then became a fear of going around any corner or bend in case it slipped.

The two things I learned was to go out with an experienced friend who you trust and follow them on a few rides. Ask them to take the corners and bends as they normally would without thrashing it and you just follow at the same or a similar speed. Mentally it will tell you if they can get round the corner then you can and should relax you. The next point is RELAX, try to keep your upper body as relaxed as possible, grip the bike with your hands lightly and keep your arms loose as the more stiffness there is in your body will transfer and abnormalities and bumps in the road through the bike and into you causing you to get thrown about more making you feel insecure on the bike. May sound strange but while riding on a straight while gripping the bars lightly try to flap your arms like a chicken.
There should be no stiffness in your wrists, arms, elbows and shoulders. Your core should be holding you up, you shouldn't be leaning on the bars.

My other big tip is get your hands on a copy of Keith Codes book, A Twist Of The Wrist, they call it the cornering bible and it really is a good read. It certainly helped me with overcoming some issues I had. I have a PDF version of the book if interested

As for the shorty bit afraid I can't help I'm a 6ft er!!

o no :( i have 2 accidents last year.

Us shorties do struggle a little & when I first had my 'cat it felt huge, I thought I'd made a mistake in going up to a 600 at the time, however just keep plodding along & the confidence will come for sure.
BTW I rarely try to paddle my bike around but get off it to move & always leave the side stand down when I do to drop it onto if I get into difficulty.
Stick with it Anna & you'll get there.

Sorry to hear about your crash, I had a simaliar crash about 10 years ago on my aprillia rs50. (I know I know, my bicycle tyres are thicker) it takes a while to get the confidence back I've just got my licence and it's taking me a while to get the cat over a bit more than I am now. Just keep practicing and it will come back.

As for the height problem I'm in the same boat as Steve but how about taking some of the cushioning out of the seat?

Ahh good point, I have a lowered gel seat in my garage if u want it Anna?

Ah-ha I'm not just a ugly face after all lol

Sorry to hear about your off - I had a similar incident about 18 months ago on a greasy roundabout and landed up sliding sideways up the road towards a lorry which helpfully pulled over for me! I've no doubt that had I not had my IAM training I would have been at best badly injured - it was actually on an IAM run night and a couple other people had had similar experiences on their way at that evening.
I'm 5' 3 - I don't notice weight of bike when I'm riding it but I do when I'm slow manoeuvring - inside leg is only just 29" so I had the bike lowered - knowing I can get both feet flat on the floor has made a huge difference but I still get off and drag the bike round if I find it too hard to paddle.
If you haven't done any further training I would highly recommend you do some BikeSafe is a good start and quite cheap and if you decide you want to take it further RoSPA OR IAM is well worth it and not full of yellow vested old fogies that a lot of people think it is.

After dropping mine on one of my favourite corners (bit too fast + diesel) about 4 years ago I still go round that corner slower than I used to. Getting straight back on is a good start.
I like to think that I'm fairly fit and strong, but have you ever tried to get a 200 kg bike out of a ditch on your own? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Sorry to hear that Anna, pleased your ok, I lost confidence when I had an off and am still sh** scared of riding in the wet! Perseverance helps hugely!

Thanks for the words of encouragement.
Nick, the lowered gel seat is on the bike...
Main problem is trying to push it around, it takes me a looooong time to push it anywhere.
My bike safe course is paid for, me and dave just need to arrange a day to go.
The strange thing is that I was following Dave at the time around the roundabout, and he had no problems, so wondered if the oil was on the tyres before or after the off...... we will find out when it goes into the garage...

Sorry to hear that Anna.

The vast majority of bikers have them so don't let it get you down.
Main thing is you only dented the bike and a bit of pride. They repair easier than you do.

I would ride completely different on the roads up here now as I would in the summer whether it was dry or pissing down.

Roads this time of year are very greasy and a bit too much power or braking too hard mid corner or just greasy roads can cause the bike to slide and unless you are lucky enough to sense it happening and adjust (turn into the slide / maybe even get a foot down) in time then you'll be on the floor before you know it.

My first off (write off bandit 600) was on a roundabout that was a bit greasy and I was going a wee bit to fast and when it started sliding I managed to do exactly the wrong thing and rev the tits off it and broke my arm on the way down.

Staying smooth throughout and getting your speed right before any corner / roundabout is my advice.

You'll learn a lot on the bike rite course.

Cheers
Rosco

Sorry to here about you're spill, hope you're ok. All bikers fall off then hopefully learn by there mistakes. A bike Safe course is very good for improving your riding but if you're having trouble moving it around when you're sat on it you might need to fit a set of lowering suspension links(expensive) or try to have a day of training doing slow speed riding, I know that sounds strange but it is real fun once you've started and riding the bike some were is always better than pushing a top heavy bike.
This DVD is also good but you have to watch it more than once to understand what he is on about. A word of warning, what he says is good but how he puts it across is, Umm ! different
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Remember the more you ride the better it gets.

if you get that DVD anna i may pinch it off ya for an afternoon!

sorry to hear about your off... the bike can be fixed.....
confidence will return in time.. it takes time in the saddle. if you can afford a lesson (dont laugh) a good instructor riding with you yabbing into your ear can really help... did it after I lost some confidence following a incident.
I also went and did the i2i course which was a real eye opener and did gave a huge confidence boost..

I've been looking into some further training myself and was a bit miffed to find that Manchester are not currently running anything. The nearest one to me is Cheshire but they are charging £80 for it. When I looked at the next closest, (probably North Wales) the cost is only £10. What's going on there???

I think I'll hang on for now and do the IAM in April. I am good friends with one of the organisers locally and he's giving me a discount.

Both me and anna signed up for a bikesafe course, similar to you in Manc here in oxfordshire we have non going at all, and the closet one costs 80quid, but we signed up for one with the west midlands which was only a tenner and even with the fuel costs is still miles cheaper than the closest one, and in reality the baase they run from in thw est mids isnt really that far away at all

Here's a link for finding local RoADA training groups;
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stevedj2000 wrote:I When I looked at the next closest, (probably North Wales) the cost is only £10. What's going on there???

The Welsh have subsidised the BikeSafe in the past, possibly that, but you do have to live there to be eligible.

I.A.M. is way more than Bikesafe, so if you can do that all the better - it not as 'easy' as BikeSafe mind

I am starting with bikesafe and then going to go up, to the likes of rospa, IAM and the like but want to do it in stages and allow each bit to take effect

How did you get on with acquiring the video Dave? I have it.