Well, it's another Saturday, and it's time to get in some serious practice. I've had my eye on the school parking lot further down the road. It should be perfect for practice. Last weekend I used a small unused part of the plaza parking lot to practice, but it was only about 70 feet long by 25 feet wide. I was feeling pretty cramped in there, plus, there were parked cars and traffic just a few feet away. So, I was looking for something a little more private and safer to work in.
The school parking lot is about 5 miles past stoplight number two, and about 7 miles from my neighborhood. It's really nice and wide with enough room to comfortably do 25 mph around each corner of the lot. I am afraid to venture that far because, 1.) There are three major intersections between base camp and there, 2.) the speed limit is higher on the other side of stoplight #2, and 3.) the roadway turns into a 2 lane highway approaching the 1st intersection. However, I figure if I get an escort I wont have to worry about tailgaters at the lights or down the fast stretch of the road.
So, I arranged an escort down to the schoolyard and headed on out. The ride to the school was surprisingly uneventful. Nothing scary, or nearly scary happened, and the motorist at the intersections actually saw me (I guess the brighter helmet and jacket are working - smile). The only thing that I didn't expect was the speed - or lack of it.
Oh, did I mention everything seems to be moving so much faster when you're on a bike. I think it's because you are so much closer to the action your perception changes. So, I feel quite content moving at a moderate 37 mph at quiet 3000 rpm in 5th gear. Anyway, back to the lack of speed. You see, this being a new motorcycle I'm still riding during the break in period. For the first 500 miles I have to keep the engine speed under 400 rpm, and then for the next 500 miles limit the engine speed to 6000 rpm. Currently, the bike only has 55 miles on it. Now here's the rub. The speed limit for the road to the schoolyard is 55 mph. So the average motorist is going to be doing 60 mph. What I found out as I was being escorted down to the schoolyard is that at my max of 4000 rpm in my highest gear the bike only does 50 mph. So, basically during my break-in period I am going to be going a full 10 mph slower than the average motorist. I guess that also means that I'll be getting a lot of experience with tailgaters, using my mirrors, and being passed. Nice!
It was a very humid 97 degrees. It wasn't half bad while you were moving but once stopped it was killer. After arriving at the school parking lot I wasted no time setting up the test course. I'm using a new method this time. The water bottles were nice, but they are kind of bulky. So today I'm using fluorescent rubber washers. They are about an inch and a quarter in diameter. They are not as easy to see, but they are a lot easier to carry and set-up. Also, if you happen to get your tire caught on them at an angle (while going around a corner) they are small enough and sticky enough to not cause too much trouble. Actually, because they were harder to see from a distance I was able to perform the straight line quick stop, and the straight line swerve maneuvers more true to life. I wasn't able to see the washers until I was almost on top of them, which, worked out well.
The parking lot wasn't all perfect. It was sandy in the corners (exactly where I don't want it to be), It was also sandy in the beginning section of the quick stop course. This made it really hard for me to execute the quick stop without skidding the back tire when coming down from above 25 mph. The rest of the course was pretty awesome. I learned that you can lean the bike a lot during a swerve, and, it's very, very true what they say. The bike goes where you look. While doing the slalom, if I focused on the markers as I was passing them it was a lot harder to complete the course. However, if I focused mainly on the exit, I found it much easier to flick the bike side-to-side and I could even go a little faster.
Of course, my throttle control improved with every start, and every corner. I was becoming pretty confident with my start-off skills (from a dead stop).
I stayed out there for about 2 hours. It was blazing hot! The bike ran at an average temp of 212 degrees (high temp is 239 degrees). At the end of my run, while I was sitting under some shade from a small palm tree, a lone rider came by. He was a Harley man on his brother-in-law's GSX-R (no helmet, t-shirt and jeans). Just my observations. We chatted for a while he rode off, I packed up my course, and called for my escort.
Guess what?! I stalled twice on the way home at two of the stoplights. I was getting much better at recovering though! For a while after I returned home, I couldn't figure out why I stalled out so many times on the way back. Especially since I was doing so well all day. Then it dawned on me. I was still making the starts too complicated (at least right now). Right now I needed to focus on reliability. I keep on trying to fully release the clutch and roll on the throttle at the same time, Why? Because I don't like the high pitch sound the engine makes. I know. I'm weird. So I think from now on I'll rev it up to about 2200 rpm and then slowly let out the clutch. As soon as the clutch starts grabbing I'll then just give it as much gas as it needs to get up to 25 mph then shift into 2nd.
Until next time.