Ah, new riders...

[crazy steve]

Yesterday I took my nieghbor up to pick up her 'new' bike...

A little background. She approached me a few weeks ago about what would be a good 'starter bike' for her. We had a fairly long discussion about motorcycles, why did she want one, is she ready for the learning curve, will she take the riders course, etc. Now, she's never ridden anything, so she's starting at zero. Well, I agreed to help her with finding a suitable bike and would give her preliminary instruction in the care/feeding/operation of it.

Well, we got it home, and she had to give it a quick try. I pointed out the controls and the various functions. Practiced a couple of starts/stops, she wanted to try riding down the road a bit (just a few hundred yards). Got to the end, tried to turn around and promptly dumped it; forgot to pull in the clutch. Well, both of us have bad backs, so she threw hers out going down, I hurt mine picking her and the bike up. End of riding for a few days...

It's going to be an interesting few months until she can take the riders course. I'm going to see if I can pick up some traffic cones for a little 'course' for her to practice on.

And make sure I have an ample supply of pain pills for my back...

[Kit]

I'll be going through the same thing with my wife this spring. Except, she'll be taking the course before I spend the money on a bike, just to make sure it's something she actually wants to do.

Regarding traffic cones...they're not cheap. Might I suggest a trip to your local dollar store? The one here has kids' beach-type buckets that should work just as well.

[crazy steve]

Regarding traffic cones...they're not cheap. Might I suggest a trip to your local dollar store? The one here has kids' beach-type buckets that should work just as well.

Good idea... but her boyfriend works for a road-construction outfit so I'm hoping she can sweet-talk some out of him..

[xs11lover]

Take her to a big, empty parking lot. It's alot more simple when there isn't anything to hit.

[crazy steve]

Would if we could, but the nearest parking lot of any size is 15 miles away and busy... sometimes there's disadvantages to living in the boondocks

[DiverRay]

but the nearest parking lot of any size is 15 miles away and busy

If your talking about the lot near I5, Busy is NOT the correct word! I hate going there but it's the best place to shop when I'm up at my sisters in DuPont.....
See if you can find a "cheap" dirt bike for her to learn on! a 125cc is light, and some time in the dirt will usually do a LOT more good than time on a road. JMHO

[crazy steve]

If your talking about the lot near I5, Busy is NOT the correct word! I hate going there but it's the best place to shop when I'm up at my sisters in DuPont.....
See if you can find a "cheap" dirt bike for her to learn on! a 125cc is light, and some time in the dirt will usually do a LOT more good than time on a road. JMHO

That one is 30 miles away, so it's not an option The only decent-sized lots in Yelm (without speedbumps, planters, curbs, etc) are Walmart and Thriftway, and unless you go there in the middle of the night are nearly as busy.

I looked at the dirt-bike option, but they were almost as much money as the bike she bought (and not as good as shape to boot). And while they're a bit lighter, the weight is higher so that was a consideration too. The bike she bought (a '06 Buell Blast with only 2200 miles on it for 2K out the door) actually is a great-handling bike, with light, responsive steering; I was very impressed with the handling when I test-rode it. She just needs to get used to having to use both feet and both hands to 'drive' it. It's that coordination thing...

[Jarion]

A Honda 50 worked for me at the age of 10.

1971

[b.walker5]

. The bike she bought (a '06 Buell Blast with only 2200 miles on it for 2K out the door) actually is a great-handling bike, with light, responsive steering; I was very impressed with the handling when I test-rode it. She just needs to get used to having to use both feet and both hands to 'drive' it. It's that coordination thing...

Maybe she shoulda got one of the crushed cubes they released in 2010 when they discontinued them, might save a lot of time

[Ken Talbot]

I'm going to see if I can pick up some traffic cones for a little 'course' for her to practice on.

SWMBO uses cheapo tennis balls cut in half. They work great!

[crazy steve]

SWMBO uses cheapo tennis balls cut in half. They work great!

Too many of the local dogs would be sure those are 'toys' and run off with them!

[Erik the Red]

chalk's cheap

When I first learned to ride, instead of cones, I just used sidewalk chalk to mark out X's in a parking lot. Best of all, if you clip one in the "cone" weave, you don't have to get off the bike and set it back up. You don't have to look at it to know you made it or didn't make it. (remember, always look to the next one)

[b.walker5]

Dont know about there, but here pet shops sell small cones for the dog obedience people. My wife got some from there when the kids were little for teaching them to ride thier push bikes. Our Warehouse, equivelent to your Walmart, has them as well. I think a pack of 10 of them cost her 10 bucks or something like that.

[LoHo]

What are the two basic skills one needs to get to the other skills for motorcycling? Starting and stopping, and slow turns. All you need is a couple of chalk lines for her to pull up to, then do a slow lefty to head back. I've witnessed maybe six bike dumps, and all but one were stopping/turning related. Going straight and fast is easy compared to going slow and crooked.

[cywelchjr]

Yep, just need at area wide enough to easily turn around in, an area marked that must be kept inside of at low speed while slowly speeding up and shifting up, and then down, and then somewhere to have them turn withing a standard radius, and have them practice several times until comfortable. Once that is down, then and only then move on to more difficult stuff.