To be honest XK not many of my mates are into bikes so that's a difficult one. I probably wouldn't know a good rider if I saw one and Rossi's a bit busy at the mo                                                                                                                                                                               

Last time I saw Rossi he fell off!                                                                                                                                                                             

Only small problem XK who's to say who is a good rider? Bike Safe is supposedly good as bike cops have the most intensive training their "system" gives them skills in fast safe riding but with loads of self preservation thrown in for good measure!   Hitting loads of loose gravel on a fast bend will be a bum nipping moment and most the time you will come off or seriously poop yourself if you do not! I would say standing the bike up more and trying the coast over it is possably the best idea but if you have hit it at speed you'll be very lucky to recover it! (I just managed to stay on using the above very recently) approaching a roundabout in Hull new surfaced road could not even see the loose stuff that had not been cleared up I managed a furiously violent left foot dab that kicked me back up right! This pointed me 90 degrees directly towards the curb on the big roundabout island I managed to break hard and stop a few inches from it but it was a bloody close thing.    I've also noticed an increase in road debris in general in my home city, I stopped and picked up a 4 foot long wrecking bar 2 weeks ago it was in the middle of a two lane road (yes a 4ft steel wrecking bar) last week a huge arc of fresh split deisl was driven over by a cop car infront of me (the arc was at least 18-20 ft long and a good foot wide which had a very strong smell to it) I followed the cop car onto Tesco petrol station forcourt, I got off my bike to go talk to him and he drove off I ran after him and he turned to proceed off the forecourt almost running me down in the process, I banged on his window and said "so you do not use you mirrors very often do you" and you also missed that track of desil you drove over I'm now offically reporting it to you as you are aware YOU have a duty of care to all road users and I'm positive that spill will be a problem to inexperianced road users" he agreed he had the duty of care and proceeded to radio it in and ask to get it cleaned up as soon as was possable! last night at a roundabout I noticed a 10" chisel in the inner lane of the dual carrage way so went round again stopped picked it up and thew it into the middle of the traffic barriers near where I found it! Then just around the same roundabout my exit had a full large bottle of cola about 18" out from the curb I had to go upto the orginanal offending round abot I'd had the problem with before (gravel) ang go around again I kicked the bottle off the road into a "safer place".. How many car drivers had been past these hazzards and not done a thing about them I'll never know........                                                                                                                                                                             

Shame Rossi didnt fall on me i wud have kissed him better and then some (swooooooooooooon)                                                                                                                                                                              

LoL Jackie, behave!

Hull i'm a car driver and often drive past hazards that are no threat to me so pretty unimportant but see them completely differently when i'm on the bike! I don't think car drivers are all ignorant arseholes I just think you react to your environment based on your feeling of vulnerability. Explain the 'left foot dab' mate i'm struggling to understand what you mean by that. When I saw the gravel it was all right hard braking, poor result and a very very close shave. If I wasn't in a group i'd have pulled up, smoked 20 fags and rode home in first gear!
                                                                                                                                                                             

XK Rossi was a poor example but Jackie enjoyed it! LOL                                                                                                                                                                              

I only do what I can to protect "all road users" those metal objects if caught by something heavy like an artic wheel/tyre could have been thrown up and hit something more vunerable or had a biker off their bike in poorer lighting conditions, so i stop even if it means going back and as a padestrian going to play with oncomming traffic. The "dab" is a touch down with a foot in trails riding that adds a penalty against you on a section, but in that case it was a timely foot down to kick me back up right as my bike was in a slide that was only going end one way.

My left foot down is a gear change Hull, are you sayin you dropped a cog or is your back brake on the left?

I,  like a lot of peeps have spent 30 years and hundreds of thousands of miles thinking of nothing but getting to the next appointment on time! May seem selfish but that's been my working life for many years so I think accordingly. That's changing now i'm biking again but there's still thousands out there who don't see the biking picture at all!

I think your advice about police training is spot on and i'm gonna call them tomorrow to see whats available
                                                                                                                                                                             

    Rusty I think HR meant touch foot to the ground, as in FOOT brake lol                                                                                                                                                                              

thing is RK,you can go on thinking what if this or what if that and then end up not going out at all.you can defend against loonies in cars and things but when it comes to gravel,mud on the road or horse poo and even manhole covers that leap out in front of you,theres not really much you can do about it.ride with soft hands and be prepared to part company with the bike,it doesnt hurt so much then!

Ah right get it now kwak, was trying to figure out why gearing down would stand the bike up but his brakes on opposite side to mine lol

I obviously did the right thing and managed to get out of it unscathed, more by good luck than judgement me thinks or possibly instinct from earlier biking years, that i'll never know until it happens again
                                                                                                                                                                             

"Dab" = foot on floor the sheer speed and agression I applied it was all that saved me (totally instictive) it would not have helped me at 10mph or more faster then I was travelling at the time but would have hurt a lot more lol, but it saved my bike and myself so this time I got away with it! My bike has gear lever left brake right as most bikes do these days. pond is absolutly right about slack hands and bailing out if you infact do loose it. It will hurt a far lot less if you are not still firmly attached to your bike when it's dragging you down the road with you pinned under it!   Kwak ment foot brake as in Flintstones car brake lol but it was not to slow progress                                                                                                                                                                              

like the only car with a sun roof in the floor !!!!!!                                                                                                                                                                             

Nah "no floor" and a new (Dino Head Shaped) sunroof EVERY TIME they went to the drive in lol.                                                                                                                                                                              

needed stabilisers to cope with the bronto burgers though lol                                                                                                                                                                             

Awe come on "Bronto Rack of Ribs"                                                                                                                                                                             

*refresh*   This is such a good thread I feel it needs refreshing. It may help other new-to-riding riders, and other experienced riders may like to add their advice and tips.   Rusty, did you check out the police training and how do you feel about your biking now? Have you gained more confidence?   My son didn't have much on-road training, before he passed his test, and I'm sure that's the reason he keeps crashing, well that and his impatience. Youth...it's wasted on the young! lol                                                                                                                                                                               

Some very good advice here eg Bill, Hull and XK amongst others.   I'd summarise very simply.  Training is very important.  Start off by going out with some experienced riders making sure they're aware that you're not as experienced.  Most will back off a bit so you can easily follow and observe what they're doing.   Chat with them about their riding and yours.  People don't mind.  I'm perfectly happy to offer tips and have even ridden with people specifically to observe them and offer advice.  Happy to do the same with you or anyone RK.   Then, once you're feeling more confident, think about a RoSPA course or similar.  Ideally, something that's run by Police riders/instructors or RoSPA diploma holders.   Most importantly though, as Hull has said.  Get some tips, get some advice and then get out and practise it.   Perhaps the best tip I could give anyone however is this; practise but practise at a sensible speed.  As Kwak says, it's human nature to want to be as quick as your mates, but the truth is it ain't gonna happen overnight.  So don't worry about your speed, that will come in time, just practise for now.                                                                                                                                                                             

Well kwak I did speak to the local bobbies about a training session but time is against me with kids at weekends and usually through the week too although i've managed to squeeze in another couple of thousand miles since I started this thread and to be honest i'm now a lot more confident in my bike/riding although still prone to the odd error!

I've been out with a couple of experienced riders who both claimed my riding was fine and one of them last week got a double bend totally wrong as I proudly followed my instinct and exited with a chuckle as he was wobbling out on the wrong side of the road .

Training is the key for new peeps but practise, watching training vids (free on U-Tube), asking loads of questions then trying them out on the road deffo helped me. (Thanks to blade_pilot for excellent advice on road positioning) I've only ever had one car crash (hit by trucker on A1 with my caravan in tow) in almost 30 years of driving so I guess i'm either extremely lucky or have a decent instinct when reading the road and I obviously apply the same thought processes to my riding.

I started out by avoiding heavy traffic for the first couple of weeks and sticking to main roads to understand the bike without being under pressure then eventually moving to busier and more challenging roads that I now enjoy as i'm doing less flapping and concentrating more on my technique. Still a long way short of 'experienced' but far more capable than a few months back

Don't be afraid to ask seemingly 'foolish' questions is my tip for the day as a genuine biker will enjoy helping you with the answer, a tosser will snear at you. (Evidence of this can be found on an earlier thread when I first joined the site!) Yes you know who you are!!

                                                                                                                                                                             

Forgot to say thanks for the offer Geoff and I'd gladly take you up on it when our paths cross. There's nothing better than 'constructive' criticism when learning any new skill