They keep bringing these old issues up, we must be running out of new stuff, but anyway gravel, as Kwakgirl says try not to over react just ease of on the throttle a bit and try not to brake, yes the bike will slide but try to relax, the tyre should grip again and just easy it round the corner gently if you can, the worst of the gravel is in the center and sides of the road, i know it sounds easy but its hard to do, even i over react some times and have to correct my self and just let the bike do the work.
 I love the minor roads and the ones with no numbers as people who have been on my rideouts might tell you, the blind corners and brows are real exciting i love them, as Dustin says if you can keep up 60 mph on them you know your going quick but your not braking the speed limit! (maybe your neck).
 Looking forward to next year have fun folks

  They keep bringing these old issues up, we must be running out of new stuff   I don't see this topic as 'old issues', I see it as valuable help, tips, and information for newby riders (and second time around) riders; and it will always be relevant because we will always have newbies.                                                                                                                                                                             

thats two slaps on the wrists i'v had of you today Sandi                                                                                                                                                                               

Treat EVERYBODY on the road like they are an idiot till they prove themselves otherwise, got me through 42 years odd reasonably safe n sound. With more years than i care to think about as a London courier                                                                                                                                                                              

i agree oldbiker.i treat everyone as an idiot its kept me alive for 27yrs on the road.but as a very  good friend of mine told me when you get on the road you get a bucket of luck and an empty bucket of experience you have to fill your experience bucket before you luck bucket is empty.theres no comparison to experience.and as to born again bikers the change over from the old crossply tyres to the new radials is a big difference and can be weird to start off with as i found out when i went from my gpz750turbo to my first zzr1100                                                                                                                                                                               

@ ZZR , Tyres, the first jap bike I owned with proper tyres was a GPZ 900R, also the first riceburner to do 150mph + out of the crate. Loved it , slow steering but very stable.
Jap bikes used to come with plastic tyres, reasonable in the dry BUT OMG if a mouse ran across the road infront of you , the moisture in it's breath was enough to have the bike slide into the nearest unforgiving object .
Modern tyres are brilliant in the wet, not much different to the dry . But different enough to catch out the odd Barney or Neville.
Experience can be bought. Problem is , you have to buy it with blood, or at least , a change of underwear . Lol
Dusty x

Think this is a cracking topic.. and when I've got a spare half hour I shall be devouring it in it's entirety... Kinda lost my confidence because of nearly coming acropper twice in the space of an hour... Bikes sitting outside unridden for two weeks.. keep thinking I will put her away for the Winter.. but I really don't want too because it will be like starting all over again come Feb or March or whatever.. so for sure he is hoping there is confidence boosting stuff in this thread because I don't want to give up.. not when I think about it sensibly! So thank you for re-threading this Sandi xxx                                                                                                                                                                             

its just like riding a pushbike it all comes back to you without you without you thinking about it                                                                                                                                                                              

Dont put the bike away,, we all nearly come a cropper be it our fault or someone else. But you didnt come a cropper and thats the main thing.   Those moments when we have a scare, learn us and give us the experience we need and gain, you are a new rider but are no doubt getting better with practice and experience.   So when you have a scare think about it, if it was something you had done wrong then you know to try and not do it again. If it was something that another road user has done then at least you will know how to deal with the situation next time round.   Keep positive,, keep focused and alert and you will be fine.                                                                                                                                                                               

@ RC,  As a lifer , I can honestly say that I do not know any other lifer that hasn't 'thrown it down the road' . The only real difference between young and old is that young bones, don't break so easily. If you ride a bike , you're gonner crash . simply coz it's a lot easier to fall off a bike than fall off a car. Every week of riding is another week of experience. Every week of avoiding the nutters is another week of skill to add to your knowledge. Every so often [to quote Springsteen]''one step up and two steps back''  F*ck it , next week you do better. Dusty x                                                                                                                                                                                 

If u never scare yerself, u int tryin hard enuff.   And the more u try harder, the less often u will scare yerself.   Simples!                                                                                                                                                                             

       I think I must be.                                                                                                                                                                               

I always ride imagining that everyone is trying to kill me which stood me in good stead for many years and miles. until one day on a roundabout i actually believed that the 7.5 toner post office van was driven by an experienced professional and would follow the lane that he was in. 7.5 tonner versus suzuki v strom, guess who got hurt? Still i took all of his bumper off. But the moral of this story is THEY ARE ALL TRYING TO KILLYOU. no matter who is driving

  RustyKnight posted:   There's loads of us new people returning to biking after 20 years, we can ride a bike but we don't know the territory we're riding in any more.   If you've got any knowledge relating to anything that might be useful to build a picture of what we're up against to stay safe, shout up! Whether it's training, road surfaces, tyre make-up, maneuvres, weather or personal experiences. If you share it you could save someones life...                                                                                                                                                                                 

dont find that make-up makes much difference to how i ride Sandi                                                                                                                                                                             

  Bill, I didn't post that comment, Rusty Knight did, that's why I put 'RustyKnight posted'   I copied and pasted it to get some more helpful tips, other than 'assume all road users are out to kill you'                                                                                                                                                                              

Rusty was a nice guy Sandi i got on well with him but i think he's long gone now, though i see he's still a member                                                                                                                                                                             

  He still is a nice guy Bill, still a member but busy doing other stuff at the moment. He didn't post this thread just for himself, it's also for other newbies and second timers.   If anyone else has any useful advice or tips please add them?                                                                                                                                                                              

Yes Sandi..

ASK Questions of Experienced Riders and LISTEN to them.. don't think you know it all.. cos you don't and you probably never will... and TRY and remember all that they tell you in your CBT.. Because it might sound silly at the time but its not.. 

Instructors and well meaning friends tell you stuff for a reason.. and if it hurts your ego a little then so be it.. because one day it might just save your life.. 

Thank you to all who have commented thus far.. and for the encouragement too.. Bless you xxx