Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

Hi all,

Though I realise I'm newish at this, I'm pretty happy with my skills once I "get my eye in". However, it seems to take a few minutes to find that confidence and I often make silly mistakes such as a poor gear change, poor line into a slow corner, a twist of the throttle before I disengage the clutch, put my foot down at a stop a fraction too early, forget to turn the indicator off, etc.

Sometimes all of the above!

Just wondering if fellow (more experienced) riders have similar issues, or am I a hack after all. Perhaps I'm just getting old!

Regards, Matt B

80% of my rides are between five and ten minutes, which probably doesn't help.

Matt its like any thing it takes practic and alot of if.
Remember when you learnt to drive ,you would of done the same things.
Now you just do it with out a second thought ,you don't even remember useing you car blinkers the last time you drove ,well you did {or maybe not } .
What I did with the blinkers was just got into the habbit of hitting the blinkers off switch every 30 seconds even if on straight roads where I havn't used them ..then after a week ,your thumb knows its got a job to do and you just do it with out thinking.
Just take you time mate everyones was in the same boat at one point.

Hi Sled,

It's probably just me - I have the same problem on a tennis court; takes a few games to get going, then all is well. We had some blue sky yesterday and had a small (50km) detour through some gentle country back roads. My very first downhill brake into a damp hairpin was interesting!

I'll keep at it; there's a couple of decades of "missing out" to make up!

Regards, Matt from down south

Sorry I keep posting in the wrong section!

My learning curve was about a 100 yards, of course as of this month I have been riding 47 years and owned around 30 motorcycles. It does take some time to get smooth with a new bike so don't push it, just try to learn from mistakes and strive to get better with each ride. I officially became a senior this month as well, spouceling thinks I should start looking for a three wheeler in the next few years...NOT!

Yeah the wet gets your heart going when learning ...just remember to get all the braking done BEFORE you turn into the corner ,wet or dry ..and you will be fine at learner speeds ,don't worry it won't slip out from under you.
I did an advance riding course at a race track and it was pissing down ,you can get this bike leaned over it the wet no problems.

Re grip:

Had to replace the front tire for road worthy (went for Michelin Pilot 3; two different sellers recommended them for wet), however the inspector said there was enough still in the rear, perhaps 3-4000k. Twice though in a bit of heavy brake testing, the rear lost grip completely , which makes me nervous powering/leaning through any corner at the moment, particularly an off-camber one.

Obviously the tires were original and pretty basic and no doubt I'll get the rear replaced before the next "expedition" (anything outside my locale), but just wondering if those little wear-indicators on the tires themslves can be trusted?

Cheers, Matt

Matt, don't know if they have the same down under, but here many of the states have motorcycle safety course set up by the Motorcycle Safety foundation. When I was in the military they use to require that we take these every time we changed duty stations...anyway there is an experienced riders' course that goes through things like panic stops, avoiding obstacles, looking for trouble (what they call keeping an avenue of escape) etc. As I moved from a Harley Superglide to th GSX I took the course last year. Pretty humbling, but you learn a lot. There is some info on what they teach at http://www.pamsp.com/CourseInfo_Experienced.aspx
They recommend that you take this yearly, but to me that is over kill. There are statistics here though that those that take the basic and/or the experienced course have less accidents.

As you will often be told by other riders, the rear brake will not require much to get it to lock up, and the harder you apply the FRONT brake, the easier it becomes to lock up the back as the weight of the bike shifts towards the front. In extreme cases, the rear tyre will actually leave the ground.

So put simply, the harder you brake, the less you should apply the rear brake and the more you should apply the front brake. When you were doing 'a bit of heavy brake testing', it is not surprising that your rear tyre lost grip completely, especially if you are not an experienced rider. Losing grip was probably more to do with lack of correct braking technique than it has to do with the tyre being unsafe.

That said, there are of course tyres that grip better than the stock tyres, but hopefully as a beginner you are not riding in ways that require that kind of grip. In dry weather, the stock tyres will retain grip on any corner if you use the correct technique, to the point that you are grinding your footpegs. I don't ride like that myself either, I should point out.

I like this Matt Blain fellow...
Matt, don't sweat it - over 30 years riding here and I still mess it up too. And the GSX is a funny beast to get used to in my opinion - after commuting on a 250 I get on it during the weekend and feel like I'm a learner again, for the first few minutes...
Remember too that your tyres are cold during that time, so you want to be taking it easy anyway. I've lost count of the times I've spun up the rear and nearly highsided in the first 5 minutes

We might be getting old matey, but that doesn't stop us getting better at this riding business. I prescribe lots more of it for practise - if you're used to short blats, trying going out for 45 minutes first, then 60 minutes etc, until you're riding up to the Spurs to start your ride.

Thanks gents for the great feedback... Easy does it on the right hoof, gotcha! (I probably developed some bad habits on the 120kg/150cc monster that had the local school kids yelling, "Here comes the postie!"). The bike's in next week for it's 6000k service, so I'll have them check out the rear rubber anyway.

Re practice, always a balancing act between work, family and self-indulgence. Though I did make a deal with the missus (as part of the purchase) to leave her alone for a few months. There's a few extra minutes!

Cheers

Sounds like a good deal.

After a 22 year break from riding I thought the GSX650F might be a bit heavy for me. I'm sure glad that didn't put me off it though as once I took off I found it was quite easy to handle and everything came flowing back to me. Only issues I had was learning to deal with the weight when crawling in traffic and car parks etc. Even that didn't take long. But the best thing I did was ride every day and in all conditions. Nothing like experience.

I also did quite a few rides with some very experienced riders who had some really good input. For the first two years I only saw the back of them for a few minutes but now I can safely keep up for the most part if I want to. I learned quickly that trying to keep up with others is the fastest way to cause yourself grief.

So, knock on wood, it's all been good and now the bike and I are like one. Have a look at http://dazza.id.au if your are interested in the details.

Have fun, stay safe!

Matt, I find myself making the same mistakes as you mention in your first post. Maybe not all on the same ride, but as I'm getting used to being back in the saddle after a couple years hiatus, definitely making some of them.

My main issue seems to be getting used to smooth shifting and gear selection especially into corners and closely spaced s curves. Probably stemming from getting used to the new bike in general after coming off quirky vintage hondas.

I agree with the advice of being light on the rear brake in the curves. Braking technique is another thing I keep working on.

One thing I do, and it may be a bit weird/anal retentive, is I keep a ride journal of sorts. In this journal I jot down quick notes about what I think I did wrong and what the conditions were at the time of the error so I can work on it next time. I also jot down what I feel I did right and when I was the smoothest so I can do my best to duplicate those desirable results.

Happy Riding,

Shaun

I don't know how old you are but I am 58 and just recently purchased my 2009 GSX650f. I have always riden cruiser style bikes and it has been quite an adjustment for me. I have made all of the mistakes you speak off and others, such as actually taking a tight slow turn into a parking space and just never putting my feet down. Went daown pretty hard and learned a new respect for my machine. At some point it will be second nature to me to drive this bike. Until then I have to consciously think of every move I make.

Steve from Upstate NY.

Hi Steve,

I'm 45, 6ft, 85kg/190lb (not enough muscle, too much beer gut )... And very sorry to hear about your drop. Bloody trial and error is a pain in the proverbial.

Similar story my end the other week, but happy ending - just! After replacing the front boot for road-worthy, I wheeled the bike out onto the damp, down-sloping driveway (didn't want to warm the engine in the tyre-man's shop - being thoughtful, I thought ). So I straddle the bike, feet splayed forward to resist the roll (bike's in neutral), putting on gloves and helmet.

Of course, there's not a lot of grip on the sole of a motorcycle boot! In a split second, before I can even grab the handlebars, there's 200+kg falling right as the foot slips and it was just sheer luck that the same foot re-established some purchase on the damp concrete. Needless to say, with color drained from face, I straightened up and rolled the bike down to level ground.

Lesson learned.

Regards, Matt

Every now and again, I lean the bike as far as I dare to feel the dead weight. Kind of reminds me to not take the easy-going nature of this beautiful machine for granted. Cheers.

Matt ,a good tip is never leave the bike in neutral ,I always leave it in gear ,when i'm stoped at lights or parking at up for the night on the side stand.
The only time my bike is in neutral is when I'm spinning the wheel to lube the chain.