Daydreaming presents issues

Rubber side downFor as long as I can remember I have always had a huge infatuation with motorcycles. I loved everything about, the noise, the looks, and most importantly, the speed. i knew that once I had a sport-bike nothing else on the road could touch me. Daydreaming of this would give me a sort of feeling of invincibility, but there was one major problem that had cast it’s shadow over my dreamy disposition: I did not even have a motorcycle yet. When I turned seventeen I put the threw down the down payment for what was to be my first motorcycle. Words could not express the feelings of excitement, nervousness and anticipation I had at that moment in time. Although I was just beginning to ride, I knew that it would take intense dedication and perseverance to attain the and aspirations that I had for the sport., and I would need help from others as well as my own self will to reach these goals.

Twisties

English: 2010 Honda CBR600RR at the 2009 Seattle I...

2006 Honda CBR600RR Unit Pro-Link swingarm. Camera...

Most people when informed of my prospect of bike ownership had the same stereotypical advice that they would readily dish out to any young person who wants a fast street bike. “ You’ll kill yourself” was the most common response, while few others simply stated, “ shiny side up”, which basically means, don’t crash. Having received all this new knowledge I decided it was time I take the plunge into financial insecurity and buy the bike.

It was unbelievable, the feeling I had when I sat down on my brand new Honda cbr600rr for the first time. The noise of the engine was intoxicating as I brought the revs up and down with a simple twist of the wrist. Being completely new to the sport of riding and having only ridden the much smaller and far less powerful bikes provided in the motorcycle safety classes, I knew that things could go wrong and quick if I was not careful in starting out with bike. I clicked the shifter into the first position and slowly let out the clutch as I brought up the revs, I started moving slowly when all of the sudden: silence. I had stalled the bike. This pattern continued as I cautiously rode around the dealership parking lot trying to get a feel for the way the bike turned and accelerated. From there came the daunting task of riding it home, which was in a word: astonishing. Never in my life had I been in or on something that could accelerate so quickly. I watched in disbelieve as the speeds grew exponentially every time I grabbed the throttle. It was at this point that I became hooked and I knew that I wanted to learn every possible thing I could on how to became a better rider.

My father had ridden motorcycles all his life and decided to buy another new bike so that he could instruct and ride with me. Saturday mornings became our ride time where we would go for four or more hours and hundreds of miles traversing all the best roads and seeing the sites that nature had to offer. I loved the sensation and freedom that the bike offered me and the power I commanded with my right hand.

Since my dad had done some amateur racing in the past I started to have an increasingly hard time trying to keep up with him on some of the windier roads. I knew that to be that fast I needed dedication and persistence if I ever wanted to be better. So, from then on out I took to asking every possible question about different techniques and strategies doing this type of corner or what to do in this situation to my father. He offered me all of advice he could but only real-world experience would hone my skills further. Months went by and each time I rode I developed a new sense of confidence and a further understanding of how to function in certain panic situations.

Not being able to turn in as quickly as some riders, or not knowing certain braking techniques because incredibly irritating to me as I couldn’t stand being worse than someone else. I believe this is what generally pushed me to further excel and exceed the limitations I had somehow put on myself and my riding. I picked up a copy of Total Control after reading about it online. It had information on all the aspects of high performance sport riding and gave me so much more usable knowledge. Reading this book has honestly transformed the kind of rider that I am now as I was able to use and instill in me so many of the techniques stressed in the different chapters. One section that seemed to help me the most and gave me the most confidence was a portion on fear. Fear was the one thing that was keeping me from being the best I could be. It crippled me in situations and learning how to manage my fear and convert it into the necessary procedure to avoid an accident has made all the difference.

2007 Honda CBR600RR on display at the 2006 Interna...

2006 Honda CBR600RR in red/black. Camera used was ...