Hey friends,
I finally plucked up the courage and started riding out on the streets! Today was day 3. While it has been a blast so far, I've also made some mistakes, one which could have resulted in a crash.
The voyage began by cruising around rural back roads. I was surprised at how easily I could corner..the ninja 250r erases hesitancy almost completely. No big problems, except faltering slightly at a green light to start moving, and upshifting instead of downshifting when slowing for a car. Had to pull off to the side of the road to kick back down to 1st gear. Embarrassing.
Second day was smooth. I didn't make any mistakes, but I need to learn to control my throttle better. Shifting was quite jerky..cagers must literally see my body bob back and forth while my bike tries to buck me off in shame. Sorry Ninja, I will work on that!
This morning I went to drop a movie off at the Redbox kiosk. No major issues...until I tried to pull out onto a busier street. Was making a right turn at a green, with a lady in an SUV across the road trying to make a left (2 lane road). I started my turn slowly and went to switch from right lane to left only to do a head check, finding the SUV already in the next lane next to the tail of my bike. I panicked, yanked the throttle down and got in front of her. POTENTIAL CRASH. If she had also sped up, and didn't see me switching into her lane, she would have ran me over. Very very bad. I came back and reflected about what happened.
Ways to avoid that? Learn to start from a stop quickly to get up to traffic speeds. Or since she initially hesitated to see what I did, I should have turned directly into the left lane to eliminate the merging situation altogether. Either way, this is something I will remember from now on. Today I got lucky, next time...well there really shouldn't be a next time.
Have fun, and ride safely friends!
- Pandabear
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