Yeah I know to most It seems overkill,,,
BUT when I'm alone I ride hard,,very Hard,,
Drag racing means nothing to me,,quarter miles times,,Pfft, money buys horsepower.

I'm a corner junkie,,Roadsters,,32 degrees lean angle both sides,,,
I use It all.
I also ride In traffic,,big city.
Seen so many riders crash or look like a fool because they don't know
to wring out the brakes for all their worth.
I have seen riders ride right off the road because they cannot adjust
speed when deep Into a corner.
Seen em "Lay It down" when a proper stop would have worked.

Can you Howl BOTH tires without locking them up ??
Can you make em Howl Like crazy all the way to a stop ??

The Only thing we have Is our skills to keep Us alive,,,,

So,,,,
I do braking drills every time I leave the house.
I ride a Sportster like a Sport bike,,,
Imagine that !

 

Enjoy your new ride! The sporty is more fun than anything else out there (imo) You will learn how to really ride and there's no turning back! Congrats.

 

Yes, practice practice practice the braking.
I love locking up the back wheel and getting the bike sideways a bit.
Some people think its death to lock up the back, I do it for fun, great practice.
You learn stuff like that dirt riding, power sliding around turns and locking the back up, slide sideways into a turn, then gas it out.

Rough on tires on the street though...


Many new riders crash because they cant or do not know how to lean, or they run into something because they do not learn how to get every last bit out of both brakes, wet or dry.

Enjoy the new bike, a great choice except for the small gas tank.

Good luck with it.
Wear the gear.

 

all good lessons on brakes
but how about that manhole cover he is going to hit?
NEVER look at it,LOOK AHEAD or you will sure as **** hit it, same as a pot hole boys.

 

congrats on the new bike! I will never forget the day my first bike arrived, it was a 97 sportster 1200 custom. Back in those days you didnt just waltz into your local shop and buy your bike, you had to order it and wait. In my case it was a long 6 months. Be safe and enjoy it and be prepared that this hobby can get really expensive so take your time with everything about it!

 

Nice looking bike. Enjoy the ride.

 

CONGRATULATIONS on your new ride - it looks sweeeeet!!!

 

Awesome!

 

Congrats! Enjoy your ride. Go at your comfort zone and not anyone elses comfort zone. be safe and let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks everyone, the bike is wonderful. I've been practicing every chance I get on the back roads around my house. I've been taking her to work too, I work about 11 miles from my house so its good practice with some traffic without too much distance. I'm working on getting the bike cleaned up really nice now, the previous owner let it get some water spots on some of the chrome and some bad brake dust ( i guess) around the wheels.

For my first bike I couldn't have asked for a more perfect bike. I'm still riding her very slowly because I want to make sure I can handle it, but I'm slowly getting more confidence. I think the fastest I've had her is up to about 55mph. Very slow on turns for now. I've always been a very cautious person and riding the bike is no different. I'm loving the gas mileage too ! lol. Not sure how many mpg I'm getting yet, I'm still calculating on that, but so far its great.

The biggest problems I'm having right now is that I think I'm still nervous on the bike and often find myself squeezing the crap out of the hand-grips. I'm also worried that if I ever have to stop on a hill I'll roll backwards or that if I have to quick stop I'll lock up the brakes and get hurt. Any advice on these things?