Was I really that slow ?

Yep, I ride like a big girls blouse right at the moment Went for a ride along the B656 Baldock to Buntingford road, I know it really well from playing on it with my car but today on the bike I was slower than a Jeep 4x4 ! How bad is that ! He was in front and I couldn’t catch him ! It was the 5.7 litre version but still, it’s a f*7%^$g Jeep for pete’s sake.

It’s not that bad, I guess I am starting to get the hang of corners and can take them quicker than I used to be able to and don’t panic half way round and come off the throttle which the bike didn’t seem to like very much

Might need to get a new rear tyre, it’s a bit square and I was wondering if this would make the rear end feel a bit loose when you start going into a corner, when you first start to tip it in ? It feels almost like the rear end is taking a small step out at the start of a corner, it’s fine afterwards but doesn’t feel quite right. Would that be caused by the tyre ?

Any suggestions or helpful hints ?

Do a Bikesafe mate http://www.bikesafe.co.uk/ and don’t try and go too quick too soon…You’ll come off and hurt yourself.

Better to be raging it round the lanes 5 years from now, than dead tomorrow.

Trade your C90 for something a bit bigger…?

Seriously, I’m willing to bet your road positioning needs some work.

Hiya. Don’t worry about another road users mate, go at your own pace, you’ll naturally gain confidence and speed. Maybe go out with some other bikes and follow their lines.

New tyres are great too, they’ll make you glide smoothly in and out of turns and won’t make you feel loose, although it will feel quite different for a good few miles but definately in a positive way. You don’t want to be sticking new ones on though if theres still a good bit of tread on the others because of the expense though. Motorways and long straight roads are kilers for squaring off your tyres, so where possible, leave a little earlier and take the long and winding road as you’ll also have more fun, get more practice and you’ll find them pesky jeeps will just be another pesky obstacle for you to overtake.

Mate, whay others have said, take your time it will come to you.

If your rear tyre is worn in the center then the bike will feel strange, you might notice it has a habit of tramlining imperfections in the road.

when tipping into corners think what shape the tyre is, it will be moving from a big section of rubber on the road, to a to a rounded profile with a odd profile in between these two sections. This will make you have to apply more effort to start the turn, once the tyre has moved off the large flat spot you will find that you are applyinjg too much effore and the bike will feel like its suddenly falling into the turn.

does that make sense, try to visulise the tyre profile, and it will become clear.

steve, the best road around here is the a507 baldock to buntingford!
you know the B roads but, being new to riding, the surface and size of the b roads wont be helping, neither will hedge rows and blind bends.

i recomend the a507, and those who came out last sunday can vouch for it.

just take your time on it, dont try and go fast, try and go smooth and stay relaxed,
see ya tonight.

Thanks, trying to be smooth and stay relaxed seems to help a lot. The 507 is a great road, quite open so can see round corners easily.

Cheers