SuzukiSavage.com - Freeway Freakout/Practice...

cursal

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Eugene, OR
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Re: Freeway Freakout/Practice...
Reply #15 - 07/21/10 at 16:50:37

Well said Justin.

My venture on my Savage started very similar.

You have to ride your ride. Practice should be fun, exciting, passionate and ready for adventure.

I set out for the first month daily with learning one skill set really well and doing all the other I was taught best I could.

Just getting out of town was 4 miles of lights and stop signs. Then the back-roads for as long as I wanted 2 lanes 45mph with long stretches of straight aways. (always mindful of dear and tractors that may jump or pull out). Alway full of nerves by the time I got out of town, but then it was fun enjoying practice.

Yeah I was slow going down the steep long twisties, so what. Pull over if the car behind is getting antsy. Your ride will be better without that pressure.

First time out on the super-slab I only made it 4 or 5 exits myself.
Since I've been riding pretty much daily for a year in all weather conditions here in Oregon (Rain, lots of Rain) My skills have grown and I'm learning how to work on the bike more and more.

This is a great forum to come and share your stories, concerns, bike issues, buy custom made parts, sell parts, mod your bike, and really learn how surprisingly wonderful the savage (s40) machine is.

Wink

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1998 Savage, 18,700 Miles, Wind Shield, Tach, K&N Airbox Filter, Leather Bags, CYCLE-TRON II Battery, verslavy cam adjuster, Kevlar F Pads Black.
Professional Web Developer: www.OregonPublishing.com

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jsarsfield

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Re: Freeway Freakout/Practice...
Reply #16 - 07/21/10 at 18:37:24

onelunger wrote on 07/21/10 at 04:45:47:

Bikes are almost telepathicly linked to the rider it seems. If you are tense often times the bike will seem skittish and unstable where if you're relaxed, it will be also. My first advice would be to relax. Relax your arms and the death grip you most likely had on the bars. Unclinch the posterior and relax your leg muscles. I think this will help a ton w/ the way the bike feels. Rutted up roads will make the bike wander but don't let that get to you.

Next, find a better road to practice on. A good 2 lane road outside of town would be a MUCH better place to get accustomed to high speed riding. If you live right in the middle of town and it takes a while to get out, make a day ride of it. Get w/ a riding friend and head out of town. Stop at a "Ma and Pa" diner for lunch and head back. Not only is it good practice, these kinds of rides can be a HUGE stress reliever and are great fun.

Just keep practicing and stay at it. Eventually it'll become 2nd nature and then you can REALLY enjoy the ride w/o the stress of the "learning curve".

Exactly what he said .... A bike is like dealing with a dog they can sense your fear and tension. Relax your grip and let the gyroscopic effect work the bike wants to remain upright.

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kimchris1

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Belfair, Washington
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Re: Freeway Freakout/Practice...
Reply #17 - 07/21/10 at 20:17:40

I had no problems with the freeway. In fact I had to ride my bike home 70 miles and all but 9 was freeway. Of course I had my Rebel for 2 years and rode the freeways with it so I was already broken in on freeways.
I agree with the information to ride your own ride. Ride when you feel rested and don't let anyone push you to go beyond your comfort zone. You will know when your ready to go to the next level.
And if you decide to never ride the freeways, so what? You don't have to ride the freeways to prove you can ride the bike.
Keep eyes open and watch the 4 way intersections. Kim

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WD

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Rosemark TN
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Re: Freeway Freakout/Practice...
Reply #18 - 07/22/10 at 05:52:42

I bought my Savage on a Monday. That next Saturday, Lisa and I rode it two up from our home in Long Beach MS to Baton Rouge for an SCA event. Interstate 10 the whole way except for about 10 miles. No windshield, no face shield, inadequate gloves, light jacket. Ya know, it gets awfully cold in south Louisiana on an early February night...

I'm not fond of the slab, even in my Peterbilt (which died again yesterday). Too many idiots.

Do S40s ship with the same piece of junk IRC tires that Savages shipped with? If so, wear them out on the backroads and stay off the slab until you get a higher end tire. That won't be as inclined to hook a miniature rut and try to follow where it leads. On a slow backroad, no big deal, at 85mph on the slab... Even a set of Kenda Kruz or similar is better, and they are cheap.

Keep a light grip, relax your legs and just have fun with it. You'll get to where you can ride the slab, or you won't, no biggie. And group rides aren't all they are touted to be anyway. Once you've seen a few idiots hot dogging on $40K "customs" run a few other bikes off the road it gets old.

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On 2 wheels since 7/87

Black and Chrome 2003 1950s style custom

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mornhm - FSO

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Re: Freeway Freakout/Practice...
Reply #19 - 07/22/10 at 08:39:17

Good advice from lots of people. Bottom line when you get thousands of miles behind you, you are still going to feel shoved around by the wind and turbulence. Even behind a full fairing on a liter sport tourer it happens. Difference is you don't pay attention to it anymore. Right up until you have to do something like go through a sweeper leaning the wrong way to stay on the road, or get something big blown in sideways between you and your fairing almost perpendicular to your direction of travel on the highway (means the windspeed is higher than your speed of travel). Then you remember about the wind again.

As I remember it on the Savage, there is a big change between 45 and 55 mph in perceived wind. I'm not sure how your friends advice to lean forward will work on a Savage. The MC is a cruiser, and I would not be comfortable leaning forward into the controls to get out of the wind on a cruiser. I'd just sit back and enjoy the ride (on something besides an expressway). I never really enjoyed the Savage on the expressway, too little power, too small of a gas tank, too upright riding position, etc., and can understand how it can be overwhelming.

Just continue to come up to speed - as it were - in your own time.

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Skid Mark

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Calgary, Alberta
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Re: Freeway Freakout/Practice...
Reply #20 - 07/22/10 at 08:43:07

Freeways were by far the most imtimidating for me as a new rider. First and foremost, you have to be able to do the freeway speeds, ie 60 mph or better, comfortably. Once you can flow with the traffic its a lot less stressful. When I first got my S40, I happily avoided the freeway. Too much happening close to me all at once. When I was more confident doing the freeway speed everything fell into place. You move along with traffic and cars no longer zip by you. Take you time on the secondary roads and build up the skills and conficence. Just give yourself a bit of time.

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2008 S40 , Windshield, Sigma Cycle Computer, after market backrest & luggage rack, Tkat Fork Brace, saddlebags, 12v power supply, Garmin GPS
'09 C50SE, '09 C90
Shoulda got into this years ago

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qp YaBB Newbies Offline Posts: 26 Salt Lake City Gender:	Re: Freeway Freakout/Practice... Reply #21 - 07/22/10 at 10:11:19 check out training, in your area it may be by the California Motorcyclist Safety Program: http://www.ca-msp.org/. I just took the Experienced Rider course in Utah, and I still learned new things after riding for 30 years.
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