[Tfug] I seem to have picked up a "motosickle Padawan" :)

[Jim March]

Matt is progressing nicely on two wheels.  We did about three hours on
Saturday of "parking lot work", getting him smooth on the clutch, working on
balance and steering, braking and the like.  The drill was, I'd drive my
bike to his place, leave it there, drive his bike to a local high school
with him following in his car :).  His first time in that lot (read: on his
bike at ALL) involved rolling it downhill, engine off, to sort out how
steering and braking feel are all about without a motor involved yet.

After a couple more hours of parking lot practice today he was a lot
smoother on the gearbox.  He was also starting to get the counter-steering
feel down pat.  So we headed back to his place, grabbed my bike and he did
his first few miles on actual streets today.  Doing pretty good.

His big stumbling block was a lack of experience with shifter and clutch.
On the positive side he's got previous experience in cars for enough years
to know how traffic flows, which is a key survival trait for two wheels.
The bike he ended up with is helping too, a Suzuki GS500 in good shape.
It's stable, corners well and the power output is mild...not just peak power
being low (two valves per cylinder, air cooled, two cylinder) but the power
it does have hits in a very controllable, smooth fashion.  No "spikes" in
acceleration as the RPMs rise to a certain point.

Upshot: I think he's gonna make it as a biker :).

We should BOTH be at the next Charlie's on two wheels - and that means each
on our own.

Jim
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