Help for a Nervous Rider

He openly admits that he lacks confidence and is insecure about his riding skills and abilities.
The best thing the OP can do is council him out of the pastime before someone gets hurt.
As previously stated by someone else, and I paraphrase: the harsh reality is that motorcycling is not for everybody.

Anyway. Thats my $.02

Joe

PGlaves said:

Selling a Road King to a person as his first bike ought to be a crime.

Click to expand...

I kinda have that feeling about drivers education using sub-compact cars.
OM

r0ckrat said:

I've heard several... including "The best upgrade money can buy is to tighten the loose nut between the steering and the seat."

To those thinking that the guy should just quit:
1) Right now he's not a danger. Slow and cautious is not dangerous, just not fun for most of us.
2) If he actually enjoys cruising around on two wheels, all he needs is education to become more comfortable.
3) If possible (to the OP), see if you can rent or borrow something lighter and easier to ride with better brakes. I've ridden the Road King, and it is indeed heavy and has some of the worst brakes for a bike that massive. If he gets a chance to ride something with real performance for a while and understand the mechanics of riding a little better, then he might be more comfortable. The first time I had to get on a freeway with a road king I was scared too - of not being able to stop the thing.

Click to expand...

Thank you r0ckrat - I've been listening to him and trying to get him to consider alternatives to his present bike. Unfortunately he's bought into the whole H-D thing...jacket, rain jacket, half-helmet, etc. I think a piece of it is "real men ride Harleys." I do think a few miles on a light, competent road bike would be a revelation to him.

ExGMan said:

Thank you r0ckrat - I've been listening to him and trying to get him to consider alternatives to his present bike. Unfortunately he's bought into the whole H-D thing...jacket, rain jacket, half-helmet, etc. I think a piece of it is "real men ride Harleys." I do think a few miles on a light, competent road bike would be a revelation to him.

Click to expand...

Too bad they don't still make Buells. Those were some fun bikes, great handling, great brakes, etc. AND ... they were sold at Harley market places.

ExGMan said:

I think the Road King is his first motorcycle.

Click to expand...

Even after 49-yrs of riding, I would be nervous piloting a barge the size of a Road King.

I suggest helping him spend money on a second bike for local rides. A V-Strom, perhaps.

I know a woman, rides a HD SofTail. She has ridden 49 of the 50 states, Alaska and back, long trips every summer. Probably 200,000 miles in 15 years. She can't ride worth a damn. Twisty roads? She can't even do the speed limit. 45 MPH corner, she might do 30 MPH where most of us will do 60 MPH. Get her on a gravel parking lot and she just locks up. I rode her bike out of a parking lot and on to the pavement once because she couldn't do it. Her husband told me they took some mountain road that turned to gravel and they were too far in to turn around, not enough gas. She wouldn't ride on through. He rode her bike through, parked it and started walking back the 5-6 miles to pick up her and his Harley bagger. Luckily a car came along and gave him a ride. He was about ready to blow his top. He got pissed just telling me about it!

PoorUB said:

I know a woman, rides a HD SofTail. She has ridden 49 of the 50 states, Alaska and back, long trips every summer. Probably 200,000 miles in 15 years. She can't ride worth a damn. Twisty roads? She can't even do the speed limit. 45 MPH corner, she might do 30 MPH where most of us will do 60 MPH. Get her on a gravel parking lot and she just locks up. I rode her bike out of a parking lot and on to the pavement once because she couldn't do it. Her husband told me they took some mountain road that turned to gravel and they were too far in to turn around, not enough gas. She wouldn't ride on through. He rode her bike through, parked it and started walking back the 5-6 miles to pick up her and his Harley bagger. Luckily a car came along and gave him a ride. He was about ready to blow his top. He got pissed just telling me about it!

Click to expand...

I have ridden all 48 states and several Canadian provinces, several times on several different bikes, and I don't like gravel roads. My only get-offs--all minor--were on loose, deep gravel. Unlike the wife in the above anecdote, I manage to push through but at a reduced, very cautious pace. And when i get back on pavement, I am usually sweating and shaking. I can sympathize with the woman. I will go out of my way to avoid known gravel or dirt on a trip.

36654 said:

Even after 49-yrs of riding, I would be nervous piloting a barge the size of a Road King.

I suggest helping him spend money on a second bike for local rides. A V-Strom, perhaps.

Click to expand...

My first bike out of the service in 71 was a HD duo glide. Took the MC test on that big boy. When it came to the road test, the agent told me if I could ride it to the test site, I could ride it and no test was necessary.

Road Kings are THE bike in slow speed cone events nationwide. Plenty easy to manage a RK in tight places, let alone on the open roads. My guess once again is he is nervous on that bike, it's not the bike that's the problem, it's the person riding it

brownie0486 said:

My first bike out of the service in 71 was a HD duo glide. Took the MC test on that big boy. When it came to the road test, the agent told me if I could ride it to the test site, I could ride it and no test was necessary.

Road Kings are THE bike in slow speed cone events nationwide. Plenty easy to manage a RK in tight places, let alone on the open roads. My guess once again is he is nervous on that bike, it's not the bike that's the problem, it's the person riding it

Click to expand...

The BMW R1200RT is THE bike in “high” speed cone events nationwide... couldn’t help myself, you left yourself wide open.

rangerreece said:

The BMW R1200RT is THE bike in “high” speed cone events nationwide... couldn’t help myself, you left yourself wide open.

Click to expand...

In police competitions, of course it's a different bike used by motor officers than civilian cone events. In fact, the major players tell me the 99-06 RK's are the preferred bike as their wheel base is less than the newer models.

When I attend motor officers events, it's RT's for the most part. When i attend civilian events, it's the RK's that are the main bike used.

May they all keep the cones safe from harm.

All you need is the right bike for gravel, this one has no problem jamming down them at 80 mph


My 525 can go even faster no problem but the 640 as seen is super comfy for the long haul over whatever the road wants to throw at you.

royce said:

I have ridden all 48 states and several Canadian provinces, several times on several different bikes, and I don't like gravel roads. My only get-offs--all minor--were on loose, deep gravel. Unlike the wife in the above anecdote, I manage to push through but at a reduced, very cautious pace. And when i get back on pavement, I am usually sweating and shaking. I can sympathize with the woman. I will go out of my way to avoid known gravel or dirt on a trip.

Click to expand...

Wow! I thought it was weird with all the miles she rides.

For me, perhaps I am tolerant of gravel because of my dirt bike days. In you younger days I rode like I was bullet proof. I have been over 100 MPH on gravel, and actually enjoyed it. I don't ride off road bikes any longer, but every street bike I have owned has seen some gravel, even my Harley baggers. One night we left a country supper club, a few of us on Harleys. I took off first on my Limited and gave it enough throttle that it was fishtailing all over on the gravel road leaving the club. I stopped at the highway and waited for a couple cars and a riding buddy pulled up laughing and hollered to me that apparently gravel didn't bother me much. It doesn't. I don't mind open grating on bridges either, they make me laugh when the motorcycle squirms all over.

Speaking of bridges, I few of us rode across this one by Kinsey, MT.

https://gramho.com/media/2291480969935671759

I mentioned turning around and riding back and avoiding the 15 miles of gravel and everyone thought I was crazy, they would rather ride the gravel. The motorcycle tires would fall into the large corrugations in the sheet metal, then the front tire would climb out and fall into the adjacent corrugation and the rear might take a few feet fo follow, so the bike would be slightly crab walking for a bit. Plus all the banging and crashing noises from the sheet metal panels that were loose, and the broken out and patched spots. Also it was and old railroad bridge and the deck was still railroad ties so you could look down and see the river below.

I wanted to ride back across it and have my wife video the crossing while riding on back, she wouldn't!

I’d have just ridden the middle and avoided the metal bits.

Best,
DeVern

I generally don't mind the grating bridges much but the Victoria bridge in Montreal is a really long one. I was a little tense by the end of that one. I was surprised how stable my R1100S felt on the little bits of gravel I ran across on my little trip a few weeks ago.

brownie0486 said:

My first bike out of the service in 71 was a HD duo glide. Took the MC test on that big boy. When it came to the road test, the agent told me if I could ride it to the test site, I could ride it and no test was necessary.

Road Kings are THE bike in slow speed cone events nationwide. Plenty easy to manage a RK in tight places, let alone on the open roads. My guess once again is he is nervous on that bike, it's not the bike that's the problem, it's the person riding it

Click to expand...

I understand that was your experience. But, the whole premise of the MSF BRC is start the novice rider was a small bike that's manueverable (small wheelbase) and light so the student builds confidence.

skibum69 said:

I generally don't mind the grating bridges much but the Victoria bridge in Montreal is a really long one. I was a little tense by the end of that one. I was surprised how stable my R1100S felt on the little bits of gravel I ran across on my little trip a few weeks ago.

Click to expand...

I can't remember if it's the Mackinaw or 1000-Island Bridge with the grate floor. The grate induced wobble didn't bother me, but I had to remember to not look down or my fear of heights would kick in.

Nervous rider help

ExGMan said:

I have a friend with whom I ride occasionally. We wander around two-lane roads in our area. Some of these trips get to 150 miles round-trip. At times we run into some significant congestion and could speed up our trips a lot by just taking an interstate (slab) highway or something similar for a few miles around the congestion.

He has expressed strong nervousness about venturing out on such roads. I haven't been able to get him to talk about what bothers him. I'm wondering if anyone has encountered a similar attitude on the part of a rider, and what techniques might have worked to overcome the rider's nervousness.

TIA - John

Click to expand...

I had a friend that had similar concerns about the interstate. Eventually, we went and found a pretty desolate (comparably) section of the Indiana Toll Road and did a couple sections. He got some confidence and got over it. I believe it was the speed that was bothering him and getting used to the bike at those speeds.

Jerry

36654 said:

I understand that was your experience. But, the whole premise of the MSF BRC is start the novice rider was a small bike that's manueverable (small wheelbase) and light so the student builds confidence.

Click to expand...

I understand the premise, it isn't necessary for every rider however. The guy that's shy on his RK needs to learn how to ride, and if he were to take the MSF course on a smaller bike, he'd still be nervous once back on the big bike. What he needs is more time in the saddle and build some confidence.

Handling a monster heavy bike doesn't come from taking a small bike MSF course, it comes from riding the big boys and developing the confidence to throw the weight of the big bikes around.

If he did a day long slow speed cone course of instruction, he'd be far better ahead on the bike he's riding than taking an small bike MSF course IMO. The events/training is usually free [ two I'm aware of that I've taken advantage of were no charge ]. Yes, he'll drop the bike a few times, or more. Yes, he'll be frustrated at times, but he'll learn more about riding and taking control of the bike he's riding by actually using that bike he's riding.

No fear of heights, I just rappelled off of a 360' wind turbine yesterday but the weird neurotic image I get riding over grate bridges is falling off and having my fingers go through the grating and getting ripped off.

Here's my teammate on his way down. First drop working for a new company.