First Highway Ride...:-(

[rcbanni]

Hello fellow riders,
I bought a new 07 FLHTCU last August. I LOVE the bike! I am 43 and have been riding off and on for 30 years but mostly off in the last 20 years. I owned a bunch of small Japanese two-strokes and a Yamaha 750 Virago when I was in the military in the 80's. It became manditory to take a M.S.F. sanctioned rider safety course in order to ride my bike on the base when I was in. The class was 3 days and tought me so much. We were taught by a former CHP. I used and honed those skills for a long time,but have not had to use them much at all in the last 20 years since I got out. Now I own this VERY large bike which I seem to handle well for myself and getting better every ride. But I have noticed a bit about myself is that I have become a nervous rider. The roads are NOT what they were 20 years ago. People are so distracted,in so much of a rush and just completely brain dead behind the wheel these days that the roads have become a dangerous place for a bike.
Well folks to add insult to injury,I am engaged and my fiance likes to ride too. We have ridden a few times with her on the back and I notice I am even more nervous with her on that I do not enjoy the ride like I should. Every shift of her weight,the wind buffetting and all the other distractions of the road have me a nervous wreck. She says I am doing fine,but if she only really knew the half of it. So yesterday we decided to go for a ride which involved the freeway. I entered the freeway progressively accelerating and made it to my lane I wanted. Here in Ca. it is always rush hour and there is usually a lot of traffic.
I found myself pretty much white knuckled and nervous. EVERYTHING was making me nervous...the grooves in the road,the wavey pavement at construction areas,wind buffetting,the higher speeds,etc. I have to ask myself...what is wrong with me and why am I like this? Yes I am worried about my precious cargo sitting behind me,but what is the issue? Granted,I have not riden too many passengers over the years but I have began to wonder if that is not for me. In my mind....hogwash! I CAN & WILL overcome this! But my question is...how?
I am drawing on this forum for it's vast reach of experience and wisdom for help. What should I do to cork this genie back in the bottle? I have considered doing the rider course again as a refresher and even the experienced course as well. Is this the answer to one's self confidence and fears? It NEVER hurts to take a refresher anyway. I know that practice is key as well and I would rather start small and work my way back up before jumping back in the deep end of the pool as I did yesterday. My fiance is now a bit hesitant knowing I am NOT relaxed and we are cancelling a benefit run we were going to go on because of it. I do better on my own,but it is a tough pill to swallow at first with a passenger.
I am asking for guidance and wisdom on this. I am confident I am NOT alone and this can be easily overcome.

[jerry34208]

You are wise to listen to your conscience. Take a class, get some coaching and get out and ride, a lot. Tame the genie but be glad it's there. Some would call that genie "self preservation".

[Harley50glide]

Take a few rides early morning with less traffic build up your convidence,that bigger bike will take getting use to but you will love once you get some miles under you, LA ,CHICAGO both traffic nightmares but i drive out of city not inbound with all the morons if i could help it!!Practice makes perfect just chill out and relax .

[Dyna_Willie]

ride, ride, and ride.... Nothing can replace time in the saddle. When you ride every day you become one with your bike and you will feel comfortable on any surface, anywhere... With that being said; Never throw caution to the wind, I ride offensively, and defensively at all times, it is a good way to stay alive with all the idiots that could care less about us out on the road.

[Fourcats]

Best advice...Get up early, go and get back before it {traffic} gets bad. Practice doing figure 8s in a parking lot, solo and two up. Watch out for the oil spots.
If your passenger is not comfortable with you, going to an "event" is not the wise thing to do. A bad passenger is as bad as a bad rider.
Take a "on track school" like the Superbike school at Willow Springs, just for fun.
...make a commitment to yourself to be a EXCELLENT rider.

Traffic IS bad and getting worse ALL the time.

[Bluzmn59]

I would echo the others, but also add that you should take the ERC. You do it with your own bike so you can get some good practice and coaching on that big old Ultra and learn how to throw her around. You will be amazed at how nimble she really is.

Keep at it and remember, a little fear is not necessarily a bad thing.

[03GLIDE_]

Good advice here. It sounds to me like you need more time out on the road ALONE first. if you are that nervous you should not have a passenger with you. I know how it is down here in So Cal I ride everyday in this traffic. Get some miles on your bike out away from traffic. Like what was posted above the early morning hours on the weekend are the best.
Another thought I had was the stock tires are very twitchy on these grooved freeways. Im sure that is adding to your problems. Try relaxing your grip on the bars and you will feel much better.

[claydbal]

this is sure to get negative comments, but im thinking of your safty. consider trailering your bike to america (yep, there are millions of acres without californians). then ride the rural roads till you are compfortable. next, let your pasenger enjoy the scenery and smell the honeysuckles. do this till you are comfortable. now ride solo in that foreign country called california till you are comfortable. next--add passenger. you see the keywords here>rural and comfortable.


good luck, stay safe, and enjoy stres free riding!

there is a reason they say stress kills!

[Almost There]

Rcbanni ....

You bring back lot of memories .... so let me tell my story.

By the way, my first bike was a 68 BSA when I was 16, so I’m not a newbie.

My experience is the same, I went from an 84 1100 Honda Shadow (Wantabe Harley) to a brand new 99 Ultra. The first year I rode the Ultra, all I could think of was how much BIGGER this bike was and it scared me. The wind buffs scared the c*rap out of me and I was tensed up all the time. If I dropped the Honda, I could always grab it by the handle bars and just lift it up ... try doing that with the Ultra. You try to lift it, give a big grunt and nothing happens. That was my first lesson, don’t drop the bike. Which may sound easy, but if you ride, the first thing you need to learn is how to pick up the bike, because it’s going to happen. I’ve been lucky in that every time I’ve dropped it, it was usually in a parking lot (oil spill) or driveway (Gravel).

Well, after that first year I was determined to beat this “scary feeling” so I spent a lot of hours re-learning how to ride and this is what you have to concentrate on. Practice, practice, practice ... by yourself ... until you feel comfortable with the bike. As mentioned in previous posts, take a rider course, practice in parking lots and do whatever. I never took the course because I figured I was an experienced rider, biggest mistake I made, it was a totally different riding experience and I should have taken the course.

So what I did was practice a lot and it helped. That was 9 years ago and even to this day, my wife understands that every spring I need to ride by myself for at least a month to re-learn the skills that have been dormant for 5 months ( winter s*cks).

Riding 2 up is totally different and if anybody thinks otherwise, they’re an idiot. Your whole ratio is compromised. Going down the road at 60 or 70 MPH is easy and anybody can do that. It’s the slow manoeuvres that scare you. Going around parking lots, stopping on a hill, riding on gravel, or hitting swirly pavement just before they pave it.

Well, I’ve put on 90,000 miles on that Ultra since then and I can honestly say that nothing bothers me anymore. I’ve ridden through gravel in some of most scenic territory in the Yukon and North West Territories, and I totally enjoyed it. I’ve ridden through some of the worst wind storms in Wyoming and Southern Alberta, and although it bothered me, I wasn’t scared.

So take it from an old timer .... take the time to practice, and learn to enjoy the ride. That’s what the Ultra was designed for. By the way, I just bought an 08 Ultra, so I’m looking forward to our trip this summer .... four months, June to September.

Hope this helps your conscience.

[kruppasing]

definitely take both the BRC and ERC--the first will remind you of all the safety and riding lessons you may have forgotten, and the second will offer you the same instruction on your bike--huge difference. then practice the slow speed techniques and braking in an empty parking lot as much as you can.

riding on a heavily congested highway is no picnic (i ride in and around boston, and ask anyone who knows about route 128 or I495), and, while i am a completely confident and secure rider, i never relax. i'm always watching all four directions, keep my distance, and check the rode surface several hundred feet ahead of me at all times. i will constantly change my position with my lane to maintain that visibility, or change lanes if need be. i was always taught to look at the car ahead of the car in front of me so i can react to him. and if i'm behind a truck or other vehicle that prevents this, i move--it's my one comfort factor that i insist on.

[Coolmaker]

Wow, tons of good advice here. And especially getting out of the bad traffic, onto back roads so you can get the feel of the bike. As you become comfortable with the bike those fears will subside. Also, the video link, I am posting for you is great... This guy is good and anyone can learn allot from him..

http://www.ridelikeapro.com/

[holobach]

RC
I was in the same boat a bit back just back to riding after a looooooooong time off. Started out with a Dyna and was SCARED to death of the highway here in Atlanta. As I kept riding I would venture on the highway for a couple of exits then get off and do sideroads as I built up confidence. As the confidence went up the number of exits went up also within in 6 months rode that Dyna to Orlando from Atlanta and back in the rain, through the construction, through downtown Atlanta at rush hour.

Now with my Hertiage life on the highway is just as nice as the side roads. In fact will be riding this weekend to Tampa to take the ride like a pro class which I think is available in CA also now.

I think riding is like life you never stop learning.

So go slow keep the faith and work your way back you can do it if I can.

[idahoguy]

When I got my Ultra Glide Classic last summer I also got the DVD "Ride Like a Pro". It is produced by a member of the Florida Highway Patrol. They move those big bikes around like they were really small. It takes about 3 hours to get the technique down and is real easy to practice at a school parking lot. As most things practice helps, but there are some real pointers here and a different approach to riding he big bikes. After weaving through the cones and scraping the boards at each turn it builds your confidence and your skill level up. The rest of the suggestions are good, but I found the "Ride Like a Pro" DVD helped me the most.

[rcbanni]

Thank you all for the priceless advise! I am going to enroll in the rider course for a brush-up and the experienced rider course as well. I have ordered the "Ride Like A Pro" dvd's and I have been riding EVERY day. Just watching some of the previews on the website,I have seen and remembered a lot of stuff I have forgotten. Just in my daily commuting which is inner city driving,my comfort level has increased and my confidence as well. I am not too nervous at all...yet cautious of the idiots I have to share the road with. Again,thank you and I knew I was not alone.

[Bluzmn59]

I think as a first time rider, or as someone who has not ridden in years, you can draw an analogy with a quarterback. When he leaves HS for college, the game is fast with bodies flying all over the place. It takes some time and experience for it to all slow down for him. The same thing happens when he makes the move to the NFL. The same thing happens for motorcyclists and riding in SoCal, you are starting at the highest level. Take it slow, be careful, follow up on the good advice you have received, and things will slow down for you.