Big or small?

[MesquiteDave]

I'm looking for alittle professional advice. I bought my R which was my first bike, last year just before I hurt my back and had to park it in the garage for a year. well here we are a year latter 2 surgeries and theropy, the wife thoughs down the ultamatium of ride it or sell it so, I went to the driver course and got hooked all over again. though the class uses these little 250cc bikes and driving the R is like driving a mack truck by comparsion.

So my question is this, should I trade the R in for a lighter bike and use it to build up my riding experiance? or keep the R and try and learn on it?

Thanks up front for the advice and suggestions.

[ErikU]

Personally, I think you should ride a bike you are comfortable with and will have fun with,.. that is the point after all!

You may find that you transition to the R fairly quickly and are comfortable, but if not, you should find something that fits you better.

Good luck and have fun!

-Erik

[GJBushman]

Keep the Roadster. Ride it and keep riding it.

[Dauntless]

How tall are you? The R feels big because those training bikes are really small. Keep the R if it fits you and let yourself get used to it again.

[Beemeridian]

685

[MesquiteDave]

Ask your physical therapist how much angular stress your spine can safely take and if riding could cause any permanent problems. Go from there.

Well as far as my back goes, I'm back to being a upright human again. I've healed up pretty well so I can do pretty much anything I want to again.

[NorseMan9]

The other thing I'd add is to stay safe above all! If riding the R feels above your ability to ride well, don't keep it around.

One thing you could do depending on what's available is to take the rider course again but do t on the R.

In Massachusetts we have advanced riding courses where we do exactly what the beginner guys do but on our own bikes. Pretty different experience particularly at slow speeds.

Good luck!

[Kevin]

As a physical therapist and someone with a bad back myself, I would vote for keeping the R, or at least getting something with a similar riding position. The uprightness that the seating position allows is better than the cruiser positions. In fact, I feel better sitting on my R than anywhere else. Of course, everyone's backs and back injuries are different...

As far as ease of use, I would agree that you should feel safe on whatever you ride. I think that the positioning mentioned above also allows for greater control as compared to other bikes I've ridden. I am about 5'6", and the only time I feel awkward controling the R is when I'm backing it out of my 1+ car garage into an upsloping driveway. Once I get the tires rolling, however, it handles perfectly. My suggestion, if you can swing it, is to keep the R and get a cheapie 250-500 cc bike to practice on until you get more comfortable with riding. You will probably only need to ride that for a few months and then can sell it for close to what you pay for it. The R is a great bike and is well worth hanging onto if you can. IMHO.

[MesquiteDave]

I think I've decided to keep the R, went for a ride sunday on a twisty road though the woods right in front of my house. the R handled great though the turns. Honestly between the road and the gorgous morning and the honeysuckles in the air it was just about a perfect ride.

Still alittle uncomphy at slow speeds, like going into drive ways but I suspect that will get better.

Thanks for your input and suggestions.

[priapismic]

I think I've decided to keep the R, went for a ride sunday on a twisty road though the woods right in front of my house.

Where'd you find a "twisty road with woods" in Mesquite, Texas?

[popgazer]

Still alittle uncomphy at slow speeds, like going into drive ways but I suspect that will get better.

The R is really nimble and easy to handle at slow speeds. I had my own doubts about that because I had felt it to be pretty heavy. The answer is (parking lot) practice of slow speed maneuvres.
Within one hour I figured out my mistakes and corrected them. This bike needs to be handled differently from a small bike.
For example, one of my mistakes was that I counted on putting my foot on the ground to be part of the stopping process. Once I started thinking that I should come to a full stop and have the bike still stay upright and seem to stay that way forever (or at least a couple of seconds), then the bike started to feel like a bicycle.
Similarly, when making slow speed tight turns, the bike feels very light when I stay on top of it using my weight to balance it, and tightly keeping my knees against the tank instead of sticking out my leg in anticipation of catching my self.
I have learned the following from a course instructor: on a bike you always end up doing what you think you may be doing. It is true at any speed (I think). So, I just focus on what I want to be doing and everything goes well.

[MesquiteDave]

I think I've decided to keep the R, went for a ride sunday on a twisty road though the woods right in front of my house.

Where'd you find a "twisty road with woods" in Mesquite, Texas?

Lawson road between i20 and i80. nice little road plenty of twists and hills . couple of those blind corners with trees (though there are a couple of those crosses right there on the side of the road ) and a good mile long stright away with no intersections . so get all your fun in one road.

[MesquiteDave]

I was wondering one thing. I have about a 30 min ride into work on the highway. and I'll tell you after about 15 or 20 mins my right hand is going numb holding the throttle.

Is there a way of loosing the tension of the throttle spring or something else I can use for those highway drives.

[houndog]

Hey Dave,
PM me and we can go on a ride. I live in Wills Point. We could go down to Edom for breakfast one morning. I can show you some Twisy Hilly fun roads.

I have a ThrottleMeister. It uses tension to hold the throttle in one spot. It can help, but I don't use it on trips that are less than an hour. When I first got my Rock, my wrists hurt, but over the past 10k miles I have gotten used to it. I guess I must have built up some muscles other than the ones attached to my jaws.

Tommy