Newbie lacking confidence. Help please

I am a novice rider for the record. What I know about motorcycles I have learned from my dad who is a veteran rider. He taught me how to ride. I have been looking online for motorcycle riding tips and I came across this site you guys seem really knowledgable. My hope is to glean as much info off you guys as I can so I can become a better rider.

I consider myself a safe rider, I don't try to do anything flashy and I have thrice been accused of being a little "timid" while riding. I am trying to improve my skills and become a better more confident rider.

There are some areas of improvement I need hopefuly you all can give me some useful tips on helping me overcoming my weaknesses.

1.) Taking off. I take off from first gear very slowly LOL. This is especially noticable when at traffice lights and there are a lot of people behind me they tend to get a little impatient. Once I've taken off everything is fine I move into 2nd, 3rd, etc just fine. My dad says to just open up but I am scared the bike will run away from me LOL. Any tips on how to take off more quickly?

2.) Turning corners. I turn corners very slowly. I always bring the bike to a crawl in 1st gear then turn any corner. This is a pain as you can imagine. It is just turning corners that is a problem. When I'm going full speed I can bank around curves even sharp curves without any problem. But when it comes to making right or left turns I can't do it confidiently.

Like I said I am a new rider and I still lack confidence. Any tips would be appreciated.  

hey bro, first of all what kind of bike do you have?  provided that your not one of those guy who's starting out on a 1000 you shouldn't worry too much about the bike running away without you on it.  
Second, i feel that when it comes to motorcycles people learn at their own pace.  Which is exactly what you should continue to do.  Trust that the bike can take way more than you can dish out and you'll be fine.  Cornering is one of those things that you just kind of get used to with experiance.  But there is no need to rush anything your skills will improve soon enough.  Also you might want to pick up a book, Twist of the Wrist Volume 2 is a good read and it'll improve your riding in all aspects.  Read a book, and take your time is my advice.  

I'm not a guy I'm a girl just to clear that up. I just turned 22 in Nov. I have been riding for about 6 months. The bike I learned on was a Suzuki GS500. I had gotten used to that bike then my dad switched it for a Honda CBR1000RR recently. He said he needed something more powerful. So now I have to get used to that now.

I know this one is far more powerful and I am very wary about riding it. I am not going out on any major roads or highways on this bike until I really get the hang of it and gain more confidence.

What do you guys do when turning corners? I see guys turning corners with very little ease and I wonder why I can't do that LOL. I know to look forward and not at the bike which was a mistake I used to make but I still can't turn corners faster.

Thanks for your advice guys.  

Hi Smalltime.  I'm new in these parts myself, but welcome to the party.

If you don't mind the source, I'll offer some food for thought. I like your attitude (that's why you are reading this). Timid is good. It is less painful than bravado. But it is very difficult to learn a new skill, if you are apprehensive.

It sounds like you are unsure of things at very low speeds. Throttle/clutch coordination takes practice, lots of practice. I think some more parking lot practice is in order. Get out of traffic and into a place where you can prceed at a pace with which you are comfortable. Practice lots of starts and slow turns.

That beening said, please consider taking an MSF beginning course. I'm sure your father is a good rider and a loving teacher, but a thorough understanding of the basics is best obtained at the MSF. You won't be sorry.  

I can give you 3 pieces of advice that will help the first is take a motorcycle safety course because it will give you a good foundation.  Even as an experienced rider I learned alot in the course.  Second is read as much about riding as you can because there is some good info out there you just have to look for it.  The third and most important tip is ride as often as you can because experience is the best teacher.  I have found that riding with veteran riders is a great way to learn because you can watch them and most are very willing to give recomendations about your technique especially if you ask.  Just remember that practice makes perfect and you have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run.  

Sorry about the mix up on the gender.  But i've got to be honest, the questions you asked should have all be solved before you got a 1000rr.  Countersteering might be a reason you see people cornering with ease.  i say find your favorite twisty road and work progressivly work on your corner speeds  

Although I haven't taken the official MSF safety course I have taken something similar to it in my area. It was a motorcycle skills refreser/information course. It covered the basics but it didn't cover turning. As a mater of fact there was no riding at all unlike the MSF course. I have considered doing it and I probably will it isn't easy though because there are none close to where I live the closest one is an hour away.

I have been reading any info I can find on it but I still feel like I'm missing something. After exhausting a lot of sources I thought I'd go to the best source which is people who have been doing it for years hence me coming here.

As for the Honda CBR1000RR I didn't buy the bike my dad did. He buys them, I ride them LOL. He only bought the Suzuki so I could learn on it. He got this one because he wanted something more powerful and he thinks I can handle it I'm not so sure.  

He originally wanted a cruiser but I refuse to ride that ewwwwww LOL. I would however ride a street bike so he got something we can both ride.  

To accelerate off the line more quickly, use more revs before you let out the clutch.  As for the cornering, it just something you have to get use to.  When I first started riding, I was always a bit timid when approaching an intersection where I had to make a righ turn.

Really, you just need more practice.  To work on getting off the line, I'd just go to a big empty parking lot and practice there.  You can also practice your turning there.  

A couple notes: you have to stay loose.  As soon as you tense up, you'll lose control.  Also, I've found that the slower you go, the more difficult it is to turn.  Obviously, you don't want to go too fast, but i've never had to downshift to first unless I was basically coming to a stop.  I'd say 15mph is a pretty decent speed to be turning right at an intersection.  At that speed, it's just like the higher speed turns where you countersteer to get the bike leaned over, keep your head and eyes up looking down the road in the direction you want to go, and also stay on the throttle.  Generally, going through off the throttle always messed me up as you're essentially braking.

But the key is practice.  Go find a low traffic area such as the parking lot or a neighborhood and practice.  

I hate repeating what everyone is saying but it really is the best way to learn, hit a parking lot.  It took me countless day and weeks of driving around parking lots before I really had the hang of maneuvering at low speeds.
Good luck and stick with it.  
Broom Brooomm

good lord smalltime you just got off a GS500 & now you have a 1000RR!!! you should've gotten a 600 not a 1000, no wonder you're having a hard time coping with your bike, way too much power & weight to handle for a woman but that can be overcome with lots of practice but it'll be a long road ahead of you so i'll say good luck & cool bike.    

Oh Overrev... you're just jealous that hers is bigger than yours!!

Anyway... ST, do you have a bicycle? If so, get on it and start to ride as slow as you can in ever decreasing radius turns and figure 8's. This will help you with your basic balance (which is what you are lacking) without being tossed around too much by the 1000. If you do this you can master this basic slow speed cornering (it's actually harder to balance a bicycle)in a short period of time. Then you can translate the balance you have learned to the big bike. The MSF course is a good one because you do a lot of tight little turns and various handling tests to pass. It is valuable. You can also go to most MSF courses and ride around the marked course if the parking lot they use is at a public facility.

One thing too, don't sweat slow starts, at least you aren't stalling the thing. A slow, smooth, consistant start is nothing to be ashamed of. Also, taking hard lefts and rights slowly is fine too. Sounds to me like you are being a bit hard on yourself and letting ego get the better of you. Don't sweat it.

Get those slow speed skills down and ALL aspects of your riding will improve. A question was asked in another post about common "newbie" mistakes, well I think a common mistake LOTS of riders (new and "experienced") make is not getting the fine skills of super slow control and balance down to a fine tuned degree... Work on that and your confidence will go up tremendously. The first time you do a full lock 360 at idle in first in both directions will make you smile, and you'll never have cornering issues again...  

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Oh Overrev... you're just jealous that hers is bigger than yours!!

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 No it's not that, i'm very happy with my current bike & if i should get a new one it'd still be a 600 but if she hasn't got a BF yet i'm up for it so i can ride that 1000RR of hers.    

Sorry Idon't have time to read all of the responses right now, so I might repeat some advise.

First let me say, you certainly  should be wary of the CBR1000. Honestly I'm surprised you and your dad couldn't work out a way for you to kkep the 500 and him still get the 1000, that would have been perfect.

Second, you need to take the MSF course. I'm sure your dad showed you the basics but the MSF is a very comprehensive course that covers things your dad probably does and doesn't even remember he does it. Also it's set in a very safe feeling environment on very unintimidateing motorcycles.  

Good point about the low speed handling; being able to do a U-turn is VERY handy!  

Thanks guys this is great advice.

Geof I do know how to ride a regualr bicylce and I can do that well. I can balance the motorcycle I don''t have a problem with that. When I'm at a light or stopped completely I can balance with ease with both feet on the ground and no hands on the handle bars. Balancing doesn't give me problems.

As a matter of fact I have a fair amount of confidence in other aspects of biking. I just lose it when it comes to turning it's the weirdest thing. I never feel like the bike is going to tip over I just think it will. My confidence with turning hit an all time low because I dropped the GS500 twice while turning. Don't worry guys I wasn't on the road I was in my driveway LOL. I was turning from the driveway into the garage and I was going far too slow and gravity took over. Of course when it starts to go down I just abandon ship because it is far too heavy to try to prevent. This happened a while ago and I can turn into the gargage easily now LOL but those incidents still affect me.

As for going at very slow speeds; that is about the only thing I can outdo other bikers in LOL. I can go very slow and feel at home, it's no problem. Going faster is fine with me too.

I am going to take the MSF course when it starts up. I hope it helps I hate feeling underconfident. Anything that will help me is worth a try.