So it’s been a year since I got my full licence and an ideal time to review my biking year. I passed with ThinkBikeTraining in early July 2015, and on the day I passed I was lucky enough to order my first big bike – a naked Kawasaki Z1000.
I’ve been on several advanced lessons since then including a revisit to ‘The Cage’ which is the name my wife lovingly refers the Mod1 test course as. These advanced lessons have helped me get more out of my bike than I could have ever hoped to gain by myself, never underestimate the benefit of continuing lessons can bring. It has also meant that I have been able to subjectively review my biking needs and how well my first bike choice meets those needs. While the ongoing skills the school is helping me develop mean that the bike delivers more and more – it also means I have been able to determine that the bike is not quite the perfect fit I hoped it would be I’m sure every new biker is forced to go through this development phase, hell – before I started my DAS training I thought I would be buying a cruiser style bike!!!
Be prepared to have your pre-conceptions challenged or just simply dispelled once you start to gain experience and develop as a biker. For me, the need to ride more and more means that I need a bike that lends itself to longer hours in ‘the saddle’ rather than that eye popping brutal half hour blast round some local twisties. There’s no substitute for that learning curve and your first post pass year is the steepest learning curve of all but an essential one. I’m sure as I hone my skills further I will continue to get more out of my bike and me as a rider.
Be prepared for biking to completely turn your priorities upside down and therefore the things you want from your bike. The main thing that you may be unprepared for, is the level of friendship and comradery that comes from biking and the people that do it.
Enjoy!!! Thanks Tim.
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