Former Fz6 rider, NOWWWWW, Finally an Fz1 Rider

Ssky0078 said:
I like Wreck it Ralph, I almsot started calling myself Crash or Murdock in reference to the A-Team.
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I'll repeat many words of wisdom already put here. Congrats on the bike but damn on the crash. School example of not knowing how to ride proper a motorbike. Looking at the vid (nice vid by the way) I do not see any curve or turn which would be a a dangerous turn. You were right, you target fixated and had no time to respond cause no way you were in control of your throttle, read yourself.
I'm glad you are ok and my hat off to you that you are sharing this experience, that in itself takes courage to self assess your mishap...BUT LEARN from it otherwise I'm afraid next we'll read your obituary.
Take the advice here and get some classes...ride calm and explore your bike gently...after a year or two accident free then and only then you could start looking for a track course...speeds are much higher on tracks and reading from what you written, the danger is the little teenager in you will not let go when someone overtakes you...
 
DenArnold said:
I'll repeat many words of wisdom already put here. Congrats on the bike but damn on the crash. School example of not knowing how to ride proper a motorbike. Looking at the vid (nice vid by the way) I do not see any curve or turn which would be a a dangerous turn. You were right, you target fixated and had no time to respond cause no way you were in control of your throttle, read yourself.
I'm glad you are ok and my hat off to you that you are sharing this experience, that in itself takes courage to self assess your mishap...BUT LEARN from it otherwise I'm afraid next we'll read your obituary.
Take the advice here and get some classes...ride calm and explore your bike gently...after a year or two accident free then and only then you could start looking for a track course...speeds are much higher on tracks and reading from what you written, the danger is the little teenager in you will not let go when someone overtakes you...
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You are correct sir. It was a total survival reaction. I came up on that curve so fast that it looked like a 90 degree turn because of the state of panic/rush I was in flying up that little rise. I was afraid to let off the brake, and lean in for the rather small corner that it really was. The big lesson I learned this time is that going fast requires being able to safely stop fast.

I just mention the track because everyone fusses about going fast on a safe controlled closed road, i.e. track over testing limits on the street. I agree, as I said before I don't want to mess up someone elses life or my own. I can wait and show restraint for a year or 2. Luckily we have good riding weather here almost year round (July and August may be too hot) that I can get a lot of seat time in.
 
You know something that nobody mentioned that I didnt' figure out until after the fact that when you let off on the throttle on something like the Fz1 compared to the Fz6 the amount of engine braking is a lot less. The Fz1 seems to just coast/keep going. The Fz6 if you let off at high RPM you could drop 10-20 mph in a second. I should have known better as it's the same as riding in an 4cylinder vs V8.

Ohh well, at least I lived and learned.
 
Ssky0078 said:
The big lesson I learned this time is that going fast requires being able to safely stop fast.
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If that's what you learned ... well you learned nothing , you didn't have to stop in that situation, you didn't even had to slow down .
Imagine you managed to crash with no real panic factor in front of you except a mild curve.

The hard truth is not everyone is made to ride a motorcycle.

Please stop destroying Yamahas try a Honda :angel:
 
Well after reading through all this I can say you're lucky. I'm not going criticize, it's all been said. What I want to share with you is my FZ1 is an 07 which I purchased brand new in Apr 2010, after owning a 1100 Honda cruiser for 4 yrs prior. Imagine the difference in acceleration from a cruiser to my 1st 1000CC sportbike. Today 25K+ miles I'm yet to get an off, not because I'm great, or don't ride fast but because I know my limitations. Yes I've seen 130 MPH on my bike, yes I've taken low turns, but I still have a lot to learn about riding.

Please get some training, it's not just the physical riding that'll help you but the techniques of knowing what to do if XXX happens that can prevent an off most times. All in all glad you're back on the bike but not sure if your technique has improved any just from the crash. So how long will it be???
 
The engine braking is variable based on RPM. As it usually takes more RPM for teh same speeds on a 600 (geared lower) the engine will tend top fall off more when you chop the throttle.

Although I am reluctant to offer my opinion is most cases, I feel compelled to offer my 2 cents with regards to your bike. Park the FZ1. It's a lot of bike. Some people get a bike like this as their first bike and are OK, but not everyone. You are not one of the people who is ready to ride this bike. Don't fool yourself and say you're going to take it easy and gain experience. You won't. A motorcycle crash is a very serious scenerio. You have beat the odds twice. Gather up your chips and head to the cashier's window, pal.

Best thing you can do is go buy a dirt bike and put some hours in on the soft stuff. Get a better feel for riding. The bike needs to be automatic, second nature. Crashing a dirt bike is (usually) more survivable than going down on the street. Go ride on the soft stuff and test your limits. Get more natural on the bike and work up to something bigger. Get a little pisscutter to ride on the street while you're learning and wait a couple years, and then get something more exciting.

Ultimately, you will do what you like, so just be honest with yourself and be safe.
 
Ssky0078 said:
You know something that nobody mentioned that I didnt' figure out until after the fact that when you let off on the throttle on something like the Fz1 compared to the Fz6 the amount of engine braking is a lot less. The Fz1 seems to just coast/keep going. The Fz6 if you let off at high RPM you could drop 10-20 mph in a second. I should have known better as it's the same as riding in an 4cylinder vs V8.

Ohh well, at least I lived and learned.
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Not true. What this tells me is you were in much too high a gear headed into the corner. You should have dropped two and been a lot higher in the RPMs, thus a lot more engine braking. ;) You've much to learn young Jedi....
 
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To be honest if he has no Idea how to use engine breaking he is being set up to fail again. If he dont know how far to drop in gears in respect to the speed he will slide the rear end and crash again. I doubt he has a slipper clutch.

Stop the " NEED FOR SPEED" talking to him. He needs real riding tips.

I would love to tell him, Use the "yellow Highway signs" they are there for a reason.

He is a bird that has jumped form the nest twice with no feathers on his wings.

I think anyone can ride, not everyone can or should be racing. If winning was easy losers would do it.

Slow down build and develope good riding practices from LOW SPEED manuvering.

At this point I :surrender:!!
 
Cobalt said:
Not true. What this tells me is you were in much too high a gear headed into the corner. You should have dropped two and been a lot higher in the RPMs, thus a lot more engine braking. ;) You've much to learn young Jedi....
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I was in second gear charging up the hill over 70+ last time I looked down, moronic, I know. At that point I thought I could just get on the brakes hard, let the engine brake help. I was wrong, it was not my little Fz6 that I could get away with stuff like that on.

It also didn't help that when I crested the hill I felt the bike lift up a little, scared me, froze up, aimed dead ahead and didn't even bother to make the corner as my vision was about as narrow as a single track.
 
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Ssky0078 said:
I was in second gear charging up the hill over 70+ last time I looked down, moronic, I know. At that point I thought I could just get on the brakes hard, let the engine brake help. I was wrong, it was not my little Fz6 that I could get away with stuff like that on.

It also didn't help that when I crested the hill I felt the bike lift up a little, scared me, froze up, aimed dead ahead and didn't even bother to make the corner as my vision was about as narrow as a single track.
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Froze on the bike.... not good at all. The bike had the ability to make it through that corner but you didn't look where you was supposed to go, you target fixated on where the bike was headed. Your first thought was brake when it should have been "hard counter-steer" and get the bike leaned into the corner fast. Then the next though should have been trail-brake to scrub some of the speed. The last thought should have been "WTF was I thinking!?!?"
 
SSky0078
I'm feeling really bad for you. You seem so excited about riding the FZ1 that it seems like it is overpowering your common sense about riding. To not be able to control your throttle impulses is deadly.
It can be done. Many have done it. Many have even started riding with high power bikes and come out OK. It's throttle control.

Just because a bike (or car, for that matter) has a lot of power and can go fast doesn't mean that it has to do that. It is the rider/driver of the machine that controls all that. Sounds simple --- and it is. Except if you cannot control yourself. That is disastrous.

I am concerned about you.
 
BTW I rode yesterday and today, never went more than +10 on the speed limit to keep up with traffic here in Phoenix. I can ride like a sane person knowing their limits.

I'm just going to stay away from the temptation of curvy roads for a good long while. As I am also beginning to get a little gun shy. I puckered up going over a nasty patch of tar snakes earlier for no reason really.
 
Cobalt said:
Froze on the bike.... not good at all. The bike had the ability to make it through that corner but you didn't look where you was supposed to go, you target fixated on where the bike was headed. Your first thought was brake when it should have been "hard counter-steer" and get the bike leaned into the corner fast. Then the next though should have been trail-brake to scrub some of the speed. The last thought should have been "WTF was I thinking!?!?"
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Yep, I completely can listen to that and understand. I had the same thought process. I don't know what trail braking is yet, and was planning on taking the rider course yesterday but my bike being damaged I was not allowed.

I froze then crashed and my first thought was limb check, breathing check (got the wind knocked out of me). My last thought and still to today is "what an a$$hole, I am".
 
BTW the posted speed signs were in the 20s. I just grabbed way too much throttle and failed miserably. The rush of when the engine goes past 5000 rpms got to my head.
 
I know I'm about to catch a lot of flack for this, but I'm going to ask anyway. :surrender:Do different tires offer different abilities to lean in quicker? :surrender:

I'M NOT BLAMING THE TIRE FOR MY CRASH, but the bike showed up with brand new PR2's. My last bike had Hypersport S20's. The S20's I could throw the bike into a lean quick and easy. The PR2's I almost feel like I have to fight against it (or the added 45 pounds comparing Fz1 to Fz6 reallly is that big a difference). I just read an article that the Michelin guys even suggested that only well experienced/track ready riders attempt to try to push a pair of PR2's hard.

Now let the reeming begin and I'll filter out the helpful info. I''m realizing I'm going about learning in many of the wrong ways, but I'm still trying guys.
 
Ssky0078 said:
I know I'm about to catch a lot of flack for this, but I'm going to ask anyway. :surrender:Do different tires offer different abilities to lean in quicker? :surrender:

I'M NOT BLAMING THE TIRE FOR MY CRASH, but the bike showed up with brand new PR2's. My last bike had Hypersport S20's. The S20's I could throw the bike into a lean quick and easy. The PR2's I almost feel like I have to fight against it (or the added 45 pounds comparing Fz1 to Fz6 reallly is that big a difference). I just read an article that the Michelin guys even suggested that only well experienced/track ready riders attempt to try to push a pair of PR2's hard.

Now let the reeming begin and I'll filter out the helpful info. I''m realizing I'm going about learning in many of the wrong ways, but I'm still trying guys.
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Well what shall I say, read my post when you asked about changing to the Fz1 the Fz6 is much easier to lean and handles better, because it is lighter and has a smaller rear tire that's all physics and simple enough but you were told this already but decided not to listen! PR2 are fast leaning tires, they are not as precise as other tires but they are very easy to lean, they even "overlean" easily if you go beyond 40 deg leaning angle. Ok that was only for general information. Every tire no matter which would have made this curve with no problem, you always need a lot of power to make fast changes at high speeds, just physics, nothing special. Learn how to ride and forget about track experience and all this stuff, that is simply not for you! Pushing a tire to its limits is so far beyond your abilities that you should never worry about this in the next years. Many people say tires make a large differences and this is true if you are skillful and know what you are doing but most "tire" related crashes are in reality the fault of the driver.

Now again think you should sell the Fz1 and buy a Ninja 300 or something small and similar with ABS brakes, learn how to ride with this one and later change to a 600 bike when you have cornering skills. A lot of people only look for power but on a small bike you really learn how to corner and ride nicely.

Well I am sure you will do what you like but maybe being twice wrong helps you make the right decisions now.
 
Ssky0078 said:
I know I'm about to catch a lot of flack for this, but I'm going to ask anyway. :surrender:Do different tires offer different abilities to lean in quicker? :surrender:

I'M NOT BLAMING THE TIRE FOR MY CRASH, but the bike showed up with brand new PR2's. My last bike had Hypersport S20's. The S20's I could throw the bike into a lean quick and easy. The PR2's I almost feel like I have to fight against it (or the added 45 pounds comparing Fz1 to Fz6 reallly is that big a difference). I just read an article that the Michelin guys even suggested that only well experienced/track ready riders attempt to try to push a pair of PR2's hard.

Now let the reeming begin and I'll filter out the helpful info. I''m realizing I'm going about learning in many of the wrong ways, but I'm still trying guys.
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I don't see any reason to catch flack. Any question asked here gets answered as best we can do. Tires of different makes and compounds all act differently. It depends on many things, air pressures, tire shape, bike weight, etc. When I first had my FZ1 it came with Bridgestone OEM tires. I thought they were great tires and that the bike was meant to turn in a certain way. Well, my next set were Bridgestone 016's, and all I can say is "Day and Night" in terms of feel and performance! Turn in was only a matter of thinking about it! I had to be careful the first few rides because I was turning in way too soon and throwing off my lines. Once I got the hang of the new profile I had an absolute blast riding on the mountain. My confidence was way up, cornering speed way up, and lean angle was way low! All that on one change of tires. Now I'm not a Michelin guy so can't vouch for the performance of those tires, but if your not worried about quicker wear, the 016's are a great asset to the FZ1, and they are less expensive than most performance tires out there. Just my thoughts on the matter.
 
:angel:
Dreamdemon said:
Now again think you should sell the Fz1 and buy a Ninja 300 or something small and similar with ABS brakes, learn how to ride with this one and later change to a 600 bike when you have cornering skills. A lot of people only look for power but on a small bike you really learn how to corner and ride nicely.

Well I am sure you will do what you like but maybe being twice wrong helps you make the right decisions now.
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At this point I plan on keeping the Fz1, only riding it to and from work or my monthly 300 mile round trip out of town on straight freeway. I will look for a Ninja 250/CBR250 or KLR 650/DRZ400s for cheap pick up to learn how to ride harder.

I do appreciate all the input, I'm just learning the hard way and pushing my luck. I get it, and I have no desire to really hurt myself.

I almost realized today that I went a month without any ride and amazing feeling of life on two wheels. When I got the new bike I was like a heroin junky who got a score after he's been clean off drugs for awhile. Instant overdose and lucky not dead. :angel::surrender::Rockon:
 
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