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Hey,
Name is Greg - I'm currently going to RIT (Rochester Institute of Tech) for Software Engineering, so I'm obviously in Rochester, NY - bought my first bike about 2 weeks ago.
Got some pictures at the following of what happened yesterday.
So I'm brand new, a fresh newb, never rode out on the real road (public) yet. A lot of people say that I should not get a bike because I didn't grow up on dirt bikes like everybody else that rides seems to have. Without offending anybody, I'd just like to say "f-u" - Both my parents were/are in the medical field and there was no way they were going to OK a bike for me. Now I've grown up (a bit, I'm 22), I'm in college, and I bought a bike I've wanted since 11th grade.
I chose a Katana 750 because I'm a VERY large guy (about 275), I wanted something that wouldn't have trouble hauling me. Also, the Katana isn't as much as a crotch rocket as say, a YZF-600, GSXR750, any liter bike, etc. The Katana to me, seems more like a crossover between a dual sport and a crotch rocket. I argue with some people about this, whatever, some people say if it has plastics it's a crotch rocket - I disagree (can you say, BMW?). I'd hope to eventually graduate to a level where I can daily a busa - but I'm not going to put the cart before the horse on that one.. Also, at some point, I'd love to drive a boss hoss cycle, as their concept of what a cycle is fascinates me, and it's about the only domestic concept that does.
That being said, as I iterated, I'm fresh and new, still learning. I really don't have anybody to show me the ropes, realistically. I have a friend at work (and few other people at work) that ride, they have stuff like a 250ninja, a virago (forgot the size), a BMW-esqe dual sport, and a CBR (forgot size as well), but being a professional environment, everybody's chill about what other people have (opposed to some experiences at the Harley stores where some ego comes into affect..).
So I really don't have any idea how to ride, I'm still trying to decide what gear to get (pretty sure I'm crossed between the HJC CL-SP and the HJC CS-R1 (no snell :'( )for a helmet, and I'm seriously considering the Cortech FSX Series 2 for a jacket..of course being limited to black (3x in size) kind of makes me sad as red would go better with a red cycle, but whatever.), I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow (don't bother asking, it's a story not worth telling) after which (hopefully) I can go back to the DMV and get my permit (got a 95% on it....not that that means anything, but whatever)...then it's insurance and registration, hope to be bringing it to work in a few weeks..
I've taken the bike out a few times on some private roads on campus, I have a little bit of trouble starting off, most of the time I just let the clutch out (pathetic, I know) as it gives me the smoothest starts, then give it gas once it's not engaged at all...it revs incredibly fast compared to cars which I'm very used to - I typically short shift 1st as I'm kinda scared of the power it has, haven't gone WOT yet but hit it pretty hard in 2nd and 3rd, but only put it up to about 50mph as I don't have any gear yet and I'm still fresh & new. It also feels like you're going a lot faster - maybe it's just the wind in yourself - I have no helmet yet, so not a full faceyet.. Mind you ALL of my controls/riding experience comes from youtube and google (yes, pathetic, I know, so sue me)..manual isn't really a new concept to me as that's all I've ever owned for the past (6?) cars, and I unofficially race them quite a bit (well not atm as my current car ('97 civic EX) is very much on the stock side), so that's no issue, but the coordination is obviously a bit different. I haven't had much trouble with the controls as far as shifting goes...I keep forgetting to turn my turn signal off (car artifact I guess), and sometimes I accidentally rev it when backing up or something (
).
I know mechanical stuff pretty well - I know import cars well - I know most of my Honda's mechanical attributes inside and out. I also, due to my profession, obviously have a very good understanding of computers and programming. I can probably help people in those 2 areas if they ever need it, but I doubt that.
So yes, I seem quite pathetic, no exp and such, but it is what it is, I have to start somewhere I guess. Which leads me to the sad part:
I'm kind of practicing for my road test..I don't think I'll have a problem with the driving part, but I'm scared ****less of the double O each direction and figure 8 I have to do afterwards. I simply can't get my act together, I can't pull U turns in the parking lots here. They're a big smaller than 2 lanes...so blah...which leads me to the really sad part:
So Saturday was a big tech event at RIT (people come from all over the US), so there was no chance of campus safety coming to my side of campus, so I took the bike out, now I tried doing a complete circle in the parking lot, I did the following:
- Got it up to 1st, short shifted into 2nd, probably about 15-20mph
- slowed down, downshifted into 1st, slowed down quite a bit, leaned towards the right side of the cars
- turned the forks all the way to the left to pull the U turn (half of a circle), it was starting to buck a bit (revs too low), but I kind of ignored it as I wasn't about to give it throttle..I can't rly go any faster with that much of a turn.
- I was coming up pretty close to a saab 900 on the opposite side, so I braked..
- As weird as it is, I couldn't snag the clutch in time, it jerked back when it stalled out and as the forks were turned to the left, me and it went over.
- Tipped over on its left side, scuffed the fatest part o the plastics where the clutch housing is, and took of my left mirror :'( - needless to say I was basically moping around for the rest of the day.
- I didn't have any issues getting it back on 2 wheels given my size (football all through highschool, it was a lot easier to get back up than I expected), let it sit for a few to let the fuel settle back into the carbs, it had a bit of trouble starting back up, stalled out once or twice, but finally got it going and let it sit for a few minutes.
So yeah, tipped the bike over, and ruined my weekend. I'm still not sure where the hell I could have adjusted what I did...the bike simply can't make the turn sharp enough, the forks are all the way turned, and it going so slow considering its standard idle speed (about 1200 RPM seems to be happy at idle), it's fumbly b/c of the speed, and it doesn't want to turn due to the turning radius at rack...Obviously I could have prevented the fall if I clutched and/or got my foot off the peg and down in time.
Here's some pix of the damage:
There was already a scuff there, but I just did a really good job of making it worse. There's also a scuff on the right side, same part, the fat part of the plastics, from the original owner doing a standing tip over..
Here's the rest of the pictures, I'd greatly appreciate it if you looked at them, I tried to pull the best (about half, IMO) out of the collection I had my g/f take, but I'm sure to many of you it's "just another Katana" - so I'm not going to waste all of your bandwidth posting the pictures here in the thread, there's about 29 of them.
***********************************
PICTURES
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I know some people don't think it's sexy, but I think the bike is absolutely beautiful, and while I can't replace the plastics ($$) atm I still love it. Sometimes I can't believe it's mine, lol.
A bit about the bike
- Bought it from the original owner - he bought it from the dealership, he gave me the lien release - title has 000003 miles on it !!
- It has 3k miles on it - although it was ridden every year
- It's a '97 Katana 750
- I has an aftermarket I/E kit (air box, vance and hines exhaust, and matched carb jets), installed by a bike shop
- To me it's amazing.
I also obviously need to find a replacement for the mirror, I was hoping I could find a swap for both sides, ones that FOLD - it stretches the hell out of my cover because the mirrors don't fold. It fit a lot better (hate to say it) with that one mirror broke off, it'd do wonders if both mirrors folded in...Anybody have any suggestions there? Also, can I replace just that top part for now? It looks like there's a nut on top there which just comes off and I might be able to re-attach the shroud - the glass is 100%, just the shroud broke...is it possible to get just the shroud and put it on? That'd be ideal, also, depending on price, folding mirrors would also be ideal (how hard are they to take off? Looks like just a few screws into the plastics..).
ANY driving tips are obviously very much appreciated, as I stated earlier, I don't really have anybody to show me the ropes, but I'm like a sponge when it comes to soaking up information (you need to be in my profession to adapt to different application domains), so I gather it pretty damn fast. And loving cars so much, I obviously soak up lots about them. Currently working on some tuning software for ECU tuning as good parts companies seem to lack good software...but that's a whole different ball game. So I pretty much appreciate pretty much input, even if you're just coming to tell me I suck at life (not that I don't feel like that already for tipping it).
Also, I have a weird issue with curves...I'm not really sure how to turn at faster speeds, if it's a counter steer or a lean...The place I typically drive the bike to has a long *** sweeping curve and I can never tell from the intersection (the beginning of it) how the hell I make the turn, as it's decently steep, it's just natural...which isn't good IMO, I have to figure out what I'm doing so I can learn to better sway the weight of the bike...but if I think about it while off the bike (same with making turns at intersections while moving (lower speeds)) it scares me a bit..
Thanks for reading, I hope to make some good friends here. I've wanted a bike for so long, this is my first, I don't intend on it being my last.
Name is Greg - I'm currently going to RIT (Rochester Institute of Tech) for Software Engineering, so I'm obviously in Rochester, NY - bought my first bike about 2 weeks ago.
Got some pictures at the following of what happened yesterday.
So I'm brand new, a fresh newb, never rode out on the real road (public) yet. A lot of people say that I should not get a bike because I didn't grow up on dirt bikes like everybody else that rides seems to have. Without offending anybody, I'd just like to say "f-u" - Both my parents were/are in the medical field and there was no way they were going to OK a bike for me. Now I've grown up (a bit, I'm 22), I'm in college, and I bought a bike I've wanted since 11th grade.
I chose a Katana 750 because I'm a VERY large guy (about 275), I wanted something that wouldn't have trouble hauling me. Also, the Katana isn't as much as a crotch rocket as say, a YZF-600, GSXR750, any liter bike, etc. The Katana to me, seems more like a crossover between a dual sport and a crotch rocket. I argue with some people about this, whatever, some people say if it has plastics it's a crotch rocket - I disagree (can you say, BMW?). I'd hope to eventually graduate to a level where I can daily a busa - but I'm not going to put the cart before the horse on that one.. Also, at some point, I'd love to drive a boss hoss cycle, as their concept of what a cycle is fascinates me, and it's about the only domestic concept that does.
That being said, as I iterated, I'm fresh and new, still learning. I really don't have anybody to show me the ropes, realistically. I have a friend at work (and few other people at work) that ride, they have stuff like a 250ninja, a virago (forgot the size), a BMW-esqe dual sport, and a CBR (forgot size as well), but being a professional environment, everybody's chill about what other people have (opposed to some experiences at the Harley stores where some ego comes into affect..).
So I really don't have any idea how to ride, I'm still trying to decide what gear to get (pretty sure I'm crossed between the HJC CL-SP and the HJC CS-R1 (no snell :'( )for a helmet, and I'm seriously considering the Cortech FSX Series 2 for a jacket..of course being limited to black (3x in size) kind of makes me sad as red would go better with a red cycle, but whatever.), I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow (don't bother asking, it's a story not worth telling) after which (hopefully) I can go back to the DMV and get my permit (got a 95% on it....not that that means anything, but whatever)...then it's insurance and registration, hope to be bringing it to work in a few weeks..
I've taken the bike out a few times on some private roads on campus, I have a little bit of trouble starting off, most of the time I just let the clutch out (pathetic, I know) as it gives me the smoothest starts, then give it gas once it's not engaged at all...it revs incredibly fast compared to cars which I'm very used to - I typically short shift 1st as I'm kinda scared of the power it has, haven't gone WOT yet but hit it pretty hard in 2nd and 3rd, but only put it up to about 50mph as I don't have any gear yet and I'm still fresh & new. It also feels like you're going a lot faster - maybe it's just the wind in yourself - I have no helmet yet, so not a full faceyet.. Mind you ALL of my controls/riding experience comes from youtube and google (yes, pathetic, I know, so sue me)..manual isn't really a new concept to me as that's all I've ever owned for the past (6?) cars, and I unofficially race them quite a bit (well not atm as my current car ('97 civic EX) is very much on the stock side), so that's no issue, but the coordination is obviously a bit different. I haven't had much trouble with the controls as far as shifting goes...I keep forgetting to turn my turn signal off (car artifact I guess), and sometimes I accidentally rev it when backing up or something (
).I know mechanical stuff pretty well - I know import cars well - I know most of my Honda's mechanical attributes inside and out. I also, due to my profession, obviously have a very good understanding of computers and programming. I can probably help people in those 2 areas if they ever need it, but I doubt that.
So yes, I seem quite pathetic, no exp and such, but it is what it is, I have to start somewhere I guess. Which leads me to the sad part:
I'm kind of practicing for my road test..I don't think I'll have a problem with the driving part, but I'm scared ****less of the double O each direction and figure 8 I have to do afterwards. I simply can't get my act together, I can't pull U turns in the parking lots here. They're a big smaller than 2 lanes...so blah...which leads me to the really sad part:
So Saturday was a big tech event at RIT (people come from all over the US), so there was no chance of campus safety coming to my side of campus, so I took the bike out, now I tried doing a complete circle in the parking lot, I did the following:
- Got it up to 1st, short shifted into 2nd, probably about 15-20mph
- slowed down, downshifted into 1st, slowed down quite a bit, leaned towards the right side of the cars
- turned the forks all the way to the left to pull the U turn (half of a circle), it was starting to buck a bit (revs too low), but I kind of ignored it as I wasn't about to give it throttle..I can't rly go any faster with that much of a turn.
- I was coming up pretty close to a saab 900 on the opposite side, so I braked..
- As weird as it is, I couldn't snag the clutch in time, it jerked back when it stalled out and as the forks were turned to the left, me and it went over.
- Tipped over on its left side, scuffed the fatest part o the plastics where the clutch housing is, and took of my left mirror :'( - needless to say I was basically moping around for the rest of the day.
- I didn't have any issues getting it back on 2 wheels given my size (football all through highschool, it was a lot easier to get back up than I expected), let it sit for a few to let the fuel settle back into the carbs, it had a bit of trouble starting back up, stalled out once or twice, but finally got it going and let it sit for a few minutes.
So yeah, tipped the bike over, and ruined my weekend
. I'm still not sure where the hell I could have adjusted what I did...the bike simply can't make the turn sharp enough, the forks are all the way turned, and it going so slow considering its standard idle speed (about 1200 RPM seems to be happy at idle), it's fumbly b/c of the speed, and it doesn't want to turn due to the turning radius at rack...Obviously I could have prevented the fall if I clutched and/or got my foot off the peg and down in time.Here's some pix of the damage:
There was already a scuff there, but I just did a really good job of making it worse. There's also a scuff on the right side, same part, the fat part of the plastics, from the original owner doing a standing tip over..
Here's the rest of the pictures, I'd greatly appreciate it if you looked at them, I tried to pull the best (about half, IMO) out of the collection I had my g/f take, but I'm sure to many of you it's "just another Katana" - so I'm not going to waste all of your bandwidth posting the pictures here in the thread, there's about 29 of them.
***********************************
PICTURES
***********************************
I know some people don't think it's sexy, but I think the bike is absolutely beautiful, and while I can't replace the plastics ($$) atm I still love it. Sometimes I can't believe it's mine, lol.
A bit about the bike
- Bought it from the original owner - he bought it from the dealership, he gave me the lien release - title has 000003 miles on it !!
- It has 3k miles on it - although it was ridden every year
- It's a '97 Katana 750
- I has an aftermarket I/E kit (air box, vance and hines exhaust, and matched carb jets), installed by a bike shop
- To me it's amazing
.I also obviously need to find a replacement for the mirror, I was hoping I could find a swap for both sides, ones that FOLD - it stretches the hell out of my cover because the mirrors don't fold
. It fit a lot better (hate to say it) with that one mirror broke off, it'd do wonders if both mirrors folded in...Anybody have any suggestions there? Also, can I replace just that top part for now? It looks like there's a nut on top there which just comes off and I might be able to re-attach the shroud - the glass is 100%, just the shroud broke...is it possible to get just the shroud and put it on? That'd be ideal, also, depending on price, folding mirrors would also be ideal (how hard are they to take off? Looks like just a few screws into the plastics..).ANY driving tips are obviously very much appreciated, as I stated earlier, I don't really have anybody to show me the ropes, but I'm like a sponge when it comes to soaking up information (you need to be in my profession to adapt to different application domains), so I gather it pretty damn fast. And loving cars so much, I obviously soak up lots about them. Currently working on some tuning software for ECU tuning as good parts companies seem to lack good software...but that's a whole different ball game. So I pretty much appreciate pretty much input, even if you're just coming to tell me I suck at life (not that I don't feel like that already for tipping it).
Also, I have a weird issue with curves...I'm not really sure how to turn at faster speeds, if it's a counter steer or a lean...The place I typically drive the bike to has a long *** sweeping curve and I can never tell from the intersection (the beginning of it) how the hell I make the turn, as it's decently steep, it's just natural...which isn't good IMO, I have to figure out what I'm doing so I can learn to better sway the weight of the bike...but if I think about it while off the bike (same with making turns at intersections while moving (lower speeds)) it scares me a bit..
Thanks for reading, I hope to make some good friends here. I've wanted a bike for so long, this is my first, I don't intend on it being my last.
-100% JEDI-
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