Confidence Shot!!!!

[s_saeed80]

This is my first post, and it's a pretty sad first post at that. Picked up 99 Katana 600. Put my plates on and not even 10 mins later dropped it. Making a left from a stop sign in my neighorhood and kind of came out a little hot. Made the #1 mistake in riding and looked at the curb. Before I got to the curb the bike already gave out from under me, I guess cause all the loose gravel by the curb. Smashed the left front indicate and scratched up the left fairing very lightly and really scratched the Katana sign. Rode straight home and parked the bike in the garage. The bike is ok but my confidence is shot. I just completed my riders safety course on Sunday!! and was feeling pretty good after that. Just had to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening.

[acraze]

Hmmmm I think u should hop back on it and turn that frown upside down. No really though glad ur ok... Just about every kat I've seen has had long scratches above the turn signals and rocks/ gravel in the side cover stamped Suzuki.

[Woodmysta]

Welcome to KR! Yeah it sucks that you dropped it but your confidence will increase with time. Keep at it and be safe.

[kat_kitten]

don't worry! it happens, to a lot of people.
they say every rider will crash at one point. just be happy yours left you alive.
and now that you know what you did wrong, you can make every attempt to prevent it from happening again.

just take'r easy, and be gentle with finding your grab point until you're more confident in your skills =)

[HexKrak]

If you can quit forever today... do it. Or so a wise man once said.

That said.. I think 95% of the riders here have dropped their bike one way or another, and the other 5% are just in denial over it. Don't take it too hard!

[Kreylyn]

This is my first post, and it's a pretty sad first post at that. Picked up 99 Katana 600. Put my plates on and not even 10 mins later dropped it. Making a left from a stop sign in my neighorhood and kind of came out a little hot. Made the #1 mistake in riding and looked at the curb. Before I got to the curb the bike already gave out from under me, I guess cause all the loose gravel by the curb. Smashed the left front indicate and scratched up the left fairing very lightly and really scratched the Katana sign. Rode straight home and parked the bike in the garage. The bike is ok but my confidence is shot. I just completed my riders safety course on Sunday!! and was feeling pretty good after that. Just had to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening.

Gosh, wish I could say I never dropped my bike...

I've been riding for 17 years on the same bike... and all I can say is that I havn't dropped it yet... THIS year.

It's a part of riding. You learn from your mistakes. The goal is not nessasarily "don't ever make them"... it's more to minimize the impact of the mistakes by learning and training yourself to be prepared to handle issues that come up. Sometimes you will hit a corner a little hot... how do you react to prevent your mistake from becoming something larger?... How do you go about preventing from making that same mistake in the future?

My suggestion... don't be down on yourself... instead, look at it and ask yourself what happened, how did it happen, what did you do to contribute to it, and what can you do in the future to prevent it from happening again? Then, let it go and move forward KNOWing you have learned and are a better rider now because of it.

Krey

[rice_rocket]

It's my first season too... and I've already put the bike down twice..

First time was making a nice sharp slow speed turn up a slight incline and back down. The tire hit a rut when my bars were locked one way.. and I just flipped on the side.

Second was just putting the bike on the kickstand near the side of the road. The kickstand broke the ashphault and it fell.. doh!

At least mine were all low speed/not even moving.

[scottynoface]

Every bike hits pavement. Every. Single. One.

Get back on and keep riding.

[SOS]

yeah my brother just got outta the hospital, but he was bein an *** on his bike but I told him get back on it and chill this time. You just need to get back on.

[Psycho1]

I've been riding 23 years. In that time my first bike went down 3 times in gravel/dirt parking lots, my 2nd bike I didn't have long enough to drop, my 3rd bike (my Kat) has been down 2 times at under 10mph transitioning from asphault to gravel roads (too much front brake) and once on a gravel shoulder (eventually sliding THRU a barbed wire fence after I stepped off) avoiding a black cow in the road at night. The Kat's also been on the ground several times due to wind blowing it off the side stand once, and 2 time the side stand sunk in the dirt driveway after a short thunderstorm softened the ground. Everyone drops their bike at one time or another, especially new riders, but even those with years and years worth of experience get caught by suprise occasionally too. The only difference most of the time is the degrees of severity involved. As mentioned above use this as a learning experience and move on.

[Rican Katgrl]

This is my first season and I have dropped my baby about 4 times already. 3 times within the same week. All my drops have been going into parking spots to hot though and one was when I was pulling out of a gravel parking lot I slid across the road. My confidence went way down but with the push from my husband and all the members here I got back on. Recently I had a big scare up in Montreal going around a curve while dodging a log in the road. Didn't want to ride anymore after that, but again with the support from the hubby and all the KR members here I got back on. I don't think anything could ever keep me from riding now...I got that itch.....

Also you might want to invest in some frame sliders. They have done their job 100% and have saved my paint job all 4 times! Only have a small nic in the grab bar. But seriously, don't let this little incident stop you from riding. Consider it lesson learned and move on!!

[BigFish]

[...]Picked up 99 Katana 600. Put my plates on and not even 10 mins later dropped it. [...] The bike is ok but my confidence is shot. I just completed my riders safety course on Sunday!! and was feeling pretty good after that. Just had to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening.

Have you ever tripped, drank till you got sick, or worse been driving down the street heard a friend exclaim, "dude, she's hot!" only to realize the pedestrian is a man? I'm guessing you kept walking, drinking and looking at women (sans adams apple).

You've been through the MSF course, which is the perfect first step. Now you need to go out there and ride conservatively so that when you do make mistakes they'll be minor (yours was costly, but a low speed drop is relatively minor). Riding on two wheels is a an experience that becomes a natural experience rather than an adrenaline rush. For example: I ride so much that I lean into corners when driving my SUV (seriously my last 5 ex's made fun of me for it). You wouldn't want women to have one less thing to make fun of you for would you? Go out there and get back on that bike. You have the skills and as soon as you use them the confidence will come back. If need be take small steps. Take the bike to a mostly empty parking lot late or early in the day and drive around, practice left and right turns. Get to know your bike. Odds are it has more power and about 200 lbs more weight than the MSF course bikes. Our confidence in you is not shot, go out there, learn it, love it and do it!

[diavolo]

Main thing is that you are okay. Hopefully, you learned the first lesson in riding: Look where you want to go - target fixation is the #1 cause of nearly all accidents.

[s_saeed80]

Before someone could even post the first reply I was back out there riding. I went to the exact same spot I dropped it and did it again this time feathering the clutch out ever so slightly and keeping my head up. I rode around for about another 45 mins after that, mostly practising my slow speed stuff. Like left and right turns from a stop sign in residential neighbourhood. It's funny cause before my wife left for work this morning she said be carefull and take it easy. She was pretty against me getting a bike in the first place. This is going to be a tough one to explain. Wish me luck! And thanks for all the support guys. Now does anyone know where I can find a left side turn signal from??

[kat_kitten]

just tell her that she did it when she pulled the car outta the garage this morning.... lol

ebay is good for all your parts needs =)