Any motorcyle rider in MD?

@ Micro - do you ride and r u in MD?

Kansas city fellas ...we have about 8 Nepali riders so far. We are thinking about coming up north for a ride sometimes this summer.

Sweet.....i don't know any nepali riders in the dc area...hence reason for starting the thread. Plus i'm new to the community/forum
But def let me know if you guys decide to come up.
As always ride safe bro n watch out for cagers!!

I have been to DC once not sure how fun would it be to ride around there. We went to Arkansas "pig's trail" last year. That was heck of a ride, One of my buddy totaled his CBR though.

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/20/Arkansas/Arkansas-Pig-Trail---Arkansas-23.html

Yea i don't think DC area can compare to the canyon riding to the west.....but there a few good twisties north of DC. Not sure about what u prefer....but i prefer the twisties.

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/Routes/Maryland_96.html

Hope your buddy made it out with minor bumps.

Awesome U&A! Ninja 300's are excellent starter bikes. KTM, Yamaha, and Honda have also joined the league; but Ninjas still shine as the original!!

I have a Royal Enfield Classic 500, and a Yamaha R3.

Haven't done a group ride in a while, but I watch these videos regularly to keep up with the skills and vigor.

https://www.youtube.com/user/eveRideorg/videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/chaseontwowheels/videos


If you're into twisties, these failures can teach a lot of lessons on what to avoid - 'Mulholland Crashes':
https://www.youtube.com/user/rnickeymouse/videos

And of course the motorcycle cornering 'bible' - twist of the wrist (especially the SR's!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZwyOCdUup8


~@~

I have ridden a ninja 300 couple of times and it was awesome, it leans and handles well for the size.

I started off my riding about 7 years ago on a suzuki DR650. Those things did not ride well in the highways but in around the streets or off-road was a gem. I moved up to a 2003 kawi z1000 and I think that was the best bike I ever had until it was stolen. After that I rode a R6 for a couple of years and did not like it too much useless lower end torque. I ride a CBR 600 now and so far I'm happy with it ...so far.

Thanks for the links.......been a rider for about a 3 years now.....ninja was my first bike ever and bought it brand new because of the abs and slipper clutch.....and trust me both feature saved my life in the first month.

the only other bike I've ridden is my buddy's 2014 GSXR 750.....scary fast.
I've thought about getting a bigger bike from time to time but i always get a bigger smile with the 300 going around the the twisty compare to the 750.

Sad thing is been raining here for like 10 days straight...literally.

can't wait for the sun!!!

Guys if you want to go for a ride up skyline drive in Virginia, I am up for it. I ride a Royal Enfield classic 500!!
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/11850578_10207580841294094_1676717695877786829_o.jpg

Guys if you want to go for a ride up skyline drive in Virginia, I am up for it. I ride a Royal Enfield classic 500!!
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/11850578_10207580841294094_1676717695877786829_o.jpg

@deoneofakind -- we have similar taste! I've got the same color RE as yours. What year is that? Mine's 2012. The bike looks like it's mostly stock (perhaps there's a slip-on exhaust that was added later?, couldn't see clearly in the picture). Any changes you've made or planning to make?

@fdpower -- I like the way you started.. Riding a dual-sport as a beginner teaches you a lot and helps equip yourself with skills that are not always easy to acquire through riding street-only bikes. Your experience with DR650 is customary.. they're not the fastest and the most comfortable in highways, but they're resilient and very forgiving due to moderate horsepower, lighter weight, and the way the machine parts are positioned. You fall and get back on it like nothing ever happened (in most cases)!

I agree with the statement about R6 -- they are best suited for tracks and often feel 'too much' for day-to-day street riding. In summer, the engine heat annoys the hell out of you after riding a few miles. The machine however feels rock solid. Had a chance to ride a colleague's R6 during group-ride swaps in the past and loved the power and performance.

That brings to the point that U&A had... riding a smaller bike to its fullest is much more fun than riding a bigger one with a fraction of its capability. That's one of the reasons that led me to pick an R3, and it's been a lot of fun so far. Dual-sport is probably going to be my next in the line, someday, Been eyeing on Honda Africa Twin since it came out. Adventure riding is a whole different world - much to learn there.

Very happy to see these discussions in a Nepali forum. Keep it coming guys!!

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@Saajha – Mine is a 2015, before that I rode a 2011 Kawasaki ninja 650. Riding fast is no more fun for me guess I’m getting old :) . That’s the reason I got this legend of the Himalayas last summer and I am lovin it. Always puts a big smile on my face riding around the back roads of VA. Turns a lot of heads riding around, park it somewhere and people gather around to take pictures and get a lot of questions like ….did you restore it yourself?? Only thing I’ve added is the crash guard that I brought from Nepal and a RE saddle bag. I am planning to get short loud exhaust for it soon.

Keep ridging folks!!!

@Saajha - R3 is a nice looking bike. Adventure riding is most likely something i'll do down the road....i feel like i still have a lot to learn.

@ deoneofakind - That is a sweet looking bike. love the paint/color.
I was pretty late in the bike scene...at least in regards to street bike. I know what you mean by "getting old". I feel like speed is not as important for me as it once was.....now im more focus on the technical/fun factor of riding. Focusing more on entry/exit speed, cornering, braking, etc. as compare to when i was younger....which one has the most hp and top speed!

I'm glad i came up with this thread....hopefully we can gather a good amount of rider here and hopefully have a meet-n-greet. Summer is just around the corner!!!!

@Saajha , I'm jealous about your Royal Enfield Classic 500 myan ...and that color is just raaad.

As for the speed ...I'm still into it and i get too careless sometimes tbh. But then I look back and cherish how close I was to death and still beat it. For me riding give me some kind of high and rush and feel free.

The only reason I bought a CBR was was because CBR does pretty good on street and as well in the track. I did a day in track this year and so far CBR has been not bad ..although R6 kills it better in track ..leans a lot better and forgives more.(for me)

@deoneofakind upload a pic of your bike too brah. I will upload mine shortly

well here is my baby
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxEl6kW71GqqTjJITTBXRFNwdlE/view?pref=2&pli=1

@fdpower - I've been wanting to do a track day @ summit point....but wify won't let me :( even tho I've told her and tried by best to convince her that track is a lot safer than street riding. Plus i don't have a one piece suit yet which is mandatory. So for now my "track" days are in the farmland of maryland..lol. I found a few good set of roads in the farmland with the twisties. I even found a particular section that reminds me of laguna seca track....a good straight quarter mile full throttle, hit the brakes hard then a very sharp almost 90 degree left, followed by the famous laguna seca cork screw with the elevation and all. I hit this weekly both direction and i find it safe because ur surrounded by corn fields.

Just added my bike as the profile pic.

Beautiful bikes!!

Just posting to keep the thread alive.

I had an interesting weekend and would like to share.

I guess I did not tighten the bolts on the fender holding my tags properly. As i was was taking off from a stop sign I heard a noise in my tire/chain area. The tags fell to the chain and was cut half. The tire looks fine,however there is a one spiral line of scratch on the tire. Not sure if it is safe. It is right of the mid section of the tire so I was scared it would slip on the curves. Your thoughts please.

Also during the ride , we had a newbie riding almost crashed his cbr 500. He was not able to hold the line on a curve and went to the curb and eventually stopped in the grass. He is safe and the bike was snot damaged.

One thing I realized while riding with some of the new guys is that they were making it very complicated and over-prepared themselves in lieu of safety. I believe riding is 80 percent confidence and 20 percent technique , at least to the basic level. The curve that he overshot was was not a sharp curve at all , he probably was going 30mph and since I have seen him ride back home ..he would be fine riding a pulsar on the same kind of curve in BaraBise.
When I first got my bike , I just rode it ..I did not go crazy on it but I did not care for techniques and over-prepare. I was careful but I was definitely not scared. I found the bigger bikes handle and perform lot better than the tiny 150 -200CC .

Just a thought, What do you guys think ?

Sorry to hear about the mishap, fdpower.

I unfortunately don't have much to say in regards to the tire (due to lack of enough knowledge), but I'd check the tire pressure and make sure there are no anomalies for assurance. A scratch, unless it's significantly deep shouldn't hinder the tire's ability to maintain its traction though.

'Overthinking' while riding is dangerous. I have had moments when the results were suddenly unexpected, and against my favor while trying to intentionally maneuver the machine. The subconscious works well in most cases, which is what helps us retain confidence; but there are certain things I've noticed that are worth knowing and consciously repeating to make sure we know how we are actually handling the bike and continue remaining safe on the road. Skills like counter-steering and throttle blipping were something I had (and we all do) unconsciously developed and had been doing all the time, but had a hard time understanding how and why I was using those techniques!

Proper throttle control and counter-steering are probably the two most important skills in cornering. Perhaps your riding buddy could have avoided that situation with such techniques if carried out consciously.

RE: the bike size and handling:
Bigger bikes (engine-wise) certainly handle better. You can swerve them faster due to higher power and torque, the larger wheel-base provides enhanced traction, and you typically get better mechanical dynamics such as stronger brakes, thicker rear tires, etc to be on par with the engine size.

Looking forward to hearing more stories of experience and lessons learned!

~@~