Dear Sir:
1. I live in a suburb of San Diego, California called Del Mar.
2. I have been riding for three years.
3. I attended MSF Beginner Rider training in January of 2010, because I needed my license so I could ride at night. I wasn't able to complete the final exam, and retook the class in May of 2010 and completed the exam and got my license.
4. My riding experience has all been after my MSF class. I try to ride at least once per week for 25-30 miles.
5. I own a Road Glide
6. I have done one tour in Kuwait, and the rest of my duty has been stateside.
7.I like riding the coast, and to lunch somewhere on Sundays. I have yet to go on any rides far away.
8. I found the site by searching Google for harley cvo forum. You are the first that comes up. My dream is to own a CVO but I want to get confident in my riding first, and secure my financial future before jumping in head first to the cvo world.
Thank you for your note, Sir.
HeadAndEyes,
Thanks for the response, it helps us get to know you better. I know exactly where DelMar is as I live in SoCal too, along with many other members. As a matter of fact we are doing a ride today and you are invited to come along. I know it’s a last second invitation but we would like to meet you anyway. You can find information on the ride here
http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?topic=69132.msg959256#msg959256Let us know if you can make it to the meet up point and we’ll wait for you. If you run too late (30 mins or more), you can meet us at Neptunes Net.
I’m glad to see that you have formal training and that you ride weekly. That is important as it helps you gain more experience. In addition to your weekly rides I suggest some practice. Spend 15 mins before you head out on your weekly ride and practice one or two skills. The basics of head any eye placement as well as slow speed friction zone and rear brake drag. These are things that will help you in slow traffic.
As for splitting lanes, here are a couple of things that come to mind. Look at least 5 cars ahead. I know the temptation may be to look to the sides or at the closer cars but doing that will only pull you into those cars. A quick glance is okay. As you know, where you look is where you go, so practice head and eye placement. Believe it or not, the above suggested parking lot practice will help train your head and eye placement.
Review your riding habits as you may be a bit too aggressive. Proficient riding is about patience. If the gap between cars is not wide enough then wait till it is. Do the things you know will make you visible. Ride with your high beam on and try and it shine into the side mirrors of the cars to help announce your presence. Some cars will make room (I always thank those who do) and some won’t. So wait for the best opportunity. Do not linger between cars, but rather move fluidly to the open spaces between them. DO NOT ride in blind sports. Constantly move to make yourself visible. Imagine yourself to be a football player looking down field (head any eyes up) and running to daylight (moving to the open spaces). Be cognizant of the vehicles. Some trucks have really wide mirrors that stick out and those are probably what you are scuffing against. Be aware of the drivers. If they are distracted they will not see you at all and will wander into you. Lastly, don’t push it. If you are hungry, angry, tired, or carrying a passenger, lane splitting may not be the wise thing at the moment.
These are a few things that came to mind for now. Perhaps others will chime in their suggestions. Take what you like and leave the rest. Post up if you do not understand.
Don’t get too discouraged if some of the postings seem less than cordial. We are a cross cut of society and people being people, have all kinds of personalities. Our familiarity with each other allows us to have some leeway in discussion. Do not let our idle banter amongst each other turn you off. The more we get to know you the more comfortable you will become with us. That is why I invited you on todays ride. If you can’t make it, there will be others in the future for sure. I am going to PM you my phone number. If you can make the ride we can keep in text touch.
Are you military? I ask because of your assignment in Kuwait, and you called me sir. No need to do that here. Please call me Mark.
What’s your name?