Oldie newbie

New here? Come in and introduce yourself
Post Reply
User avatar
markbo
Posts: 124
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:57 am
Location: Paddock Wood, Kent

Oldie newbie

Post by markbo »

Hi all
I’m a back to bikes biker - took delivery of Gary’s (from rugby) yellow firestorm yesterday (he told me he’s been on this forum for a while so i think a few of you will know him (and the bike)).
First time on a bike for 35 (yes that’s 35) years – last one was a Yamaha xs500 which i think i gave to my brother in 1981 but he’s denying all knowledge since i asked him what happened to it (although my memory is telling me he used it as part exchange for the mg roadster which is now sitting in his garage)
Took delivery (via PJS Transwift who did an excellent job of bringing the bike down here to sunny Kent) and i have to admit to a few butterflies when i jumped on, wondering how to put it into gear, how to even change gear, what the hell am i doing.....etc.
Half an hour later ..... now i remember .... except i don’t remember this much power on tap, or this much acceleration!
Suddenly i feel 19 years old again - until it comes to going round corners, isn’t the bike going to fall over if i lean too far? I seem to remember scraping my knees on the road before but it goes against all my instincts to do that now, and what the hell do you do at roundabouts!!
Learning curve is steep but at least it’s one i’ve been up before, just hoping i don’t fall before i get to the top... literally!
Looking forward to many years of biking and thanks for the wealth of knowledge available here – my mechanics skills are as rusty as my biking ones.

Mark
User avatar
Kev L
Posts: 11231
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:57 pm
Location: Hertford, England

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by Kev L »

Welcome to the club mate, :thumbup:
Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero
F3, 954 USD front, K Tech springs, Braced swinger, Penske shock, Six spoke Mockesini wheels, Harris rearsets, QaT, Flywheel diet!, A&L stacks, stick coils, K&N, FP Ti jets, lashings of Ti & CF
User avatar
Flatline
Posts: 3453
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:30 am
Location: Leeds

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by Flatline »

Welcome aboard buddy

Glad you are enjoying the bike
Virt
Posts: 6793
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2012 12:35 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by Virt »

You've got yourself a bloody good firestorm mate, but now i need to go down the road and shout at Gary :lol:

Welcome :thumbup:

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Slowly approaching the more bikes than birthdays achievement
User avatar
markbo
Posts: 124
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:57 am
Location: Paddock Wood, Kent

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by markbo »

Virt wrote:You've got yourself a bloody good firestorm mate, but now i need to go down the road and shout at Gary :lol:

Welcome :thumbup:

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
don't do that he was a perfect gentleman, he didn't even want to sell the bike to me unless i saw it first!
am i glad i persuaded him otherwise - i just hope i can get some of the potential out of it.
User avatar
markbo
Posts: 124
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:57 am
Location: Paddock Wood, Kent

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by markbo »

Flatline wrote:Welcome aboard buddy

Glad you are enjoying the bike
i'm LOVING the bike - the question is, what does it think of me??
User avatar
AMCQ46
Posts: 16588
Joined: Mon May 11, 2009 4:54 pm
Location: Worcestershire / Warwickshire border

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by AMCQ46 »

Welcome to the yellow club :thumbup:
AMcQ
User avatar
markbo
Posts: 124
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:57 am
Location: Paddock Wood, Kent

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by markbo »

AMCQ46 wrote:Welcome to the yellow club :thumbup:
uploaded an "avatar" of my other yellow machine
User avatar
markbo
Posts: 124
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:57 am
Location: Paddock Wood, Kent

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by markbo »

i've just remembered that i had a question i wanted to ask (senior moment brought on by the excitement of the new bike!).
Gary fitted manual cct's - the word manual implies they need some sort of human involvement, is that the case and if so what do i need to do and when?
User avatar
lloydie
Posts: 20923
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:16 pm
Location: In the garage somewhere in Coventry

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by lloydie »

markbo wrote:i've just remembered that i had a question i wanted to ask (senior moment brought on by the excitement of the new bike!).
Gary fitted manual cct's - the word manual implies they need some sort of human involvement, is that the case and if so what do i need to do and when?
Hello and welcome .
The manuals won't need adjusting for at least 15k if at all .
Hope you enjoy the bike after all them years without one ,might be worthwhile short shifting first gear for a while till your used to the front wheel lifting again :-)
User avatar
agentpineapple
Posts: 15124
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:16 pm

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by agentpineapple »

welcome to the forum buddy, i'm in east London, not to far from paddock wood, there's a few members in your area, one of them (tony mon) is having a get together over the bsb brands weekend later this month, maybe you can pop along, take it easy on the bike to begin with mate, they ain't the most powerful of bikes, but still plenty powerful enough to get your sphincter pulling on your pants :lol:
HEY YOU GUYS!!!!!!
lumpyv
Posts: 3392
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2010 6:54 am
Location: ipswich

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by lumpyv »

hello and welcome .

go steady till you get used to it :thumbup:
3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the worlds population.
User avatar
VTRDark
Posts: 20010
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:24 pm

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by VTRDark »

Welcome to the mad house :beer:

(:-})
==============================Enter the Darkside
User avatar
sirch345
Site Admin
Posts: 21856
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2003 10:35 pm
Location: The West Country.

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by sirch345 »

Welcome aboard Mark :thumbup: mind how you go,

Chris.
User avatar
markbo
Posts: 124
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:57 am
Location: Paddock Wood, Kent

Re: Oldie newbie

Post by markbo »

thanks for the encouragement and advice - i'll be taking it slow and get as much road time in as i can, weather permitting, i think i'll be a fair weather rider this time around !
Post Reply