Ok, so Dirk's thread got me thinking and we do have a LOT of awesome riders on here offering to help train those who are new to our addiction. I thought I would share some things I've learned along the way. As with all advice, it is simply that, advice. If you find it helpful, great, if not, cool.
1) Remember that for n00b riders, every moment on a motorcycle can feel like A Moment as they say in Motogp. Things that seem as simple as making a left hand turn from a stop light can be absolutely terrifying to a new rider (raises hand, my first few left hand turns were a disaster). About 90% of the new riders I talk to find riding really, really hard, but so fun they won't give it up. Keep that in mind. If it's been a long time since you've felt any sort of panic on a bike, since you've felt human, not invincible, try and put yourself in a place where something new was terrifying, not for a moment, but for turn after turn after stoplight after highway entrance. Yes, most of them will get better with time, but it's not instant. Things you take for granted and do without thought require a tremendous amount of brain power on their part to do. Patience and try not to give them that, "Why aren't you getting this." look.
2) A new rider is not always able to describe what is wrong with any accuracy. They only know that the bike is not responding the way you say it should. Do not automatically discount what they are saying just because they are new. Listen and work with them to see if it's technique or something on their bike or maybe something in their head that can be fixed.
Two examples:
a) I spent the summer of 2010 miserable. I knew I was a better rider but each time I went out, corners were terrifying. Everyone under the sun kept telling me different techniques and some of them helped a little, but I never got faster really and would end each ride extremly frusterated with myself. It wasn't until I bought my Z and Spooph rode my SV home that the problem was discovered. My front suspension had been damaged in my wreck in 2009 and I had been basically riding without fluid in my front forks, so pretty much no front suspension. The bike would dip badly entering a turn and then wallow the whole way through trying to stand upright. He told me he wouldn't ride that bike again if I paid him and then gave me props for sticking with it like I did. I had taken the SV to the dealership to have it checked after the accident and they assured me it was fine, although they didn't ride it so not sure how they could tell by just looking. They're the dealership, they should know better right ;-)? I had talked to many different riders and they all assumed I was using improper technique. Had someone checked my bike, the problem would have presented itself quickly and I was too new to know the difference. Could be mechanical.
b) I took the Advanced Rider Course spring of 2012. At that time, I had a good 50,000 miles under my belt, and felt alright about taking the course. The only problem was, I sucked at slow speed maneuvers and I knew it. The riding portion of the class made me break out in a cold sweat, but I figured the worst that could happen is I drop the bike and replace some plastics. I was right, and miserable right from the first exorcise which had us doing v turns around cones spaced about 10 feet apart. I could do most of them by basically forcing the nose around and using the brake, but that only gets you so far. I almost got kicked out and I told the instructors I didn't know what was wrong but the bike wasn't able to turn like they asked me too. Maybe I needed to get the suspension checked. Later on, an instructor saw what I was doing wrong. It wasn't the bike, it was because I was not wiggling my hips. It was a revelation. I knew I was supposed to do that at high speed but had been told very early on not to do it at low speed (probably because I was very very wobbly early on and they didn't want me to fall over). Suddenly the class became a breeze.
Remember, they really don't know what they are doing and are not always easily able to figure it out or even vocalize what the problem is. Listen and ask questions until the issue is resolved.
3) Remember to tell the newer rider that you will be over exaggerating your movements and that they won't need to make such big movements and smaller is better esp at the speeds they are going. Turns out I was mimicking exactly what Spooph and Spiderman were doing, but I wasn't going fast enough which tightened my lines and pulled me too sharply into curves. Once I gentled my movements and then went faster, everything got a lot less ZMOG I'm gonna crash.
To all the folks who spent countless hours waiting for me on rides, who gave me advice, who patiently explained the whys and hows, Thank you! To all those riders who are willing to pass on their knowledge and take a n00b under their wing, thank you!
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