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First ride on my Newchurch!

5K views 35 replies 20 participants last post by  Rockyaj1 
#1 ·
Today was my first ride on my Newchurch, and the first ride on any bike in 26 years. This is the first bike I have ever owned and Wow, I love her!

As the manager of Summit Point Motorsports Park in West Virginia, I have the luxury of having multiple road courses to ride on without worrying about traffic or pedestrians. My plan this morning was to take the bike to a large paved area and practice low speed maneuvers to get a feel for the bike. I ended up on our Shenandoah Course, a 2.1 mile 20 turn road racing circuit that is easily the most technical track on the east coast. But I get ahead of myself.

The first ride was to take change to our front gate from our main office, a short little ride that had me so nervous I never got out of first gear. Regardless I posted online like a giddy schoolboy about it. A friend who is a former national motocross champion called me shortly after.

"Motoman!", he says. "This is what I want you to do. Go to a large paved area where you have room to do figure 8s. I want you to stand on your pegs and then lift your right leg. After that do it again with the left leg. Then I want you to sit down and practice turning and weight the outside peg as you turn. After that, I want you to push down on the inside grip as you turn. Do this and call me back and tell me how it goes."

So naturally I headed to the tightest road course on the property.

I have many miles on this track since it was built in 2004. All in cars ranging from a Mazda Protege to a MINI Cooper S to my current Boss 302. I know it well. Not to mention the countless laps instructing students through various exercises in Police Interceptors. So I rode and did what my buddy suggested, mostly. I never got the nerve to stand up and lift a leg, but I did try weighting the outside peg, pushing down on the inside grip. I rode maybe 4-5 laps and decided to take a break.

This afternoon I went back down and tried again. This time I paid more attention to the methods told to me. Pushing the bars seemed to make the bike change direction smoother and faster through the twisty sections of the track. I kept my speeds consistent, about 25 or so in turns and only up to 50 on the straights. I used only 3rd and 4th gear. Before I knew I was falling in love with the exhaust note of the bike. The way she gurgles when decelerating, the mellow tone as she accelerates. Eventually my hands started to get numb and I noticed my glasses seemed "fuzzy". An hour had passed before I knew it.

The fuzziness on my glasses was a bug splatter. Tomorrow I break out a full face helmet to address that issue. I will also be lucky enough to talk with a local club renting the track and get lots of tips and help. I can't wait to ride again tomorrow!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I think by far the New Church the best looking of all the Bonneville variants.

It's just a flat out sexy bike.

Getting out on that track is about the best way to learn the bike and improve the skills.

I would also recommend taking a safety course. These new courses are so much better then they were years ago, so much knowledge passed on from guys who have taken years to learn the tricks that keep them alive. The benefit to most of these courses is that you go away with exposure to tactics and principals that otherwise would have taken years to learn or may not ever have been learn without the course. If you take the course pay close attention to positioning in the lane or road under certain conditions, I have found positioning myself to increase my visibility and creating space away from those cars and entry points the key to staying out of trouble.
 
#4 ·
Sonic, a safety course is planned, just haven't picked a date yet.

900, I bought it used from Motorcycles of Dulles. They sold it new in May, then took it on trade for a new BMW. It had 1,000 miles on it when I got it yesterday, and the first service has been done. She now has 1,101 miles with 34 of those being done by me today.
 
#5 ·
Sounds like fun! Now go break it in. :D

Get some riding tips from Donnie Unger next time Duc Pond are up there for a track day. Should be next best to getting tips from Reg Pridmore. ;)

Handling the bike is one thing. Next is road craft and survival. Find some skilled old geezers to ride behind and watch whatever they do and ask yourself why. Far better than any MSF course IMO and with the added plus that you'll learn all the best lines. :)
 
#8 ·
Having places like a controlled environment like a track to learn the mechanical ability of motorcycle control is a perfect opportunity - you are very lucky. I am jealous :)

FWIW, it sounds like you would already have some appreciation of what is involved in learning to operate a vehicle competently and to a high level given your line of work.

If you want to back it all up with some riding theory and don't have access to riding instructors (or even if you do), I often recommend the following 2 books to people (you may not be interested and there may be better around but I like these two):

Nick Inetsch Sport Riding Techniques and



I think both are very practical and suitable for any rider. Just a suggestion you may want to look at.
 
#11 ·
the red newchurch is my favorite bonneville, too. my bonneville is the first motorcycle ive ever ridden and i have a BLAST riding it any chance i get.

my wife and i took the MSF course last fall. we learned a lot and had fun, too. at the end of the course, our instructors told us that we are now capable and competent to ride motorcycles in a parking lot with no traffic. since buying my bike, ive clocked approx. 7k miles. in those 7k miles ive learned a lot, and still have MUCH more to learn

keep the rubber side down and go have fun!
 
#13 ·
Hello Lost Pony:
I too have instructed at your track, but confess I have never taken my Bonneville on one. I did however re-learn counter steering when I returned to riding after a two decade hiatus. And I took a rider safety course put on by the state of Ohio.
Now that you have this feel for the dynamics of the bike those twisty roads in WVA will be even more fun.
 
#15 ·
You have me envious, I walked into my dealer and passed up the Newchurch they had and went and bought my 2014 used. I really wish I would have thought about it more. Such a beautiful bike.
 
#17 ·
Like the other guys mentioned learning the right way in a safe environment is great but survival on today's streets is something else. A safety course would be great. One thing to be weary of is tunnel vision. Today we have many more challenges than we did 40years ago. Too many cars and young drivers texting and driving. Keep your head on a swivel and eyes on the full road ahead, sideways and even behind. A good mirror adjustment is helpful. If you can put some more miles on a closed course until things start to happen automatically your reflexes will tuned to your new bike. The Bonneville is the perfect starter bike, easy to handle and fun to ride. You've made a wise choice. Many of us long time riders come back to Bonneville for the pure enjoyment of the ride. Happy Trails and be aware.
 
#18 ·
Excellent choice the Newchurch. I only chose differently because I had to have wire spoke wheels. I think on balance the red beats the blue but I change my mind each time I see them together at my dealership.

Have fun, stick on a GoPro or five and let's see a video tour of your tracks with a Bonneville soundtrack!

Andy
 
#20 ·
Thanks for all the encouragement guys! I actually now have about 350 miles under my belt in just the 6 or 7 weeks that I've had the bike, and am taking my basic rider course this next weekend. I am getting more comfortable with her and am now shopping for exhaust and I am going to add a tach over the Winter.

This bike sure gets a lot of attention from others! So many comments from people that used to own them back in the day, and even people that don't ride telling me "Now thats what a bike should look like". I also like the suggestion above to do a video tour of the tracks, so I will get to work on that!
 
#21 ·
UPDATE*

Many thanks to all who posted about a MSF course, I just completed a 3 day basic course this afternoon, and am now a freshly minted licensed rider! I learned a lot, and also learned I have much more to learn! I lost points for putting a foot down on the tight u-turns, that exercise plagued me all day! I also lost a point or two for having to adjust my speed on the 135* turn because I entered too fast. In my defense the instructor did say it was timed, and my competitive nature took over! I aced the written test, and can't wait until tomorrow to take my bike for a ride to DMV and make it official.

PS, The video tour of Summit Point will be coming, just not sure when!
 
#22 ·
Looking forward to the guided tour :) I found the feet up u-turn plagued me until I finally put total trust in the bike. "It WILL go wherever you look" became my mantra and after that I relaxed, looked around and right over my shoulder and just turned the handlebars. Of course the bike described a smooth, tight turn and all I had to do was not fiddle with the throttle. Clever bike!

Andy
 
#23 ·
I too struggled as a new rider to do the u-turns at low speed. The trick that made a big difference for me on the Bonneville T100 SMQ was just leave the throttle at idle or slightly over, and not to adjust it through the turn...too jerky & unsettled the balancing act. Speed controlled solely by clutch and/or dragging the rear brake. In fact keeping the rear brake on all the way through the turn and feathering it for speed control was quite nice as well. Counter balancing also worth doing (leaning body to outside of the turn as the bike leans to the inside) and of course the "look where you want to go" mantra!

Enjoy!
 
#24 ·
You (perhaps most of us) need to learn how to brake HARD w/o skidding. Practice makes perfect.

Out on the streets, obstacles come at you in all directions, and you need to anticipate moronic cage moves and be prepared to avoid them. It helps to believe that they are all out to get you.
 
#25 ·
Your so right, keeping a good following distance is key to giving you time ans space to perform evasive maneuvers, quick effective breaking is a learned skill. Bonnevilles don't have ABS but the discs are very effivtive. I really don't know but it seems that cars stop in a shorter distance. So giving space between you and the car in front is crucial.
 
#26 ·
Does anyone really how or what stops quicker? A bike or car. And A Bonneville or a car? Bonnevilles aren't known to be super high performance bikes. We know they aren't the fastest but how much quicker does a high performance bike stop? ABS breaks would be comforting if they were available on the Bonnevilles and other classics. But Triumph doesn't even offer the option. I don't believe. The experience level of the rider is probably the most thing in emergency breaking. So practice is important.
 
#28 ·
It stops a LOT faster with a decent front tire. :cool:
 
#29 ·
Braking distance for bikes can be effected by a number of things, same as cars. Comparing the two directly is difficult at best, impossible without setting the parameters for the comparison. My 2012 Boss 302 out accelerates, corners and likely out brakes my Bonneville, but is that a fair comparison?

The Boss is made for performance. It has large 14" front brakes with 4 piston calipers and I added a set of pads with a more aggressive compound than stock. The tires are slightly larger than stock too, now 265 vs 255 stock front, and 295 vs 285 stock rear. All that grippy rubber helps her stop quickly and predictably. Best distance I found online for distance was 108' from 60.

The Bonneville is no performance machine. Best I could find online for distance was 117', but I think that not fair to compare. Surely with bigger rubber and more aggressive compound for pads she would stop better. Now while I did "very well" to quote my MSF instructor, in straight line emergency braking on the little 250 training bike, I'm not sure how well I would do in real life on the Bonneville.

I think it best to say that both need about the same amount of room for stopping, but prudence suggest leaving a little more room on the bike, and always look for a way out. Which by the way is how I drive anyway even in a car.

And yes, they are all out to get us, no matter what you're in or on!
 
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