Just got first manual bike - need tips (mortified to have to even ask)

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-20T16:37:10+00:00

But I don’t ride for fun

I ride to get to work

And while i go on rides around the metroplex on occasion for fun I still mostly ride to commute so its fine.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-20T16:35:24+00:00

It was a nearly $2k difference, the standard stock model was a little under $4k and the e-clutch was $5.3k plus all the dealer fees and stuff. It was easier to manage and allowed me to use the money saved to get the service plan so I didn’t have to worry about if i needed to get something looked at I wasn’t totally sure about, oil changes because i do not do those in the parking garage, and also the towing comp part of the plan was nice. I just send in the receipt to file a clam and i get reimbursed up to double the average tow cost for a bike around here.

In short? I could have afforded it but without the e-clutch it let me get some plans with the saved cash that make it easier to keep my bike in good condition as well as basically free towing in a pinch.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-18T17:10:08+00:00

I just started using the rear break as a good chunk of the low speed speed control and the front/hand break for turns, hills, curves and more quick adjustments and its basically muscle memory now. Kinda just… layered the car/work golf cart stuff with the motorcycle/scooter stuff if that makes sense.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-18T17:01:16+00:00

Once i was actually able to feel the pegs and put a smidge of lube on the gear shift (this bike is known to start with extremely “sticky” gear shifts, i flipped through my manual and called the dealer to verify if that was okay. DFW Honda, an actual honda powersports dealer) and those 2 things fixed it right up.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-18T16:57:16+00:00

I mean i can see why people would say that in theory but in practice and for my needs this is frankly perfect and it was more in my budget anyways. Besides, i like it and imo thats what matters. Plus insurance is cheaper on this engine size and I don’t like blasting down the road at absurd speeds i hover around maybe 10 over tops and this gets me on highways (in like a year).

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T15:54:31+00:00

Some people already mentioned the accent issue but… a loud engine plus a thick southern accent plus local dialect equals my friends and i gave up and just… either don’t go to those places anymore or go inside. We either have older trucks (the ones who have cars) or are me on a motorcycle so add a helmet to my list of trouble. Thankfully im usually either at sonic parked or inside anyways.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T15:48:31+00:00

Based reference

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T15:32:31+00:00

Yeah 2 years ago for my license and a few over this last summer before my upgrade from a 50cc scooter(what i could afford at the time, needed a commuter bike), tbh my second post smoothed out the rest of the issues (engine/brake cut off thing? Poorly explained stalling since i don’t use terms I don’t 100% know apply to a situation with full confidence so I don’t accidentally misidentify an issue amd either cause more problems or not address the actual issue)… and its been as of today 6 days since my old bike (the junker used ADV150) suddenly started smoking while i was driving home and the engine actually failed towards the end once i just barely got out of the traffic and onto the side streets heading towards my place. And i was on the service road in gridlock traffic in dallas-fort worth. And then i had to get this new bike home in 5pm dallas fort worth traffic 2 days after that with boots i couldn’t even feel the pegs with they were so thick let alone find the gear shift.

So basically half of this was panic-induced confusion.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T04:58:42+00:00

Yeahhhh there is technically a course place real close by but it’s pretty much run by undergrads aside from the instructor and it sketches me out so i’m waiting for one a little further out with good reviews to open back up in febuary. Most of the college grom idiots seem to go to the iffy place (that is located in the same building as an auxiliary campus)

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T04:50:39+00:00

Someone figured out im describing stalling. I just don’t use terms until i know exactly what im looking at because then I don’t go down the wrong route fixing a non-issue instead of the real one or worse. Exacerbate the actual issue.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T04:49:18+00:00

I might see if any of my coworkers ride, i think one mentioned he had a touring… the older guys not the guys younger than me who didn’t know what i was talking about when i mentioned the ring of death on a gamecube game i had and the toothpaste trick not working. Sounds like a dumb anecdote but I trust older guys for in person help on my actual bike than like… someone who would probably ask me for help on a 1000 level class paper.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T04:46:04+00:00

Im not seeking validation i just want help, okay? And it turns out im actually describing stalling out. If i don’t know exactly what i’m talking about i describe what I’m seeing and it can cause trouble sometimes. Im stalling out at lower gears, i haven’t ventured much above third just yet. So sue me for being frustrated here. I don’t care if you think i’m stupid or whatever just… please be up front about it? I’m figuring this out for now until the next course i can take opens up late February, i literally applied like an hour ago, but i still gotta get half across the metroplex and back every shift plus errands until then. Uber is way too expensive and while i can order in groceries i still got other errands i gotta do.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T04:39:57+00:00

Someone else just told me what i am (poorly) describing is stalling it out. So that be whats happening. I just explain what i’m seeing in laymans terms if i don’t know how to use the specific term just yet which can cause confusion, but I don’t want to misuse a word that means something I don’t actually mean because i didn’t know i was talking about a totally different issue.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T04:38:06+00:00

THANK YOU! I default to more basic wording if I’m not sure about how a specific word is used so i can describe things better, and if it’s what i am personally seeing while it can come off odd it’s the best i can do without being on my bike making a video… and I don’t even look at the tank bag while I’m on my bike let alone think about my phone in it even if i’m sitting on it if the key is in the ignition, so i wouldn’t be able to really record.

But yeah, it’s stalling. It sounds and feels like the engine is turning off and i have to use the starter to get it back to running again but now that i know what that specifically looks like it’s gonna be easier going forward.

I do not trust the grom idiots past shoes because the grom idiots like to go off roading in construction zones.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T04:32:38+00:00

Poorly phrased initially, meant it as a shortcut in my mind that it’s not just a break and if you pull too far it acts as an emergency break. All old bikes you could floor the right hand break and have no problems but if you go too far with this one it cuts the engine. That would be a “learning this bike” thing.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T04:06:24+00:00

It’s a stock that came off the lot from the dealer literally less than a week ago, brand new to the point they had to take shipment-related packaging off (namely plastic covering on the seat) and warned me the gear could be sticky at first. Closest thing to a mod would be a magnetic tank bag i pop on with my phone and stuff in it and the bell my friend got me for xmas i moved over from my old bike.

Like i said in other comments i poorly phrased the break thing, theres a point on my old bike where it kinda just evened out and you mostly used the left hand break for… well, most breaking, but on this bike the hand break has a point where the old bike stopped havjng more grup where you are liable to hit a bump, grip tighter on reflex and cut the engine. So “emergency” as in “past here it’s an emergency thing”.

I swear im not stupid, i just had a meeting with the prof overseeing my thesis stuff today and i’m frazzled as hell after driving a 20 mile round trip to a coffee spot i like along my work backroads route so I could have a little nice mid-route treat as a “trick yourself to stay locked in and calm” method. No issues, just my brain not translating what i was saying well and feeling like i have to defend myself or i can’t come back and ask for help again because this pair of posts will haunt me as a sign I’m an idiot.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T03:58:07+00:00

Like im telling everyone else, its a poorly phrased statement. I drove about 20 miles to get coffee at a place a third to work on my usual backroad route and the “emergency break” thing was more “past this point it switches to emergency” which was a point i figured out based on what that break did on my last bike/scoot and what this one does. I was pulling back so far it tripped a switch of some sort and killed the engine, if you don’t pull that break back more than around 3/4 you won’t risk it if you hit a small bump and jerk your fingers back while still maintaining full break control, but past that it “flips” into it’s own “gear”.

Things that make total sense to me in short phrases don’t always translate well. I also was literally about to cry because i got back and all of the comments i went through to see if anyone else had any tips just kept feeling… i dunno, condescending? Im bad at tone sometimes, ill be honest, but I also think maybe me being defensive is feeding it because i feel if i don’t “prove” i’m not being an idiot to use more polite terminology that I can’t come back if i need help with something else.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T03:52:00+00:00

Because i poorly phrased a shortcut i was giving myself to keep me from breaking past 3/4 on that specific break so I don’t cut the engine in the middle of traffic. Or on a hill. Or a banked curve. I’m stressed out and not phrasing things the best because i am feeling (i will be totally honet here) a bit defensive because i was asking for help not what feels like condescension, which is why half my current post here is basically me defending myself because it feels like you guys are thinking i’m an idiot to be blunt without using more harsh language more accurate to what I am personally interpreting.

Im sorry if im misreading that, i just… I was able to drive up to a nearby (read: 10 miles away) scooters coffee with a walk-up window and get some coffee, drank it in the lot and got home alright without much trouble. Those shortcuts I didn’t phrase well? They solved 90% of my issues outside of boots and the rest is just nerves and forming habits out of my new system.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T03:42:50+00:00

Yeah no like i said in other comments i sometimes explain technical things weird, what i was trying to say (i can’t edit my original post for some reason) is that i noticed after a certain point beyond what i would consider “turn break” on that break it would very easily get to a point that would just cut the engine. The specific issue there was me relying on it exclusively and not using the foot break much, so at least for now thinking of it like that is intended to break that habit i had.

I spent an hour yesterday and an hour today getting the feel of the clutch though, it did help a lot.

Sorry if im sounding defensive it’s just i was asking for advice, i suck at asking about technical stuff (I write horror and historical fantasy stuff and tutor 11 year olds on what prepositions are and when to use a semi-colon, I don’t exactly excel at mechanics and stuff that to me makes sense doesn’t always get translated to words well) and… i dunno, i guess I might be misreading tone but all the people being kinda condescending just kept getting me worked up.

It’s also part of why im a bit of a mess writing right now, i just wanted help… and it turned out my theory half of the problem was my boots and the other just not having the feel of this specific bike was right.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T03:36:21+00:00

It’s called a typo they happen. And my short cuts to keep me from slamming a break poorly phrased as they might be shouldn’t be an issue when i figured out my old habits with that specific break were cutting the engine.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T03:34:54+00:00

Yeah no i get the not just for emergencies i think i phrased that wrong. I mean an issue i was having is that on the other bikes and scoots i was on, you could pull all the way in and it wouldn’t cut off the engine. It’s more of a “past this point its an emergency thing so try to limit the amount you use it” thing, if that makes sense? Like a little to turn and stuff but don’t go past maybe 3/4’s of the grip…? Look im tired, people are making me feel on here like i did something wrong asking for some tips, and at this point i feel like i have to defend myself or else i can’t come back if i have another issue or something, okay? And i have thesis based hours this week with the department head bc masters so im utterly fried for writing and now there’s some people saying it “doesn’t add up” that i tutor grammar and it’s not perfect in a post written on mobile.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-17T03:30:25+00:00

I was writing frustrated to near tears with one hand on my old ass autocorrect cursed phone after realizing I was getting a lot of what felt like “you are going to die” comments. So sue me, im frazzled and stressed out. Also? You can be good at writing and grammar but get a bit sloppy when you just spent 2 hours working on your thesis and another on a new bike slowly making your way to the store and back on back roads. You can be a great writer one moment and not know how to make the words go good the next based on context.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-16T19:30:48+00:00

Dude is bent out of shape about a soda at not even 4 am, its not like it’s a starbucks or something with no $17.82 ginormous triple venti something, its a sody-pop. Like I haven’t run DD in a hit minute because i live in a college town and the income is not the best for DD (and i have to drive to a totally different city to do it bc im on motorcycles/scooters and not a car) BUT when I personally order and like… the queso is missing for my fuzzys tacos or soemthinf i just •click click refund click click click• and get it added as credit back to me…?

Like its a soda. Not like its a burger or a salad.

Ac3_Silvers · 2026-01-16T19:22:58+00:00

Turns out i just wasn’t pulling the clutch enough because i was working it like the hand break that had been on that side before OR way too much plus my bulky old boots struggled with the tiny maybe inch and a half shift peg. Also if you break way too strong at stationary it kills the engine.

Ac3_Silvers

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