By Jason (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #158) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 12:43 pm: |
Yes, you read right. I'm a 30yr old who has never had to learn how to drive a stick.
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By jennifer Eveleth (BonaireTalker - Post #34) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 1:13 pm: |
Hi Jason;
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By bob (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2153) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 1:27 pm: |
I learned the stick on the way home from the car dealer...
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By Pauline Word (BonaireTalker - Post #29) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 1:41 pm: |
Don't feel bad I'm a little older and never learned either. Fortunately my other half does because I checked and it was about $200 more for an automatic on Bonaire. Ouch!
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By jennifer Eveleth (BonaireTalker - Post #35) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 1:47 pm: |
or you could not over-analyze and just follow bob's suggestion...
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By jennifer Eveleth (BonaireTalker - Post #36) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 1:52 pm: |
Along that though, I actually teach my kids (one down, 2 to go) how to drive a stick as soon as possible after they can drive, as I want to make sure that if they are out with friends who have over-partied, they can take the wheel even if it is a stick. I think it is a safety issue
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5566) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 2:48 pm: |
Hi Jason, Find a friend who has a stick and have them teach you or go to a driving school and have an instructor teach you a few times out and you should be fine. Don't feel bad, I didn't know how to do stick either when I first was going to the islands, but hubby did and then I wanted to drive and I couldn't as it was stick all the time. Got frustrating, so one year, Hubby brought home an old oil truck, jeez I needed a ladder to get into it, but I drove that thing around town here till I got the hang of it, and then I was ready to try it out on Bonaire. It did help that I had a computer print out sheet on how to: 1. Start it up 2. put it in gear, 3, how to go up a hill ect which was a big help when I go myself on island as my mind tends to forget. Funny,now I actually own a stick truck on island and drive it with no problems, I can remember stalling at times here or there, but as long as you know how to start it back up, you will be fine. Practice, practice, and if I can actually learn it, you can too! Have fun learning. Brings back some funny memories of me learning that I think about it! Hills are the hardest to get. Still don't like stick, but it is a lot cheaper.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5567) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 2:54 pm: |
Oh, I got my info sheet from 10w40.com Found it under: How to drive a manual transmission. Hey, I still carry it with me to refresh my memory every trip and I go at least three times a year. Very informative and makes you feel easy about driving a stick. Gives instructions on what gear you should be in when stopping at a red light for a period of time, vs, just a stop sign. Check it out. Good stuff.
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By jennifer Eveleth (BonaireTalker - Post #38) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 3:00 pm: |
Hi Debbie, I love manual transmissions. I had to buy a Subaru when Rose learned to Drive in East Brunswick because all we had was a Honda with a manual and a Suburban. She almost took out the school's baseball team one Saturday morning in the Suburban. So we got the Subaru. Great choice in New Jersey with all the wet road conditions, very safe.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5568) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 3:20 pm: |
Hi Jason, I found the website with the info I was telling you about: http://www.10w40.com/individual/100186.asp
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By Kelly (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5495) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 3:47 pm: |
I HAD to have a Toyota Celica back in the 80's and it was a stick... my (now ex) husband had to drive it home from the dealership and then teach me how. But I HAD to have that car.
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By jennifer Eveleth (BonaireTalker - Post #39) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 7:32 pm: |
wow kelly you are brave with the BMW stick in Ohio. I was worried about wet roads and such, not so much me but for the kids. Actually NOW I am trying to get my husband to buy me a BMW. I've been driving the mom-mobiles and wanted something zippier, but I think I am left with the mom-mobile for a while longer. Oh well.
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By Jason (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #159) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 9:35 pm: |
Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty familiar with the island...been there enough, so its more about not looking like a tourist. I know, I know...I probably do anyway, but atleast I know where to turn and where not to turn.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5572) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 9:40 pm: |
Jason, you got till October? Then no problemo, you will be a pro by then with driving stick! That instruction manual for driving stick really helps, I printed the whole thing out and take it every trip with me everytime I go. Driving automatic really spoils us. Still think it is a lot of work driving stick, but I am glad I learned how.
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By Bill Thorpe (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #169) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 11:22 pm: |
Jason
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By Jason (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #160) on Friday, July 6, 2007 - 12:50 am: |
I think im gonna do that, they will have to know why i requested a manual trans though..hehe
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By Sue from NJ (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #637) on Friday, July 6, 2007 - 8:40 am: |
my first car was manual VW beetle. fabulous car - it had a cranky starter, so I met lots of guys at parties when I needed to be pushed down the street to get it started...
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By Kelly (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5499) on Friday, July 6, 2007 - 8:59 am: |
Alas the BMW is gone now and I have a mom car.. actually two mom cars ! A Nissan Xterra and a Toyota Matrix which I LOVE. Loved the Bmer more, though....
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By Tribs, AKA Jah-neen (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4518) on Friday, July 6, 2007 - 10:47 am: |
Well...the car dealer taught me. We were looking at cars and because of cost they kept trying to put me into a stick shift. I finally blurted out that I couldn't drive stick. Off we went, in a dealer's car, to the local high school and he taught me how to drive it in about 15 minutes. A lot of the newer vehicles have cheater lights that turn on when you should shift. I think that takes the fun out of it, but does make it a lot easier when learning how to drive a stick.
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By jennifer Eveleth (BonaireTalker - Post #41) on Friday, July 6, 2007 - 2:07 pm: |
I "get" to drive the Chevy Suburban so you can take half the soccer team on the road. Ugh. Now days I drive the suburu, as it is paid for and available for the next kid to learn on. Before kids and many moons ago, we had a Triumph TR-6. Loved that car, but couldn't afford to maintain it. Cried when I sold it.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5575) on Friday, July 6, 2007 - 2:17 pm: |
I had the softball van, soccer van when the kids were younger. Finally, I got a Toyota Camry with sun roof and sport model, don't know the right name of it as I am not so good with car types, but it is nice and my daughter tells me I should give it to her as it is too cool for me. Hubby now drives a van due to work, buying big toys, hauling the Carolina skiff to the water and such.
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By jennifer Eveleth (BonaireTalker - Post #42) on Friday, July 6, 2007 - 3:30 pm: |
oh yeah Debbie, we were driving up the 287 to Peapack from East Brunswick for soccer twice a week. In Ice and Snow. Fun. I had the dad do that run, or I would of used up a couple of lives
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By MadMan (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #145) on Friday, July 6, 2007 - 6:16 pm: |
I hate driving automatics. Keep hitting the break pedal when i want to shift and i am looking for the clutch pedal. I never get used to that and always end up with pain in my neck. I have never owned anything else as a stick shift. I have driven a DAF variomatic once. Drives as fast forwards as it does backwards. H3ll that was fun until i almost turned her upside down.
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By Jeff Stine (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #137) on Friday, July 6, 2007 - 6:52 pm: |
I learned on a stick. I tried to teach my son. It was like trying to teach a pig to sing. It aggravated me and irritated the pig.
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By Kevin Wayne Williams (The Great Escape) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #383) on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 12:31 am: |
I refused to let my daughter drive an automatic until she had her license for a year. She thanked me later. Not enthusiastically, but she did it.
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By Jason (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #161) on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 6:12 am: |
Debbie, I looked over that document...read it through. Not sure if that was a good idea or not now..lol. Seems like a lot of stuff to remember. My dad and brother both know how to drive stick..really well too, so now I just need to find a car to MESS up.
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By Koma a.k.a. Tom C. (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4677) on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 8:26 am: |
Jason, visit Kelly and Steve in Ohio, they love teaching people to drive stick AND you get to wreck a Beemers clutch in the process.
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By Bill Thorpe (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #172) on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 8:30 am: |
I also learned to drive on a stick, there is a cardinal rule about using the clutch, I was a truck driver in the Marine Corp.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5580) on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 12:56 pm: |
Jason, it really isn't that much to remember, but after driving auto here in the states, it is good to have something on paper for me to check before driving a stick again. Have your dad or bro take you out for a spin in a large empty parking lot somewhere and get the hang of a clutch. Guaranteed to make you all laugh you butts off at first, then you will just "get it" and realize it really isn't so hard at all, just a different chain of events that brake and gas pedal, that's all. You will shake, rattle and roll for a while, we all did in the beginning, shoot, I did it myself this past trip in my parking lot area as I forgot I was driving a stick. My neighbors got a chuckle out of that one...
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By jennifer Eveleth (BonaireTalker - Post #44) on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 1:15 pm: |
jason you won't wreck the clutch!! you might not get 180K out of it like Bill, but you won't wreck it. We taught our daughter to drive our manual trans. Accord. It has 90K on it, and the clutch is still perfect. Get your bro to help out. It will take an hour or so and you will feel so confident in Bonaire in that dive truck rental. One less thing to worry about.
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By Jason (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #162) on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 1:36 pm: |
I'll get my dad to help me....my brothers name is Richard, which means he also has another name that is more fitting for him right now.
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By pat murphy (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1225) on Sunday, July 8, 2007 - 4:49 pm: |
ok..this won't work for you before you go to bonaire because you won't have enough time but....when i taught my kids to drive stick it was on a snow-covered parking lot. the snow/ice allowed the tires to skid a little if they let the clutch out too fast but they didn't stall the car. after about 30 minutes of stop and go in an empty parking lot they were doing great.
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By Jason (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #164) on Sunday, July 8, 2007 - 9:57 pm: |
Pat,
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By Bill Thorpe (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #174) on Sunday, July 8, 2007 - 10:10 pm: |
Jason
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By Jason (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #165) on Sunday, July 8, 2007 - 11:11 pm: |
Yeah, I've had it past that on the southern part of the island....I know, im on vacation i should take it slower. Sometimes i cant help it.
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By Jane Rene Dozier (BonaireTalker - Post #48) on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - 12:56 am: |
At least you'll learn where you can drive on the right side of the road! When we first moved to Okinawa (where we learned to dive), I not only had to do the stick shift (automatics were virtually unheard of), but had to drive on the left side of the road! aughhh!!! Fortunately, top speed on the island was 50kph (about 35mph)so there wasn't any high speed chases going on! On the other hand, traffic was so close, you could reach out and touch the next car! I digress...Except for in Kral. itself, there isn't a lot of traffic on Bonaire, so don't get too worked up about it. You'll be fine!
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By Clare (BonaireTalker - Post #18) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 - 12:35 pm: |
I'm with Bob - I learned after buying a stick almost 15 years ago... I've never gone back to automatic!
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By bob (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2213) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 - 8:04 pm: |
you can do 100 km/hr easy down by the salt mines...but with both windows down - wicked breeze thru the truck's open windows - too much - blows the air away and one can not breath
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By Kevin Wayne Williams (The Great Escape) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #389) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 - 10:44 pm: |
Slow down would be the better option, Bob. Why would you want to go nearly twice the limit?
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By Jason (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #173) on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 11:37 pm: |
An update on this adventure...
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By Jason (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #207) on Sunday, October 21, 2007 - 3:39 pm: |
Ok, I'm back. No accidents, a couple stalls, a little bit of jerking...but overall a success.
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By Bill Thorpe[less than 10 days] (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #262) on Sunday, October 21, 2007 - 4:57 pm: |
Glad you enjoyed driving a stick! Once you start driving a manual transmission on a regular basis, a good gauge to how your doing is how many miles you get on the vehicle before replacing the clutch. I'm driving an 03 Nissan Frontier with 155k, and the original clutch--and I'm seeing some minor signs that it's getting to be that time.
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