Custom Mods...

It’s been awhile since my last post, that’s partly because it just got too hot to ride for awhile, but mostly because my bike was in the shop. We had to take them in for the 500 mile service, which was reasonably fast. But, I had been noticing that the more and more time I spent on the bike, the more and more sore my back was becoming because I had to lean forward slightly to reach the handle bars. I asked what could be done about that and the first suggestion was just to rotate the bars (fast and cheap!). I tried that for a week and it was super scary! The hoses and cables were too short in that configuration and when the handle bars were turned all the way to the right, the engine revved, when they were turned all the way to the left, the clutch wouldn’t engage. In fact, I sometimes I had trouble engaging the clutch on the street. I was so scared that I didn’t even want to ride it like that!

The next solution was “risers”. These are fairly common, but because our bikes are so new, most manufacturers didn’t know how they would work yet – would the hoses be ok? Etc. So, the good people at Freewheelin’ spent a lot of time on the phone figuring this out for me. They finally found some chrome risers. This was a bit iffy as the original ones were black and we weren’t sure how the chrome would look. But, I knew I wanted to be comfortable and safe above all else, so we went with it.

Let me just tell you, they look great!!! DH is totally jealous now! AND, the best part is that I can bend my arms a little and stretch my back out when I’m riding. I’m really happy with this modification!

In fact, I was so happy about it AND the fact that the weather has finally cooled off, that I spent ALL day Saturday on the bike!

Early that morning, it was about 55 degrees out and I knew I was going to ride the bike to the barn. I didn’t have much of a choice as DH had the car for golf and my farrier was going to be there at 9am. I suited up and decided to put the liner in my summer jacket. I thought that if I wore my hoodie under the lined jacket that I would be hot, so I shoved the hoodie in my backpack and headed out. About half way to the barn, my teeth started chattering and I sure wished I had worn that hoodie! Lesson learned: when the wind blows on you at 45-50mph, it feels a lot colder than it actually is!!! On the way home I wore the hoodie…

After DH got home, he wanted to take the bikes to get his hair cut. As we were suiting up, I saw him put on a long-sleeved t-shirt and just grab the outer mesh shell of his jacket. I said, “Umm… you’re gonna need the liner.” He argued about it, being from up north and all, but I finally harassed him to putting it in. When we got to our destination he looks at me and says, “You’re the best wife ever! You were right about the liner!” So we rode to lunch, then to get his hair cut, then to Freewheelin’ to find out about two-way communicators for our helmets (that’s a topic for another time).

We spent the whole day on the bikes and had a great time. I’m looking forward to more of this weather and putting more miles under those tires… though it may be time to start looking into a winter jacket!!!

First Solo Ride

Today, DH had the rental car to drive to the golf course, so I could have taken the car to the barn. But, sooner or later I’m going to have the bike over there by myself (can’t carry golf clubs on a bike). So, I decided that it would be sooner and I just felt like riding it over today. The roads had dried out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so what was to stop me?

I was going to have to wear my horseback riding boots and I knew that the gear shift on the bike was going to rub the leather on those. My solution… vet wrap! I had some around the house so I wrapped it twice around the toe of my left boot.

The next hurdle was going to be carrying my wallet (just in case), my garage opener and house keys (usually DH’s job), a towel (because it’s ungodly hot), and something to drink as we don’t have saddle bags yet. I decided a back pack would work and threw it all together, locked up the house, suited up, and set off.

This route is very familiar to me, I drive it at least once a week and had done it on the bike once before with DH along. I knew that the speed limits were all less than 45mph so I wouldn’t feel pressure to go faster than I might be comfortable with AND I knew there wouldn’t be too much traffic.

It was a FANTASTIC ride over! The only troublesome spot was one traffic light where I had to stop on a fairly significant hill. But, I handled it like I had been taught in my MSF class (right foot on the brake and engage the clutch before letting off the brake) and it went really well. I was a little nervous when I first left the house, but my confidence built with every mile I put beneath the tires.

I got to the barn right at the time my friend and I had agreed upon for the trail ride. They all LOVED my bike! I parked it kinda off the drive, in the dirt, under and between trees so no one would run into it and the seat wouldn’t get too hot. The “coaster” that I got at my MSF course to put under my kick-stand on very hot asphalt or “mushy” surfaces really came in handy. Thanks to the backpack I had everything I needed. I enjoyed my horsey trail ride AND my ride back home on the bike.

I’m thrilled to death that I did it myself and did it safely. Loving every minute!

Riding in the Rain

After work and dinner (AND picking up DH’s rental car for work) we decided to go for an evening ride. It was looking a little cloudy out so we checked the radar map and it looked like we had about two hours before the rain moved in.

I wanted to ride along the lake by the State Park nearby so we turned, once again, to google maps. We decided we could ride down Annewakee Rd. to Riverside Dr. then cut over on Flat Shoals Rd. to Mt. Vernon Rd. We were having a fantastic ride, right up until we realized that at that point Flat Shoals is a DIRT road…. cruiser bikes don’t really do well on dirt roads. So we ended up on Thornton Rd., which is four lanes, heavily trafficked, and pretty fast moving. It was the last place I wanted to be! But, we had no choice really so we merged into the right lane and got up to 60mph as fast as we could. We got passed by one car, but held our own until we got back to slower, more familiar roads.

After that, we decided to head over to the State Park on the roads that we usually take in the car and we would just turn around after we got past the lake. This part was actually REALLY fun! Then we were on our way home. When we stopped at a light, DH turns to me and says, “Hey, looks like we’ll just beat the rain!” You’ve heard of the announcer jinx… that was it!

As we were about to turn onto the second to last street to get home, it started pouring down rain! I mean, pouring down to the point that I could barely see out of the shield on my full-face helmet. I don’t see spectacularly well anyway, so this made me really nervous. I slowed down, way down, dropped into third gear and was just concentrating on safely navigating. The thought occurred to me to pull over, find shelter, and wait it out. However, the radar earlier had shown that once it began it would rain all night, so I figured it would be best to just keep on going. At the next light DH overtook me, much to my relief as then I could follow his tail-light home, making navigation easier. Of course, once we got within 100yds of home, it was bone dry and we were soaked to the bone!

But, we made it home safely! DH said all the way through he was thinking, “Frog Togs, Frog Togs, Frog Togs.” I don’t think we will make it a point to ride in the rain, but sooner or later I think we will be investing in some good rain gear! Squishy boots and wet undies do not make for good motorcycle rides!

July 4th Weekend Ride

It’s always been my opinion that long weekends were specifically designed for breaking new ground, expanding horizons, doing something new, and having a great time. So, at my insistence, DH and I were up and at ‘em at 7:30am. We sat in front of google maps on my laptop to dream up a route for a morning motorcycle ride. For the holiday weekend, I was determined that we were going to find a new route that neither of us had ever ridden (or driven) before.

This is actually harder than it sounds. We initially thought that we would ride for an hour or so and then have breakfast at the IHOP by our house. However, when you don’t have an actual destination, its hard to use mapping websites to plan a route; all you see on the map is a maze of little roads, especially in GA! So then we decided that we would head west and have brunch at the Mirror Lake Country Club where we were married thirteen months ago! So we put the address in and of course google maps wants to find you the fastest, shortest route. That really doesn’t work when you’re riding for fun. So then we had to modify the route piece by piece, back road by back road.

We finally settled on a route that was about 34miles long round-trip (I’ve posted the highlighted map below). The route started out on roads that we knew, but we were quickly on unfamiliar turf. It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a ride! Kinda warm out, but on shaded country roads, cruising along between 45 and 50mph around winding turns… what could be better?

After a great brunch we hit the road again heading back towards home. We actually got lost a little because we were unfamiliar with the roads and the area, but on the bikes it doesn’t really bother us! We just kept heading in the right direction and knew we would eventually come to a road we recognized. Next thing you know, we’re at Hwy. 5 and almost home.

This was when I realized that my fuel indicator light was on. I was a little worried because I don’t know what kind of range I have left after that light comes on (looks like I’ll have to do a little reading in the manual!). Fortunately, there is a gas station right around the corner from the house where we stopped. I ended up putting almost 3.5 gallons into my 5 gallon tank AND on 3.5 gallons we got 150miles! We are now at 250miles on the bikes, loving every minute of it, and still excited about it every time!

We broke the century mark!

Friday June 3^rd:

Since we are now a one-car-family, DH is going to have to take the car to his Saturday morning golf-league – can’t really carry golf clubs on a motorcycle! Of course, that means that I’m going to have to take the bike to the barn. I’m not too worried about it, but I did want to do a practice run when DH was with me just to be on the safe side. So, as soon as I got home from work and changed we hit the road.

The first part of the route we had ridden before… all the way to the Kroger (this is DH’s favorite place). After that it was new territory by bike… I really have NO words to describe how much FUN and how AWESOME this ride was. We left the house with 68 miles on the odometer and returned 2.5hours later with 101 miles. That’s right! We broke the century mark! This trek involved several traffic lights, several stop signs, rail-road tracks, lots of curves, some take-offs from hills, and some really sharp turns (including one with loose gravel). All of which we navigated successfully. We are also starting to get a lot more comfortable, which is a good thing, but we always remain VERY cautious.

After we got back to the house DH says, “Hey! I’m hungry, let’s ride to the BK.” It’s not far from the house and was very refreshing after a long ride in humid 93^oF weather. Another newbie lesson, get a small drink when you stop for food on the motorcycle. You can refill it if you need to, but I felt really silly when I had to throw away half my medium drink because I couldn’t take it with me on the bike! Seriously, it’s like a whole new world! Things you don’t think twice about in the car are, all of sudden, valid concerns!

Here are some pictures from our BK pit stop!

By the time we got back to the house the sun had set and twilight was rapidly fading to night. Overall, it was a fantastic way to end the ride, the evening, and the week.

Our first "long" ride.

Tuesday was back to work, but ALL day I was fantasizing about cruising around on my bike! I texted DH half way through the afternoon, “You wanna ride tonight?” As soon as I got the “Sure!” response I started planning the route. I knew I wanted to do a longer ride than we’d done to this point; I wanted long roads where we could sustain 45-55mph and I wanted curves of various angles to practice on. So I picked some back country roads that I’ve traveled quite a bit on “horsey” business that I knew were pretty light traffic-wise.

As I was driving home, I got a call from DH. Apparently, the bike shop had left their diagnostic part attached to my bike when they prepped it! They politely requested that we get back over there ASAP to return it. So, as soon as I got home I changed into jeans, threw on my gear, and we were off. Instead of taking the direct route to the bike shop, we took the round-about way to avoid most of the rush-hour traffic. They were SO excited to see us riding! The motorcycle community is better than family – what you look like under your gear really does NOT matter, it’s all about being safe on the road and loving your machine. I also learned another newbie lesson at the shop: without thinking I just pulled straight into the parking space. Well, it happened to be facing somewhat downhill. When I handed my key to the guy to take the bike back to service and retrieve their part he looked out the window and said, “Oh! You’re gonna make it hard on me! Just pull right in!” Then I realized… motorcycles don’t have a reverse gear! He’s gonna have to push 500lbs backwards uphill! That’s when I thought, “Wow! Better him than me!” Lesson learned – avoid parking on any kind of hill if at all possible, if not then park so that you don’t have to push the bike uphill to get out!

Then it was off on our country cruise! First we had to wind our way back out of the “city” traffic to the back roads. There were a few traffic lights that we had to face and on the very last one, it turned yellow when I was right up on it. So, I hit the throttle and zipped right through. But, as I looked in the rear-view I realized that DH wasn’t going to make it. [[**snicker** I’d told him before that he would be so far behind me people wouldn’t realize that we were together!]]  So, I decided to pull over on the side of the road and wait for him (there really wasn’t anywhere to just pull off the road). This worked out ok, but people did have to slow down to pass me. We will have to re-think this strategy in the future (comments and advice welcome!). But, the good news was that no one appeared to be upset with me, I guess they realized what I was doing. So, we made it to our back roads just fine.  It was about a 25mile loop with only five stop signs and a BUNCH of twisties!!! I probably slowed down more than I needed too for most of them, but again I lean on the cautious side. I think it’s a great loop for us to practice on and my turns will only get better.

When we got back to the house all I could say was, “AWESOME RIDE!” My endorphins were really flowing and I felt great! We love these bikes and LOVE to ride them!

MSF strategies in action!

Monday, Memorial Day, called for another breakfast adventure. We planned to meet three of our friends at the Cracker Barrel so that they could see the bikes. We set off along a very similar route to the one we’d taken to the IHOP the previous morning except at the second traffic light we made a left instead of a right. Well, this was the first left turn that I’d made where there was a curb involved. I was SO worried about hitting that curb that I looked right down at it. Guess what happens when you look down at the curb…. Well, since the bike tends to go where you’re looking, odds are you run into the curb. Which I did. Fortunately when I realized that I was going to run into it, I called on my MSF training and straightened the handle-bars before really laying on the brake. The front tire locked, and I remembered to back off and then reapply the brake. Overall I saved it really well and didn’t go down. Unfortunately I did scrape along the curb a bit. Fortunately the only damage sustained was to the bottom of the heat guards on the exhaust, which you have to lay down on the ground to actually see even if I point it out to you.

I felt so silly, but I also felt good that I had remembered enough of my training to make a decent save. The rest of the ride to breakfast (and back home afterward) went without incident and our friends LOVED the bikes. One of them (Bill) has a Harley and wants to ride with us sometime soon!!!

Here is some video Bill took of us as we were leaving after breakfast…. THANKS BILL!!!

GIRL!!! YOU GOT YOUR OWN!!!

We woke up bright and early on Sunday morning ready to ride! We decided that as it was Memorial Day weekend traffic would likely be very light around town early in the morning and we could get some good practice in. However, reality is that I refuse to do anything that requires a great deal of concentration first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. So, breakfast was first on the list. We hopped on the bikes and headed to the IHOP.

As we walked in and were seated, our server says, “I don’t know what the bike looks like, but those helmets are awesome!” Well, being that the bikes are new, we wanted to sit where we could see them. So I tell her, “Those are our bikes right there!” as I point through the window. She looks out, her jaw drops open, and she exclaims, “GIRL!!!! You got your own!!!! You GO girl!!!” Seriously, I thought the woman was going to embrace me! She was so excited! Evidently she’d always wanted to ride a motorcycle as well, but was convinced that she wouldn’t have the coordination to accomplish it. I told her that if I could do it, she certainly could. I mean, afterall, I can BARELY drive a manual transmission car! DH and I recommended that she take the MSF Basic Rider class; even if she decided afterwards not to get a bike, it would still be a great experience for her (or anyone for that matter!).

After leaving the IHOP, we decided to tackle some of the roads around our house that we will have to ride down to get pretty much anywhere, but we had been going the long way around to avoid. One of them has a HUGE hill that kind of twists and turns and we were both really nervous about it. So, we did the first pass with me in the lead. I slowed down to about 35mph approaching the hill.  I figure better to go in slower than necessary than to get half way through and realize that I’m going too fast! We make it through just fine and I decide to loop around and do another pass. Well the second time I took it at 45mph! Whoo Hoo!!! Getting more confident by the minute, which is exactly what they told us at the MSF course – the more you ride, the more proficient you become.

Later, around lunchtime, some friends of ours want to come see the bikes and go to lunch. So they come to the house and ooooohhh and aaaaahhhh over the machines. Then we start to get in the car and they go, “What!?! We want you to ride the bikes to lunch!” OK fine. Well, we had never been in as much traffic as we knew we would face going as close as we were to the mall. So, we decided to have our friend follow us in his big diesel work truck. We figured no one would hit him and we trusted him not to hit us. We set off.

I got through the very first traffic light and I hear DH honk his horn. Well, he’d been doing this as a signal to me to cancel my blinker. So, I cancel it and keep on going. Next time I look in my mirror… no DH…. Just a big-ass truck! Again I’m in the situation of thinking, “I don’t know what to do!” I figured if something horrible had happened, my friend in the truck would have stopped too. So, I just kept going and made it safely to our lunch destination where my friend leaps out his truck, looks me in the eye, and goes, “You are bad-ass on that bike!!! I didn’t think you could go so fast!!” (I hadn’t topped 50mph)! About that time DH rolls up… he’d forgotten to secure the chin strap on his helmet and had to pull over to do it.

This brings me to my next piece of advice for newbie riders: If you’re riding in a group (ie. More than ONE), its an absolute necessity that you decide on signals ahead of time. For example, DH and I have now decided that 1-honk means “cancel your blinker” and 3-honks mean “I need to stop”. I’m sure we will develop more as we go along, but these two are a huge step in the right direction!

Triumphant Ride - Pt. 2

After dinner we decide we’re not done, or my DH decided. I was actually ready to park it as I don’t see well in the dark. But, he just wants to make a short loop to the Kroger and back. So we set out. By now it’s completely dark and we’re riding by headlights. This is making me VERY nervous. The second stop sign we come to has several cars lined up to our left. I wave the first guy through and then I take off, thinking that DH would depart simultaneously. No. No. Not so much. So I take off, then a car turns behind me, then my DH. So I look in my rear-view and I see two headlights, not one, and I think, “I don’t know what to do. I guess I’ll just go on to the Kroger and if he doesn’t show up in a minute I’ll go back. “ But, luckily he was right behind that car and arrived at the Kroger ten seconds after I did. BUT, all of this has scared me half to death so I have to walk around the Kroger for a few minutes to calm down before setting off again for home.

The ride home was fairly uneventful, right up until we reach the entrance to the neighborhood. We live in a gated community. At 10pm, the gate is closed. I don’t have the remote that opens it. DH does, but between putting the bike in neutral, unzipping the pockets on the jacket, and taking off his gloves he’s having a hard time finding it. I look to my left and think, “Oh well, I’ll just lean over a bit and punch in our code on the call box keypad.” I lean maybe four inches, mind you I do this on the horse all the freaking time but I forget that the horse will actually balance itself, the bike – not so much. Both the bike and I go down. Seriously; I’ve had the thing for less than 3 hours and I’ve already dropped it. At least it was from a complete standstill. Luckily we’re both tough old broads and neither sustained any damage. Luckily no one was looking. Luckily DH was finally able to find neutral and pull the bike off me.

Triumphant Ride - Pt. 1

The first night they came off the trailer (at about 8pm) we hopped right on (after putting on all of our safety gear – helmets, jackets, gloves, and boots) and rode until 10:30pm. We started off just going around the cul-de-sac in our neighborhood. This is was great for getting used to the friction zone, changing gears, and turning. Then we decided to venture about 100 yards down the street to the elementary school parking lot. Obviously it was empty at 9pm. There we practiced some slower speed turns and tighter maneuvers. Then we started feeling more comfortable and decided to ride down the road about 300 yards in the other direction to grab something to eat at our favorite Mexican joint. This little venture even involved two left turns!

The minute we parked the bikes in front of the restaurant, a guy rides by on a Harley… and he’s the typical Harley guy with the tats and the long beard… and gives us the low deuces. Evidently this is the official “motorcycle rider family” wave! We are officially cool! Then, after we went in and sat down, we’re looking out the window admiring our new bikes when this guy walking across the lot practically drags his poor wife over and is pointing excitedly at my red bike. Again, instant cool! We’re loving it!

Triumphant Purchase!

We passed our MSF Basic Rider course on Sunday and on Thursday afternoon we were at the DDS getting our licenses reissued to show that we are officially “CM” endorsed. On Saturday, we were at the bike shop looking to make a purchase if the price was right.

As I said, I had fallen for the Honda Shadow Spirit. But, in the intervening time, my husband had decided to take a look at Triumph bikes. We had always bypassed them in the shop thinking they were way outside our price range. But, he found out that they had three models that we could actually afford: The Speedmaster, the America, and the Bonneville. All three have an identical parallel twin 883cc engine, its just the styling that’s different. The Bonneville is VERY vintage, it was what Steve McQueen rode in “The Great Escape” and it still looks just like that! DH really liked the look, but HATED the seat. He also kinda liked the America, which has a very classic cruiser style, but said that the tank was a bit too wide for him. I was instantly in love with the Speedmaster with its very classic but more sporty styling. It also fit me pretty well, narrow through the tank/seat, low enough for me to put both feet on the ground, handle- bars easy to reach. DH decided, after sitting on all of them, that the Speedmaster was most comfortable for him as well.

The 2011 Triumph Speedmaster comes in two colors, black and red. DH got the black one, I got the red one. We both got helmets to match, because it’s all about the look right? For two old farts we look REALLY cool on these machines! (I’ve never been cool before!)

The MSF Basic Rider Class

Unfortunately, my husband and I both travel alot for work. So, it was almost a month before, we (and our neighbor) found a class that suited all of our schedules. It was an agonizing wait and I'm sure the people at the bike shop got really annoyed with us being in there fawning over bikes we didn't have a clue about just about every weekend. But, the day of the course finally arrived. It started at 8am and we had about an hour-long drive to get there. So we woke our poor unsuspecting neighbor at 6am so we could be out the door at 6:30am... wouldn't want to be late right? My husband was mostly excited, I (and my neighbor) were more apprehensive. What if we couldn't do it? What if we hate it?

Well, fortunately the first several hours of the class were all class-room and book type stuff. I've been a student all my life so that was easy for me and gave me time to calm down. Then it was out to the bikes; the MSF course provides 250cc bikes and DOT approved helmets for the course. You must provide your own over-the-ankle boots, full-fingered gloves, jacket or long-sleeved shirt, and long pants. My recommendations: (1) Also provide your own bandana or some other head covering. Even though they "sanitize" the provided helmets, they are still sweaty and smelly on the inside. (2) DO NOT wait until summer to take this class if you live in the south. It was SO hot and you have to wear all of that stuff all the time, which is not so bad when you're actually riding and have the wind in your face, but standing still on the asphalt waiting for instructions will melt you! Do it in fall, winter, or spring if at all possible.

The first day we covered starting the bike properly (FINE-C; Fuel-valve, Ignition, Neutral, Engine kill switch in run position, - Clutch pulled in [disengaged]), shifting between neutral and first gear, finding the "friction-zone" of your clutch, "power-walking", starting, shifting gears, weaving 20' and 30' cones, and stopping. We were all feeling way more comfortable by the end of the day, except for our neighbor. They had put her on the same bike as me, even though she's quite a bit smaller. It was a 250cc Honda NightHawk and seemed to be way too heavy for her. So, they switched her to a 125cc bike for the following day, which seemed alot better for her.

Day 2 started back in the classroom where we finished up our course book and took our written test. My husband aced it with 100%, probably because he doesn't really think and just goes with his gut. I finished with a 96% (you need an 80% to pass so no problems), probably because there were a few questions I waffled on and over-thought.

Then we were back outside on the bikes and we worked on curves, slow-speed U-turns (everyone's nemesis), quick stops, quick stops in a curve, pause-and-gos, riding over obstacles (a 2"x4"), and swerving. I was alot more confident about everything by the end of the day, but worried to death about the test! I knew the test consisted of U-turns in the dreaded box, swerving, quick-stop, and a 135degree curve. I knew I was good on everything except the U-turn and it was scaring me to DEATH... I don't test well anyway as a general rule and I would be so embarrassed if my husband and neighbor passed and I didn't. Got myself all worked up about it, then my time came.

We started with the U-Turn to the left, followed by a U-turn to the right. Going to the left was a disaster! I went accidently hit the throttle in the middle of the turn, ran out of the lines, and put my foot down... UGH UGH UGH! Fortunately, I executed it perfectly going to the right. Overall I lost 6 points on the exercise -- I didn't know until later that you could lose 20 points and still pass. Next up was the swerve, which I did perfectly and lost no points on! Then the quick stop... I thought I did fine, but apparently I lost 7 points for stopping 7' past where I should have. I think this is a crock! There was no way to know where I "should" have stopped. If I had been told, "You must reach 25mph before this orange cone, then execute a quick stop and come to halt before you reach the green cone." then, dammit, I would have done that! Instead it was all voo-doo, "Accelerate until you pass this cone and then stop as quickly as you safely can." followed by, "Well, at your speed you should have stopped in 13' and it took you 20' so you lose 7 points." How the bleeding HELL was I supposed to know that?!?! Anyway, now I'm down 13points. The final exercise was the 135degree curve. We were supposed to accelarate to 15mph, then brake at a cue cone, and then roll on the throttle through the curve. I did that, but apparently I braked too much and didn't roll on the throttle enough. So even though I completed the curve just fine, I didn't do it fast enough so I lost another 5points. A total of 18points off, but I passed! My husband passed as well, I think he only lost 12points (6 on the U-turn and 6 on the quick-stop). And, so did our neighbor (she only lost 10points, but had to re-do the swerve). So we all got our endorsement waivers for the DDS.

I must admit that the class was great fun! We, all three, had a wonderful time. Not only do we feel more confident about getting our own bikes, but I belive we are all better, more aware "cage" drivers as well. I would recommend this class to anyone, even if you don't think you will ever get a bike. For $250 is some of the most fun you will ever have and will make you safer and more responsible on the road no matter what you drive!

First Steps

Two days later we were in our local bike shop (Freewheeling in Douglasville, GA: http://www.freewheeln.com/) looking at motorcycles, asking stupid questions, and trying to feel our way through what we would have to do to get the ball rolling. We went into the shop thinking we would be looking at 250cc bikes and I was convinced that I was getting a crotch rocket. THEN, I actually sat on one of the damn things and knew immediately that if I spent more than 10minutes in that position my back would be in agony! So, it was on the cruisers. Well, as it turns out, there really aren't many cruisers in the 250cc category. The closest you come is a Honda Rebel. Now, look at this thing: http://powersports.honda.com/2009/rebel.aspx Is it not the ugliest? Even as a total rookie, I was not going to be caught dead owning that! I mean, its all about the look right? So, we had to move up a bracket. Well, now you're into 750cc bikes **GASP**GULP**!! But, I instantly fell in love with the Honda Shadow Spirit http://powersports.honda.com/2009/shadow-spirit-750.aspx. I was worried that it was too much for me and I DID NOT want to be one of those chicks on a bike thats too big for her. But, the sales guy, who was actually really nice and didn't pressure us at all, said that its really all about finding a bike that fits and is comfortable for YOU. The Shadow Spirit is lowered and designed more for women riders (evidently an increasingly large section of the market). This was IT, this was the bike for me! Ok, now what?

Well, I had never ridden a bike myself and my husband had only ridden dirt bikes YEARS ago, so we had to learn how to even do this. My husband at least thought he could probably get one into gear, I didn't even know how to turn it on! So, after asking alot of silly questions, we finally ascertained that we could take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course through the Dept. of Driver Services (http://nm.msf-usa.org/msf/ridercourses.aspx).

And so it began... out of tradgedy springs resiliance.

I've always wanted a motorcycle; I don't even know when it began. But, it was something I supressed, like alot of other things in my life. Motorcycles are dangerous! Everyone knows that... my parents knew some people who had died on them. Riding a motorcycle requires coordination beyond my ability... I can barely drive a car with a manual transmission. I was too responsible and too clumsy to ever ride one.

In college I had ridden on the back of a crotch-rocket a few times with a boyfriend that I had at the time. I always fantasized that someday I would have my own sport-bike and we'd fly down the road side-by-side. But, even at the time I recognized it for the untouchable dream that it was. I was safe within my naive delusions.

Then a day came in April 2011 when I learned that my neighbor was seperating from her husband and contemplating divorce. I invited her over for some girl time. I had a bottle of white wine that I had been saving from a trip to Williamsburg, VA for several years and I figured this was as good an occassion as any to drink it! We popped the cork and started drinking and talking... I don't know how we even got onto the topic but we both admitted that we had always wanted our own motorcycle. We were also both drunk enough to think that it was a fantastic idea! As we were chattering about it excitedly my husband joined us and said that he'd always wanted one too (he doesn't have to be drunk to fall for crazy ideas like this). So, the planning began.