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!)