2Wheeltips

Gearing Up!

We were told on the first day of Basic Rider Class that all the gear we were wearing was mandatory and if they caught any of us not properly geared up we could be kicked out of the class. Were they being fanatic about it? Well I took them seriously but when the sun was beating down and the sweat was running down, suddenly the helmet, sunglasses, long sleeved shirt, gloves, heavy jeans and over the ankle boots seemed a bit excessive when we were riding in a ‘controlled environment’ on an off-road course with supervision. But they were making a point and I don’t believe they were being fanatic about it at all. When you step over that saddle, you don’t have a protective enclosure (car) around you! It’s just you, the motorcycle and the road! If for some reason an accident should occur, the gear you or I wear is the only protection we have against injury.

I remember ‘Eddy’, a rather ‘over weight’ friend of mine in High School who used to ride a small Honda that was disproportionate to his size. He slid out on some loose gravel and they ended up digging dirt and asphalt out of his hands. I don’t know that gloves would have fully protected him but I think about Eddy when I faithfully pull my gloves on before stepping over to my motorcycle. Indeed, protecting yourself with riding gear would seem to be an obvious thing that any rider would want to do. But all you need to do is, “head out on the highway” (a little Steppenwolf reference there) on any given summer day and you will see everything from full ‘super hero’ Kevlar riding gear to shorts and a T-shirt and no helmet.

On a hot day in mid July with the temperature climbing I saw a guy decked out in full leathers, boots, helmet and sunglasses and his wife (supposedly) was right behind him dressed to match. I thought, now there is a couple who take their riding seriously! It wasn’t the fact that they were both riding nice touring bikes. I was impressed that both of them were fully geared up in spite of the summer heat.

A few weeks later I saw a poor guy pulled over by the police with no helmet, bare-chested in an unbuttoned shirt with no sleeves, jeans, sneakers, and long hair. He looked every bit the part. He sat quietly against the seat of his bike while the policeman checked his info in the squad car. A little way down the highway he cruised on by me with his shirttail and hair flying in the breeze behind him. I had to admit he was the very picture of the freedom of the open road!  He typified the quote I found from Easy Rider “What the heck’s is wrong with freedom, man? That’s what it’s all about!” And in a way that is where the attitude comes from…the ‘freedom’ of flying down the road, unencumbered by the trappings of all the gear and the freedom to ride how you want to ride. That is one reason why there are more bike rallies in states with no helmet law. And in a way I totally understand the sentiment. I feel that the seat belt law should not be a law. Me wearing (or not wearing) a seat belt is nobodies business! Whether I wear one or not is not endangering anyone or making me any less or more of a safe driver. My safety is my own business! But there is the irony.

 

That is precisely why I gear up every time I get on my motorcycle, because my safety is my own business. I understand the risks and dangers of riding. It was drilled into us at school and reminded to me by many of my loved ones. Riding a motorcycle is not like driving a car. There are dangers that we face that are unique to motorcycle riding and I know I don’t have to spell them out to those who will be reading this. But there was as statement that David Hough made in his book, Proficient Motorcycling that took me aback. He said, “We ride motorcycles partly because they are more dangerous than other vehicles.” I kind of rebelled at that when I first read it but as I got past that intersection this afternoon and accelerated quickly up through third and fourth and into fifth gear and then leaned into the bends along the river…I admitted it. That thrill of acceleration and the wind rushing past and leaning into a curve is all related to loving it because there is a ‘dangerous edge’ to it.

But at the a same time that I thrill with the speed and handling of my little Honda I also do everything I can to minimize the risks by slowing down and using caution on the wet leaves on the road up here. I head check and mirror check probably far more than most riders. (It’s my first season you understand.) But before I ever leave the yard the first thing I do is go through the ritual of gearing up. That is my number one way of minimizing the risks even before encountering that road damage or those nasty ridged cracks that run down the length of Route 4 or the heavy tourist traffic that is here for leaf peeping season right now.

For those that want to ride helmetless, shirtless or otherwise you have the right to do that, provided your state allows for it. I understand the sentiment but this is my very first season and I would like to be around to ride for a whole lot more seasons to come. The way I figure it I can enjoy the thrill of the ride and the open road just as much ‘geared up’ as my long haired, shirt-tail- flying friend that the police stopped. Granted, he looked cool! But as for me, I’d just rather be geared up and cool.

Enjoy the rest of the season people! Until next time ride well, be safe and as one rider to another… Gear Up!   Anchor

A Time to Ride

There is one thing about being a new rider that is hard to let go of and that is the initial fear that comes with having been told over and over again that, “Riding a motorcycle, you are taking your life into your own hands.” My own brother let me know in no uncertain terms that he disapproved of me riding motorcycle! I still remember the statistics in MSF class that you are the most vulnerable for the first 5 months of your riding. As a result I didn’t go on out on the road for two days after having my bike registered, insured and ready to go! But finally! On the third evening with the sun just going down, I got up from supper and didn’t tell anyone what I was going to do. I got my bike out, put on my gear, drove down to Route 4 and out onto the open road for the very first time. The adrenalin was pumpin! I drove a half mile down to the Mobil station and filled my tank to the expensive tune of $3.23. As I pulled back out onto Route 4 I noticed that there was very little traffic. But then, just as I was getting to the turn off road into the village I got the ‘lights in the rear-views’ so I hit the directional and “lost him.”  (Having a car behind me was bit unnerving for my very first time out.) But all the way past Dewey’s Mill Pond and the river there was no traffic! Just the pleasant, empty rural roads under a bright, early evening sky. And then it dawned on me! This is it. This is my time to ride!

Route 4 is one of the busiest roads in the state but at 7:30 to 8:00 in the evening it settles down. And Vermont being the rural state that it is everything settles down about that time! A few days later I worked up the courage to do the Post Office run at 10 in the morning and that has become routine for me now. But my real passion is my evening ride. Late in the day it gets cool and I love to gear up. My wife gave me a really nice Joe Rocket jacket that does a good job of cutting the wind. With the over-the-ankle boots (by Sketchers), helmet, gloves and yellow tinted sun glasses I feel prepared. I have been told that a good sized bug at even 40 miles an hour can feel like a gun shot and it does get buggy up here in the evenings.

One of the things I love about my evening ride is that it’s my time. I am a minister, a husband and a father and all day I have demands on me just like most people do. But as soon as my wheels head down the hill under that beautiful mellowing sky I am free in a way that I haven’t been for many years. Just like everyone who rides, I am now enjoying the whole experience of being a motorcyclist. It’s an individual thing. It’s a time to just be away and work on my riding skills. Without much traffic to think about, I enjoy working on shifting to fit the hill I am on, or the flat road ahead, or smoothly working up through the gears after clearing the intersection by the cemetery.

Already the summer is moving on and I have to go a few minutes earlier to get in my ride to be back before dark. This is my first season riding but I can see the time coming when the bike will be in the garage for the winter and all this will be over. But as I ride along and the sun sets over the Ottoquechee River, that perfectly calm mirror image of the trees and sky will be stored in my memories to enjoy through the winter. I have found my magic time to ride.   

Until next time keep the rubber side down, the shiny side up and happy riding everyone!  Anchor

My wife and I took our longest ride ever doing 1900 miles in 7 days. Averaging about 270 miles a day. Pretty lazy by Iron Butt standards but just about right for us.

I m not going to hype this as the "trip of a life time" as many riders tend to do. For us it was a trip to visit family and determine if long distance touring was something we wanted to pursue, or not. We have done many 3 and 4 day long weekend rides but 7 days straight was a first for us. The wild card, which truly became the 'wild card', was the weather. It turned out to be less than ideal and I will touch on that in more detail below. 

I'm going to break our trip down into categories rather than ramble on about assorted topics and bore you to death!!

Planning:
We planned the trip day by day with a destination at the end of each day and a hotel booked. The days were planned for 250 to 300 miles per day leaving time for sight seeing and unforseen continginces. That worked well for us and it was comforting knowing we had a place guaranteed. On future trips we may get more adventurous, still pondering the pro's and con's.

I had my bike serviced and new tire put on before we left. I wanted the peace of mind that everything was in good shape and no basic maintenance items would cause us problems.

Gear:
We wore Sidi boots that worked great. Very comfortable to walk in, ride in, waterproof and we never had cold feet in rain and mid 40's temps.

We bought Olympia 4-season jackets and they were outstanding! We used every combination. The ability to turn them from a fully ventilated hot weather jacket to a cool weather rain jacket was amazing. We rode in mid 40's temps with light to heavy rain and were never wet or cold. This also minimized the amount of layering clothes we needed to take saving valuable space. Thank you, Olympia!

Gloves were a different story. I have a dozen pair of riding gloves and though I was able to ride comfortably in the 40's temps, the rain was a different story. Nothing in my glove collection was able to withstand the 3 days of rain. Every pair I brought eventually got soaked. I am now shopping for more rain resistant gloves. This is very important if you intend to do long distance riding. Get a good pair of waterproof gloves and try then out before your trip. We didn't and paid the price.

We used Fogg Togg overpants and they worked well to keep our pants try. They are inexpensive, they breathe and are light and packable. I doubt if they will last multiple trips but were fine for our 7 days.

Riding vs Diversions:
In hindsight, we would have preferred to do less riding and stop to see more stuff along the way. The days we rode in the rain were not particularly enjoyable and we would have been better off shortening the riding on those rain days. Our ride plan did not allow for that and we regret not having a better "plan B".

Length of trip:
For us, 7 days of riding was a bit too much. I never thought I'd say that but I was tired on day 7 and when we got home after riding 300 miles on our last day I was exhausted. We will limit future rides to 5 days max. We are both in our late 50's so you youngsters out there may scoff but age does take it's toll. We can do long distance rides but we will need to break them up so we are not riding continually for over 5 days.

Learnings:
We learned a lot about what we liked and what we didn't. We can't control the weather, and light rain was not a problem but heavy rain for extended periods of time is not something we choose to endure. We will need to plan better to have alternatives to avoid riding for hours in pouring down rain.

We packed to fit the available space on a Gold Wing. We could have done with less which was suprising to both of us. Washing half way into the trip provided us with more than enough clean clothes.

Good planning and knowing your routes makes for less stressful and straightforward navigating. Our GPS was invaluable as were our paper maps with highlighted routes and index cards with road by road directions clipped to my windshield.

We ate in local establishments and never stopped at a chain restaurants. The food was wonderful and the hospitality we received was amazing. This was one of the high points of our trip.

Summary:
That about sums it up. If you have any specific questions please send me a response and I'll be more than happy to respond. I know there are thousands of riders out there who do longer and more exotic trips than ours but wanted to share our experiences for what there worth. Hope you found some of the information useful.

As a father you would do anything to keep your child safe. There should be no difference when it comes to them riding as a passenger on a motorcycle!

My daughter has been riding with me since she was four years old and has been riding for four years. Let me tell you that it's been a blast for both of us, it's something we can share and enjoy together. We try to ride as much as we can, school drop-offs/pick-ups, shopping, visits to grandparents house and windy rides along the river.

But, before this wonderful adventure began; I wanted to make sure that we did it right! My initial thought was a harness, research on children riding motorcycles had confirmed some reservations that I had on certain techniques and opened my eyes to things I didn't think about.

The obvious one for me was proper attire and a well fitting helmet; this just made sense, or because my daughter was so young, I knew getting thwapped by a junebug and holding up an oversided adult helmet would not be enjoyable or comfortable for her. The other factor is to be prepared for any circumstance and that the helmets inability to do it's job if it does not fit right.

The technique I was never fond of was the thought of having my daughter ride in front of me on the motorcycle. I came across an article that talked about a child slipping and the choice of letting go of the handlbars to catch them...and you know where this is leading! If you let go of the handlebars (even with one hand) what else are you probably not focusing on? Yup, your eyes on the road. So, probably more than likely this progression of events is not going to end well. Also, not a choice or a scene that I would want to be stuck with replaying over and over in my mind.

So, the one item I did not think about was the fact that children can fall asleep from the vibration of the motorcycle. If it's not good to have the child sitting in front of you, now they are in back of you, with the potential to fall asleep! This completely solidified my thought of a harness that would secure her in place just in case.

The next task was finding a harness, there were belt devices that the driver wears that has loops on both sides of the rider for the child to hang on to. This was a nice setup, but a child can easily let go of the loop if they fall asleep; nothing is going to prevent them from dozing off to one side or the other. Also, with my daughter being four years old; one is trusting she'll remember what she needs to do and the other is the strength to hang on for a sustained amount of time. Keeping all these considerations in mind and some lengthy searching, I finally found the Child Riding Belt (www.childridingbelt.com).


It seemed to fit the needs that I was looking for, the ability for my daughter to ride securely behind me without the dependency of her having to hang on and in the case of her falling asleep there would be no chance of her falling off!

I can attest that this device has been great; my daughter has worn this on rides for the past four years. Over that time we have put on a couple thousand miles together and not had any issues with it. She has fallen asleep once and the harness kept her on the bike securely. I know because my back was the pillow :)

The way the harness works, there is a belt that goes around the driver, there is a foam pad between that belt and the harness for the child. This is great keeping a slight distance so the child is not pressed right up on the back of the driver. They even put two handles on the foam pad that the child can hang onto if they desire. The harness has straps that go from the bottom of the pad down around the childs upper legs and connect to the back of their belt along with straps from the top of the pad over the childs shoulders to the back part of their belt. The shoulder straps can not slip off because they are ajoined by a neck pad that supplies padding and stability for their neck.

My original goal was to have her ride to feel comfortable with and not intimidated by the motorcycle, to appreciate and respect it for what it is. What I didn't realize is what we were going to gain together, to watch her grow up on the bike and see the changes has been something I will always cherish! Our first ride, I told her to hang-on and when we stopped I found that she bruised her little hands from hanging on too tight. From then she has felt comfortable enough to not hang on and wave to the shadows as we ride along. To this year being excited to not wear the harness on short trips and hanging on to the passenger handles. That's my girl!!!

If you are contemplating having your child ride with you, I would encourage you to do your own research. My hope is that this little writeup gets you thinking about the safety issues involved and to do it right! It will make the ride for you both more relaxing and enjoyable, which will then allow it to grow into a time to cherish. Because we all know how fast our children are growing up and soon (I hope) they will be asking when they can have their own motorcycle, then maybe we've nurtured a riding companion for life!

Like a Kid Again!

Part 2

There is an old saying that’s said about a lot of places, “If you don’t like the weather in Vermont, just wait a minute.” Day two of the Basic Rider Course dawned with overcast skies and cooler temperatures. Sharon and I loaded a suitcase in the back of my Jeep and made the winding 28 mile trip across the valley and over Killington. She was coming with me this time for a midweek getaway at our favorite Motel in Rutland.  While I was at school she would stay in our room and work on her talks for a Ladies Day she is going to be speaking at. On top of that it would save us the gas money of running back and forth from Quechee to Pittsford. After Sharon dropped me off I walked around to our classroom under dark, threatening skies. By 10:00 we finished our classroom work just as it started to rain. One thing we learned quickly…rain was no excuse for holding up class. So into the saddles we went and that day we rode 6 ½ hours in the rain! One good thing it accomplished for me was to help overcome my ‘rain paranoia.’ Hydroplaning certainly is a reality but a bike well-handled with decent tires and at reasonable speeds is not a guaranteed death warrant! I did make my turns with a little more caution and a little less speed however.

By the time lunch rolled around we were all a little soggy around the edges and it was nice to get out of the rain for a while. Just as we broke I got a call from Sharon to meet her out front. To my surprise she handed me a bag from the local cycle shop with a nice set of Joe Rocket rain gear in it! Needless to say I thanked her with a kiss. When I got back to the classroom I told my class mates and the girls all did the collective “Awww!” (Which I interpret as something like, “Isn’t that sweet?!”) But they said it with that inflection that only girls can do. One of the guys commented “She’s a keeper!” The girls all insisted that I put it on and modal the jacket for them. It was all kind of embarrassing but also reflective of the comradery we all felt toward each other as a class and as fellow motorcyclists. That afternoon I was ‘dryer’ and more comfortable in my new rain gear and though I wouldn’t say it to the others, yes she is sweet and she is a keeper! We finished out the day in the rain and went back to our respective abodes to dry off and mentally prepare for the big final day of class.

Day three dawned still showery with the occasional rumble of thunder. We started the day by taking the written exam. All week our instructor had told us, “If you were awake in class you will be able to pass the test.” That sounded easy but I studied for it with a vengeance anyway. Actually I studied every bit of the material before ever starting the course. (About two weeks before class we were mailed a Rider Handbook put out by MSF and we were supposed to study it.) When the tests were graded and came back I got a 98. Ok! Well at least half the battle was over! Now all I had to do pass the riding portion of the test and I would have my license.

The rest of the morning we were put through our paces in preparation for the test. Everything from riding over 2 X 6’s to swerving, stopping, looking through the turn, shifting, doing a figure 8 in a box and the dreaded offset cone gauntlet. Ironically the test was only a few of the things we practiced but all of the riding we did brought home how much we had learned in just a few short days. After lunch the test began. One by one we were sent through each part of the test. One of the instructors had the clipboard with a separate score sheet for each of us. It was a little nerve racking to watch him recording the scores as he closely scrutinized us on each part of the test. The only part that I knew I passed was on stopping. We had to cross as starting line, accelerate up into second gear (They were clocking our speed.) and when we passed through the cones we had to stop quickly without locking. We were given 16 feet to pass. I did it in 12 to which my instructor exclaimed, “Dropped the anchor!” (Thus my nickname) That part of the test I knew I passed!

When it was over we gathered back in the classroom while the instructors set up in another room down the hall. That’s when the nail biting began. Every one of us fell silent as we waited. One at a time we were called in to face the verdict…did I pass or did I fail? Those long minutes of waiting for your name to be called are pure agony. I kept going over that not-so-good turn that I slowed down on and the dreaded figure 8 in a box that I went over the line once. I became convinced that I had failed the test and I am sure the same thoughts were going on all around the silent classroom. Finally my buddy Jim came back from his triumphant meeting with the instructors (he had passed) and told me “Randy, you’re next.” My heart sank. But a huge sense of relief, and joy and excitement came over me when I walked in and my instructors shook my hand in congratulations. I had passed. As one of them placed the little blue “M” sticker on the back of my driver’s license it was the fulfillment of a goal that I had been striving for, for a very long time. I wasn’t a kid anymore but one of the dreams of my youth had finally come true. It was as good as Christmas in June and my heart was already out there riding the back roads. Don’t give up on your dreams…just make them come true.      Anchor

It’s a beautiful time of the year to ride so get out there and enjoy it while you can! Ride safe.

Like a Kid Again!

Part 1

            At 61 it has been a long time since I was a young but as of June 21^st I was on cloud nine and definitely not feeling my age. At last the basic training course was about to start and I was up at the crack of dawn and on my way over the mountain to be at the State Police Academy before class started. The drive over Killington was beautiful but all the way I felt like a kid about to have Christmas morning. The real irony is that the last time I set foot on the grounds of the Academy I was only about 8 years old and I was a kid. The Academy in those days was the State Sanitarium for Tuberculosis where my great grandfather was a patient. These days you would hardly know the place and everywhere you look there are police cadets, state troupers and even young recruits in full tactical gear about to go out on simulated crime scenarios.

            But as class began I had the sudden reminder that this was not Christmas and I wasn’t 8 years old anymore. I was by far the oldest guy in the class and there were more girls and young women in the class than there were guys! For about half the morning the 10 of us had classroom work and videos that coordinated with the material we were already supposed to have studied. The depth of education in the MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) training program is excellent! I highly recommend taking the three day course to all beginners like me and even bikers who have been on their wheels for a few years. It will make you a better, safer rider and I guarantee you will learn something even if you feel well informed already. It is money well spent! (There are also advanced classes for the more experienced rider.) By about 10:30 we had finished the morning class work and moved out to the course for time on the motorcycles. The ‘course’ was a huge paved lot set up and lined out specifically for the purpose. The instructor checked all of us for the required riding gear and then ran through the motorcycle familiarization lesson before we could actually start riding. As I stepped over the seat of a practically brand new Suzuki 250 I was loving every minute of it! Compared to my old Honda this was a smooth operating machine! I could actually shift into second gear with no hassle! My name was on the headlight and this would be my baby for the next three days.

Next we were given the instruction to just ride single file around the perimeter of the course for several minutes. It was an easy, fun, no stress beginning to our riding day. But by the time we got to the ‘power walking your motorcycle’ section it was getting hot out there! The temperature was climbing up into the high 80’s with high humidity and we were all in helmets, sunglasses (or face shields), long-sleeved shirts, gloves, long pants, and over the ankle boots. It was all gear that was mandatory for the class but majorly uncomfortable in the broiling heat! By the time we broke for lunch we were dripping with sweat and by the end of the day our faces all looked like well done lobsters! It wasn’t hard to figure out why. We were all riding new bikes with gleaming new gas tanks that reflected the sun right up into our faces. It was basically like holding your face over a reflector oven all day.

One of the drills that had absolutely scared me into thinking I would never pass was weaving in and out of the cones in a slalom motion. I had set up a sample course in my yard with wood blocks according to a diagram I had in the Vermont motorcycle manual. No matter how I tried I could not manage it without overrunning blocks. So as the class began I already came to this with the apprehension that I was going to fail. To my great relief and enjoyment it was a whole different animal when you have plenty of room and the spacing is right. By mid-afternoon of the first day I was flowing in and out of the cones and I actually got a rhythm going! This was fun!!! What a relief, the old guy can do it after all. At least it was one less anxiety that I wouldn’t pass the test at the end of the course.

We pressed on through the torrid heat and actually went over time and kept riding till about 5:30 but as we got back to the class room and took off all the helmets and gloves and got ready to leave you couldn’t help but sense the feeling of excitement we were all having for what we had accomplished that day in spite of the heat and red faces. I rode back over the mountain with my Jeep windows wide open to catch the cooler air as I left the valley below. It was nice to cool off and dry off but I couldn’t stop thinking about what a superb first day it had been. When I got home I summed it all up for Sharon. “I feel like I got my money’s worth ($160) on the very first day!” But there were two days left to go and the big test at the end would determine if 26 years of waiting, $350 of motorcycle buying, $150 in repair parts, and $160 of ‘educational investment’ had been worth it all. Stay tuned for part 2.

Enjoy these beautiful riding days while we have them and keep your knees in the wind!   Anchor

My wife and I have been taking more and more weekend trips on our GoldWing. Living in the middle of Iowa you need to invest almost a day of riding to get some place worth seeing. The corn and soy bean fields get rather monotonous after a few years!! This year we're going to take the next step and do a week long ride, about 2,000 miles North into Minnesota then across Wisconsin, Michigan's UP then South to Muskegon and take the Lake Express ferry across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee then home to Des Moines, IA. The way I approached this trip is by taking a book I was given "The Most Scenic Drives in America, 120 Spectacular Road trips" and looked at what options I had that were in relative proximity to Des Moines. We had taken some of the closer rides over long weekends but to do the Wisconsin/Michigan scenic routes we would need a full week. After laying out the basic route I wanted to take that followed the majority of the recommended scenic routes in the book, I went into the online AAA trip planner and broke the trip into about 250 mile per day increments. The AAA planner is super easy to use and allows you to do multiple way points. Much faster and easier than Mapquest or Google maps and it's free. You don't have to be a AAA member to use it. After determining our daily routes and approximately where we would want to be stopping for the night I looked at hotel options. Finding an appropriate stopping point that had hotels and restaurants added a bit of complexity as I had to then go back and refigure our route and stopping point each day based on the hotels we booked. Once that was done I printed out the entire route which is segmented by each waypoint and gives you the mileage to that way point along with detailed directions. What is really cool about this is you can plan the exact route you want to take and not get some default route the the mapping software provides. Once I had all that info I just programmed the key way points into the GPS on the GoldWing and am now all set for the trip. Another thing I did was to layout some contingency routes. If we encountered bad weather or had a problem with the bike that would delay us I mapped out shortcuts we could take to keep the trip relatively on schedule without extending the riding day and taking the chance of getting overly tired. So, I've got the route all planned out, all my hotels and ferry ride booked, my 4,000 maintenace and new tires scheduled, all the gear ready to go and just waiting for the big start day to arrive. I'll write a blog when I get back and let you know how things turned out and how some of the new gear we bought for the trip worked out. Stay Tuned!!

The Long, Long Wait

Many long years ago I fell in love with a little Honda cb250 in the window of a BMW shop over in Pittsford, Vermont. I went in and asked how much it was and was told, “Just pay me what it cost to put the new pipes on and it’s yours!” Some poor guy never came back to claim the bike so that was the deal. I tried every which way to get Sharon to let me buy the bike but we were young, right in the middle of having our family and she wanted no part of me taking chances with my life with three kids growing up so my little Honda with the dented gas tank and new pipes went to some other lucky soul.

Fast forward a quarter of a century and finally! We have an empty nest, and several guys in the church who ride (my excuse) and without telling her anything I started a daily search of Craigslist, keeping my search to around $400 for an old motorcycle. I even had a special folder on my computer with the secret title MCH (Motorcycle Hope) just to keep her from knowing that my old desire to ride was riding high again. Eventually I told her to try and ease her into the idea but with the kids gone she gave me the green light at long last! I went and looked at an old Kawasaki but it was kind of beat up and the seat was bad.

I had a growing list of ‘possibles’ in MCH but then, right in the middle of a report trip I saw it! I fired off an Email and expressed my interest and begged the guy to hold out for ten days until I got back. The photo was of a 1980 Honda cm400t in great shape with a rack, sissy bar, windshield and only 13,000 miles and the seat looked perfect! Thankfully no one bought it and when I finally got back to look at it he could only get it to run for about a minute and then it started leaking gas. I walked away for a moment, took $50 out of the envelope and only handed him $350 instead of the $400 he was asking. He took it. Dana and I got it back in his garage, tore the carburetors down, cleaned them and put in new needle valves and finally, after all those years of waiting I had my Honda!

But right from the beginning, even before I bought the bike, I assured Sharon that I would not go out on the road until I took the motorcycle safety course. If she was going to be open minded enough to let me have my bike the least I could do was give myself the edge on being as safe a rider as I could possibly be. Unfortunately it was the end of August and every course was filled for the rest of the year and that meant having to wait for yet another season! But when you have waited for more than a ¼ century what’s another season?!

            So I cleaned and polished and practiced riding. Down the hill around the church building and back up, down the hill around the church building and back up over and over again for hundreds of times until I could ride it in my sleep. By the time I finally hit the road it amounted to 38 miles of that silly practice run. After a long winter and patiently waiting for my safety course it was almost a year from the time I bought my bike till I finally got my license. It was over 26 years from when I fell in love with that little Honda in the shop window! The moral of the story is that dreams are worth waiting for. So if your dream is a new bike or a bigger bike or getting your very first one, make a folder for your desk top called MCH and stuff it with all the things that keep the dream alive. It’s really kind of fun waiting when it all pays off in the end. 

Keep the rubber side down, the shiny side up and your knees in the wind!  Anchor

Rider Down

            There is probably no worse a feeling than to hear that a rider has gone down on his bike. When I was considering taking up motorcycle riding my wife reminded me of our neighbor many years ago who went down on her bike and even with a helmet on was never the same again. Thankfully the statistics in recent years are better because of automobile/rider awareness, better helmets and safety courses that help train new riders. I remember just recently on Father’s Day of all things, I was coming back from Father’s Day lunch with my family and when we got the bottom of the off-ramp, a big bike was down in the middle of the road, the police were there and we had just seen an ambulance headed toward the hospital. My family got very quiet. Needless to say none of us wants to even hear about accidents like that. Fortunately not all ‘rider down’ occurrences are as serious as the one I just mentioned.

            A good friend of mine was coming home from a Men’s Retreat in Connecticut last year when he was actually clipped by a young man in a pick up truck who just kept going. It was pouring down rain and his big Honda Shadow went down pinning his rain pants between the highway bars and the street. A Good Samaritan right behind him, stopped, put on his flashers, got out of his car and helped Dave get out from under and then helped him get the bike back up. Aside from an irresponsible young man in a pickup it all worked out well. The bike was fine and Dave was able to continue his trip back home. He was sore for a few days but at least it was a rider down story with a happy ending.

            What gets me are the stories where a biker walks away completely unscathed! I have two friends of mine who have both laid bikes down in an accident scenario and were not hurt at all. A young man who was following his wife as she drove in the car with their little daughter  was forced to dump when she rounded a corner and had to stop suddenly. As he rounded the same corner it was either do a “controlled” low-side skid and lay-down or go into the back of the car. Obviously in the split second decision he made the wise choice that scratched up his BMW a little but spared the back of their car and several bones in his body if he had hit it!

            Another older friend of mine has been riding most of his life and recently laid his Gold Wing down and totaled it and walked away unhurt! Right after it happened his boys (riders themselves) told him, “Dad you’ve got to get another bike!” Actually they encouraged him to either get a trike or a Can-Am! His wife preferred that he not get either one.  He got a trike and now she rides with him safely belted into her passenger seat!

            Last fall, I bought my Honda and I was determined to learn to ride it. I had virtually no experience and no one really taught me. It had rained a day or two earlier and the gravel was loose around the church building where I did my practice. As I turned off from the pavement onto the gravel I gave it too much throttle and paid for it dearly. I was wearing layers and a good leather jacket over the layers but the force of the bike coming down suddenly slammed my shoulder into the dirt with tremendous impact. Thankfully the borrowed helmet saved my head from the little whack as it took the brief pop on the dirt. My leg was pinned and I had to push the bike off by pushing down on the saddle with my free foot. I managed to pick the bike up and ride it back up the house and into the garage. The damage and a pain in my shoulder was really bad and I was almost tempted to sell the bike and quit riding. But all my cycle friends said, “That was a good experience for you! Now get right back on the bike and keep riding!” After $150 in parts and my own labor I had a new headlight cowling and headlight installed and the rest is history. You would never know now that “Little Girl” or I had ever been in an accident. After it was over I was bruised and in pain for a long time but I healed over the winter and I learned my lesson.

            In every one of the cases where my friends and I had the “Rider Down” experience we got back on and kept riding and I dare say that our ‘down’ experience has made each of us better and certainly more cautious riders today. Obviously decisions like that are personal and everyone has to make their own call. The moral of the story is, ride so well and so carefully that you never have that down experience. SEE = Search, Evaluate, Execute. As you go down the road See all the possible dangers ahead of you. Evaluate your alternatives, and Execute your maneuvers with the bike to avoid the dangers. Safe riding everyone and may you never have one of those ‘down’ days!                                           Anchor

 

http://www.prweb.com/releases/harley-davidson/burn-lawsuit/prweb8701137.htm

We have heard stories and seeen instances of Harley bikes overheating but this article still caught us a bit off guard.  We welcome any comments and personal experiences you have.  What do you think?