2Wheeltips

Hello all, I'm a thirty-something "chick"
who got into
 motorcycling the way quite a few of us do these
days: higher
 gas prices and overall financial belt-tightening.
The fun factor
 has been a wonderful side benefit!
My husband and I talked about 
how riding a motorcycle would save us money, and decided to take 
an MSF course and then start looking at either motorcycles or
 scooters (at the time, I was leaning heavily
toward the Piaggio 
MP3 500). Neither my husband nor I had ever
owned, or ridden a
 motorcycle, although I had been a passenger a
few times growing
 up, and with a boyfriend or two. We both passed
the course,
 although with a few curses at the figure-8 maneuver,
and then, 
thoroughly bitten by the 2-wheeled bug, we set out to
test ride 
some motorcycles and scooters. I (hubby declined to
test-ride as 
he didn't own any protective gear yet) test rode a
Honda Shadow
 750, Suzuki Boulevard S40, Piaggio BV Tourer 500,
Piaggio MP3 500 and the Yamaha V-Star 650. The Boulevard S40 was a
very light
 bike, similar to the Honda Rebels we learned on in the
MSF 
course, so I was comfortable with that bike. I also learned
from 
the Honda dealer (who was also an MSF instructor) a valuable
tip
 for stopping: pull in your clutch first to disengage the
engine 
and then apply your brakes! Every stop I've made since
then has
 been so much smoother! I was extremely nervous to try
the larger
 Honda 750, but when I got it going, I realized that
the
 maneuvering was just the same, even on a heavier bike, so
once
 that fear passed, I had a blast running it around the
parking
 lot!
Next stop was the scooter dealership where they let
me take
 out the scooters on an extended test-ride IN TRAFFIC.
Remember -
this is the very first time I've played in traffic,
and not only 
were these scooters not mine, they were NEW. I tried
the BV 500 
first, and had lots of fun with the twist-n-go, then I
hopped on
the MP3 500. I had been interested in these ever since
I first 
saw one on the street, and boy did they live up to the
hype! The 
ease of a scooter with the lean of a motorcycle around
the 
corners. I got both these scooters up to about 30 mph, but
it
 felt like I was going 50 mph with the wind on my
full-face
 helmet, and yes, even a bug or two. After the
exhilarating rides, 
it was time to look at the price tags, and
these, being new bikes,
were well beyond my budget, especially
adding on the accessories 
that I wanted. I had known that I
wanted a used bike as my first,
 especially for the lay-down
factor, but these prices just
 verified that.
Next was the Yamaha, a 2007 with low miles. I had
 some trouble getting it going on the incline of the parking lot 
at the dealership, but once I got it
moving it was a blast -
 turned on a dime, a very maneuverable
bike! It was also a nicely
 visible cherry red, which matched my
bright red helmet, and had a
 bunch of accessories already added
on. Can you tell I was in 
love?
Every single one of these bikes was a blast to ride,
 especially the Piaggio MP3! But, economics won out and the
 Yamaha, with its included windshield, custom seat and saddle
bags, was my choice. (check out a photo of my bike on my profile
 page) This was all the way back in late September, and now I've
 ridden in some different conditions, and played some more in traffic, which 
I will write about in further installments of my adventures...
Stay Tuned!