Motorcycle Training

Oh boy....here we go.


So, my wife comes to me one weekend after riding and says " I would love to learn to ride a motorcycle." Initially I'm stoked and am thinking that's AWESOME! Then she says "Oh let me take your bike out and learn to ride it......Yea, um we need to have a talk. After showing her the bike weighed 600 pounds and there was no way I was going to let her just take it out and learn IN TRAFFIC. We had to consider some options.

The MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) Course is pretty full and hard to get in here in Logan.
They put you on a 250cc 4 Stroke, something like a Honda rebel I'm sure, and put you through about 20 hours of riding through a course and class training. People swear by it. Plus it can qualify you for cheaper insurance rates. So my alternative was, take her to a large parking lot...showing her the basics, give tips, gear up, then let her just troll around. Then next summer get her into the MSF Course.

(SOAP BOX): The number of motorcycle fatalities in Utah has risen 46% since the recent gas crunch. 38% of them were involved with riders not wearing protective gear aka. helmets. 37% of those were found not to have a motorcycle endorsement!!!!! Are you people freaking dumb as a sack of hammers? You're not even supposed to be able to get insurance without an endorsement. I literally want to punch people in the face. Oh and all you have to do is take a written test. Lets just give them an excuse...cuz that's what they need.

First off? Where do people get off going and buying a piece of machinery with close to 100hp or more to the rear wheel, with no prior riding experience or training, and not wearing gear, especially ON THE FREEWAY? I swear some people just don't get it. Then they end up hurt or dead. Having been in 2 accidents myself (neither my fault) I think I know what I'm talking about. Then on top of all this, japanese motorcycle racing technology is now standard on most bullet bikes. I love bullet bikes. They are such sexy machines....when coupled with a smart rider. But when you combine the idiocy of inexperience, with a bike that weighs 300 pounds, does 0-100 in roughly 3.2. You're going to have an accident......Cuz your dumb...

Then, us who do ride regularly, we get to put up with how flawed your decision making is while also worrying about the 16 year old teenage girl driving daddy's escalade while on her cell phone. Let me tell you I'm excited. Defensive Driving.......in my world it's putting you where I want you.
In my rear view.

(OFF SOAP BOX): Sorry I could write a book on this I swear.

Nevertheless. I LOVE TO RIDE!!! And I want my wife to enjoy that too. SO LETS GET IT DONE RIGHT!

I'm glad my wife has no problem with me being paranoid about her safety and she was very patient with me while going over basic technique and explaining things 3 times :)...Honestly I luuvvv my bike, but I could careless if she had to bail off of it to save herself. Bike=replaceable.
MEGAN is NOT replaceable...So I told her just to go slow, pay attention to the bike and dont freeze when you get nervous.



Here she is...all ready to go on day 3 of learning to ride. She's so hot in leathers on my bike.



So after getting basic turns down and shifting. I told her just to let relax and go wherever she wanted. Oh and uh, give it some more throttle will ya. I'm getting bored lol.


Her first pass into 4th gear down the long stretch of the parking lot.


So, my conclusion is this women is a natural rider. After 3 days of making her waltz around a parking lot, I figured she should take it to the road for a quick pass and practice making a few turns. Luckily this stretch has literally no traffic and is only an 1/8 of a mile long including 2 stop signs.


Making some quick left and right turns at low speeds. She's learning at high speed you turn against the bike and lean to where you want, and at low speed to turn the wheel. It's interesting when you teach this concept to people and they give you a look like "What the heck?" HAHA!


Stop and go riding! She says the hardest part is just feeling the clutch and getting the bike to start out just right every time.


Coming back after a quick left hand turn from a stop sign.


So my conclusion is that my wife can handle my bike. Which I am glad to say is very sweet. Cuz that mean I can give her my m50 and get me a new one :) YEEAAAA!!!

After I told her that she said we need to "girlify" it for her. Immediately I wanted to cry since I've put a ton of work into making it my own version of the m50. Bikes are so great!

MORE TO COME!