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Also, I know you took the motorcycle safety course and so they probably told you stuff like the first six months of riding are the most dangerous. You need to practice your skills frequently. Remember the 3 second and 12 second rules. And drive as if everyone around you can't see you.
Be safe!
We'll ride together sometime, I hope!
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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Actually, I am taking the safety course this weekend. You need your permit first, and then they test you at the end of the course and you are fully licensed, as the instructors are also examiners. And I probably will not be getting a bike this season, as I'm saving up so I can pay cash. I would have kinda perferred to wait to get licensed until I was ready to buy the bike, so the class would be fresh in my head, but I had a couple of friends taking it this year and the idea of taking it in a group outweighed the reasonable idea of waiting until I could afford a bike.
That said, this is the bike I want. With the optional studded solo seat. But purple. And a couple years old, since I certainly don't want a brand-new bike for my very first.
Um, yeah, did I mention I'm a little excited?
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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However they build these babies right here in Wichita, just a couple blocks from where I work,and they are mucho cool.
The company was started by the same Coleman guy that owned Colman company (the outdoor products stuff) before it sold to some other big corporate giant. This is his "retirement" hobby company. I've looked at these bikes in the showroom window, and they are just awesome.
Farmgirl
( HERE just for you guys who need new computer wallpaper)
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Farmgirl, those are fantastic, but if I save up until I can afford one I'll never get to ride. I'm betting they're a little steeper than the mass-produced bike I had in mind.
If I win the lottery, however, you wanna go out to dinner when I fly down to pick one up?
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Just make sure you don't do anything stupid - like drive recklessly without registration, insurance, your motorcycle endorsement, a helmet, and with a suspended license and a warrant out for your arrest. Otherwise, you may be off to jail while someone else gets new body-styling by Yamaha. Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Dude, does this make you, like, a bad girl? Does that mean I'm, like, one of your hootchies? Use me anytime. Tee-hee!
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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No, no, it’s a very cute bike. I just think I’m starting to feel . . . outnumbered. Or something.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Let me? I don't think he's silly enough to think he gets to let me do anything. But yes, I have a helmet, and intend to wear it. And it doesn't take a motorcycle to get me to wear leather, so no problem.
And Lalo, a bike doesn't make me a bad girl. More, you could call it a symptom, not a cause.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Hey, eljay! Congrats! And the VStar is a very popular machine, very stylish, not too much power for a beginner, and a good size for a woman.
I'd like to point you to my motorcycle blog -- I haven't posted much on it lately, but the first two years of archives are a chronicle of my progress from a beginner rider to an experienced one... I kept it expressly with the hope that someone in your shoes would find it instructive, if not entertaining.
From the link above, click 'monthly blog archive' and start back in 2000
Ride Safe -- I know you'll enjoy the course. Keep us posted on your progress!
Posts: 431 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Kwea, do you really think I have a problem meeting guys in coffee shops now? My problem has never been lack of opportunity, rather, it seems to be exceedingly poor taste.
John, your page looks very interesting, thank you! I'll read through it as I have time... or maybe I'll save it an do a little at a time this winter, while I can't ride. As I get more excited, I'm looking more and more for ways to save money and be able to get a bike sooner. I can't wait!
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Ummm, Farmgirl, just so you know -- if you were wanting to link to a "naked bike" explanation for a family friendly forum and were to put that phrase (in quotes) into the Google search engine, and then you were to click on the first link ... that would be not good. Apparently there are people who have naked bicycle tournaments, and these people do not susbcribe to the "fools' names and faces (err ...)" philosophy.
I was so young, so naive. My innocence is gone!
[ October 01, 2004, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: Sara Sasse ]
Posts: 2919 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote: JohnVP -- using the earplugs with your bike -- does that prevent you from hearing emergency traffic, etc. as well?
No.
Earplugs simply reduce the overall decibel peak of everything in the ambient soundscape. So very soft sounds are unreadable, but very loud sounds are heard just fine -- just not at damaging levels.
[ October 01, 2004, 01:28 PM: Message edited by: John Van Pelt ]
Posts: 431 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Um, turns out it's supposed to be about 40 degrees out tomorrow morning while I'm taking the class. So no, clothing is not optional. That'll be a litle chilly.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Wheeeee! All done, and I passed the test. I don't officially have my endorsement until I go turn the examination results in at the license center, but for all practical purposes I'm good.
Which, as one of my instrcutors said, means "You've proven you can safely ride a motorcycle around a parking lot at about 12 mph.)
It was a lot of fun. I got all the points on the U-turn box and the swerving, and lost 1 point on the quick stop for going just under a foot too far for my speed and 5 points on sharp turn for going .05 second too slow. That's right, you lose a point for each hundredth of a second too slow. Wow.
Anyway, so, yeah. I passed. Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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So, I have my bike now, and I've gone riding a couple of times, and I'm just thrilled with it. The first time out was a little nerve-wracking, but we took it easy, stayed on the back roads, and just practiced starting and stopping, turning, and staying visable and being aware of our surroundings. (We being my friend Claudia, who took the class with me and also bought her first bike this spring, and me.) Her friend Jim also came along with us our first time out and gave us some pointers, he is an experienced rider, and it was really nice having him along. The most helpful thing he pointed out to me was that I was tensing up across my upper back, which caused me to pull the bike back and forth. Once he said it I noticed it, and could consciously relax those muscles. It made a big difference!
This morning Claudi and I went out alone, and went down to the Minnehaha Parkway, which is a lovely little road that twists gently along a creek for awhile. Less stop signs, so we could actually ride further than a block at a time, but still not much traffic, and nice, gentle curves. We ended up circling Lake Nokomis, and then heading back.
Intellectually I knew that there were going to be rude drivers out there, but I was surprised at how soon I experienced it. I was leading, with Claudi behind me, and as we were slowing down for a stop sign we had a car just pull up past her and beside me, and then turn right in front of me. The road came to sort of a Y, and I clearly had my turn signal on that I was going left. Then on the way back we were on a straightaway on a slightly larger road, and were probably going 3 or 4 mph under the speed limit. Two cars pulled out to pass us. It was a passing zone, it was perfectly legal for them to do so, but at least while they were passing me they were not more than halfway into the other lane, and already starting to pull back into the right lane. I was flabbergasted. I realize this will be somewhat less of an issue when I'm actually going the speed limit, as people will be less likely to feel the need to get by, but still. It reinforces for me the need to be extremely cautious and a defensive driver.
On the positive side for my fellow man, it was also amazing how many smiles and waves we got from random people. When we were first starting out, and not going more than 15 mph, a woman getting out of her car gave me a huge grin and called out "You look great on that!" A child waiting with his dad to cross the street waved frantically as we went by, the father smiled happily when we waved back. A woman raking her yard yelled "You go girls!" as we rounded the last corner home. And everywhere, every time I caught someone's eye at a stop sign, they were smiling. Intense concentration warred with joyful glee within me, to be out riding on my beautiful new motorbike.
jebus, Bob rides a 2003 Yamaha Midnight Venture. It's a pretty sweet bike, and the biggest in the same "family" as mine. But definitely not a chopper. If I ever get an opportunity I'll take a pic of him on it, with dkw on back, both of them in their leather jackets. And helmets, of course.
twink, I hope you enjoy your Yamaha as much as I enjoy mine. Of course, you'll get to use yours year-round. I am somewhat jealous.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I think it's amazing that Yamaha makes everything from motorcycles to grand pianos. Just amazing.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Cool twinky, I tried one of those recently and realized the key weighting had come a long way. I'm still holding out for an eventual baby grand though.
quote:Intellectually I knew that there were going to be rude drivers out there, but I was surprised at how soon I experienced it...
Aunt ElJay, I'm just glad you took that safety course so you know to watch out for those nasty people! Bob said that he learned the hard way that you just can't make them see you. If you see them doing something stupid, react! That's the rule. You have to drive safe enough for everyone!
And don't waste time lecturing them or giving them signals with your paws. It never works.
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kwea
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no, I wouldn't recommend doing that! ![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
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