Roses are Red, Legs are Blue…, What?

Alternate Title: My First Practice Session on My New Mistress.

No, there is no kinky stuff going on here. Mistress is my new V-Star 1100 Classic. I had just purchased her and had managed to ride her home in one piece. The next thing on the agenda was to get it insured.

I had filled out all kinds of online applications for an insurance quote to find out how much it was going to cost. In my searching earlier that week, I had run across a link to TWFG Insurance Services, a motorcycle insurance broker selling motorcycle insurance in multiple states. They are set up with several different insurance carriers. I had filled out their online email form and they emailed me back a reasonable quote through Progressive. My wife called them and we promptly had the insurance policy in effect.

Now that we had the bike insured it was time to practice riding. I would worry about getting the title and registration transferred over next week. I tossed on the used helmet I was temporarily using, my non-motorcycling jacket and hopped on the shiny V-Star. I was going to head up to one of the local school parking lots to practice, stops, turns, and take offs.

I let out the clutch to leave my driveway giving the bike enough throttle not to kill the engine. I was turning right out of my driveway. There is a dividing island with grass, trees, and regular curbs that starts right at my driveway. It divides our street up from that point on up to the main entrance to my subdivision.

Well, I took the right hand turn a little too wide. Maybe not just a little. Before I knew it, my bike was tracking towards the gutter and too close to the curb of the island. My MSF Basic Riding Course training kicked in about target fixation and I looked beyond to where I wanted to be, anywhere besides next to or hitting that curb. I mean, In the center of the street ahead.

My left floorboard must have just caught the curb. Mind you that I am not really traveling that fast, having just pulled out of my driveway. OK, probably faster than I should have been making a sharp right turn. This is where it got interesting. As near as I can tell, when the left floorboard caught, the front wheel, which is attached directly to the handlebars for you non-motorcyclists, slammed hard left. My hands were no longer holding those grips on those said handlebars. I suddenly felt a sharp pain from my left inner thigh just above where my knee bends. This all happened real fast, in a matter of seconds.

Right after the handlebar bottomed out on my thigh, the gyroscopic force of the motorcycle made the front wheel, with handlebars, whip straight again. Just as they straightened out somehow I managed to grab a hold of the handlebar grips again, gained control, and headed down the center of the lane. If the bike had not had a driver’s backrest I probably would have flipped off the back of the bike. I did the natural and looked around sheepishly to see if anyone had witnessed this miracle. Or, maybe I should call it an embarrassing spectacle.

I continued up to the local school parking lot as planned. I practiced stopping and then taking off right or left like I was at an intersection. Right hand turns seemed to give me the hardest time because the bike wanted to swing wide. I kept practicing until I got it down. I’m sure people in cages driving by that saw me going in circles thought I was crazy. After practicing a good while, I headed back to the house.

I did not think too much more about the incident, other than an aching feeling from my left thigh, until I went to take a shower that night. Most of my whole left thigh was a dark blue, almost black in color. Now I knew why my thigh was aching. A couple of weeks later it was just a yellowish brown in color and my wife saw it and had a fit. I just shrugged it off, and sadly noted how much longer it takes my body to heal, as I get older.


Ride on,
Torch

The MSF Basic Rider Course Part 4

We graduated from walking our motorcycles to using the friction zone, the point when releasing the clutch that the clutch just starts to bite and move the bike. From there it wasn’t long before we were riding the bikes around. The skills we practiced after the veteran Instructor demonstrated for us were numerous. Some of the lessons we practiced that first day were, cornering, slalom, sharp turns, stop and goes, and hard braking. I’m sure I’ve left something out.

Counter steering came almost naturally to me. I will not go into a long explanation here. Basically, on a motorcycle, other than at very slow speeds, when you want to turn, you actually turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction of the way you want to go. This induces the motorcycle to lean and then turn.

One of the most important lessons I learned when taking the course was that the bike would go where you are looking. I had read about it and now I got the chance to see it in action. The bike will follow where your eyes are focused. You do not want to look at the obstacle you are tying to avoid, but rather, the track that you want to follow. Also, the motorcycle can do a lot more than you think it can.

Another lesson that was confirmed happened because of the rain. I came to a stop somewhere in the parking lot and planted both feet firmly on the asphalt. My right foot however did not stop moving. Despite the aggressive tread design on the boots, my right foot had landed on a red parking lot stripe. When my foot hit the stripe it slid sideways giving me a slight scare that I might drop the bike right before my foot hit the unpainted asphalt and the tread bit in and came to a stop.

We took an hour break for lunch and then came back and practiced some more. Next we practiced riding over an obstacle. The obstacle we used was a 4/4 board that we shifted our weight from back to front on the bike as we drove over perpendicularly. We were all getting used to the motorcycles by now. What really amazed me was how well they gripped the road, even with it being constantly wet. In between practice courses we could get the bikes up to a little faster speeds, turning and stopping. They just stuck to the wet ground, very impressive.

Soaking wet after a hard days motorcycle training learning all kinds of new skills it was time to go for the day. We helped put up all the bikes, cones and equipment.

Tomorrow we would be learning some more challenging things and then take the Motorcycle Riding test so we could go to the Texas Department of Public Transportation and take the Motorcycle Riding License test. The forecast for tomorrow was still rain. I could hardly wait.

Ride on,
Torch

The MSF Basic Rider Course Part 3

Saturday morning came early with a dark cloudy sky covering the landscape threateningly. I grabbed a windbreaker and headed to the office complex not far from my house where the class would be held. I got there early again and waited for the instructor to come let us in, taking close note of the high humidity in the air. We did not have to wait long.

We took the MSF Basic Rider course test and everyone passed. This test would be similar to the State Motorcycling License test we would have to take at the Department of Public Safety. The test is not real hard and if you only paid half attention during the class you should be able to pass it. A lot of it is just plain common sense. After the tests we headed to the spot where we would be doing the riding part of the course.

The riding part of the MSF Basic Rider course was to be held at a local sporting stadiums parking lot. When the instructor got there he unlocked the fenced in area where the bikes were located and passed out the keys. The bikes were a mix of makes with engine sizes varying between 125 and 150 c.c.’s from various local motorcycle dealers. The majority of them were 150 c.c.’s. The Instructor let us pick a bike out that was like one we were planning on riding, either sport, dual sport or cruiser. I think they even had a moped in the mix. He let the ones, like me, that needed a helmet pick one out. Then we rolled the bikes around and lined them up where we were going to start.

About then is when it started to rain and I put on my windbreaker. It would not be long before it was soaked all the way through. As the class progressed the more and more wet I became. Finally I was completely soaked, shirt, pants, and lastly my feet. I found out the hard way that my new riding boots were not waterproof. Welcome to the world of motorcycling.

If you have never ridden a motorcycle before you need not be afraid. We started off with the very basics familiarizing ourselves with the bikes controls. Then we did the "duck walk", walking the bikes about fifty feet and back with the engines off just to get the feel of the bikes. Our Instructor, a motorcycle veteran of 30 plus years, demonstrated each step for us, sometimes more than once, each step of the way. He made it appear easy.

All the while the Texas sky was cryin’, sprinkling her built up humidity back down on us. I could feel the water dripping off the back of my helmet and snaking it’s way down my back. It was not the normal gulley washer and then gone type of rain we normally have. This was a constant nagging rain that lasted throughout the day. Fortunately it was not too cold. I made a mental note to purchase a rain suit soon.

Ride on,
Torch

The MSF Basic Rider Course Part 2

It was Friday evening and I had left work early and arrived at the small office complex where the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Riders Course was to be held. I had arrived at the small two story office building fifteen to twenty minutes before the class was to begin. It appeared that I was the first person there, so I stayed in my old Ford Explorer and waited for more people to arrive. The small office complex was located not to far from a major freeway on one of the main roads running north and south through the Mid-Cities. The building itself already looked old and worn and in need of maintenance and minor repairs. The Texas climate is hard on buildings and everything else for that matter.

I did not have to wait long before several other vehicles started to arrive. Pretty soon people started to get out and gather at the entrance to the stairs leading up to the second story office where the course was going to be held. I got out of my vehicle and joined them. It was a good mix of people. There were two young guys that drove in together in an old pickup truck that looked like typical construction workers from the clothes and work boots they were wearing. There were a couple of well to do business types. There was also some nerdier looking middle-class types. I would say ages ranged from the lower twenties to mid fifties.

An older gentleman carefully pulled up on an older model Honda Shadow, parked his bike and removed his helmet. He was weathered and tough looking and handled his bike like a pro. Since he was riding a bike it was easy to assume that this was our Instructor. He dismounted and came over and introduced himself. Indeed he was the teacher for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course we were there to take. We went up stairs to the room the course would be held in and got the class underway.

The Room was small but adequate with several small tables set up with chairs around them. The air conditioner did not appear to be working and it was hot and stuffy inside. At the front of the class was a TV with a VCR hooked up to it. Everyone introduced themselves and told about how much motorcycling experience they had. Experience ranged from none to multiple years. Some had off road dirt bike experience. We had to fill out paperwork and sign a risk waiver.

We all got our MSF Basic Rider Course material and Handbook to study. And with formalities over we watched the Video about motorcycling and safety. The Instructor paused the tape in several places so we could answer questions and have discussions about the material. We then went though our workbooks given to us filling in all the blanks and marking the correct answers. The material was not that hard to learn and it would cover everything needed to pass the motorcycle license test. We also learned the "T-CLOCS" Pre-Ride Checklist and tons of safety information. We had to pass the course test in the morning before we got to proceed with the riding part of the course.

Ride on,

Torch

Gearing Up For The MSF Basic Rider Course

On my quest to get a motorcycle I had done a lot of research on-line and off-line. There is a deluge of information available out there. I read books, magazines, forums, blogs and websites. I also talked to a lot of other riders. As with anything, don’t take everything you hear or read as absolute fact. There is a lot of misinformation out there to.

One of the first things I needed to do if I was going to get into motorcycling was get my license. I already had my spouses’ approval, now I needed the states. I also found out some riders don’t have a motorcycle license but continue to ride anyway. I wonder if they have insurance? For the most part I have always been a law-abiding citizen. No need to change that now.

Everybody’s consensus was the easiest way to get the license was first to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation safety course. That way I would not have to take the riding test at the Department of Public Safety office. I would be able to just go in and take the written test to get my license. Either way, the MSF course was already on my things to do list before getting a bike.

I went back to the MSF website and found a local class held close to me in my city. There website has a wealth of information and I recommend it to any rider, old or new. The website listed several requirements including some riding gear, boots or shoes that covered your ankles, gloves and at least a long sleeved shirt. If you did not have a helmet they would provide one for you. So now I needed to start collecting some riding gear.

I picked up a pair of Motoboss Airflow Gloves, (mesh backed motorcycle gloves, this is Texas), from the local Cycle Gear store one day at lunch. A couple weeks later I had enough saved up for some riding boots. I was looking for a black biker boot that looked more like a cowboy boot than the regular engineer boot. One day at lunch I was browsing a local bike shop in Grapevine Texas called Biker Alley, which has since closed, and found what I was looking for. They were Harley Davidson brand and were a cross between an engineer boot and a cowboy boot. The price was reasonable; I had been looking for a while. I even had the funds to purchase them, so I did.

Now that I had the minimum amount of gear I needed it was time to plan and set a date to take the MSF course….
　
Ride on,
Torch