My background in riding is very thin. My first really motorized vehicle was a moped I could at most get to about 38MPH (I got beat in a race by the local kids on bicycles). I used to ride it hard up and down the fields in the backyard where I lived in Ohio. I can remember more than once crashing it into some of my friends who ride bicycles or dragging other neighbor kids down the street on thir skateboards. When I decided I wanted to be a rider some months back I did not take it lightly. My one year of experience when I was a careless 14 and the fact that I was now an overly cautious 33 clearly indicated that I was gonna have to take this slow.
The next several months I prepared my car for sale, took the basic rider course and researched gear and different kinds of motorcycles that appealed to me. I ultimately settled on my KLR as my beginner bike and a full set of mesh riding gear.
When I bought my KLR a few weeks back it terrified me. My first thought when I saw it were "Wow that is bigger than I realized" well also...."It so beautiful." I was more than 60 miles from my house with not a single piece of riding gear purchased yet. It scared me, the idea of having to ride this over 40MPH. After taking a very hesitant spin and going through as much as I could on a used motorcycle checklist, the bike was in great condition and the price was right.
I made my offer. "I will buy it today in cash if you will ride it to my house"
Yes I felt a little inadequate not at all like the fearless rider that the news and TV portrays. I knew my limitations and held to my safety standards and without a truck or trailer or any riding gear this was my only option at the moment. I was a level one noob and knew it.
The seller agreed and I followed over the next 50 minutes as my new KLR was being ridden home. I was so excited I could barely stay still in my seat.
I did not ride it for three days as I waited for all of my riding gear to arrive. I would go out each night and start it and just sit and listen thinking about the day very soon when I would be riding.
All my gear arrived on a Friday so as soon as I got home from work I dressed in all my Darth Vader gear and took it for my first real street ride.
It felt good. I felt apart of things and could feel the weight and tires as they propelled me slowly through some back streets. I learned my braking limits and tried to apply other drills I learned in the basic riders course as I pushed lightly on my abilities. (The turn signals were an interesting challenge getting to know when to turn them on and off). I spent about 2 hours exploring those back streets behind my house that I otherwise would never have seen. My skills improved but I still felt far from ready to be surrounded by a slew of inattentive drivers.
Over the last few weeks and about 500 miles my abilities have shown significant improvement. My turns are less inhibited, my stability at high speeds is much better and I finally clicked on that whole counter steer concept...well that it works anyhow but I still scratch my head when trying to grasp why the bike corners in the opposite direction I turn.
I have reached noobish level 2
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