|
My wife spent decades on the back of various biker but did not ride herself until last year. She took a Rider's safety/training course and we bought a small bike (Yamaha Virago 535) to learn on. The bike was not particularly comfortable for her and she did not ride it a lot, but she got some miles in. She fell off of it once. You gotta do that. That was the idea. If you're gonna fall off of one make it the cheap one, pick it up, dust it off, and then go on your way. So she went through all that but neither she nor anyone else would say that she had become really comfortable driving the bike.
Yesterday she rode the new bike for the first time. In the 40 of the 60 years I have known her I've never seen her so nervous.
The morning was eaten up by the title and tag transfer. I headed to town in time to see the front door unlocked at the DMV and was third in line when I got there. Unfortunately the seller had inadvertently checked a block he should not have on the back of the title and that cost me hours of delay. He checked the block that said something to the effect that the Odometer was known to be inaccurate; it took two hours, two notarized affidavits, and miles of running around and finding people to sign and stamp papers to get it fixed. I was back home just before noon, put the tag on the Sportster, and told my wife it was time to go.
Did I mention she was nervous?
We are fortunate in that some of the finest twisties the east has to offer are close by. Yesterday we were doubly fortunate because it was a weekday and that made the normally light traffic even lighter. I knew there would be next to no cars on old route 50 and I did not want my wife to have to fight traffic while acquainting herself with the motorcycle.
We had already gone over the controls the night before. The bike has the renowned Harley clutch pull and of course separate turn signal switches. She found the odometer reset button and estimated what her tank mileage should be (the bike ended up getting 62 mpg for the day). The petcock was new to her and we managed to get it set wrong before we even left the house; three quarters of a mile later she would see what it feels like to run out of gas on a Sportster. Time to fire it up.
The bike, which is carburated, is very cold blooded. Full choke to start on a hot day, lots of choke to keep it running for the first minute or two, a mile or so of soft running to actually bring it up to temperature. We talked while it warmed.
I had already put about 70 miles on the bike so I was able to tell her what to expect. The bike is rock sold steady, tracks around turns like a rail road train, and had great brakes. I told her quite honestly that it was an easy bike to ride and that if she really felt like it she could blow by my Deuce in the twisties. She did not seem to take that message to heart.
My instructions to her were simple. Follow me. Do not lag behind too far. "I will not go fast but you must keep up. I do not want you going too slow, if you do some idiot will run over you. The slower you go the better the chance that the idiot will do it". I warned her not to creep up to a required stop and not to baby the bike when accelerating away from a stop; in short to ride the bike with authority because to do less will only get you in trouble.
We left the house and the bike sputtered to a stop by the bottom of the hill. The petcock arm points up, not down, to set it on Reserve. This did not help my wife's state of nervousness and it showed. First stop was a gas station. We filled up both bikes and it was time to ride. She asked where we were going and I told her I did not know. Actually I had an idea but there was no reason to tell her what it was.
The first 15 miles were easy miles. Two lane country 2-lane road with nice flowing turns. We passed by two small town but no traffic signals or stop signs. These were easy miles and that is how I wanted to start the ride. Let her feel it out under the easiest and most enjoyable of riding circumstances. This was a road where an experienced rider could maintain 50 mph and never touch the brakes which is exactly what I did. I do not know if she noticed or not but my brake lights never lit up. Her's did and she lagged behind exiting every turn but that was OK. She was learning.
We came to the first stop, something she dreaded, and then went on unscathed by the experience. We turned on to Route 50, the nations first National Turnpike, and moved on to the east. There are turns on that road that are legendary. In one turn, just west of Cool Springs (won't be found on any map) a good running Hyabusa could not go over 20 mph so you can imagine what its like on a Harley. The old girl made it around the turn. We stopped for a cool drink. When Janet got off the bike her hands were shaking.
There are always bikes stopped at Cool Springs. Janet got into an immediate conversation with a couple who were riding a Road Glide up from Georgia headed for Illinois. It was in the mid 70's and there was neither haze nor humidity. It could not have been a better day for riding a bike.
We left Cool Springs and continued east toward Cheat Mountain. The three miles of road that ascends that mountain; the section between Erwin and Aurora, West Virginia, may be the best ride in the United States, bar none. The change in elevation is on the order of 1,500 feet, there is rarely any traffic in either direction. You can go as fast as you want but if you make a mistake there's a 50-50 chance they will never find the body or the bike.; just depends on which side of the road you go off of. Up we went. I told her at the beginning I would not go fast, but she had to keep up. That was the slowest trip up the mountain I ever took but it was just right for her. I knew that if I took it easy this time the next time will be better.
After the mountain its easy riding again. We went through Cathedral State Forrest (the only stand of virgin forest in West Virginia) and on to Red House, Maryland. This put us at the 50 mile mark and I knew she was probably getting tired. That Sportster with its mid controls would have killed me by this time but it was just right for her. At the intersection of 50 and 219 she said she felt fine so we went on. We hit Oakland, Maryland and I turned left, back toward West Virginia. A few more miles of easy riding and we passed through Terra Alta (the name means exactly what it says) and then the 1,000 foot drop down the mountain into Kingwood, West Virginia. From there it was an easy 20 miles back to the gas station where we had started.
She did not fall over once. We brought the bikes back home. Four hours, three stops, and 94 miles later we parked the bikes.
I think that is the way to do it. Put the new rider on a challenging but trafficless road and then act like a pace car keeping them moving fast enough to be safe (remember those idiots that will run over a slow biker?) but slow enough to feel safe. Stop often enough to make sure everything is going OK and no matter what do not over tire a new rider. Before leaving make sure they understand every control on the bike. Make the ride enjoyable! Find the prettiest roads, the best views, the sweetest rivers to follow. Find a road that offers different conditions, smooth, bumpy, open and bright, shaded and unknown. Pick a nice day - no rain, no wet roads, no wind.
Today she expects the same but shes not going to get it. Little does she know but we're headed to an old shopping mall where she is just going to start and stop, start and stop, up and down the gears, start and stop. This is gong to be boring as hell but then so is being stuck in traffic.
So far so good. You know, when we were on the road yesterday it occurred to me that I really wish someone had done this with me all those years ago when I first started riding. No one did. I just got handed a set of keys and told "1 down, 4 up" and sent out into DC traffic.
So that's it. I just wanted to try to capture the sorts of things that I think its important for a new rider to experience and a way to present it to them that is not too intimidating. Maybe some of you all have some thoughts as to what sort of ride a new biker should get to experience, how you would present it to them so as not to scare anyone and get the most out of it?
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
