It has been 25 years since I last drove a motorcycle. I felt like it is well over due, I needed to get riding once again. Being that it has been so long, I figured I would do the responsible thing and go and take a class. I started from the beginning. Even though I rode in the past, I wanted to make sure I approached this with patience and caution. I was anxious to get riding. I see all my gal pals ripping it up,having a blast as we all go out on weekend Rides and such. Being a Miss-fire would be a lot more fun if I had a motorcycle and not just my classic car. So instead of asking one of my friends to help me learn or refresh my memory, I figured I would go to the professionals. I signed up for an introduction to motorcycle. If I was starting over, why not start off with the proper know how of this powerful machine. I always feel like anything that has that much power deserves respect.
So it wasn’t the nicest day. Gloomy.. Almost rainy. I have heard that if you learn on a rainy day it may be better for you since you are learning in more difficult conditions.
I was excited! Just like a kid going to Disneyland. Again I told myself to focus and listen.
I was greeted with a big smile. I met Adam Wood.(Yowza!!) A very knowledgeable instructor at MSS. We went into it right away. Even if I felt like I already knew some of the things we were reviewing, I knew it was important to take it all in. I know a focused rider is a smart rider.
(So focus Lori, focus!) We started with what is the proper gear and which helmets, pants, jacket and gloves were best for riding.(Damn! my pin-up polkadot dress and flower will have to stay at home :/) Adam made us all think about what kind of rider we were going to be so we could start thinking about the proper bike for us. I couldn’t get Grease’s “cool rider” out of my head. He helped us understand why certain gears were better, not in a fashion sense but in a “how it is made” and how durable they will be in an accident scenario. You really don’t want to talk about accidents before you get on such a powerful machine, but like I said, you must respect every aspect of riding, safety and all. Being properly prepared is where I needed to start.
After we went through the basics of getting to know a bike like what goes where we moved onto the proper way to orchestrate them all together. That is a good word to use, Orchestrate. That’s how it should all be. All the main controls working together like an orchestra. When used in the right way you will smoothly coast out of first gear and into second like a beautiful song. If used wrongly, you will most likely stall out and need to start up again.
The introduction to motorcycle truly allowed us to get to know the bike (introduction to motorcycle..ehh..it’s in the title)
We covered all the things you need to do to start and take that first ride. After spending a few hours getting to know my bike, I feel like I am more properly prepared to start my next phase – get off of the back seat and finally start riding! I am READY!!
Bitch no more!
I will keep you posted!….
THANKS MSS !
❤ Lori Erlitz
themissfires.com 