Re: First Ride (what's with the sign language?)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian S." <an400@xxxxxxxxx>
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 4:38 AM
Subject: First Ride (what's with the sign language?)


Finally had my first ride last night. The state law (NY) is so fucked
up
that you can't legally ride with a learner's permit. So I guess with
the
learner's permit you just LEARN how fucked up state law is. I had my
learner's permit for months, and passed the BRC course many weeks ago.
For
about the past month, I've had a brand new bike parked in the garage
with
ZERO showing on the odometer.


In my state you can ride, but not with a passenger and not at night.
You can ride with friends as long as they're on other bikes.


Finally got the little card to exchange at the DMV for the M class on
the
license. Great! But the timing really SUCKED. I had a 5-day weekend
(Friday through Tuesday), and the card I needed to take to the DMV
arrived
by USPS on Saturday morning. So I could have been riding for four
days of
beautiful weather, if the DMV had been open. (***!!!) Anyway, I
finally
got to the DMV on Tuesday (closed Monday of course) and turned in my
current
licenses for a new one with different classes on it. Lady behind the
counter said quite cheerily, "Now you can ride by yourself". Well
yes, now
I can ride, PERIOD, because I don't know anybody else in the whole
universe
who owns a motorcycle, besides myself.


Maybe it has something to do with age... you under 21? I don't get it.

Had some other running around to do with the car, so by the time I got
home,
it was about 5PM, 90F indicated on the thermometer on my garage, and
extremely high humidity. We were one degree away from matching our
record
high for this date yesterday. I didn't know (yet) that the weather
was
perfect for riding. I just knew I was going riding, and expected to
sweat a
lot.

As my only previous experience riding was the BRC course (literally),
I was
very nervous to take my brand new bike out. In the BRC, I was having
problems with low-speed handling (less than 10MPH). I wasn't sure I'd
make
it out of my own driveway on the new bike. So I was pleasantly
surprised to
learn that I took to my new bike like a duck to water. Lesson
learned, the
proper bike is a MUST, and the Suzuki GZ250 is terrible, even for
beginning
riders.


yeah, those GZ250s suck.. feet way out in front, no balance.. they suck.
The Honda Rebel 250s on the other hand are perfect for that.

My new bike is a Suzuki AN400 (I can hear the snickers now). It
handles
like a dream. Low-speed corners are not a problem at all. For that
matter,
high speed corners are easy, too. But my biggest surprise was to
realize
that I can balance it well, even at extremely low speeds. At one
traffic
light, I was completely stopped for over 10 seconds with both feet
firmly
planted on the footboards. Awesome.

I had to keep it under 60 (it's still breaking in). But it felt
great, all
the way up to ~57. Suspension is a little stiff, but it's adjustable.
I
don't know whether I should adjust it, though. It could be normal,
and just
feel stiff (my first bike).

Rode for a little over an hour, half 55MPH highway and half city. I
should
have started riding many decades ago. It feels very natural to me.

One thing I haven't figured out yet is the sign language. From the
front,
my bike looks like a standard or maybe a sport bike. Just about every
other
motorcycle that passed me in the opposite direction, the driver
dropped his
clutch hand down. I tried to imitate it a few times, but I'd hate to
get it
wrong and send an unintentional '*** you', y'know. Is there a
standard for
this secret wave, or do you just drop your left hand down?



some people wave, some people don't, and less people do as the season
moves on..

What do have for riding gear? Helmet, gloves, jacket, pants, boots etc?

You should get some aftermarket pipes for that puppy and a big loud air
horn. Sounds like you are enjoying the open road, don't be surprised if
you aren't looking at bigger more powerful machines as your experience
grows.

Ride safe and don't let the other guy get you.





.

Quantcast