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Becoming a Biker, Part 2: Learning to handle the new Harley
Union Leader ^ | June 9 2002 | JEANNE MORRIS

Posted on 06/09/2002 4:32:52 AM PDT by 2Trievers

Part 1

06-02-02
BECOMING A BIKER:
Buying the motorcycle is
just step one for this beginner

This thing might kill me. That thought is on my mind as I learn how to ride my shiny new purchase, an 883 Harley-Davidson Sportster.

Experienced riders advised me to never lose this respect for my bike. Riding is risky, no matter how good you are.

Nearly everyone recommended the three-day motorcycle rider safety training program put on by the state division of motor vehicles for $85. Anxious to increase my odds of survival, I signed up. Plus, if you pass the class, you get your license. That means avoiding the stand-alone test at the DMV.

But the earliest state safety class available was June 3. Who could wait that long?

For $50, the state will give anyone a motorcycle learner’s permit. That lets you ride in the state from dawn to dusk. No experience or knowledge required. Get on and go.

Not that I was in any hurry to do that. Just sitting on the bike and starting it up was thrilling enough. And that’s all I did for a few weeks. Then it was moving the bike a big 15 inches. What a thrill, shifting into in first gear, slowly releasing the clutch, inching forward, and rolling backward.

Next, to the end of the driveway and back. Then to end of the short dead-end street and back. Back and forth, back and forth. As boring — and perhaps silly — as this sounds, it wasn’t. Learning how to throttle, clutch, shift, turn and brake takes a lot of practice.

Finally, the big day. My outing with cars. An experienced Harley-riding friend assured me I was ready to ride a mile to the parking lot at Jenness State Beach in Rye. The big open pavement. She followed behind in an SUV.

For several weeks, she coached me on how to do figure-8s, turns, stops, and shifting at various speeds. Going straight was easy. Accelerating exhilarating. Turning frightening. But still fun.

After becoming comfortable with all this, I took to the open road. Well, almost. A slow 30-mph trip along Route 1A through Rye and Hampton. It was ideal because it’s slow, has a lot of curves to practice on and few intersections. Invariably, a line of impatient motorists would collect behind me.

I find few things natural about riding a bike. It’s not like a car. It involves your entire body. Your hands and feet control different functions, braking, shifting, accelerating. And your body controls things like the bike’s balance.
The open road

On April 17, the mercury hit a record 90 degrees. No one with a motorcycle left it at home. I suited up in full leather armor and full face helmet, and attached the windshield. My first highway ride, a 48-mile commute from Portsmouth to Manchester on routes 95 and 101.

What a drag! Noisy, vibrating and way too dangerous. Cars whizzed by way too fast and close. I found myself envying people in their cars.

Holding the throttle open for the 45-minute ride was painful. Not much different than gripping a vibrating jackhammer. By the time I arrived at work, my right hand ached and my arm was numb up to my elbow. No leisurely ride to work sipping your coffee and listening to the radio. Plus, I missed my morning stop at Dunkin’ Donuts to get a coffee for the office. Bummer.

By the afternoon, the National Weather Service had issued thunderstorm warnings. The rain never came, but the wind did. Ungodly blasts of wind pounded me. My bike blew all over the highway. I gripped the handle bars and hung on for dear life.

I tried to calm myself with words like, “Of course, motorcycles are designed to drive at highway speeds in high winds.” But this one sure didn’t act like it. Who in their right mind rides a bike on the highway?

So what’s next? It seemed like I had done it all: back roads, highway, parking lots. I even began feel pretty cocky about having logged 760 miles on my bike. I half suspected the state’s three-day safety course would be a bore, although experienced bikers assured there was plenty left to learn.

They were right.
Bike school

The course was taught by a stout man named Chico, who rode an awesome Harley. He looked the biker part with a shaved head, giant mustache, black leather jacket, black boots and black jeans. In his other life, he is a successful bass player who travels around the world playing with well-known artists such as blues singer Koko Taylor.

Chico, and an assistant instructor named Doug, imparted all sorts of valuable and potentially life-saving information to the eight women and three men in attendance. Some had never sat on a motorcycle or even driven a standard transmission car. Others, like myself, owned bikes and had put a number of miles on them with learner’s permits.

The state supplied the motorcycles: lightweight 150cc and 250cc Hondas and Suzukis. Some were brand new. Others were battle-scarred. Mine was an abused Honda CB125. Most of the red paint was scraped away from the dented gas tank. One rear view mirror was missing. The gear shifter was bent, and a parking light had a missing lens. But it ran great and was perfect for learning.
Real-world knowledge

Chico taught us about the official and unofficial rules of the road. Every day we learned more about how to ride safely. Stuff like where in the lane to ride, how to be seen in traffic, how to minimize the risks such as a car turning in front of you, and lots more. We went over numerous potentially dangerous situations (from oil on the road to a dog giving chase) and how to ride through them. It was all good stuff.

To my amazement, even the people who had never ridden before did great. They stayed upright and balanced. They even rode pretty well for their first day of ever sitting on a bike. In hindsight, I can see it would have been a lot easier and if I had taken this course before I ever got on my bike. Even bikers who have years of experience say this. Many take this course because it has a lot to teach even veteran riders. The state offers advanced riding classes, too, which I intend to investigate.

Everyone in the class had a blast. Occasionally we dumped the bikes, but by the end of the three days, we were all weaving through tightly-spaced orange cones, swerving around an imaginary school bus, accelerating through sharp turns and skidding to a short stop.

The third day of our class was the big evaluation day. Each of us had to successfully maneuver the bike through four exercises: weaving and sharp turns, quick braking, hard accelerating through a tight turn and swerving — all stuff we had been practicing for two days.

We were all ridiculously nervous and jittery. Many of us rode like we never had before, which is to say terribly. We hit cones, overshot turns and such. But we all did well enough to pass by a decent margin.

By the day’s end, Chico handed us all little graduation cards. All 11 of us became bikers right then and there. The real thing. And more.

As Chico said, we didn’t just get our license. We had joined the universal brotherhood of bikers. Very cool. 


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bikeweek
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To: VA Advogado;2Trievers
I told you he was a cool biker...What was that Wager 2T?
121 posted on 06/09/2002 5:32:39 PM PDT by sleavelessinseattle
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To: blackie
If life is just a road, then the soul is just a Porsche.

I've been known to pick up hitch hikers. LOL &;-)

122 posted on 06/09/2002 5:34:09 PM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: VA Advogado
That's Merritt Parkway ... no finer road to Manhattan for the "C" ... Yes sir! &;-)
123 posted on 06/09/2002 5:37:47 PM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: sleavelessinseattle
Wager? Who said anything about a wager? I'll have my attorney ring your attorney ... or was it flute lessons? &;-)
124 posted on 06/09/2002 5:41:11 PM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: 2Trievers
When my 71' Lemans Sport threw craps I bought a 400 Yamaha in 1977. I put a faring on it with crash bars and rode it for six years while in college at UT Knoxville. I looked at every car driver like a paranoid schizophrenic and imagined they were out to get me. I believe Knoxville is where the world should train Kamikaze wannabes. The bike had a kick start which was a bitch when the temperature was below 32 degrees and I walked whenever there was snow or ice on the road. I only got run off the road once on Neyland Drive and ended up in the Tennessee River. Luckily Folks helped me and my bike out and the river dropoff was not too bad there. My most serious crash was on Clinch Mountain when I hit a chuckhole that was bigger than my front wheel (Now I know the origin of the word chuckhole). It flipped me over but since I wore gloves, a field jacket, full coverage helmet, and combat boots I only suffered a few road rashes. I made a serious error by following too closely behind a car which kept me from seeing the hole until it was too late.

I am going to get a Harley probably soon, I don't care if its a Sportster or else...I suffered radial nerve paralysis by riding the 400 Yamaha across country so I think the Sportster would be quite a step up...

125 posted on 06/09/2002 6:34:37 PM PDT by vetvetdoug
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To: 2Trievers
Gordon's Rules for riding a motorcycle. (Over 20 years of daily riding without scratch.)

Rule #1: When it comes to handle bars and turning, right is left and left is right. Turn the bars left to go right. Most bike newbies crash on a gentle, 50-mph curve. If the road curves left, they try to turn the handlebars left and the bike move right. It appears that an invisible force is pulling you off the road.

Rule #2: Motorcycles are invisible to any vehicle with four or more wheels. Never expect or count on the driver of car to see you. Never

Rule #3: Keep your margins. When performing any bike maneuver on the road, give yourself a decent margin. If your ability to perform the maneuver is 10, do it as if your ability was a 7. If you do this you will have some reaction margin when the unexpected happens.

126 posted on 06/09/2002 7:17:25 PM PDT by Jeff Gordon
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To: medved
Anybody who rides long enough ends up on a BMW.

I have over 100k miles on my '92 K75RT. It looks and runs brand new.

127 posted on 06/09/2002 7:32:26 PM PDT by Jeff Gordon
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To: Jeff Gordon
That's what I ride these days also. The K bikes often go to a quarter million miles; I actually like them better than the new ones.
128 posted on 06/09/2002 8:07:00 PM PDT by medved
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To: razorback-bert
...I have known trees, bushes and rocks that traveled miles to get in front of me.

Those dunes are great places to lurk.

129 posted on 06/09/2002 8:13:33 PM PDT by harrowup
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To: 2Trievers
I've never owned a Porsche, the only sports cars I've owned were: '54 Corvette, '56 Austin Healey LeMans and a '60 Lotus Super 7.
I've owned two rear engine cars: '64 Corvair Monza Turbo Spyder and a '69 VW BajaBug that I built in '89 and totaled (along with our '93 Bounder motorhome) in '01... :o)

What road do you less travel so I'll know where to stick out my thumb ?? :o)

130 posted on 06/10/2002 7:32:13 AM PDT by blackie
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To: blackie
Oop's, built the BajaBug in '99...sigh...damn senior moments...:o)
131 posted on 06/10/2002 7:37:15 AM PDT by blackie
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To: Jeff Gordon
Rule #1: When it comes to handle bars and turning, right is left and left is right. Turn the bars left to go right. Most bike newbies crash on a gentle, 50-mph curve. If the road curves left, they try to turn the handlebars left and the bike move right. It appears that an invisible force is pulling you off the road.

I got told "if you want to go left, PUSH left. And vice versa." I even tried it out on a bicycle once and it worked, dude... I always remember that going around curves on the motorcycle...

132 posted on 06/10/2002 7:40:09 AM PDT by maxwell
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To: blackie
"What road do you less travel so I'll know where to stick out my thumb ?? :o)'

LOL ... most any route north to ME or NH these days ... or pulled over by a trooper on I-91, I-395 ... my vanity is "VROOM" &;-)

133 posted on 06/10/2002 9:15:23 AM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: 2Trievers
VROOM was a nick given to me by an old e-mail Navy fighter pilot when I bought my last Harley...it'sa small world...

BTW, here's what I wouldn't mind tooling around in, now that Ford has decided to put it in production:

Ford GT40

Ford GT40.

134 posted on 06/10/2002 10:23:13 AM PDT by blackie
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To: blackie
VERY good looking ... will it run with the 425? I need to know what I am up against at the next traffic light! LOL &;-)
135 posted on 06/10/2002 11:01:07 AM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: blackie
I've owned two rear engine cars

Whats a car? :)

(1994 FLHTC :)

BigMack

136 posted on 06/10/2002 11:11:36 AM PDT by PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
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To: sneakypete
lol...
137 posted on 06/10/2002 11:47:53 AM PDT by sit-rep
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To: PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
I've owned 20+ motorcycles over the years 3 were Harley's...I've owned bikes on and off since 1948...
138 posted on 06/10/2002 11:50:36 AM PDT by blackie
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To: 2Trievers
I don't know what it'll do, I haven't driven it...I think I read that it has over 500 hp, I'll do some more checking...my Lightning has only 425 hp...sigh...

Ford F-150 SVT Lightning

139 posted on 06/10/2002 11:54:20 AM PDT by blackie
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To: 2Trievers
Here's a GT40 link.
140 posted on 06/10/2002 12:07:57 PM PDT by blackie
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