Before we purchased my first motorcycle, my husband told me that he thought it might be a good idea if I took a motorcycle safety course to teach me how to ride. I'm going to say this and by all means take it however you want. Yeah, that was a really good idea, but when you're counting your pennies to buy a bike, it doesn't really leave enough to pay for a safety course. I figured I had plenty of people that could teach me how to ride. After all, just how hard could learning to ride be?
When I was younger I had a friend that had a mini bike. Of course, I had to fight the boys for a chance to ride it and I remember getting my fair share of riding time. The week prior to purchasing my bike we went over to a friend's house and I rode their dirt bike just to make sure I could handle a bike with a motor on it. Granted motorcycles weigh a few hundred pounds more than a dirt bike, but I figured if I could manage to keep it up on two wheels then a motorcycle would be no problem. However, it's definitely true what they say, it's not if you'll lay it down, it's when.
We picked up the bike and trailered it back to town. My husband rode it up to a big, empty parking lot while I followed behind him in the truck. I climbed on, kicked it down in first and took off. His instructions were to ride down to a pole and then come back. Well, I made it to the pole and decided I needed to stop. In the back of my mind I'm hearing a debate over whether to use the front brake or the rear brake and I remember his conclusion being that you should use them together applying even pressure to both, so that's what I did. Then, I went to put my feet down and was thrown off the bike.
He ran over, picked up the bike and asked what happened. I figured I had lost my balance or something, but I was ready to try it again. He started it back up for me and off I went again. There was no problem as long as I was going, but every time I tried to stop I couldn't without the bike going sideways on me. So, after I busted a rear blinker lens I decided I'd had enough for the day.
A few days later we went out to try it again. I'd take off and again, everything was fine until I decided to stop. By this time I figured maybe the bike was too heavy, maybe it wasn't lowered enough or maybe I just wasn't cut out for riding. The latter brought tears to my eyes because not only had we just spent almost $1,000 on a motorcycle for me, I really, really wanted to ride.
The next week it rained everyday. In a way I was glad, well, more like relieved that I didn't have to go practice falling down in the parking lot. There was no way I was going to tell him that I was giving up. Lord knows I don't think I'd have ever heard the end of it after talking about getting my own motorcycle for almost a year. However, the last time I fell I hit pretty hard and I wasn't quite sure I was ready to do that again.
By that Saturday the rain had cleared up, but we were having a biker ice cream social at work. With it being my idea to have it, I had to be there to help serve ice cream. Of course, every biker we knew was there and gave me their advice on what I was doing wrong. None of it made any sense to me because I was doing exactly what they said, apply even pressure to both the front and the rear brake, put your feet down and come to a complete stop with the front brake.
Then another friend walked up and gave his advice. He told me when you're coming to a stop press on your rear brake to slow down. He threw his hands up in the air and said, "don't touch the front brake." When he threw his hands up in the air imitating letting go of the handlebars it finally clicked what I was doing wrong. Once I had applied the front brake, I just grabbed it harder to come to a complete stop. In doing so I was throwing the weight of the back of the bike to whichever way I had my front wheel pointed.
As I drove out to the parking lot that afternoon I was still a little hesitant to try it again. By this time I had busted both rear blinker lenses, busted one of the front blinker lenses and bent my clutch lever. I was trying to imagine how much we would spend on replacement parts by the time I learned how to ride.
We got to the parking lot and by this time, my husband would walk across the parking lot and I would ride to him so he could pick me up off the ground when I stopped. I climbed on the bike, kicked it down in first and rode towards him. As I got closer I pressed on the rear brake. So far so good. I was almost to a complete stop when I put my feet down. Then I held my breath and slowly squeezed the front brake lever. As I stopped I braced for an impact that didn't come. I had done it! I was still upright and not laying on the ground. I had really done it. I had learned how to ride.
