Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

That's all the motorcycle is, a system of concepts worked out in steel. ~Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Disclaimer for the Parental Units: Your children are okay.  There were no bumps, bruises, spills, scrapes, blood loss or bone breakage of any kind today.  I will not however make any promises about tomorrow.

 
 
One of the things on my To Do list is to learn to ride a motorcycle.  Today I got to semi cross that one off.  My Favorite Brother took me over to Retama Track Parking Lot School of Motorcycle Riding and taught me to ride his bike.  The bike is a Suzuki M109R with an 1800cc engine weighing 750 pounds.  I'm 5'2" tall and weigh 131 pounds.  The tips of my toes barely touch the ground when I straddle the bike.  When it is off the kickstand, I can barely hold it up and cannot move it.  But ride it I did.  Thom sat on the back and provided the legs necessary to control the bike when I stopped and help keep me from dumping it over on it's side. I managed to shift from first to second and back as well as stop and get going again (the stopping part requiring Thom's help with balancing) and I didn't stall out either.  Thom did not scream or cry the entire time nor did he get off the bike and kiss the ground when I finally stopped the bike and turn it off.  Based on that I would say I was okay at it.  I'm for sure not ready for prime time and that bike is NOT a starter bike.  I think for further practice, something a wee bit smaller would be a good idea.  It was a major confidence booster though to start with something this big and be able to 'drive' it even if it did require training wheels.  And I did LOVE the way it felt to ride. 


Biker chick



Parental Units: Please reread disclaimer from above before you continue reading.

 
When we switched drivers to leave the parking lot, Thom made me hang on tight and he took off across the parking lot at 60 mph.  TOTALLY AWESOME EXPERIENCE!!  Thanks Thom, you were a great teacher.