Confessions of a Newbie

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JMack
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Confessions of a Newbie

#1 Unread post by JMack »

I grew up interested in motorcycles. My dad had one, and my uncles and cousins. My dad was mildly supportive, telling me about the MSF course and discussing different bikes with me as I got older.

I started looking more seriously in college, but money was tight so it had to be postponed. Along the way I got married and got my husband interested in riding too, so this summer we decided to sign up for the class and once we both passed we would buy some bikes. I passed my class the second week of Aug. 2008. The class was a ton of fun, although a little hot.

My husband had a passed a few months before and bought a GS500e. I decided on a 500 cruiser and within a week of passing the class bought a 95 Kawasaki Vulcan 500. Nice little bike and I got it for $1900. My husband drove it home for me because I didn't have the license yet (had to wait for the completion card in the mail), and it was dark by the time we got it to the garage where we are storing it, so I decided to ride it the next day.

I woke up ready to ride. Got all my gear ready and badgered my husband to head over to my dad's where the bike is stored. We show up and I ask him if he is ready to ride the bike to the parking lot so I can get some practice. Unfortunately, he forgot his gear and I didn't want to ride on the streets without a license, no riding for me. Oh well, I can ride the next day after work.

I'm at work the next day, waiting for the day to end so I can go riding when I slip on a spill and twist my knee badly. It swells up and I can't go riding for awhile. After a few days the pain hasn't gone away and I decide that I have strained my MCL, no big deal. Ice, rest and I'll be good as new in a few days. After a couple weeks, I'm still limping, still in pain, and family and friends are harassing me to go to the doctor. Dang, I hate going to the doctor, but I probably should go. So I make an appt. and head in. Turns out, I had a slight tear in my MCL, excellent. Luckily no surgery required, just a brace and plenty of rest.

So now here I come to Oct 10th and my knee finally feels good enough to ride, I think. I can walk without a brace, I can go up stairs, although down is still a little uncomfortable, but I think I'm set as long as I take it easy. Besides, at this point I am strictly going to be in the parking lot practicing. So after 2 months I finally get to ride. I was nervous at first. The 500 is heavier and larger than the 250s we practiced on. After doing a bunch of tight figure eights I loosened up and relaxed. Practicing turning, stopping and swerving. So far I really like the Vulcan.

Edit: Holy wall of text batman. Paragraphs are friends.

JMack
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Fun with hills

#2 Unread post by JMack »

Did some more riding this weekend. Decided that the parking lot I was in wasn't enough since I needed to work on more road like driving. My husband found a school lot that actually had lanes so I could practice right and left turns from stop and using my turn signal (don't forget to turn it off ;) ).

Before I went riding my little brother (he's 9) wanted a ride, so he borrowed my gear and my dad took him for a ride on my bike. The Vulcan 500 is not the best passenger bike, but he seemed to have an ok time. When they were done, my dad parked the bike in the middle of the driveway.

So now it is time for my husband to lead me to the school lot. We were taking a slightly different route because it was the day of the homecoming dance at the local highschool, and I really wanted to avoid the roads I knew the teenage drivers would be on. First thing I discover when I hope on the Vulcan, is my dad's driveway slopes a bit. He didn't notice because he can throw my bike around like it is a toy. Me and my short legs however immediately noticed the slope when I put up the kickstand and started rolling backwards. I stood up as best I could, putting my weight forward to stop the backward roll. I stood there for a minute while figuring out the plan of action. I start the bike up, and am able to shift into first without rolling, woohoo, started on a hill. Lesson learned, dad does not get to park the bike anymore.

Ok, off to the school lot. It was my first time riding on the road, but it is a quiet neighborhood, so it wasn't too bad. Until I got toward the end of the road, which ended in a stop sign and large hill. I went up the hill and near the top managed to stop and turn left without going backwards or down. I'm not sure if I did it right, but since the results were positive, I figure I did it right. Mostly, I used the clutch to control everything once I had slowed, with a little bit of brake.

The parking lot exercises went really well, and I feel that I am ready for some nice calm roads at this point. Although, I'd be happy with some flat ones. Not sure how I managed to find the only hills in Illinois on my first day on the roads.

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#3 Unread post by JMack »

Well, guess it's time to get a Clymer owner's manual. The pipe on the right side of my bike is blueing, although the one on the left is fine. Plus it is bogging down a bit between gears. At first I thought it was just me, but I had my dad ride it for a bit, and he said it was happening to him too. My plan is to see if I can figure out what is wrong and then as a last resort take it in. I need to do a fair bit of research and reading and trouble shooting.

It's getting darker earlier, so decided it was time to add a bit more reflection to my gear. I wear a plain white helmet and the Tourmaster Intake Jacket and Venture Air pants. The jacket and pants both have a bit of reflection built in. I bought the Speed stripes and the biohazard decal from Streetglo. Figured the biohazard decal was fitting as I'm a grad student in molecular genetics. I also added a helmet halo. I'll post some pics when I get a chance. I may get some Tapeworks rimstripes, since there isn't much light on the side of the bike, but haven't decided.

blues2cruise
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#4 Unread post by blues2cruise »

Great to see another woman riding and blogging..... :)
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JMack
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#5 Unread post by JMack »

Today has been a bad day. I was at work, and while in a meeting with my boss, my laptop got stolen from my bag. Someone walked into the lab, opened my bag and walked out with the laptop. The worst part is not the money I am out the laptop, the worst part is the havoc this is going to wreck on my work. I'm a grad student in molecular genetics. All my raw data is saved in multiple places, but the processed data, all my presentations, my posters, abstracts I have written, papers I have written, grant propsals I have written, all gone. And all so someone could sell it for a couple hundred bucks. Insurance will pay for a new laptop, I spent the extra $50 for theft protection (I live in Chicago after all), but it won't replace the time I've lost on my thesis. It won't replace the time I'm losing on the paper that we hope to have out in the next few weeks. Granted, I should have also backed up the processed data and written data. And I'm sure over the next few days, I'll find some of it on disks in my office at home. And tonight I am going out to buy a 500Gb or terabyte external hard drive to replace the 40Gb external I have now. But it doesn't change the fact that my life is going to be full of stress and frustration for the next week or so because someone decided it is easier to rip another person off than work for a living.

JMack
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#6 Unread post by JMack »

Woohoo for insurance. My insurance will be covering most of my laptop, so I will be able to get a new one. Good news because I really need it for work. Even better news, I think I will be able to take a little bit of time from work this weekend and go for a ride. So rain rain go away, I want to ride on a sunny day.

Thanks for the comment blues, sorry I didn't respond sooner, I was in a venting mood.

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#7 Unread post by jstark47 »

JMack wrote:I was at work, and while in a meeting with my boss, my laptop got stolen from my bag. Someone walked into the lab, opened my bag and walked out with the laptop.
I'm very sorry to hear this, and you have my sympathies. This is why my laptop does NOT leave my sight under any circumstance whatever. I was in New York City giving presentations yesterday and Wednesday, and I had to lug the thing everywhere I went - a total PITA but necessary.
2003 Triumph Trophy 1200
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JMack
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#8 Unread post by JMack »

Things have started to get back to normal for me. Had to work a lot of 10-12 hour days to do it, but it's getting there. Haven't gotten to ride since my laptop got stolen, which is frustrating, especially as it is starting to get cold here. Guess I'll need to get some warmer gloves and a leather jacket to replace my mesh. Just finished my poster for a presentation I have tomorrow, which is fun, since I had the poster 3/4 done last week, but the only place I had it saved was my laptop, oops. The funny thing is I have 4 flash drives, so it's not like I was lacking for ways to save it. Oh well live and learn.

Heading out to East Lansing tonight to watch the Badgers play the Spartans tomorrow. Go Badgers!! Never been to MSU before, bet it's going to be crazy for Halloween. Really excited because East Lansing has Gumby's Pizza, so I get to have some Pokey sticks for the first time in 5 years. Best late night snack ever.

Have a good Halloween all.

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First ride of the season

#9 Unread post by JMack »

Long time since I've written anything. Been busy with work, and it's been cold here so I haven't been riding. For Christmas this year my mom gave me money to get a leather riding jacket so I'd be able to ride in the cooler weather. I really like it. It has a removable liner and fits me really well.

Today was the first nice day that I've had free, so I grabbed my gear, including the new leather jacket and went for a ride. First ride of the season and I wasn't able to ride much last year since I tore my MCL, so I'm still very much a newbie.

First thing I did was check the tires which needed to be pumped up. I had it on a trickle charger over the winter so the charge was fine. Next I gave the bike a thorough inspection and everything looked good. Time to start it for the first time this season. It was a little slow to start but once it did, it ran perfectly. Hopped on and cruised around the neighborhood. Since it was Easter the streets were packed with parked cars. Made visibility a little rough, so I had to really pay attention to my surroundings. Plus spring in Chicago means pothole season, so I had to watch for that. There were a couple of doozies, but I was keeping an eye out so avoided them easily. All in all I felt the ride went really well. I worked on keeping a constant speed and remembering to turn off the turn signal. I did well at the speed and only forgot the turn signal a couple of times. Need to work on that. Everything came back to me very easily. I had read the BRC book as a refresher and I feel that that helped. It was a great day.

I am very glad winter is over and I can ride again.

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#10 Unread post by JMack »

Well, I won't be riding with the spouse this weekend. His GS500 won't start. It needed some work done on it last summer (problem with the fuel valve), so he got that done. Stored it over the winter (stabil in the fuel, trickle charger) and now it won't start. Well scratch that, it started for a bit, then died. That happened twice, now it won't start at all. Just makes the trying to start noise. Plus gas is leaking all over. I'm thinking it's not good. He's really bummed. He wanted to ride so badly that I let him ride mine, and he hates my Vulcan. He really doesn't fit well on it. But at least he got to enjoy the nice day.

Oh well, the Vulcan is working well. I'm going to be riding mine for errands and stuff more which means I need to get some decent saddle bags. The ones that came with it are not that great, just a leather box. I'd like bags that can be zipped off and that have pockets so I can be a little organized.

I'm trying to decide if I should get a windshield. The bike came with one, but it really didn't work for me. The top of the shield was right at eye level so it was distorting my view. I either needed to ride hunched to look through or try to stretch my neck to look over.

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