Finally out riding!!!

[Reddemon]

Yeeeaahhh......that was the train of thought that I had going...heh heh heh...

[Ninja Geoff]

Congrats! I'm also a 40 something female and new to riding.

Cool! I was worried that I was having a midlife crisis when I finally got the darn thing. I mean, c'mon, it's been 20 years now. How dumb was I going to be to crawl onto a motorcycle in MA of all places.
But then I thought, what's the point of having a second childhood if you are too old to enjoy it??
Once I was on it and moving, I coldn't believe it took me this long to do it again. I've only been thinking of it every year since I stopped riding before.
What do you have for your ride? Are you totally new, or getting back into it as well? Is your family cool with it? I was pleased that my husband not only was cool with it, now he's talking about getting his own.
Now I'm poring over the bikes for the next step up. I'm liking the BMW F650, with an eye to one day do the R1150.

those beemers are noice bikes. Congrats on getting out there! Where in MA do you live? I'm from that area originally, i miss it.

[Reddemon]

Franklin County, north of Springfield, south of Brattleboro, VT. Where were you from? And where did you go from there?
Many, many moons ago, I did my first solo riding on (of all things!) a 1950's vintage BMW R25, the single cylinder, solo seat bike.
It was so cool! Suicide shift as well as a regular shift, sounded like a Locke lawnmower. It wasn't fast, and it needed tinkering, but it was fun. I almost bought another one when I was looking, but I decided to be more traditional and go for practicality instead. (read: I got sick of kick starting the dang things!
I still like those older BMW's though. Especially the ones with the old style forks. And I love the white ones! Maybe because you just don't see the old white bikes anymore, not in decent shape anyway.
They have (or have had) a BMW bike rally at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Greenfield. Anyone know if they still hold that? I haven't seen it in the past few years.

[Ninja Geoff]

Nice! I'm a gtown turned bernardston kid myself. Oh boy, oh boy i miss my route 2 (west of gtown), old greenfield road, and various roads through the hill towns. I knew/know every spot the cops sat, what neighborhoods to slow down in, and basically, all the fun/safe places to act like a teenager. Hell, i got chased out of GCC parking lot twice in the winter alone (this was all in my car/truck).

I live in Maine now. I want to move back soooooooo bad. I miss my friends. Hell, I miss my old job (Big Y, gtown).

Plan on taking the MSF? Or have you already? If you do, SM Motorcycle school, runs out of Cycle Designs in Philipston has a pair of REALLY good instructors. I want to say Mike and a lady who's name i forget (Mike's the one who endorsed the MSF card, still have it, only way i remember his name). He's got a Duc 749 and a CBR600RR. And she drover her Miata to the class both days, wasn't feeling well or something. BUT she can ride a mean side saddle on a GZ250

[Z (fka Sweet Tooth)]

That's awesome to hear. It took me a while to wave, I didn't want to lift my hand off the grip so I nodded for a while.

Hmmm the wave where I live is just a finger pointing to the side of the road, if I see others do It I will usually do it back.

Yeah dude, I was to chicken to even do that... What can I say, newbie nerves....now im fine.

[Reddemon]

That's good to know about the Philipston MSF. I work weekends, so that kills my chances of doing the Westfield class. I've been learning (or relearning?) by getting out as much as I can. I have a friend who is a retired racer, and a pretty darn good rider. He's agreed to come by and teach me some pointers as far as what to do when and what NOT to do when. I like knowing the physics of things. Like what the front end does when you grab the brakes. How the back end reacts to rear brakes. If I move my body this way, how does that affect the bike's movement. I want to be able to make the decision and stick to it, not be sitting there going "Gggaaaaa!"
I would like to do the CA Superbike school when they come to NHIS, but I won't be ready for it this year (it's here in a month) It's a performance riding school more so than a racing school. If I like it, I might spring for a 2 day camp later on. There they put you on a skid bike, and teach you panic braking. They also have you run with video cameras on you to record your line.
One thing I've learned from car racing, it's wonderful to learn these things in a controlled environment. They really help you on the street. More than once, it's saved my butt.

[cherokeepati]

Hi Folks,
I'm just another newbie on the road. Gas prices also spurred me to buy my Honda 600VLX. Did things a little backwards tho...bought the bike and stared at it for a week before signing up for the MSF. The course was tuff but it will hopefully keep my backside off the pavement. I have only put 500 miles on the bike (I ride to work 26 miles one way) but actually am more comfortable on the highway. I am very lucky to live in the mountains (lot of twisties here) but have not ventured those roads yet. Now if I could just get rid of the heart in my throat feeling every morning I throw a leg over! Anybody else with that problem?