The Grand Vista of Bards

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Gina
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The Grand Vista of Bards Returns!

#51 Unread post by Gina »

Hello all! It's been quite a while since I posted anything and there's a lot to catch you up on. I told you a while back that I was spending more time on the Yamaha Majesty forum because that's what I drove. However, I have given up the Majesty even though I never thought I would.
It all started with a little desire inside of me to see what it was like to ride a motorcycle compared to the super scoot. I started talking to my husband about it and even considered getting a little 250 but he said I already knew how to ride and that since I was used to more power, a 250 wouldn't satisfy me.
So, I did some research and some looking around and finally settled on a 2001 Suzuki Intruder. It weighs about the same as my Majesty. It's an 800 so it's got plenty of power and it's low enough to the ground for me to handle comfortably. I thought that I would have two bikes and ride the scoot when I wanted or the Suzuki when I chose.
After a lesson from my husband in the parking lot where I learned about the clutch and then a few more days of instruction on a country road that had a good, long, straight stretch, I learned to change the gears. But it was when I started taking the curves that I changed my mind entirely about having two bikes. I don't even want to ride the Majesty anymore. My husband said the bigger tires is one of the things that makes a difference in the feel of it but I love the way my Suzuki takes the curves and we live on a curvy road that people fly on. We're a long way from town too. I believe the Majesty is better for someone who lives closer in although it certainly has the speed and goes on the interstate with no problem. The Intruder just suits my needs better.
I feel kind of sorry for my Majesty. She's so beautiful but just sits in the garage now. I'm going to put her up for sale and I hope whoever gets her enjoys her as much as I did. I never laid her down or wrecked her and she's in fine shape. My husband had just changed the oil on her and she always starts up like a top at the twist of the throttle. But I've went motorcycle and I'm never going back. lol
So, expect some more posts from me again. The Grand Vista of Bards has returned!
Help me, Jesus!
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NorthernPete
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Re: The Grand Vista of Bards

#52 Unread post by NorthernPete »

congradulatons on the new bike and good luck on sellin the scoot.
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Gina
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Re: The Grand Vista of Bards

#53 Unread post by Gina »

Thanks Pete! I've put a lot of miles on my Intruder since I got it but I'm still not real smooth at changing the gears. I am enjoying the learning process though!
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Gina
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Re: The Grand Vista of Bards

#54 Unread post by Gina »

There are three things I always wear when I ride now: a full face helmet, protective boots and leather gloves with extra protection on the knuckles. I also have a reflective jacket with protective body armor that I paid a pretty penny for but I mostly wear it at night. No doubt, I should wear it all the time. It's even made to be comfortable in warmer weather and it is but nothing would be comfortable to wear in the weather we've been having here in Kentucky.
I'm sure this is the hottest summer on record in a long time. I don't know how many days we've had so far that have been in the 90's but there have been so many, I have become over-heated several times. I just love to ride so much that I put the gear on anyway and head out but I have had to become more picky about the time of day I choose to ride. (I've put almost 3,000 miles on my Intruder in the 2 months I've had it.) I've said all that to say this: I will be glad when it cools off some. This weather has interfered with my riding enjoyment.
However, cooler weather also means wintertime is coming and Kentucky gets its share of icy roads and bad driving conditions.
So, here I am, contemplating in deep August the future conditions that will make riding my Suzuki unwise. And then I wondered about the people who get to ride year 'round. (I rode every month last year but there were a few months I didn't get to ride much at all.) Anyway, do those people realize how lucky they are? I figured that there must be a higher proportion of riders in areas where the weather supports their choice of vehicle all year.
Earlier, I wrote about my son becoming a Marine. It's been over a year since then and he's a Lance Corporal and stationed in California. He works on radios in a training center for other marines where they teach them how to fix them. My son has talked about getting a motorcycle and I don't want him to because he has admitted that he won't drive as safely as I do. I know...this article has been nothing but a stream of consciousness piece and very random but it does show how a mother who has a son in the Marines in Calif. and who loves to ride a motorcycle could justify moving from a place that experiences all the seasons...sometimes to their extremes to a place that experiences more stable climates.
I don't see myself ever leaving Kentucky though. There are just some things that I love even more than riding. The seasons we have here, the mountains, the winding roads and the down-to-earth country people who know more about life than many of the "educated or wealthy" I've met, are embedded deep in my heart.
(Not that you can't be educated or wealthy and be a good person. It's just that I've witnessed so much stereotypical thinking in articles and shows and movies today about country people that portray them as witless inbreds, that I am offended for their sakes.)
Now, to continue the randomness of this little blog, I ordered a Motorman video. I have so much to learn about riding and I thought it would help. Have any of you all seen seen any of his videos? Did you like them? Did they help you? Maybe I should have asked you first before I invested my money. However, I will give you this piece of advice--if you're going to order it, order it from the Motorman's site not from Amazon. They charge shipping and it makes the video quite a bit more expensive and he offers it with free shipping.
After I watch the video, I will post on here about it. I'm planning a Motorman party so my brothers and some of my friends who ride can come and watch it with me. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?!
Help me, Jesus!
www.reginarussell.weebly.com

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Re: The Grand Vista of Bards

#55 Unread post by jstark47 »

Gina wrote:Earlier, I wrote about my son becoming a Marine. It's been over a year since then and he's a Lance Corporal and stationed in California. He works on radios in a training center for other marines where they teach them how to fix them. My son has talked about getting a motorcycle and I don't want him to because he has admitted that he won't drive as safely as I do.
Gina- it might not be as bad as you fear. Googling around, I find the following practices in place this year at California Marine bases like Pendleton and Miramar:
  • 1. All Marines that have a motorcycle must "register" it with their CO

    2. All Marines that ride must take the BRC and Sport Bike class if they have a sport bike.

    3. All Marines must have a Riding Mentor. This person is at least an NCO with their own bike and is an experienced rider.

    4. Each Marine has a training record for their motorcycle training which is part of their military training record.

    5. Each Marine is required to attend once a month class conducted by the Mentor. The subject matter includes subject matter that the command has determined needs emphasis as well as what ever the Mentor decides to be included that month. They are conducted in a training room with blackboards and includes open discussions.

    6. The Mentor must conduct a once a month ride and during the ride is suppose to stop and offer critiques. Each Marine is required to have this ride logged in their training records.
I believe the Navy asked the MSF to develop the sportbike curriculum in 2008, after motorcycle accident rates got the brass concerned. They're taking this seriously now.
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Gina
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Re: The Grand Vista of Bards

#56 Unread post by Gina »

Hi J Stark,

Dustin had told me a little something about some kind of requirements but I didn't know the Marines were doing all that! That's great. He had told me that they had talked to them a lot about the dangers of riding and he spouted some statistics once that were pretty scary. I don't have any kudos to give to Tom Cruise for riding around without a helmet in Top Gun either. lol But thanks for the info. It reassures this mother's heart a little bit.
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Of dogs and dragons

#57 Unread post by Gina »

I was getting ready to park my bike at Wal-Mart when low and behold, two women on bikes rode right in front of me. I took off after them and blew my horn. They stopped and we ended up talking the whole time my hubby was in the store. (Suits me fine. I don't like shopping anyway.) Anyway, we talked about starting a women's riding club. I have been wanting something like that in our area.
I'm still loving my bike and have been riding so much that I've put thousands of miles on my Suzuki in the last four months. I know I've put over 5 thousand miles but I keep seeing things that I'm doing wrong. There's still so much for me to learn! I even laid my bike down a few weeks ago. It's pretty cold natured and has to have the choke pulled out for a while if you start driving it right after starting it. I had only been in the church about 45 min. for practice so I didn't think it needed much choking. I began doing parking lot practice and thought it was time to push the choke in. Then I started going up a little incline into the other side of the parking lot. I was leaning a little, squeezing the clutch a little too (friction zone practice) and the bike coughed and died and down it went. It was a real slow lay down and I was able to set it down gently without hurting my bike but it shook my confidence a little. My husband tells me that learning to operate the choke better will make me a better cyclist and I'll be able to ride any bike I want but it is a challenge sometimes.
I've been practicing the friction zone riding. That's something I really couldn't do on my scoot. I like acquiring new skills. It makes life interesting. But having your bike fall over when you are turning is a little more excitement than I wanted.
That night, on the way home, my husband and I ran over a dead dog in the road. Everything happened so fast that there was not enough time for him to give me a warning signal before I hit it too. It wasn't a large dog but it wasn't a tiny one either and I knew my bike was actually carrying some of the remains home with it. I even felt it hit my boot. E-w-w-w. But it was a black dog on a very dark night and that's one of the main reasons I don't like night driving. We were on a road that has some ups and downs and curves mixed in between the straight stretches. Even though my husband had his brights on, he wasn't able to see the dog until just before going over it. It was quite a jolt. My hubby has been riding for many years and he said it's the biggest object he's ever went over. But, thank God, we were able to hang on and rode it out.
About a week after that, some bikers from our church went on a ride that lasted about three hours. One of the bikers who has driven the tail of the dragon twice, told me that if I could go on this ride, I could go on that one. I don't know about that. The tail of the dragon is intimidating and I'm not even going to consider it until my skills are a lot better. However, the ride we went on was a great one with a lot of good twisties and beautiful scenery.
Speaking of dragons, I was riding the other day and when I came close to a gas station, I saw what, from a distance, looked like some kind of walking bushes or something waving in the wind. I didn't know what in the world it was. When I got closer, I was able to see that it was huge dogs being allowed to take a break. I stopped to see the dogs and they were magnificent. There were four of them on leashes and one in particular acted as though it did not like the lady who pulled up on her motorcycle to look at them. The person holding onto the leash didn't look capable of being able to stop a lunging mammoth so I remained wary. I found out they were Newfoundland dogs. The wind was blowing their luxurious coats and I wished I had my camera.
Then, the other day I saw a huge, black dog crossing the highway we travel frequently. I don't believe I could ride over him if I had to and the last I saw, he had even stopped a few cars with his meanderings. My husband said it was a local dog.
We've got some places to go this afternoon and might not be able to back before dark and I don't know if I want to ride or not. I hate to get in the car and leave while it's so beautiful outside though! It just seems wrong. :-)
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MZ33
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Re: The Grand Vista of Bards

#58 Unread post by MZ33 »

Wow, Gina, no moss has grown under your wheels in the past year, has it?

I have Ride Like a Pro, also, and have found it really helpful with slow riding. Not so much with faster riding, though. I want to work on that.

How's the women's riding group coming? I just joined a new chapter of Women On Wheels this past summer. You might want to look into that, or Women in the Wind. There are a few women's groups out there that are national, with regional chapters.

Ride on, and enjoy!
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Gina
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Re: The Grand Vista of Bards

#59 Unread post by Gina »

Hello to all my old friends on here! I couldn't believe how much time had passed since I wrote on my blog or replied to others. But when I checked the dates, I saw that my last post was in April of 2009. I've been writing a whole lot. (I actually wrote a book about a woman learning to ride and published it) but I shouldn't have neglected this site when it's been such a help to me and getting to know some of you other riders and getting advice was definitely important to me too.
I ran through some of my posts and caught up to where I left off at on this blog. I had just started riding my 2001 Suzuki Intruder. Well, a lot has happened since then. My husband rides a 2005 Suzuki Boulevard and it is fuel injected. How I came to want fuel injection too! I loved my little Intruder but the foot pegs were not near as comfortable as his roomy looking footrests appeared to be and what a thick, soft wonderful seat his Boulevard had!
I'll bet you can see where this line of thinking was going. So, I started looking. I sat on a Honda Shadow and some Harleys that were too expensive for me and I found myself loving the looks of a 650 V-Star. It seemed to have everything I needed. But then I compared it to the 800 Boulevard my husband rode and I found that of all the bikes I had looked at, a Boulevard suited me most of all.
There was a guy downtown who had one for sale so I went to his shop. It had the extras I wanted too so I wouldn't have to buy a thing for it--crash bars, saddle bags and tall windshield--three things I really wanted besides the fuel injection. We agreed on a price and I ended up with a 2007 Suzuki Boulevard 800. So, my husband and I have our own set of twins!
Another reason I wanted it at that time is that we were getting ready to go on a bike trip with a church near us and I wanted a larger cruiser for a little more stability too. Ten days after I bought my Boulevard, we headed east to Oneida, Ky. to meet a group of people riding 16 bikes headed to Gatlinburg, TN. There was some talk about the Tail of the Dragon but I said I wasn't ready for it. However, after riding with that group out through Virginia first before arriving at our motel 9 hours later, I had changed my mind.
Sure enough, the next morning my husband and I got ready to ride the Tail of the Dragon with them. I had already decided that I was going to take it at my own pace...no knee draggin' here, folks and that's just what I did. It was an exciting experience and the 11 miles of twisties took concentration and planning as I sat myself up for the next hair-turn while I was in the middle of one already. I loved it.
It was something to see the Tree of Shame at the top and I bought a t-shirt that said I survived the dragon. My hubby got one that said he slayed it. I didn't slay it. I just survived it. Really.
And since then, I've continued to enjoy my Boulevard. My son-in-law bought my Intruder and still has it. I get a little nostalgic when I see it in his driveway. It was my first motorcycle so I guess that's like someone being your first love...you never forget them.
I wrote to you about my son joining the Marines. Well, guess where he's at right now. Yep. Afghanistan. So, for those of you who have a relationship with our awesome Creator, say a prayer for my youngest for me. Thanks.
So, I'll say hello to everyone again! I won't stay gone so long this time, Lord willing. I have more to tell and we're getting ready to go on another ride with that same church and guess what...they said we're going to do it all over again but this time, we're adding in the Cherohala Highway! Whoo-hoo!
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Gina
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Re: The Grand Vista of Bards

#60 Unread post by Gina »

Hey MZ33, are you still out there? I see I never replied to the post you wrote in 2010! I hope you haven't walked rode around with hurt feelings for almost two years. lol Anyway, like I said in my last post, I quit coming on here for a long time and then my hubby took my computer apart. I didn't have all my info to get back into places on the replacement for a while and I just let things slide. But I've been doing a lot of riding in the meantime!
But speaking of taking things apart...my husband has my Boulevard in pieces right now because he's putting the blue LED lights on it before our trip. My kids put in together and got them for my birthday. I said, "How did you know?" My daughter gave me a look that told me my question was ridiculous. She replied that everytime I see a motorcycle go by that has blue lights on it, I always say I want to have them too and that they're beautiful. Yep, I do do that. But I didn't think anyone was really listening.
Now, my husband is out on his bike and I am sitting here at the house. There's a couple of things he needed to get before he put it back together. Tell me, is anyone else like this...If it's a beautiful day and I can't ride my bike, I'd just about rather stay at home. :-(
Help me, Jesus!
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