First a little background. I’m a 31 years old, married and mother of 3 kids ages 11, 7, and 2 (yeah I started young, I know) . I work fulltime as an IT Purchasing Agent and I’m going to school to finish my Bachelors Degree. I guess you could say I have a pretty busy schedule
Fast forward to what brought me to riding… It’s all my sisters boyfriends fault! He rides and when he came into the picture EVERYONE got the bug. My husband, which had not ridden in 15 years, and my brother both bought bikes. So the girls rode as passengers with the guys until I decided that I wanted to try it for myself. Although I was having a good time as a passenger I knew I would have a great time as a driver, that and I have a slight control issue but this would be the only time that I’ll admit to that!
February 24th MSF – This is where you’ll get my details, I had posted that I went to the classes and passed but this is what it took! It was time for my MSF classes which I was taking with my husband. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to take it with him, but I did it anyways. First day it was all class room, second day it was half on the range and half off. I was the only girl in the class and the only one that had never really driven a motorcycle before. Everyone else was taking it as a refresher or because they were now of age and have been riding with out an endorsement all this time.
I’ll spare the class details and just say that by the end of the day I just wanted to go home, take a shower, have a good cry (what can I say I was tired and over whelmed) and go to sleep…
. I never dropped the biked or did anything dangerous but it was really overwhelming because I had never ridden OR driven stick shift. I caught on pretty quick but it was a lot of info. I would look at the instructor go through the course and I would think to myself “How the heck am I goanna do that?!” 
But I got on the bike did it and went on with it. Second day, it really took everything that I had to go back…LOL but I went anyways and did so much better than the first day. I found myself actually enjoying it at this point. I passed all the tests did great on the range except for going a bit out of the box but recovered and went on. I was the newbie on the range but not the worst driver, which is pretty scary now that I think about it !... I felt on top of the world when the class was over, major sense of accomplishment.
First Bike
The same day I passed the MSF class I went and bought my bike. It didn’t take long before I fell in love with my Kawasaki Vulcan Classic 800. Took that bad boy home and practiced, after work, early on the weekends etc…
Practice – When I first got on my bike I had my husband show me where all the controls were. I felt the friction zone, walked it to the end of the block and my husband walked next to me, I got a feel for it started going faster, husband is still next to me now walking faster…lol Finally I got it and took off, husband is now jogging next to me!
So I turned the corner and lost him, all of the sudden I hear him ON HIS BIKE behind me?!?!?! I know that he was concerned but if something was going to happen there was nothing that he was going to do to stop it and probably made me more nervous by stalking me. He soon realized that I was going to be okay…Practicing was frustrating at times because I would forget to DOWN SHIFT and felt my stomach turn every time I came to a stop sign…LOL. Some days were good and some were a learning experience. I remember taking my bike out one night after a bad day at work (red flag #1) I didn’t get too far before I stalled at a couple of stop signs, I turned right back around, parked it in the garage and called it a day. It’s just was not a good day to ride. BUT the next day I got right back on and had an awesome time. That’s what it’s all about, learn from it get back on and keep going. Back to my red flag #1, if you are not ready and in the right frame of mind, you won’t have a positive riding experience…oh so true.
As part of my practicing I actually bought cones and would take them to empty parking lots to practice my emergency stopping and swerving. It has really paid off! Swerving on that small 125 in the class and swerving in my 800 are two different things.
Where I am today – Super comfortable on my bike. I love that I’ve been able to go from being intimidated to riding like it was second nature. This weekend will be my first ride out of town on my own bike.
It’s just a day trip but it’ll give me a new experience with new roads and different conditions. I’ll be with 3 other bikes, all family and on of them my husband. I offered to take him as a passenger but he wouldn’t have it…LOL oh well at least he’ll have my back. I’ve already warned him not to invade my riding space.I'll let you guys know how it goes...
If you've read this far, thanks for your intrest!!
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