sxty8goats
Senior Member
I wrote this a few years ago. A recent thread asking if anyone was scared on their first ride reminded me of it so I dug it up to post here.
June 06' Riding in IL/Wisconsin for those familiar with Rt 14
My First Ride
Ok, maybe not my first ride but it was my first extended ride and my first true ride where I wasn't scared 90% the time. It was a dark/ damp day today but the weather broke @ 4 PM and the sun broke through. It looks like a good day to cut out of work an hour early and scout out a few locations for next week's photo shoot.
So I head home, grab my helmet and new armored jacket then head out to the garage. The bike fires right up and I dawn my gear as she warms up. I turn her towards work. It is a nice drive down familiar back roads that twist and turn past corn fields and wooded areas. Its' a great warm up. This is my first ride in the new jacket. I know some of you don't care for the Joe Rocket stuff but I've spoken with two guys that went down and slid a bit in theirs and both were very happy with the results. Also it seems to be the least flashy of the textile jackets.. Any way.. it made me feel a little better about riding and it keeps me cool.
Looking up at the sky I think, "What the heck, it's cleared up, lets head to Wisconsin". Up Rt. 14 I go. After about 4 or 5 miles I end up with my first caged butt monkey. Most of the cars I've encountered to this point have been courteous as all heck. Lots of room and respect. This young lady was riding my tail @ 50 MPH, not more than 2 feet off, or so it looked in my mirror.. So I bumped up to 60 to see if she would give me some room. No luck. She caught up and was right back behind me. Well, she wasn't looking to go faster, she just liked the look of my helmet. Hmmm. what to do? Back down to 50, slow and easy and cruise a bit further. There's what I need, a nice bar on the right. Signal on, check the mirror. She is still there on my butt. Tap the break and down shift. Stay on the throttle to keep the speed up a bit. Break light backs her off a bit so I slow a bit she drops back a bit more. I break and turn into the bar, she passes by. I look for on coming traffic to see the road empty so off I go. Ah.. nice relaxing road ahead. Then I realize something, that didn't freak me out. Sure, I pulled over and let her pass but I really wasn't freaked. No adrenalin or anger. Cool. Must be the jacket
A few more miles up and I decide it is time to explore the side roads twisting through the corn fields. I hang a right after Harvard, down the road that isn't 173. Some rough pavement but beautiful scenery and light traffic. Once again, everyone in a cage I run into are courteous. There is something to be said about riding in this corner of the Midwest. It is Harley country here and just about everyone knows a biker or two. Well the road is heading North West and I want to head West / South West at this point so I'm looking for an intersection. A few more miles and there she is. A funny little road that is running at a diagonal to mine. To head where I want to go I need to make a u-turn onto the new pavement up a short little 45* paved incline. Weird but there is no traffic and I think I got it. Straight up the incline, @ 4 feet, up to the road and turn. Oh OH.. I'm slow and turning a bit wide. I'm going to hit the soft shoulder.. Front tire goes into the gravel just as I'm almost through the turn.. I straighten the bike up. counterbalance to do so and now both wheels are in the gravel. But I'm straight.. I have about 6 inches of deep gravel on either side of me and a hard sloping drop off to my right. Ok, here comes my first crappy dump.. I've laid her down gently practicing hard stops but those were a simple loss of balance. Set her down gentle and picked her right back up. This was looking like it might be ugly.. So I think. "Heck ride it out until you either loose it or get back on the road". Head up. clutch in the friction zone, soft with the gas. Man oh man is she squirrelly.. quick glance down to check the lane.. I'm 4 inches from the road and gaining. Wiggle squirm slip and slide.. 2 inches, wiggle wiggle Firm. Front is firm.. Crap, there goes the rear.. Turn the front back to the gravel a bit.. edge it along a bit more, I've gone all of 10 feet now. Wheel check, 1 inch and I'm drifting up on to the pavement. Yes. Solid, both tires.. Second gear and I'm rolling down the road. Do I feel good? Oh yea, I feel like a minor deity. I'm cruising. Clear of the worst mistake I've made yet. back up to 45 MPH. a nice happy cruising speed.
What happened to my engine? Where are the RPM's going? Oh crap, look at the trip odo. 145 miles. I've gone 35 miles tonight, cool but I'm on the reserve. Well I should be. I'm actually rolling to a stop and down to about 30MPH. I reach down and flip the pet**** down (or up, depending on how you see the valve in your head..) Crap. No Rooom Rooom when I twist the throttle. What fresh heck is this? Putter putter put put. Coast putter room putter room rompurr putter. ROooOM! ROooOM!. Oops, guess it takes a bit to get the fuel to the carbs. I'm guessing that I've got 20 miles on the reserve tank. Time to figure out where I am. Corn, Barn corn tractor. Hmmm. South West, I should find Rt 47. 2 miles on reserve. More corn. Less barns and no tractors. 5 miles. More barns and New Pavement!! That has got to be a good sign. 11 miles down and I'm still riding through corn fields with no civilization in sight. 13 miles and I see an intersection with a small green sign. Little sign means fewer letters, RT 47! yes, Right turn. Off to Woodstock I go, I roll into the gas station, @ 15 miles into the reserve, she takes 3.73 gallons, Guess the reserve holds more of the tank than I thought. Manual says it holds 1.3 gal. and the main tank holds 5.3 USG. Looks like I could have fit a few more miles in, I had a few more drops in the tank.
I had a great ride. The screw ups only made it better. I got through them and didn't feel threatened by them. Well, I was worried I would be pushing or lifting the bike a bit but I was lucky there. All in all it was a great ride. In the end I put over 50 miles down tonight and never really felt I shouldn't be riding. Wheels on the ground and feet on the pegs.
have a good ride,
June 06' Riding in IL/Wisconsin for those familiar with Rt 14
My First Ride
Ok, maybe not my first ride but it was my first extended ride and my first true ride where I wasn't scared 90% the time. It was a dark/ damp day today but the weather broke @ 4 PM and the sun broke through. It looks like a good day to cut out of work an hour early and scout out a few locations for next week's photo shoot.
So I head home, grab my helmet and new armored jacket then head out to the garage. The bike fires right up and I dawn my gear as she warms up. I turn her towards work. It is a nice drive down familiar back roads that twist and turn past corn fields and wooded areas. Its' a great warm up. This is my first ride in the new jacket. I know some of you don't care for the Joe Rocket stuff but I've spoken with two guys that went down and slid a bit in theirs and both were very happy with the results. Also it seems to be the least flashy of the textile jackets.. Any way.. it made me feel a little better about riding and it keeps me cool.
Looking up at the sky I think, "What the heck, it's cleared up, lets head to Wisconsin". Up Rt. 14 I go. After about 4 or 5 miles I end up with my first caged butt monkey. Most of the cars I've encountered to this point have been courteous as all heck. Lots of room and respect. This young lady was riding my tail @ 50 MPH, not more than 2 feet off, or so it looked in my mirror.. So I bumped up to 60 to see if she would give me some room. No luck. She caught up and was right back behind me. Well, she wasn't looking to go faster, she just liked the look of my helmet. Hmmm. what to do? Back down to 50, slow and easy and cruise a bit further. There's what I need, a nice bar on the right. Signal on, check the mirror. She is still there on my butt. Tap the break and down shift. Stay on the throttle to keep the speed up a bit. Break light backs her off a bit so I slow a bit she drops back a bit more. I break and turn into the bar, she passes by. I look for on coming traffic to see the road empty so off I go. Ah.. nice relaxing road ahead. Then I realize something, that didn't freak me out. Sure, I pulled over and let her pass but I really wasn't freaked. No adrenalin or anger. Cool. Must be the jacket
A few more miles up and I decide it is time to explore the side roads twisting through the corn fields. I hang a right after Harvard, down the road that isn't 173. Some rough pavement but beautiful scenery and light traffic. Once again, everyone in a cage I run into are courteous. There is something to be said about riding in this corner of the Midwest. It is Harley country here and just about everyone knows a biker or two. Well the road is heading North West and I want to head West / South West at this point so I'm looking for an intersection. A few more miles and there she is. A funny little road that is running at a diagonal to mine. To head where I want to go I need to make a u-turn onto the new pavement up a short little 45* paved incline. Weird but there is no traffic and I think I got it. Straight up the incline, @ 4 feet, up to the road and turn. Oh OH.. I'm slow and turning a bit wide. I'm going to hit the soft shoulder.. Front tire goes into the gravel just as I'm almost through the turn.. I straighten the bike up. counterbalance to do so and now both wheels are in the gravel. But I'm straight.. I have about 6 inches of deep gravel on either side of me and a hard sloping drop off to my right. Ok, here comes my first crappy dump.. I've laid her down gently practicing hard stops but those were a simple loss of balance. Set her down gentle and picked her right back up. This was looking like it might be ugly.. So I think. "Heck ride it out until you either loose it or get back on the road". Head up. clutch in the friction zone, soft with the gas. Man oh man is she squirrelly.. quick glance down to check the lane.. I'm 4 inches from the road and gaining. Wiggle squirm slip and slide.. 2 inches, wiggle wiggle Firm. Front is firm.. Crap, there goes the rear.. Turn the front back to the gravel a bit.. edge it along a bit more, I've gone all of 10 feet now. Wheel check, 1 inch and I'm drifting up on to the pavement. Yes. Solid, both tires.. Second gear and I'm rolling down the road. Do I feel good? Oh yea, I feel like a minor deity. I'm cruising. Clear of the worst mistake I've made yet. back up to 45 MPH. a nice happy cruising speed.
What happened to my engine? Where are the RPM's going? Oh crap, look at the trip odo. 145 miles. I've gone 35 miles tonight, cool but I'm on the reserve. Well I should be. I'm actually rolling to a stop and down to about 30MPH. I reach down and flip the pet**** down (or up, depending on how you see the valve in your head..) Crap. No Rooom Rooom when I twist the throttle. What fresh heck is this? Putter putter put put. Coast putter room putter room rompurr putter. ROooOM! ROooOM!. Oops, guess it takes a bit to get the fuel to the carbs. I'm guessing that I've got 20 miles on the reserve tank. Time to figure out where I am. Corn, Barn corn tractor. Hmmm. South West, I should find Rt 47. 2 miles on reserve. More corn. Less barns and no tractors. 5 miles. More barns and New Pavement!! That has got to be a good sign. 11 miles down and I'm still riding through corn fields with no civilization in sight. 13 miles and I see an intersection with a small green sign. Little sign means fewer letters, RT 47! yes, Right turn. Off to Woodstock I go, I roll into the gas station, @ 15 miles into the reserve, she takes 3.73 gallons, Guess the reserve holds more of the tank than I thought. Manual says it holds 1.3 gal. and the main tank holds 5.3 USG. Looks like I could have fit a few more miles in, I had a few more drops in the tank.
I had a great ride. The screw ups only made it better. I got through them and didn't feel threatened by them. Well, I was worried I would be pushing or lifting the bike a bit but I was lucky there. All in all it was a great ride. In the end I put over 50 miles down tonight and never really felt I shouldn't be riding. Wheels on the ground and feet on the pegs.
have a good ride,
