REMEMBERING... YOUR "FIRST" (continued... for the last time)

first (adj.) being number one in a series; earliest in time; foremost in importance.

MORE! MORE! MORE! I'm not a greedy person by nature, but darn... I was burning through so much fun... that I just had to have MORE!! Within 6 months of becoming the owner of a Suzuki 800 Intruder, my restless road spirit began to exhibit a bad case of growing pains... again.

Our his and hers chariots await...
When you take off on a Saturday morning, and don't come home till dark... before long you realize your therapeutic day rides are averaging around 250 to 300 miles. Your mind and you can cover a lot of inventory during a ride like that. Shuffle around priorities, redirect some goals, discard trash that's weighing you down, and get some serious sensory stimulation with the scenery that surrounds you. You would think in a world like that, a gal would be happy.

Six months turned into a year and unfortunately, I couldn't shake this nagging idea that I was ready to step up and move on, to something bigger, something better, and yes... more powerful. Was I asking for too much? I didn't think so.

Funny thing was, I didn't realize this at the time, but Harley's restless road spirit was kickin' around in him too. I guess after listening to me ramble on and on for weeks about what bike I wanted to get next... how big... which style... what color... blah, blah, blah. It seems he was getting hungry for more too. Rut roh! (I'm sure you know where this is going!) Unbeknown to me... Harley had an ulterior motive in mind, and amusingly, he carefully put his well thought out plan into place.

One typical summer day, coming back into our neighborhood area after cruising some of our beautiful Alabama highways, Harley took a detour into a large parking lot, just a few blocks from our home. Not sure what was up, I just obediently followed (as I always do) and pulled up next to where he had stopped and was getting off of his Glide.

I turned off my motor and asked what was wrong. He just said, "Nothing", and motioned for me to get off my bike, which I compliantly did. His next statement set off a sudden explosion of butterflies in my gut as I digested his words... "Get on the Glide and ride it."

Yikes! "Are you serious??" I stammered. Harley reminded me of what I've been talking about for months. "Something bigger... more powerful... ride it." he repeated.

I stood there for a moment and nervously studied the controls trying to absorb any differences. While I kept scanning the massive dash, I started to feel overwhelmed and told Harley so. After all, my bike was very open up front and only had one gauge! Once I sat on this much larger (and much heavier!) bike, the fairing blocked a lot of my downward view and I wasn't sure I liked that. He told me to relax and just ride it, reminding me again, that I know how to ride... so just do it.

Thanks to Harley's confidence in me, and his extreme bravery for proposing that I try out his ride for size, I found out I should have never doubted myself or my abilities. Once I eased out the clutch and gave it just a little throttle, my fear was quickly replaced by cautious enthusiasm. It felt like I was riding higher, kind of like that feeling you get when you go from a small, low riding car into a large SUV. It was very exhilarating and euphoric as I experienced the difference in the power and weight that the Glide possessed over the Suzuki. I putted around the parking lot making very large circles, moving up and down in gears, achieving just a little more speed with each repetitious lap.

After several minutes, I steered the Glide back over to the parked Suzi, where my hubby was watching (probably somewhat apprehensively) and exclaimed, "Holy Cow! I could get used to this!" I was too excited to look in the mirror, but I could tell my grin was plastered from ear to ear. I told him... "stay here... I'll be back!" He just laughed at my silly ass as I putted off for some more rotations around the lot. Being able to sit upon such a large and powerful machine, and maneuver it successfully gave me such an accomplished and proud feeling. After a few more minutes of big circles to the right and big circles to the left, I rode back over to Harley and asked if he just wanted me to ride it on home for him. He gave me his trademark smirk and replied... "I don't think so." Darn! Can't blame a girl for trying!

I'll never forget my "first" solo ride on that big black beautiful Electra Glide and that very afternoon was the beginning of yet another fabulous chapter in my life as a lady rider. During the next several weeks a lot of things transpired in our household and, to make a long story short, I'm happy to report that I accepted the '98 Electra Glide as a hand me down upgrade to the Suzuki, and we purchased a new brand new blue 2007 Street Glide for Harley.
(yea... he knows how lucky he is!) But I wasn't complaining much... I was just as happy to be sitting on my own "first" Harley Davidson motorcycle. In a mere 15 months, I went from the smaller more forgiving Suzuki, right on up to the grandaddy of bikes. How's that for progress?!
To be truthful... when the idea was first posed to me (as far as the Electra Glide becoming my bike) I wasn't sure it was what I wanted. Due to the fact that two big ol' hard heads owned this motorcycle before me, it was hard for me to see it as a ladies bike. I had several encouraging conversations, however, with other riders who assured me that if they were able to have the chance at this beauty, they would take it in a heart beat. Besides, they reminded me that you can make any bike your own. It took a few days to wrap my head around the idea but when I did, it felt good. I started with some small changes and now I'm keeping a long, long list of things I still want to do.
By simply removing the tour pack, horizontal chrome saddle bag guards, and exchanging the big pillow seat with a Harley Davidson Sport seat, it gave the bike a refreshed sportier look. My goal was to sleek her down a little while still being able to enjoy the comfort that you get from a large touring bike. I would like to get a new paint job and possibly powder coat all her chrome black. I think that would look awesome!
I don't really have a name for my bike, other than I like to refer to her as my "ol' girl". I feel like we are both just a couple of ol' pals that found each other late in life and only we can appreciate our new found friendship as we cruise along through it. I'm always joking with Harley that my ol' girl talks to me and tells me how much she appreciates the fact that it's my ass she's under these days. She's had her fill of the testosterone filled rides and she's ready to enjoy her retiring years being playful yet reasonable.
I'm pleased to announce that this saga of "first" experiences is going to be an ongoing one. I have a bucket list as long as my arm and even though the funds to fuel my desires are slow to materialize, the hopes and dreams of checking them off, one by one, still remains. Hubby and I plan to continue on with our weekly therapy rides sprinkled with large doses of rowdy fun from time to time as we search for new ways to spread our wings.

Ahhhhhhhh... yes! My "Life is Good" t-shirt is getting worn pretty regularly these days... as I cruise along on two.

Lady R

REMEMBERING... YOUR "FIRST" (... continued... again)

first (adj.) being number one in a series; earliest in time; foremost in importance.

(... continued... again)

So, there we were, relishing in our new adventures and enjoying life to the fullest, thinking it couldn't get any better than this, when it happened. I got bit... and bit hard! I decided that I've been looking at the back of my hubby's helmet long enough, and it was time for me to see things from up front. I wanted to hold my own controls, roll myself down the freedom highway and soar with the birds I so often see keeping pace with us as we ride. This set off a myriad of anxieties for my husband, but once that bug took a hold of me, it wasn't letting go until it got what it came for. Becoming part of something big.

It took my loving husband darn near a full year to come to grips with the fact that I was going to ride my own motorcycle. His biggest fear was for my safety, and he did not feel comfortable with me on my own. Believe it or not, it was the sweetest gesture he could have shown me. I know it's because he wants to protect me from harm, but I had to keep reminding him that we can't live our lives in a bubble. Finally... with his blessing (and after successfully completing a Rider's Safety Training Class during the previous summer) another "first" came to light.

My dream as a lady rider came to fruition! In February of 2006, I became the proud owner of a 2001 Suzuki 800 Intruder!
For several weeks I had shopped the area and tried several bikes on for size. After searching high and low, long and hard, I found this little gem at Ward's Yamaha, in Troy(48 miles south of Montgomery). It was very slender in build and didn't seem too heavy (which was perfect for a newbie), painted a beautiful black with some teal accent on the tank, and it came stocked with windshield and saddlebags. She was in excellent condition and something about her sparkled. When I sat on her I knew... she felt like she was made just for me. No apprehension of top heaviness... no worries about feet touching or not... and I was absolutely thrilled when the sales dude told me that this sleek little beauty was stocked with 805 cc under her seat. My fear of outgrowing this bike to soon or being able to keep up with my riding pals was washed away.

7 thousand miles on the odometer... fully serviced... new rubber front and back... $3,000.00. I put down a binder and "floated" all the way back to Montgomery. I was on cloud nine with the fact that I was about to buy MY "first" motorcycle. After years of listening to my brothers talk about their hill climb competitions, Sturgis trips, and catching a ribbing with... "when are you gonna get your own?" ... I couldn't wait until I could call them all and tell them the good news.

There's a whole 'nuther story about how I got my lil' Suzi home, but I'm going to save that for Valentines Day... as it's a real testament to my hubby's true love for me.

For the first couple weeks, I would come home from work every day and crank that Suzi up and ride all around my neighborhood. Thankfully, I live in a large residential area that gives me plenty of streets, intersections, cul-de-sacs and hills to practice my skills on without ever having to cross over any major thoroughfares. After a couple weeks of driving all my neighbors crazy, I was ready to hit some real streets with real traffic.

Already being familiar with leaning and balancing, the transition from a passenger to a rider was not really that difficult, but it did pose a few new challenges. I now had so many other things to concentrate on (clutch, shift, brakes, mirrors, cages!) that I sometimes felt like I was missing out on the scenery around me! Secondly, I didn't realize how much protection from the wind I actually got from sitting behind the hubby until my "first" time riding on a highway going about 60 mph... OMG! I was afraid I was going to fly off! My finger lock on the grips were so fierce I made my hands go numb. Once I realized I was squeezing for dear life, I had to make myself relax or I wasn't going to make it very far before I gave out from exhaustion. I also noticed my vision kept jumping around like a stuttering 8 mm film. WTF? The front wind reeks havoc on the eye wear, so getting used to seeing the world as it fluttered before my eyes took a little getting used to. Funny how I never noticed these things before when I was hanging on the back!

As a new rider, I found it hard to calm the butterflies that would take over almost every time I sat on my bike and got ready to roll. For several weeks, we logged a lot of miles around our surrounding area which certainly helped to increase my road experience and build my confidence and skill level. It didn't seem like long before we were planning our "first" weekend road trip as a pair of riders. Even though I was a bit nervous, this was very exciting for me and I couldn't wait to experience it.
My "first" trip riding my own was to Little River Canyon in north Alabama. I can't begin to tell you how accomplished it felt for me, that I could ride my bike up to this Park sign and claim... "I rode here!" We probably logged a total of 750 miles on that first trip, and even though I remember being pretty tired when I got home... I was ready to plan the next one!

Remembering my "first" bike leaves me with great appreciation for it's role in where I am today as a rider. Getting the "kinks" out as a newbie rider was certainly a pleasure on this powerful, yet forgiving motorcycle. I became confident with my growing abilities as we enjoyed a systematic routine that allowed us the pleasure of riding together and taking life's pleasures to the extreme. Remember that "Life is Good" t-shirt I told you about in the last post? Yep... I was still wearing it!

Why then, for some crazy reason, was there a nagging desire to do more... want more... feel more.

REMEMBERING... YOUR "FIRST"
(to be continued... one more time)

Lady R