My new ride

See that bike?  You might be asking, is that the motorcycle T bought for himself?  And I would reply, no, T bought himself a hoity toity BMW bike (that is actually behind the pretty little black bike featured here).  So then, you might be wondering why there would be two motorcycles in our garage.  Surely one only needs one bike at a time.  And I would say you are correct.

So, that bike?  That bike up there that is all small and cute?  That would be my bike.  Yes, I bought a motorcycle, a 2007 Honda Rebel (stop snickering).  No, I don’t even have my permit yet (but I will go take the written test this week).  Rest assured, I will not be riding around until I have my permit.  Even then, the only riding I’ll be doing will be in large empty parking lots in first gear and under 5 mph.  Trust me, T would never take me on a real street unless he felt that I felt I was ready.  I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want the huge guilt that would come with me falling or hitting something.

Now you might be wondering why I would even buy a motorcycle when it is perfectly comfortable riding on the back of the BMW.  Well, sometimes I wonder that, too.  It certainly takes less focus and concentration to be a passenger than it does to be a rider.  But, we’re taking a motorcycle safety course next month and I really didn’t want to do that not knowing anything about motorcycles or shifting or balancing.  I wanted to ride a bike before taking the class.  I’m also quite short, which means practicing on T’s bike is pretty much out of the question.  I needed a small easy to handle bike to learn how to shift and balance and stop and maybe not stall so much.  Then we found one for a really decent price that also didn’t require driving very far.  It all happened rather quickly, actually.

We checked out the bike, T asked all the important questions, T also took it for a test drive, and then I handed over an envelope full of cash.  And then T drove it home.  And then to a parking lot where I did ride my little bike for the first time and managed to go 40 feet in first gear without stalling and with a nice solid stop.  If I ever needed proof that I am well-loved and a little spoiled, I got it tonight when T first started pushing the bike in neutral so I would get a feel for a moving motorcycle and then later when he actually ran beside the bike in first gear, keeping his hand on the back to make sure I wouldn’t fall over.  Who else would work so hard to make sure I felt safe and didn’t get too frustrated?  He pretty much did the same thing when teaching me how to snowboard.  I don’t think there’s anyone else in the world with that much patience.

It is pretty fun to ride… although I am perfectly aware that just because I can cruise down a parking lot in first gear doesn’t mean I’m anywhere near ready to go on streets that have other moving vehicles.  I still have to get a feel for starting from a start and then there’s that whole business of shifting into some higher gear.  Trust me, I know there’s a lot more work to be done.  But it’s kind of nice feeling like I can do it.