Dream Adventure 2015: Part 2 of 3

 

No turning back now:

In January I started watching youtube and talking to my motorcycle people who I encountered. I watched hours of youtube about bikes, people riding bikes, people getting pulled over, people crashing, people having fun, and people talking about different bikes and sizes.

 

After learning about bikes for a month and watching youtube I knew what kind of bike I wanted and my criteria made my search fairly simple.  

1. I knew that I wanted a Kawasaki Ninja because Kawasaki is the brand used in CHiPs that I have loved since 4 years old, and the Ninja is insane.

2. It had to have slime green (coincidentally it is often referred to as "Kawasaki green") on it.

 

If the bike did not have both of those then I wasn't interested, and that is exactly what I told every sales person when I spoke to them.  "If it isn't a Kawasaki and it doesn't have green on it, then I don't want it."   

Kitting Up:

Since you have to take a motorcycle endorsement test to ride a motorcycle I knew that March would be as soon as I could get an endorsement given the winter weather and class offerings.  So in February I took the plunge and started slowly purchasing the equipment.  Anyone who knows me would know I have a keen eye for style and this carried right over to my motorcycle kits. I researched and ordered, tried on, returned, and tweaked things until I had exactly what I wanted. I had things that fit me, made me feel good, and things that made me happy to wear them. The hard work was worth it because every time I put on my motorcycle stuff I feel good about being me, I feel like a super hero.  

 

My goal was to make things unique, so over the course of a month and half I put together kits and coordinated equipment to construct an original looking, one-of-a-kind outfit that brought me a tremendous amount of satisfaction.  I didn't yet have a motorcycle, but because I was specific in what I would be getting, I knew what my kit should look like when I visualized it.  I have a tremendous gift for style, kits, decorating, projects, and this type of stuff. I had such a great time planning and working on this aspect of the adventure.

 

*I purchased this helmet and put on a blacked-out visor, notice no green.
 

*Bought these glove, somewhat lame, no green, nothing special.

 

*I went to work using my creativity and talents to make the items "mine" and something I would appreciate and be happy to wear.

  

*Full transformation of my helmet and gloves...tell me that this isn't legit, I dare you.

 

*My boots, very cool, but missing the Brodacious element.

 

*I painted my toe sliders on the boots to match my gloves, my helmet, and my jacket.

 

*In process of adding slime green to the knee sliders on my pants.

*Finished, green accents on my pants which now match my kit.

After all the hard work my kit was super hero worthy and it got me through the winter until my endorsement class. 

  

The class:

In March I went to the motorcycle vendor show at the fair grounds and immersed myself in the motorcycle world and signed up for the class. The class is about 20 hours of class room and actual riding.  At the end of instruction you take both a written and riding test. If you pass both you have an "endorsement" to legally ride a motorcycle.

 

I studied the booklet prior to the class so I was on top of my game when I came to the class room portion.  I visualized riding a motorcycle before I even rode. At the beginning of class, each of the 12 participants had to introduce themselves and give a brief statement of why they were at the class and what experience they had.  When it was my turn, I introduced myself and said, "I come from competitive bicycle racing.  I love bikes and I have ridden thousands of miles on things with two wheels, but I don't have a lot of experience on things with motors.  I am here because for my 30th birthday I am getting a motorcycle."  That about summed up my skill set.

 

Mentally I had practiced and created muscle memory of how to shift, use a clutch, and brake before I even got into the class. For example, when riding a bicycle you shift with your hands (on a motorcycle you use your left foot moving it up and down). On a bicycle your front brake is at your left hand and your rear brake is at your right (on a motorcycle your left hand is your clutch, right hand is your front brake, and your right foot is your rear brake), so you can see that things are different between a bike and motorcycle.

 

With my visualizations and skills it took literally 5 minutes on a motorcycle before it was second nature. It took 5 minutes for my life to change forever and to have one of the greatest feelings in the world.  Even after racing bikes for years, I can say that there is absolutely nothing like that of riding a motorcycle. It is life changing. 

 

I passed the written test with a 96 percent missing only one question. The skills part of the course was actually a ton of fun learning to ride and preparing for the riding test. I had a blast riding with my classmates, giving them high fives, and cruising around the obstacle learning.  You should not be surprised that my provided bike was a Kawasaki...destiny. I could have ridden that bike in a circle or weaved it through cones for hours. I was sad when the  class ended.

  

*Riding the course, I am on the right, behind the pole.

*Circling around getting ready to run over wood blocks to simulate road debris.

*Cornering and cone weaving was soooo fun.  

*Slow speed U-turn, by far the hardest thing to do on a motorcycle.

Our instructors and riders in our class were absolutely awesome, the class was amazing, and I had so much fun. We took numerous smoke breaks and often times our riding instructor had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth while he explained the course. It makes me laugh every time I think about it. The people in class were such good people to be around, and the smoking was hilarious. I come from bike racing where fit people don't smoke and take everything seriously, motorcycle people are much more toned down and relaxed.

 

I would recommend this class to anyone, even if you don't want to buy a motorcycle, the fact that you can have this much fun riding in a controlled environment with great people for $100 is the deal of the century.  The skills test was actually quite challenging, especially slow speed U-turns and quick stops, but I managed to score perfectly and when I left I had my motorcycle endorsement, it was time to test ride and shop!