Believe it or not, I left the neighborhood with the motorcycle again. This time, my husband took me out on the highway -- Highway 13 to be exact. I was terrified! But I did get up to 45 MPH.
I am so fortunate to live in a little town with 35 MPH speed limits on side streets and very little traffic.
I wasn't prepared yet for highway driving, but my husband thought I was. We drove around our little town -- it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, although I didn't do very well taking off a few times. I'm not as frightened of traffic as I thought I was going to be, either. I guess it's because I'm concentrating so much on operating the motorcycle since it's still so new to me. I'm not sure.
I can't imagine learning to ride a motorcycle without first knowing how to drive a car. I don't know if you can get a motorcycle license without a car license. I am thinking you can't. But still, knowing how to drive a stick shift car has helped me so much in learning to ride the motorcycle. It's also how I passed my written motorcycle test -- I'd close my eyes and imagine driving a stick shift in order to understand the questions.
I did several new things during my sixth ride that I hadn't done before: I turned into a huge church parking lot without my husband and practiced turns. He of course, figured out what I'd done, and came back and led me through some pathetic figure eights -- on my part! He is slick with them -- I turn too wide. He says it's the bike I'm on -- it feels more like it's going to tip over than the one he's on.
I also crossed railroad tracks quite a few times at about 35 MPH -- which is a huge deal for me. I am actually beginning to enjoy the bumps! I did forget, though, on one very bumpy cross across the tracks, to lift up off of my seat. I need to remember to do that because I really went to bouncing and I could have lost my balance.
The other thing I did was drive up our very steep hill driveway and into the garage -- and I didn't hit anything! I had been making my husband take it into the garage. He was shocked! :-) I loved shocking him. I kind of shock myself.
Oh, and I love shifting. The one thing I thought I'd hate -- I absolutely love it! It's so easy now!
We are thinking about buying a motorcycle for me. If we do we are going to get a Yamaha V Star Custom. It fits me the best. It's a 650 engine, but I'm riding a 450 now, and since the seat on the V Star is low, and the center of gravity is so excellent, my husband says I should have no trouble with that size of motor.
The salesman said that if I got a 650 it would probably be the only bike I'd ever need. It's a great starter or finisher bike. Any smaller, he said, and I probably wouldn't like it after awhile.
We had thought about getting me a 250 Honda Rebel, but they are so small that my knees were way up and I felt like they were almost to my chin! (I have long legs) and it was hard to shift. Besides, I am just too big of a girl to have a bike that small. I would look ridiculous and people would feel sorry for the bike! I love the way I can reach the ground so easily on the V Star and I like how you sit up on it. I don't care for the feeling of my husband's Harley where you kind of sit back in the seat.
The V Star also feels more secure than the tall bike I'm riding. Here's a picture of sort of the kind of motorcycle I'm learning on (I'll try to post a real picture later):
Actually, this one looks realllllly nice compared to the thing I'm learning on! I will definitely have to get a picture for you. But I can barely reach the ground even with my Harley boots on, so it's kind of scary for me at stops and starts.
Now, here's a picture of the motorcycle we looked at for me yesterday -- isn't it beautiful? (I cannot believe I'm calling a motorcycle beautiful! ME, who is into pretty frilly things!)
My husband's motorcycle is a white Harley Sporster:
Since we are musicians, I think it would be neat for us to have black and white -- like a piano keyboard and sheet music. Weird how my mind works, eh? I love that motorcycle and I'm trying very hard not to want it!
I am definitely going to take some pics of our motorcycles and post them later. For now, I'm off to soak my tootsies after a wonderful two-mile walk this morning!!
Since we are musicians, I think it would be neat for us to have black and white -- like a piano keyboard and sheet music. Weird how my mind works, eh? I love that motorcycle and I'm trying very hard not to want it!
I am definitely going to take some pics of our motorcycles and post them later. For now, I'm off to soak my tootsies after a wonderful two-mile walk this morning!!
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