Learning to Ride a Motorcycle - A Newbie’s Journal

by Dee Dee Baker (DoubleDee)

>Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Lesson #20, Thursday August 7th:
 OK, it’s back to the Kirkland DOL riding test course.

I’m thinking more and more this should definitely be my location of choice for the DOL ride test if I can get one scheduled within a reasonable period of time. Plan B if I didn’t pass that test would be to continue with the original BRC training/endorsement class I was scheduled to take with my son Mike on September 18th, just in case I do need to take the ride test with a smaller motorcycle to pass the endorsement.

I practiced the ‘slow-go’ 3-5 mph straight line using the 4 requirements and it seemed to work very well. The first couple of passes on the cone weave I only missed one cone…then I looked down again and failed measurably…go figure. The first couple of U-turns I swung wide but didn’t run into anything and more importantly didn’t dump my bike; was kind of worried it would become a habit with that maneuver!! Then I was able to get it a little tighter. OK, I have some faith once again. More practice is definitely in order…but I think there is still hope.

Newbie Tip: Do yourself a favor and watch the “Motorman” videotape on the Endorsement Testing Requirements. It is an excellent video and I sure wish I had viewed it before taking the BRC course in Lacey.

Lesson #21, Saturday August 9th:
 300 miles RT!!

My second solo SCRC Club ride, Olympia Loop. This distance is the maximum mileage for club rides. Before it starts I run out of gas!

I decided even though I did not have my endorsement that I was ready to do a solo ride with the Club. I must admit I wasn’t sure of how my endurance would hold out on such a long ride, but my friend said he had full confidence in my ability to do it and I trust he knows my capabilities. He met me at the house with a couple of members from the Club who were riding two-up. Off we went to the Club Monthly Breakfast and from there we were leaving for the Olympia Loop Ride. Shortly after getting onto I-90 my bike started sputtering and I switched it to the reserve tank thinking it might be out of gas, but it just continued to loose power so I pulled off the road. By now, my friend was completely out of sight, however the couple riding two-up were following me and pulled over to see what was wrong. Sure enough, the tank was bone dry and apparently all along I had the fuel regulator turned to the opposite direction it should have been in; the bike was running on reserve all the time. Although I knew I needed to gas up at the breakfast location before leaving on the Olympia Loop Ride, the miles were not indicative of needing gas immediately. What I did not account for was the two times I dropped my bike at the DOL in which gas leaked out of it both times!! Anyway, I was very fortunate the other two club members were there to assist in getting me gas and I was able to make it to the Club Breakfast on time to start the ride with the others.

My best friend Patty joined us for the ride and I was really happy she did since I was the only woman riding until she showed up. Even the two-up couple did not participate in the ride; they were only attending the monthly club breakfast. This was Patty’s first group ride ever. Although she had her endorsement she really never had been on a freeway for any distance at all, so we were great support for one another and throughout the entire ride so were the men. They gave us encouragement and continued to check on how we were doing throughout the ride. This is something that I have come to understand about motorcycle riders, no matter whether they are male or female; everyone is very supportive of one another. It is indeed a wonderful feeling of camaraderie.

My 2nd and longest solo ride was a great success. I was so utterly exhausted when I got home; I walked into the door, took off my boots, hit the easy chair and did not wake up for 2-½ hrs!! Oh yeah, there’s that great feeling of accomplishment again…I just love motorcycling!

This ride got me to thinking about the North Bend DOL ride test I was still scheduled to take in one week and what in the heck did I have to loose by taking it even if the course did give me the willies from dropping my bike. Ok, so what I don’t pass it, then there is the Kirkland DOL test or even the BRC class remaining. Sooner or later I would eventually pass one of them…don’t ‘ya think??? So, I called my friend and asked him if he was available to go to the North Bend DOL site to practice this week because I was going to go ahead with the original DOL test scheduled for next Saturday.

Newbie lesson: Be darn sure you know where your fuel regulator should be pointing and always carry roadside assistance just in case you do not have someone to help out!!

Lesson #22, Tuesday August 12th:
 60 miles.

I rode to the North Bend DOL to try to overcome the course willies and practice for this Saturday’s ride test.

Well there we were again and this time I managed not drop my bike! However, I also still did not do the U-turn within the designated boundaries, but I’m much closer than I’ve ever been! I continued to ride through the course and noticed my friend talking to a police officer who had stopped to watch me after his dinner at a nearby restaurant. I rode by to see what they were chatting about and the policeman said to me, “just keep practicing, you’ll do fine”. I don’t know, something just didn’t sound convincing in his voice, so later on I asked my friend what they were really talking about. He said the officer told him I probably should be taking the test on a smaller bike! Eeegads, this was not good!! Oh well, what was I going to do, this was the only bike I had and like I said before, sooner or later I’m bound to pass the endorsement even if it ends up being at the BRC class in September with their smaller bikes.

Newbie Tip: If you do not have a small bike to take your endorsement test, then allow yourself plenty of time to perfect the maneuvers required on your bigger bike. Remember…Motorman did not acquire his expertise overnight.

Wednesday August 13th:

My friend goes to Eastside MotoSports and calls me at work to tell me that he has lined up a loaner 250cc dirt bike to take my DOL test! OMG…I jumped for joy and told him he was the MAN!!! This was such a considerate gesture on his part and I was so grateful for his wanting to resolve this issue for me.

Lesson #23, Thursday August 14th:
 35 miles. Interstate to Café Veloce in Kirkland and back roads home through Woodinville/Redmond, West Lake Sammamish.

My girlfriend Dee and I decided to go to one of the club dinners at Café Veloce. It was rush hour traffic and we were traveling the carpool lane of the I-405, however with my trailing and she leading I did not feel comfortable riding the right side of the lane. So many times I’ve seen single drivers during rush hour traffic pull into the carpool lane unexpectedly and I did not want to take any chances. I rode over in the left side of the lane. When we arrived at our destination my friend said she was glad to see I rode to the left because she also did not trust commuter traffic and the open carpool lanes. I told her I was concerned she might not be able to see me in her rear view mirror as was expected when riding together or in a group. She said she could see me just fine and that the entire section of the lane we were riding in was ours to do whatever we felt was best suited to the driving conditions.

The ride home through the valley was terrific and what a beautiful evening it was. This summer has certainly been cooperating for my riding lessons with little rain and beautiful long days providing lots of evening hours to get as much practice in as possible.

Newbie Tip: Always remember that the entire right to left section of the lane you are riding in is yours to ride however you choose whether alone or in a group. Be considerate of your co-riders and try to stay in formation whenever possible, however if conditions are not safe do what is necessary.

Lesson #24, Friday August 15th:

My friend met me at Eastside MotoSports

at 2:30 PM to pick up the loaner dirt bike. OMG, I sit very high off the ground on this thing and I can barely touch the ground with my feet…but immediately I could feel the difference in weight and maneuverability. I called it the wiener, because it revs up to a squeal with the least bit of throttle. Oh, what a difference it was from my bike and at this point I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it was fun to ride.

The plan was to get some practice in at the Target parking lot later that evening so I could get familiar with the bike prior to the DOL test tomorrow. Unfortunately riding to the North Bend DOL for practice was out of the question since we were advised by the salesperson to not ride over 50 MPH and one trip on the bike all the way to North Bend tomorrow morning would be more than enough.

OK, I DUMPED THE DAMN THING TWICE practicing the U-turn because I couldn’t get use to the throttle and speed, and my friend looked pretty perplexed. I asked him if he could adjust the engine speed down, since the salesperson thought he was doing me a favor by setting it to a high rev so it would roll through the turns without me needing to do anything!?, but it wasn’t working for me! Then I got damn mad with myself and started focusing on JUST DOING IT!! Finally I tighten it up and made the maneuver within two parking stalls (20 ft.). He said that was enough, he would pick me up at the house at 0620 so we could get to the North Bend DOL 1 hr. prior to the scheduled test at 0755.

Newbie Tip: Stuff happens…sometimes it’s good and other times it seems like there is no hope. Just remember all you can do is try to stay focused on what needs to be done, do the best that you can and have faith it will all work out in the end, if it doesn’t then it just isn’t meant to be!

#25, Saturday August 16th, Endorsement Test #2:

Ready or not my second opportunity is now upon me. It is raining…go figure; it has been sunny and hot for the past 2 months, why would I think this was not to be expected??? I wasn’t sure if my friend would show up on his motorcycle to ride with me to North Bend or in his car to follow me there because he said last night if raining he would drive his car. I thought to myself, no matter what presents itself today I will look it squarely in the face and give it all that I got, that’s all I can do. Bottom line, I need my endorsement to continue to ride legally. The rain subsided and promptly at 0620 my friend showed up on his bike. The plan was to take I-90 to North Bend even though I could not ride faster than 50 mph. So off we went and as soon as I hit the freeway on that dirt bike with no windshield I was being whipped around like a puppet and had to do everything in my power to keep that bike going straight down the freeway. We arrived right at 0700 and my friend said he was leaving to go get some breakfast. I was surprised he was leaving, but he said he didn’t want to stick around and make me nervous; I told him he would not, but he decided to leave anyway. He warned me not to drop my bike because there wouldn’t be anyone there to help me pick it up.

OK then, it was up to me. I started practicing and practicing and each time I got a little closer to making the U-turn within the red lines, but still could not nail it. Then, all of a sudden, during one of the U-turns I looked up at a big white banner that was high on a restaurant building behind me that said “24 hr. Teriyaki”, and at that precise moment I realized that helped me to make the U-turn within the red lines. Hmmm, so this is what LOOING UP is all about; besides cranking my head around, looking UP HIGHER is really what helped me to make that U-turn! I’m not kidding…it really worked! I did it again and again, and each time I got closer and closer. I just wasn’t setting my sights high enough!!...boy do I feel foolish!

Then the others taking the test arrived as well as the DOL representative. There I was with 11 other guys. The DOL rep said he would walk us through the course and if we had any questions we we to ask them then. When he got to the U-turn he said to us you must perform the U-turn within the yellow dotted lines; my heart stopped and I thought to myself…YELLOW LINES??; what about the freakin’ RED LINES I had been practicing on all this time?? OMG…I had the wrong boundaries and you guessed it the yellow lines were narrower!!

Next the DOL rep asked who wanted to go first and this one guy immediately said he would because he wanted to get it over with…I thought to myself I did not want to wait until the end to see what the outcome of my test was going to be, so I stood up and said I wanted to go second. Once the first guy finished his perfectly executed test I was up next. I said to myself, “Whatever the outcome, it is not the end of the world; just do my best”. The first maneuver was the tight left turn corner, which I performed successfully. Then came the cone weave and infamous U-turn. I started off very slowly and basically went at a snail’s pace he cones, without hitting one of them. Then I turned into the lane for the U-turn and as I approached the yellow lines I cranked my head around and looked WAY UP towards the 24 HR. TERIYAKI BANNER and finished the maneuver, I never looked down to see if I was in the yellow lines. The DOL rep came over to me and said, “You did the cone weave perfectly, but you rode ON the yellow line so you will be deducted 10 points”. What he didn’t know was that’s the best I had ever done with the U-turn and I was perfectly content with that. I knew that even with the 10-point loss I would still pass the endorsement.

Next was the Quick Stop (Panic Stop is what I call it). My first run through was an instant replay of what I did at the BRC course; I anticipated the stop by rolling off the throttle before reaching the orange cone. The DOL rep said I had one more chance to do it; and par for the course I was determined not to anticipate the stop, revved up the engine and sped up to the stop and slammed on the brakes once my front tire reached the orange cone. I skidded to a stop, which was passed the red line I was suppose to stop within and thought at that moment…OMG, I did not pass the test! The DOL rep came over to me and said, “You did not stop within the red line…however, because of your speed we measure the distance it does take you to stop and you were within the range based on how fast you were going, so I am marking you down 4 points and you have passed your endorsement”. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and I’m sure I had one of the biggest smiles on my face I’ve ever had! I just knew I was the happiest girl in the world at that moment in time!I practically ran into the DOL office to get my new driver’s license that carries the MC endorsement. My friend returned and asked me how I did, although I’m sure he could tell by the grin that was plastered all over my face (it was also captured on my DOL Driver’s License pic, which I now consider a classic). I told him how very much I appreciated all that he had done to teach me how to ride and that this could not have been possible without him. We left the DOL and met up later in the day to ride to a SCRC function being held by the South Chapter where we celebrated our mutual efforts, which had finally come to fruition; it was indeed a very good accomplishment for both of us.

9/1/03…Labor Day:
 2½ weeks later…putting everything into perspective…

What a memorable couple of months this has been. Although the newbie lessons have sadly come to an end, as has this journal, my biking adventures have only just begun. I certainly have a long way to go to become a proficient motorcycle rider and have many more riding lessons to be learned, but the heartache and nervousness in getting my endorsement is now behind me and I can go on to do what I really love to do…RIDE!!

I will always cherish the time spent with my mentor, but more importantly there is so much gratitude to my gentleman friend for introducing me to the excitement and love of motorcycling. I truly hope that what we experienced together will make us life-long friends and we will find ourselves hitting the bricks together again and again with our fellow riders, mutually enjoying what we both love to do, RIDING MOTORCYCLES!

The final lesson in this Newbie’s Journal on “Learning How to Ride A Motorcycle” is based on a philosophy I’ve had for many years. It speaks volumes to what is important in life and although there is no arguing taking risk leaves us extremely vulnerable, more often than not the rewards make life worth living.

Lesson #26:
 …RISK

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool
To weep is to risk being called sentimental
To reach out to another is to risk involvement
To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self
To place your ideas and dreams before the crowd is to risk being called naïve
To love is to risk not being loved in return
To live is to risk dying
To hope is to risk despair
To try is to risk failure
BUT, risks must be taken, because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing…

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