My first motorcycle was a 2001 Suzuki GZ250. It had something ridiculous like 200 miles on it, about 2 years old, and I bought it used before I had my license. It was a seriously cute little black thumper, one cylinder, 5 speeds, chain drive. I'm almost 6' tall, a little big for it, but it was a great bike to learn on. It was easy to pick up when I dropped it (which of course I did a couple of times). But it had great cruiser styling, a comfy seat, simple controls, and a sizzling top speed of 65 mph (unless we were going uphill, in which case it was more like 50). A cool thing that made this bike a great commuter was the 70 mpg, combined with a 3 gallon tank, which gave it outrageous range for an itty bitty bike.
Once I had my permit I took my first ride. I was nervous, it was Woodbury Garage Sale weekend, and my most dangerous task was to get out of town! I figured I would survive my first ride, after riding a bicycle for 5 years all over Northern California and the streets of Oakland. I put on the choke, turned the key, held in the clutch and thumbed the starter. This was my first experience with electric starter on a bike (the bikes I stole rides on as a kid were all kick starters). Chug, chug, chug, vroom........putt putt putt putt - the one cylinder engine did it's little idle thing, like a lawnmower on steroids. So I backed it out of the garage, pointed it down the driveway, pulled the clutch, dropped it into first, and slowly let out the clutch. And it just smoothly took off, and a we leaned gently at the end of the driveway. First gear until I went up the hill to the top of the access road to the development. Now I had to stop at the top of the hill. Had it all planned - hold the clutch in, angle to the right 'cause I'm about to make a right turn onto the street, put down my left foot, hold the bike still with my right foot on the back brake.
Well, what happened of course, is that putting on the back brake while turning right tends to drop the bike over to the right - and it did, and I had to dance my right foot to hold the suddenly heavy bike up, while putting the left foot back on the peg. And then I had to grab the front brake to arrest the bike's roll backwards down the hill. And I did it, with a little swearing and kept the clutch held in.
"OK, calm down, no big deal," I say to myself. I let out the clutch again, and we slid back just a little before moving forward. (I remembered practicing this with the Checker Marathon's clutch & parking brake when I was learning to drive in 1974). Up to the next stop sign. I was on my way! This isn't so bad.
East on Tamarak road, and the pavement opens up to 4 lanes. I manage to shift all the way up to 4th - I think - unlike a car you can't tell what gear you're in by the shift lever. Zipping along at a brisk 40 mph, with cars passing me, and one comes a little close, and I say OK, lets turn on this sidestreet coming up and take a little break. Well, I down shift, probably all the way to first, and I turn, and the bike almost falls to the inside of the turn again because I should really be in second not first. Well, I'm on to it now, and I let out the clutch before driving it into the ground and coast the rest of the way around the corner.
And I stop and get my breath and start to think "Shouldn't I wait a month - I'm scheduled for the MSF beginner class, just wait until then?" But it's a beautiful day, and the thought of leaving all the garage sale noise and traffic behind is too strong. So I pull out a map, and plan a route.
OK, now I have a plan. Turn around and continue east on Tamarak, right at the light, all the way through Hastings to Welch. (I have fond memories of canoeing down the Cannon River to Welch when a fall colors canoe trip turned into a winter wonderland canoe trip.) So, gotta turn around in the sidestreet and get back and try to walk it around in the street and put on the brake while turning and boom! my first drop. Now I'm disgusted, and make a mental note - don't use the brake while turning - and it's easy to pick up and I go on my way.
As soon as you get above 10 mph the bike is easy to handle. So for the rest of the trip - only turn at speed, and accelerate out of the turns. That's what the books say to do anyway. And it worked. Down Washington County 19, to US 61, and I merge onto 61 by 3M Chemolite in 5th gear with the throttle wide open. Wow, I'm going 65 mph, this little bike can sure fly, I'll never need anything bigger than this! Bugs splatter against my helmet, my padded denim jacket flaps in the breeze, and the wind makes me lean forward just to keep my arms from being stretched. But look at me, I'm a biker. I'm in the right lane, and (because I'm going down hill) I'm holding my own with the traffic. You sure can see a lot through the visor (first ride, new visor). Down into the river valley, across the bridge, through Hastings, and on to Meisville. Still feeling confident, except I forgot to shift into first gear once and stalled pulling away from a stoplight. Ebarassing, but stomp on the shift lever a few times, hold in the clutch, she starts right up, and no one can see I'm turning red inside the helmet. Other bikes are sometimes waving at me and I wave back when my left hand isn't hovering over the clutch.
I make the turn down county 7 to Welch, and it's hilly and curvey. I decide to downshift into third, which keeps me at about 35mph on this bitty bike and, engine whining, I zip into downtown Welch. Well, there's about enough urban area to score a soda, so I park, drink and pull out the map. No kids this weekend, weather is fine, a little chilly at speed but gotta keep going. So here's my plan.
Going to Cannon Falls, hope to find lunch there. I remember my Steve McQueen (The Great Escape), pull off the gas cap, swish it around, and there's so much a little spills out. Clearly do not have to worry about gas. So off I go, and it's my first experience with twisty roads, riding along Belle Creek. And, unlike maneuvering in the parking lot, this isn't scary, it's FUN. I think it's because I used to ride a 30# bicycle in traffic, up and down mountains, with shorts, a tee shirt, and a little styrofoam/ABS hat. Here I am with way more power (22, count'em 22 horses), jeans, boots, a thick jacket, and a serious helmet. And the motorcycle at 20 to 30 mph steers like a bicycle at 50 mph (the countersteer deal) And instead of little 1&1/4" tires that skid on a single pebble I have these monster tires. It feels much safer to lean way over than on the bicycle. And I can power out of a turn, while on the bike I got only what my quads are up to at the moment. On that road, that day, I became hooked on motorcycles.
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