Wednesday 14 September 2011

3rd Ride Out

Last night, Charles and I joined Dave for another ride.

It was a cloudy evening so I actually wore a jacket for the first time. Of course, I don't have a real motorcycle jacket but I do have a real cycling jacket and so I wore my red reflective MEC jacket for the ride.

Dave decided to take us around town and this time, for the first time, I was the leader. I was on the Honda 600 again which I really liked. It is a very stable bike which is comfortable to ride...

Now, you have to understand, that as a teacher, I can be a distracted student in the classroom. All that stuff about lane placement really didn't stick all that well. Last night, I got an earful about where I should be on the road. I must admit, though, I improved rapidly as the ride progressed!

After practicing in town, we rode up to Alouette Lake. During my first ride, I found 60 kmh a tad fast and frightening. This time, I was itching to go faster! I am definitely getting more comfortable on the bike!

Things to work on - right check, left check, intersection scan, and turning from a standstill.

I am trying to be more careful to practice these safety routines on my Vespa. We'll see if they take.

Got rides scheduled for Monday and Tuesday evening. Can't wait!!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Dave:

It gets addictive. I am not a speed demon but after a while 60 kph feels too slow. It will feel more comfortable as you gain more confidence. Glad you enjoying the course

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

Dave said...

Seems to me that these 'skills' are all things you should have known about and practiced on the scooter. Because of the licensing loop-hole you were able to circumvent the educational process. Maybe retrospectively a class, even if not required, might have been a good thing? Just asking...

Heath said...

Stumbled across your blog and found it quite enjoyable. We've a couple of Honda Metros and a couple of regular motorcycles, and the scooters usually get picked for the rides. I typically end up riding my motorcycle simply to keep it up and running, but to each their own.

I never took a motorcycle safety class, having grown up in a riding family it was simply what we did as kids on up. Some spectacular crashes resulted in my teen years, due to stupidity mostly. Got my motorcycle license many years ago. My wife took the MSF class recently to get her M1 license, and I've learned some stuff from her when she'd come home and share what they were doing. You are pretty smart to take the class, in my opinion, and I've even considered it as well for myself after seeing how helpful it is.

Barron said...

Really enjoying your blog! The MSF class I took was pretty good. I still look thru my handbook every once in a while.

Dave Dixon said...

Bob,

I don't have the urge to go really fast either but 60 km is not blindingly fast anymore!

Dave,
Good point - I've certainly learned a lot with this class.

Heath - On my 50cc scooter, I figured I couldn't do a lot of damage because of the lack of speed (maybe a foolish notion!) but now that I want something faster, I really want to be a safer driver.

Barron,
This is a good class - I really am a learn by doing guy....