Motorcycle Diaries – Pt. 7 Expanding Your Ride

When I first decided to learn to ride a motorcycle, the only type of bike I considered was a cruiser. Cruisers look cool and they fit the image I had in my head of a motorcycle. When I was growing up, my uncles all rode cruisers, Fonzi rode a cruiser, Hells Angels ride cruisers. I wanted a cruiser. I didn't really want a Harley Davidson per se. I thought I wasn’t the target demographic for Harley (although as a white, middle-aged, middle-class, suburban professional, maybe I am) and I kept thinking of the movie “Wild Hogs” and didn’t want to be a female version of the William H. Macy character. But I knew I wanted a Harley-like cruiser.

Like so many others, my first motorcycle was a Honda Rebel 250. Cycle World has said, “No other motorcycle has introduced more riders to the sport than this novice-friendly bike.” I could plant my feet firmly on the ground at stops and its light weight and not-too-powerful engine helped me gain confidence and build skills. The Rebel did its job well and enabled me to pass my endorsement and learn to love to ride. It wasn’t more than a year though before I wanted a bigger bike. The Rebel went 0 to 60 in about 2 minutes and couldn’t get over 45 mph going up a hill.

I upgraded to a Yamaha V-Star, which had plenty of power and I thought looked like a “real” bike. I could get up to speed quickly on that bike and had no problem keeping up with other riders. Long, straight stretches were a pleasure on that bike. But taking it through twisty curves was something else and particularly fun. The feet-forward riding stance, is definitely comfortable, but sometimes I felt like I was riding a recliner down the highway. Some of my discomfort was because I was still a fairly new rider, but cruisers do need to be handled differently than other types of bikes. I’d only experienced riding on two different motorcycles, so I assumed it was just how motorcycles are. It was while riding the Yamaha that I experienced the crash described in Part Five of this series. 

My husband road dirt bikes as a teenager and was eager to get off road again. I was nervous. I still wasn’t entirely confident riding on pavement and I’d even crashed. I finally decided to give it a try and we bought two Yamaha XT250s. I soon realized that riding on dirt was more challenging AND a heck of a lot of fun. I also found I felt more in control with the Standard Riding Posture. I actually wish I had learned to ride on dirt, and I encourage anyone who wants to learn to start with a dirt bike. The XT250 is dual sport bike, so while it is designed for off-road riding, it is street-legal. A happy surprise came when I rode this bike on the road, the responsiveness and handling translated to pavement as well.I began to think maybe the V-Star wasn't the best bike for me after all.

A friend of mine who is also a female rider had just gotten a BMW and she couldn’t stop raving about it. Being curious I rented a BMW F700GS from MotoQuest and rode it for a weekend. Wow, just Wow! It was like coming home. That bike felt so much part of me I didn’t even feel like I was riding a motorcycle, more like Harry Potter’s broomstick. I immediately bought a 700GS of my own and have had it since 2014. It’s agile, responsive, comfortable, fast, and fun. It may not be for everyone, my uncles wouldn’t like it, but it is THE bike for me.

The positive experience with MotoQuest also led us to take up renting motorcycles whenever we travel to different areas. In his book The Good Rider, in the chapter, "Expand Your Ride," David Hough advises, “I believe that being a good rider is to be skillful at controlling a wide variety of motorcycles. I’m not suggesting that you should run out and buy different machines, but I am encouraging you to gain experience riding machines other than what you’ve been riding.” We try to choose different bikes every time we rent. Through MotoQuest I’ve ridden a V-Strom, Triumph Tiger, Ninja, and several Harleys. The photo above is of me on an Indian in Louisiana. That Indian is my second favorite bike to my own BMW. Riding it proved to me that there is a cruiser I would love.

Did you choose your career path the way I chose my first bike? Based on what you saw family and “everyone” doing? Based on what “looked cool”? When you find the path that’s right for YOU, it will no longer feel like you’re riding the bike, but that it has become part of you and it will bring you pure joy.

And what about now? Are you “expanding your bike” as a leader? Are you skillful in a variety of different leadership situations and businesses? Can you operate well with different size groups, different industries, different countries and cultures? Look for opportunities to gain experience different leadership situations. You don’t need to change careers, but maybe you could lead in a volunteer organization or be a follower in a group different than your own. You may even find that in addition to your preferred bike, there’s a second favorite you would enjoy as well.

Speaking of, I’ll be “expanding my ride” in the coming weeks… more to come next week!

Shiny side up!

This is the seventh in a series of articles about riding and leadership. Click to view parts one, two, three, four, five, and six.