Today is my one year anniversary of riding.
I first got interested in motorcycles years ago when my wife bought me the book, Long Way Around. I've backpacked all of my life and love road trips so the idea of motorcycle travel was really interesting.
In 2010 I was backpacking in Maine with a friend who is in his 60's and has been riding for 40+. Spent the whole trip picking his brain about riding.
In 2011 I went to the meeting of the Nortons in Washington's Crossing park and the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid Ohio. The hook was sunk deep!
The next few months I spent doing research. For my first bike I had settled on either a Triumph Tiger 800XC or a VStrom 650. The VStrom won based on the fact that three riders I know with years of experience under their belts ride VStroms. In addition the price of the VStrom was a lot better value than the Tiger.
In late march 2012 at 40 years old, I bought a 650 Adventure and scheduled my MSF course.
On April 14th I had my MSF class. It was a very hot day but I loved it! After the course I took my bike to a local parking lot to practice and did not wear my armored Revit' pants.......... Everything went well until something happened...... It's still a blur and I am still not sure what happened. The end result was the bike launched over a curb, my shin bent the post of a stop sign, and the bike was spared any damage thanks to SV racing sliders. (I recently noticed a dent in the rim that probably happened then.
I ended up in the emergency room the next day (when I was supposed be touring the maternity ward with my nine month pregnant wife),the worst injury being my leg which the doctors were worried about possible Compartment Syndrome.
I listened to the Dr. and stayed off my leg for four weeks and was mobil enough when my first child was born (Coltrane Danger) on May 11.
A slot finally opened up in July for me to finish my class and get my license. I spent the next several months practicing riding around the neighborhood and in parking lots. In the fall I started taking longer and longer rides and through the winter I was able to get out every couple of weeks to keep my skills up.
Last week I started commuting (50 miles round trip) by fall I plan on doing a few overnight motorcycle camping trips.
I love the VStrom and it has worked out as good first bike but I wonder if I should've purchased a used TW200 that was for sale locally while I was looking for a bike. Maybe with the smaller bike I would not have bent a stop sign with my with my shin. But in all honesty I think my crash worked out for the best because it instilled a bit of much needed caution in me and it taught me the value of ATGATT
So that's my first year of riding. This forum has been a very valuable resource. Thank you all for the wealth of information!
I first got interested in motorcycles years ago when my wife bought me the book, Long Way Around. I've backpacked all of my life and love road trips so the idea of motorcycle travel was really interesting.
In 2010 I was backpacking in Maine with a friend who is in his 60's and has been riding for 40+. Spent the whole trip picking his brain about riding.
In 2011 I went to the meeting of the Nortons in Washington's Crossing park and the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid Ohio. The hook was sunk deep!
The next few months I spent doing research. For my first bike I had settled on either a Triumph Tiger 800XC or a VStrom 650. The VStrom won based on the fact that three riders I know with years of experience under their belts ride VStroms. In addition the price of the VStrom was a lot better value than the Tiger.
In late march 2012 at 40 years old, I bought a 650 Adventure and scheduled my MSF course.
On April 14th I had my MSF class. It was a very hot day but I loved it! After the course I took my bike to a local parking lot to practice and did not wear my armored Revit' pants.......... Everything went well until something happened...... It's still a blur and I am still not sure what happened. The end result was the bike launched over a curb, my shin bent the post of a stop sign, and the bike was spared any damage thanks to SV racing sliders. (I recently noticed a dent in the rim that probably happened then.
I ended up in the emergency room the next day (when I was supposed be touring the maternity ward with my nine month pregnant wife),the worst injury being my leg which the doctors were worried about possible Compartment Syndrome.
I listened to the Dr. and stayed off my leg for four weeks and was mobil enough when my first child was born (Coltrane Danger) on May 11.
A slot finally opened up in July for me to finish my class and get my license. I spent the next several months practicing riding around the neighborhood and in parking lots. In the fall I started taking longer and longer rides and through the winter I was able to get out every couple of weeks to keep my skills up.
Last week I started commuting (50 miles round trip) by fall I plan on doing a few overnight motorcycle camping trips.
I love the VStrom and it has worked out as good first bike but I wonder if I should've purchased a used TW200 that was for sale locally while I was looking for a bike. Maybe with the smaller bike I would not have bent a stop sign with my with my shin. But in all honesty I think my crash worked out for the best because it instilled a bit of much needed caution in me and it taught me the value of ATGATT
So that's my first year of riding. This forum has been a very valuable resource. Thank you all for the wealth of information!