by H. James Williams

Created on: June 11, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Learning to Ride Late, but Learning No Less

It all started when I took my godson to a motorcycle bike show at a downtown convention center. The bikes on display were glorious in their allure. Street bikes, dual-purpose bikes and off-road bikes of every kind and hue. Having never ridden a motorcycle before, I did not know a brake lever from a clutch lever and could not find the gas pedal on any of the bikes. My embarrassed godson asked me to remain quiet so as not to continue to make a fool of myself. Some months later, I accompanied him to a motorcycle dealer and again was drawn to the allure of the bikes for sale. I was hooked. At 60 years old, I was going to regain my youth and take to the road in the saddle of a motorcycle.

Needless to say, all of my friends, relatives and associates counseled me against taking up riding a motorcycle at my age and in stead encouraged me to continue riding my 10 speed bicycles since I knew what the levers were for on them. Too late. I was smitten. I took to reading everything I could get my hands on about motorcycles. Also, I was in good health, 6 feet and 4 inches tall and 255 pounds with good eyesight. A Honda 250cc Night Hawk had me on my way. Soon after, I was the proud recipient of a motorcycle class designation added to my driver's license: my authorized right of passage into the world of motorcycling.

Now, what bike to buy for myself? I had already discovered that in the motorcycling industry there is no recommended rider standard for purchasing a bike size, height, width or capacity based upon one's personal height, weight, in seam, shoe size or some human factor standard of measure in ratio to bike size, capacity or functionality. I was left to my own devices to pick one that looked and felt good to me. I was told by just about everyone I spoke to, who had ever ridden a motorcycle, that one's first bike should be a used bike because you are more than likely going to damage it with some type of mishap and most likely from a fall. Because of my size and age, more than one person advised me to get a cruiser. Because of my size, my stature tended to overwhelm and dwarf many of the bikes I sat on. At one dealer's showroom, I was checking out a Suzuki M50 when I heard someone from a distance say, "look at that big guy on that little bike." The M50 was the bike for which I thought I might be best suited for as a true beginner. Just before making an offer on a brand new M50, a service manager said, "Before you do anything,

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