I will admit when I first hopped on a friends 125 cc dirt bike when I was a kid, I thought I knew what I was doing. Wrong! Guess what was my first lesson in riding a motorcycle? "How do I turn this thing at speed?" Well being the dumbass I was at the time, I did not make the turn and hit a wood fence, dropping the bike and breaking my friends gear shifter off. Well, I should not have ridden the bike in the first place, but what did I know. I did learn from my mistake. This is a very good example of why the Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses are an invaluable experince for new and wannabe motorcycle riders. When I was going through the MSF's Rider Coach Instructor Course, I witnessed alot of people that had not right riding a motorcycle. By this I mean, they did not have the motor skills to operate the machine. Hey, I want to play basketball for the Lakers, but ya know what?, I can't! waaah for me. I know my limitations and dealt with it.

Why do I write about this?, well, in my world I always assume people can do what I can or better. I got a quick course in learning that not all folks are meant to do what I take for granted. Now there will

be some motorcyclists, that will ride, or try to ride, with these missing motor skills. To this day, I see motorcyclists with their big bikes do the most stupid things. I don't mind what they do until it starts to affect me. One year at Rolling Thunder, this one dude showed up late, riding his Harley into the jammed parking lot, had his lit cigar in mouth and was lane splitting throught the narrow rows of bikes. Well, the bonehead now decided he wants to park right in the openeing where people walk, no good he moves up, goes to get off the bike and falls over right onto a fellow motorcyclist new Victory Vegas. Some minor damage was done, but I thought, tell this guy to back away from the bike and forfeit the guys. I know this is a minor story, but it makes you wonder.

Tell Your Friend