How I learned to Ride A Harley Davidson

You see someone ride by on a Harley, and you think about

how much youwould love to do that one day, but.....

and your thought trails off.

I used to do that all the time. I never thought I would ride.

I simply believed that I would envy every person that rode by me,

and if I was lucky, maybe I could ride on the back of someone's

bike. My mother loved to tell everyone about what a klutz I was,

and I was sure she was right. If I was a klutz, then I shouldn't

ride a motorcycle, right?

I was about to learn how to ride when I was 16. My friend Mike

was going to teach me how. He had ridden dirt bikes since I can

remember. He was really good at it, although a bit reckless to

say the least. He was definitely a rebel without a cause at

times. He died when we were both sixteen, and I lost all interest

and desire to learn how to ride. I felt guilty about living and

doing those things without him. I put the dream of riding way

neatly within that inner closet, that slams the doors upon those

things that we want to do, but everyone keeps telling us

we were wrong to even think of doing in the first place.

Fast forward to being 35 years old, and I'm dating a guy with

a Harley. I was content with riding on the back. In fact, he

said that I was the best back seat rider ever, because he never

noticed me being back there. Then for some unknown reason he starts

talking about me learning how to ride. He even fires up his dirt

bike....He somehow got me on it, while he rode on the back, and

before I knew it, I was riding up the road. I had the bug, and when

you get it, there is no vaccine to get ride of it. It is with you

for the rest of your life.

Trust me, it wasn't all perfect...

Suddenly, I was doing with my hands, what I do with my feet while

driving and vice versa. I had to think instead of it being

instinctual,and when you have to think, oh boy there are a lot

of fears that creep in.

This will be about how I learned to ride. My mistakes...how

to check your bike, some things to be careful about while working

on one, what tools to bring with you on long trips, what clothes

to bring with you on long trips, etc. It will also be about how

to get back on your bike after the worst happens. This will all

be about Harley's and my absolute love of riding.

So after that first ride on the dirt bike, I couldn't get enough. However, when Bill got home, he wasn't always in the mood to take it out. Also, I didn't even have a permit...small issues. I decided that I would try to take out the dirt bike on my own, however there was a big problem there. It didn't have an electric start, so I had to kick start it. It has a very high compression, so no matter how hard I tried, I could never get it to start. I had so many bruises and cuts on my leg from trying to start that thing....

Then I had an idea. When a stick can't start the normal way, sometimes you pop it. You throw it into neutral, have someone push you preferably down a hill, throw it into gear, and give it some gas and oila! Your car just started. Why not do this with the bike. I live on a mesa, so there really aren't any good hills within pushing distance. However, I lived on a slight grade.

The doors of that shed flew open, and I pushed this dirt bike up this grade. I tried over and over to pop it without any luck either! I must have tried about twenty times and nothing. It would try, but immediately die. A neighbor was watching me, and he told me, "Your compression is too high. Don't throw it into first. Go into second."

Okay, I pushed it up the grade one more time in the killer, drought heat, and I tried again. This time nervously I put it into second, and it started! It started! Yikes! I could go someplace...in my panic, I killed it! Back up the small hill again, popped it again, and this time, I didn't panic...I kept it going, and I drove across the highway down the county rode for the first time on my own.