Dear Mom, I Got My Motorcycle License…

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I am now licensed to drive a motorcycle in the state of California. I finished my third day of training classes today, and am now officially capable of driving a two-wheeled vehicle.

The training course I took was extremely educational, and I highly recommend that all interested riders take one as well. It involved 1 day of in-class, and 2 days of on-bike training. The classwork wasn’t all that challenging… more commonsense than anything else, with a straightforward multiple-choice test at the end. Riding the actual bike though - that was a bit more challenging.

Admittedly, I was a bit intimidated by the overtly modern 1998 Suzuki Marauder 125. I’d never even sat on one before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect… Granted, it was clearly a piece of junk and with a displacement of 125cc, it sits about 1 notch above a scooter with a total of 12 horsepower. Regardless, I got on it and off I went. 2 days later I’ve passed the practical driving test with a perfect score (thankyouverumuch!). So, with my training days behind me and nothing but the open road ahead (oh, how clichéd is that?!), I’ve learned a few things about riding a motorcycle that I thought I’d share:

1. Motocycles are manual transmission vehicles (which I knew going in), what I didn’t know is that the gearbox goes 1, N, 2, 3, 4, 5. Neutral is a “half click” in between 1^st and 2^nd gear, and unless it was just my aging bike (or just me), getting into neutral is a pain in the ass.
2. At speed, you have to “”countersteer”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteer” to actually steer the bike. I had heard about this beforehand and thought it would be awkward in practice… but it actually comes quite naturally.
3. Maneuvering obstacles at slow speeds is far more challenging than it appears. Who knew that it would be so difficult to do 2 u-turns in a small space?
4. At any given time, the amount of traction you have on the ground is comparable to the size of 2 quarters.
5. Even as an onlooker, it hurts to see someone else bail off their motorcycle and kiss the pavement. And, unsurprisingly, doing so is a mighty strong reminder that you don’t want to do the same (even though, statistically, you will fall at least once).
6. 125cc motorcycles have plenty of power for a beginner. I don’t know about getting on the highway with one, but as a learning bike, it goes fast enough.
7. The motorcycle helmet I have is a XXL, and it’s still too small for my head. I now have a lovely red friction burn on the top of my forehead. Sweet.

Mom, you can stop worrying now - I’m not sure when I’ll actually get a motorcyle… I might not get one at all. I definitely don’t have any plans of giving up my current daily driver, but I can say I’ve actually driven a motorcycle, and doing so was a hell of a lot of fun.

Oh, one last thing. Don’t I look ridiculously serious in that photo? Jess thinks I look like I’m “going to defcon 9”… I just think it’s funny.