A first: Riding with another

I did a fair bit of riding today, but most of it was in rush hour traffic, so my wrists are now sore, as i still haven’t gotten my clutch and front brake levers adjusted.

This evening i went on a ride with my former boss, who owns a gorgeous black 650 version of my bike.

I can’t say how much i enjoyed myself, despite some clutching difficulties. Yet another facet of this motorcycling thing has opened up. I wasn’t/am not the best companion to ride with at the moment, as i:

1. tended to keep my distance to give him room incase i did something stupid
2. have a bike that accelerates more or less like a small car
3. am running bike in so i don’t want to throttle her too hard. Manual says before first 1600, don’t open throttle more than half. That’s difficult to do - see #2 - but i’m still trying to be gentle
4. am still relatively new to all of it, and so #1
5. am nowhere confident enough to lane-split, which means i sit dutifully behind traffic like a bloody car, and he had to as well

But it was a hell of an experience (for me anyhow). At this point in time a blast down the freeway and the coast alone still sends my blood singing, but to be doing all of it in sync with someone else is… different. I’m starting to understand why West Coast Drive is so popular with biker packs on weekends. A curvy ocean road, hot half-dressed bodies in the summertime, seabreeze, the rumble of your engine under you and others who feel the same… some version of utopia must begin with this. In every sense of the phrase, it’s pretty damn awesome.

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I found this gem on the web today:

A motorbike is a crude metal framework isolated from the ground by two rubber hoops. While many explain the benefits of this arrangement, all it really means is that you fall over when you stop.

Motorbikes are often equipped with disproportionately large engines that propel the machine and its rider at hazardous speeds. Should the rider fall off, he or she will come into contact with the road, slide along its surface and vanish into the scenery. If you hear muffled cries for an ambulance coming from a tree, don’t worry, it’s only a motorcyclist.

As a method of transport, motorbikes are dreadful. If you ride them in the rain, you get wet. If you ride them in the sun, it will start to rain. There is no glove compartment and no cigarette lighter. There is also no steering wheel: you determine your route by leaning in the direction you wish to travel, just as you would if you were drunk.

You also have to wear a bulbous metal hat with a visor. If you open the visor, your mouth fills up with wasps and your head vibrates. If you close it, the wasps can’t get out and you have to swallow them.

Motorcyclists ride everywhere at 170mph. This means that car drivers can’t see them, and have accidents with them. Motorcyclists therefore hate car drivers.

Definition of a motorbike from h2g2