Our motorcycle adventures started with something called “middle age”. You see, Angie and I were talking one day about her sister and her husband who just happened to be motorcycle riders (not Goldwing riders, but we forgave them for that). They would occasionally take what sounded like some fun motorcycle rides on the weekends. Angie I started thinking how much fun that would be if we could do that too. There was a small problem, neither one of us had ever ridden a motorcycle before.Now let me clarify that first, we have both been on a motorcycle before (many moons ago), but we had never driven one. So, one day my brother-in-law stopped over and asked if Angie wanted to take a ride with him on his bike. Of course, she wasn’t too thrilled about it at first and after some minor begging by everyone there that day, she got on the bike and they took a short ride down the road. Once she got a taste of a motorcycle ride, she was hooked. So we thought, let’s go look at some bikes. Not really thinking we would ever get one. Of course, we were wrong!
First, I started looking on the Internet at all types of bikes. The problem was I had no idea what I wanted or what was the best bike for us. All Angie said was if we got one I had to get something comfortable and she was looking really hard at the back seats of the Goldwings. So she had a good idea of what she wanted from the start. After looking at all types of bikes we started looking at the prices of bikes and we were shocked. Many of the touring bikes were the prices of a good car and that is without the chrome goodies.
Next, came the day to go out and look at some bikes at the local bike shops. We wanted to get up close and personal with the bikes rather than sit at the computer all day dream about the bikes. We really enjoyed looking at all types of bikes. We just didn’t know what was right for us. Then one day I actually sat on a Goldwing at a Honda shop in Greensboro and I was hooked. I loved the way it felt. Angie did too. So the next step was to find a good one for the right price.
After looking for a couple of weeks, we decided to visit the Honda shop in Statesville NC. There we saw Big Red. At first we didn’t care for the color but after our first visit we decided to go back and look at the bikes again. One our second visit, Big Red was still there. That day, we decided to go for it and buy Big Red. But like many parts of this story, there was a problem. I didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle and of course I had no license. So I had to ask the Honda dealer to tow the bike to my home and park it. There the bike sat for 2 months until I had a chance to take the motorcycle course, get my license and practice. That was kind of embarrassing, but hey, what could I do, right?
Soon May 2006 came and Angie and I signed up for our first steps of riding a motorcycle. We signed up for the motorcycle course for dummies at GTCC. As you can imagine, we were a little nervous. We took the course and we did fairly well. At least we didn’t die or kill anyone. After the course, I got the bright idea to have my brother-in-law come over the house so I could take Big Red out for a test ride. He rode the bike to a local parking lot so I could practice on Big Red. I didn’t have my license then, so I wanted to practice after I completed the motorcycle course. Trying to practice on Big Red with 2 days on a motorcycle was not a really a good idea. I almost dropped the bike 3 times and almost wrecked on one occasion. After displaying my amazing lack of motorcycle skills for my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and Angie, I needed a plan “B”.
Plan “B” came from Angie. She noticed how much trouble I was having with controlling Big Red, so she suggested we buy a smaller bike for me to practice with. It was a great suggestion since I definitely did not have the skills or courage to ride Big Red after the motorcycle course. What we decided to do was buy a small Honda Shadow 700. It was the best thing I could have done. It gave me a great chance to practice for 2 months in the GTCC parking lots and venture out on the local roads in town and on the highways.
Soon the day came when I decided to take Big Red out for the second time in almost 2 months. The day was July 1st. After taking Big Red out and with a little practice with the Honda Shadow, I felt much more comfortable handling the bigger bike. I practiced riding alone with Big Red for about 6 weeks in parking lots and gradually took it on some smaller trips. Not too long after that Angie wanted to try to ride with me. She rode with me for a couple of weeks in the parking lots. The great thing was I really couldn’t tell she was on the bike except on stops. She was great co-rider, and still is.
Since May, it has been an interesting time for us on our motorcycles. We have taken some small trips alone and with our great friends from our GWRRA Chapter-G group. We have covered a lot of miles in the central part of the state, some parts of western NC and been on several visits to VA. We have really enjoyed our motorcycle adventures and look forward to sharing the rest of our middle age years (and old age years) together on our Goldwing. It should be a great time and fun ride.
Until next time and enjoy the ride!
Roger and Angie (AKA Pappy and Slick)
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