Telling the parental units I bought a bike
For a long time I've wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle. I've had friends for a long time who have been into riding them. I've even gone for rides on the back of them. It's fun. But being a passenger (riding "pillion") is only so much fun. It's different when *you* get to be the one controlling the iron horse beneath you.
In Novemember of 1995 I realized my dream of learning to ride a bike when I passed the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Beginner Rider course. In this class they teach more than just how to operate the clutch, shifter, brakes, etc. They teach you how to ride smart and stay safe. For anyone thinking of learning to ride, I highly recommend this course. In California, if you pass the class, they give you a certificate that waives the DMV's parking-lot ride test. Which means you just need to pass the written DMV test. And the class preps you for that as well.
But what good is knowing how to ride when you don't have a bike? With that thought in mind I sought to find a bike that would fit my needs. Now, being of a vertically challenged nature, it's hard to find a bike that would fit me. But salvation was at hand for I had found the Home of the Short Bikers web page. This web page has all sort of tips for Short riders. The biggest help was the Short Bike List which helped me find bikes that I could fit on, based on my height. No sense in going and looking at a Kawasaki ZX11-R when there's no way in hell I'll be able to touch my toes to the ground.
Thanks to the Short Bike List I was able to narrow down the list and finally got this on March 2, 1996:
"What is that?" you might be asking yourself. It's a 1983 Yamaha Virago XV500. I bought it used from somone in Menlo Park for $650. Not a bad deal. I had to get a friend to ride the bike over the hill for me ("I get to ride another kind of bike? Sure, no problem!") since there was no way in hell I was going to attempt to ride 17 (see The Highway 17 Page of Shame for an idea of just how crazy that road can be) as a new rider. It would be a baptism by fire that I wasn't really interested in. But I got the bike to Santa Cruz (where I live) and put a bit of work (well, actually money to pay someone else) into it to get some stuff fixed, and now it runs fairly well. I can't quite flatfoot it, but i'm not on my tippy-toes, either. So it's a comfortable medium.
My bike is a cross between a cruiser and a standard. Modern day Virago's are much more like the classic cruiser style bike, of which the Harley is the best example. Back then I guess Yamaha hadn't quite figured out what a cruiser was supposed to be, so they went with a scooped seat and slight swept back handlebars. Which gets you part way but not all the way. But for me, it works. Check out the The Virago Owners Club web page you can find out some more info on this bike.
I know, the pictures aren't the greatest, but I'll soon have better pics up that shows the bike better, and even some of me on it (riding it, even).