05 Jul 2010
by Lauriein Cow & Toaster, Life, Motorcycles
I’ve been unusually busy for the past six weeks; this is the first weekend in four weeks that I haven’t had something to do. I spend the work weeks in between feeling slightly dazed and a little shell-shocked, but it was good.
It started with the Advanced Rider School through Pacific Riding School; I wrote about that over at 604 Ninja, so go read it there. The next weekend we did our first Pitt Meadows track day (which I haven’t written about, but will after this). The weekend after that we did the Bikers for Burns ride from Vancouver to Harrison. On Canada Day we watched round five of WMRC at Mission Raceway (I hadn’t been there since 1998 or 1999 and my memories of it are a little sketchy, probably due to the amount of alcohol consumed afterwards.)
In a weird coincidence (or is it reverse-stalking, we never did figure that out, or who exactly is the reverse-stalker…) one of the instructors from PRS/ARS was at the track day and the burns ride, and invited us to visit his pit at Mission. It’s odd when you bump into someone who has the same sense of humour as us; to outsiders I’m sure we looked pretty ridiculous, but it was fun.
Along with all of that I’ve had plenty to deal with at work, a wedding to attend, and a niece due to be born any day.
30 Apr 2010
by Lauriein Housekeeping, Motorcycles
My new motorcycle blog: 604ninja.com
I’m still in the process of finishing the setup, but it’s almost there!
09 Feb 2010
by Lauriein February 2010 "Ties", Motorcycles, NaBloPoMo
The weather has been nice lately. It seems very spring-like: the crocus are blooming, the grass is green, the pussywillow tree is all fuzzy…even the cherry blossoms are starting to open on the tree outside my clinic.
You know what spring means, right? I get my Ninja back!
We would have taken our bikes out already this year if they were close by and if it wouldn’t mess with the storage insurance (that little problem will be fixed when we re-insure – the third party insurance we’re going to get allows you to change to and from storage whenever we want).
It’s hard to be patient, though. Every day it seems like I see more and more bikes on the road. On the way home from work today I saw a couple of Harleys, four sportbikes, and a sport-tourer.
Instead of obsessing (heh) over the upcoming riding season, I’ve been putting together lists of stuff that we need, and all of the things we’re going to do.
04 Jan 2010
by Lauriein January 2010 - "Best", Motorcycles, NaBloPoMo
For our anniversary/birthday (my upcoming birthday) and Christmas we got each other motorcycle boots. 
Paul’s are the white pair to the right (SiDi B2) and mine are the black and red pair to the left (SiDi Vertigo Lei).
These are the most expensive footwear I’ve ever owned, which isn’t really saying much because I’m not really a “shoe person”. (Purses and bags of any type are more my thing.)
There aren’t nearly as many options for women’s boots as there are for men, and the few pairs of men’s boots that I tried on were all too wide. Unfortunately the only pair that fit well and were comfortable were the most expensive boots…they’re kind of overkill for my skill level.
That being said I’ve already shredded the tendons, ligaments, and cartilage in my right foot and ankle twice (once when I was in grade five involving a skateboard and again when I was 20 involving a motorcycle…) and my doctor told me it would be great if I could avoid doing it again since I already have permanent damage to the tendons.
Can’t wait to try them out on the bike!
05 Nov 2009
by Lauriein Me, me, me, Motorcycles
Right now I’m on a plane somewhere above Washington or Oregon headed to San Diego for my third CVC West conference. Something makes me feel like I’m at some sort of a crossroads; I don’t know if it’s just the music I’m listening to or something else. The opening bars of some songs immediately turn time back nine years ago. Or twelve. Depends of the whims of the shuffle feature. But the music dredges up memories from a visceral level. I can clearly remember everything about the time when I first heard those songs that left such an impression in my mind. I just have the undeniable feeling that something is about to change.
It could just be the time of year. I’m heading into the time of year when traditionally significant things happen to me. It’s odd, but a lot of “life changing” events have happened to me in November and December. Weird.
It could also be the undeniable slide into melancholy I’ve been feeling. This is the first year I haven’t looked forward to autumn because I know that my days of riding this year are numbered. The bikes are getting winterized and put into storage next weekend. Lucky for us Bernie the mechanic from Pacific Riding School is going to do both bikes and they will be stored at Essential Motorcycle Services all winter. It’s a reasonable cost and we’re going to be able to watch him so next year we’ll know exactly what to do.
So yeah, I got my motorcycle, which if you’re a friend of mine of Facebook or LJ you’ve known for awhile. It is pure joy! I love riding it more than I even imagined I would have. I still have moments where I think to myself “I’m riding a motorcycle. I’m doing it, it’s my bike!” Heh.
My one regret about it is that I didn’t get one sooner. I’m happy with the decision to get a 250, it’s fun and not overwhelming for me to ride. It turns out that I do have a 43% discount with ICBC, so my insurance is a lot less than I has thought it would be (and I could have afforded to insure a bigger bike, but not necessarily afforded to buy a bigger one). I’m happy with the 250 – it’s fun yet forgiving to ride.
There’s only been one time that I was really scared on it, and that’s because I was trying to keep up in corners on my first group ride – which was a week after I got the bike. I scared myself pretty good. I had to pull over and breathe for a bit and decided to drop out of the ride, but the guys we were with felt guilty (it wasn’t their fault I misunderstood what I was supposed to do!) and they slowed waaaay down so I could keep up. I did learn a bit about cornering that day by following one of the more experienced riders and watching how he picked his lines.
I passed my motorcycle license on the second attempt with no problems and only two demerits. It’s amazing how easy the road test is when you have a little confidence!
10 Sep 2009
by Lauriein Motorcycles
So I didn’t pass the class 6 road test today. I failed because I neglected to cancel my turn signal and because of traffic it was considered a dangerous action.
I was horribly nervous at the beginning of the ride and had some horrendous clutch and throttle control (fast hands, the bane of my existence!) but I did settle down and had a pretty good ride other than those things. The assessor was nice and we had a good chat about what I did well and what I need to improve on. He was fair and honest and constructive. I don’t feel too badly about it; I would have liked to pass on the first go, but it was a learning experience. I’m not beating myself up about it, which is weird. Usually I’d be really down on myself about it, but I’m okay. I think my lack of time on a bike since finishing at PRS hasn’t helped, but that will change after Saturday.
Paul passed with flying colours.
But oh, Saturday is soooo close and it feels like being a kid waiting for Christmas. I saw someone riding the same bike I bought on the way to ICBC this morning and I (literally, ask Paul) squee’d with excitement. Look at that guy! He’s riding a bike like mine! Whoo yay Ninja!
I don’t know why but seeing someone riding a Ninja like mine makes me happy, like we’re members of a special little sportbike club. We need a special wave.
08 Sep 2009
by Lauriein Motorcycles
Did not get to pick up the Ninja this weekend. The weather was nice for a few hours and I made plans to go get it before our road test assessments at Pacific Riding School.
The kink in my master plan was the long weekend: I didn’t count on all of the branches of the credit union I deal with being closed. It worked out for the best I think; right about the time I would have been riding home on my brand new slippery tires it started absolutely pouring. The roads were pretty slick; it was a good thing I wasn’t riding my new bike on them.
So, now the plan is to get it on Saturday (the 12th). I could get it after our road test on Thursday, but I won’t have another rider to ride home with me, and I’d feel better with someone else. If I wait until Saturday Kyle can drive me out and Paul and Horace will ride home with me. I’m not really looking forward to riding over the Alex Fraser bridge, but I’ve done it before and I don’t really have any other option.
The road assessment went well. I did okay…I still made the same mistakes that I was prone to making in the lot when I get nervous (starting from 2nd gear, turning too quickly and ending up in the wrong lane position, holding on to the handlebars much too tightly when I get really nervous causing the bike to shake alarmingly…) I did a good job with the things I thought I’d have trouble with (not missing any shoulder checks, the U-turn). I have a good feeling about the road test; thanks to the assessment I know exactly what I need to do in order to pass (basically breathe, look further ahead on the road, and have slower hands). I can do the things I need to do as long as I don’t get too nervous to do them!
04 Sep 2009
by Lauriein Motorcycles
If it’s sunny not raining tomorrow I can pick up my motorcycle!
Minor problem: the forecast is for buckets of rain beginning tomorrow and lasting until Thursday (which is when we have our road tests).
Please keep your fingers crossed, and invoke any good-luck inducing trick you have that the rain holds off until Saturday afternoon.
31 Aug 2009
by Lauriein Motorcycles, Soapbox
Everyone knows someone, or knows someone who knows someone, or has read about someone, or has seen someone on TV who was horribly injured in a motorcycle accident.
People who do not like motorcycles (or who don’t like the idea of me on a motorcycle) take a special pleasure in regaling me with these stories. It’s been happening ever since I first decided I wanted to ride a motorcycle, which was when I was approximately ten years old. Twenty years of horror stories tends to make one immune to the hyperbole.
You know what? I understand that a motorcyclist is at a higher risk of death or injury than a car driver or passenger. I know (firsthand!) that drivers do not see motorcycles on the road. Motorcyclists die. They get horribly mangled.They aren’t riding in a safe 3,000 pound cage surrounded by airbags.
I’ve been in a semi-serious motorcycle crash as a passenger, caused by an inattentive driver who ran a red light. That was the day I decided that I was done being a passenger; if I ever got on a motorcycle again it would be to learn how to ride it.
(Not that I blame the rider at all; I’m grateful for his quick-thinking. It saved us both from being hit by the car which would have been unimaginably worse.)
I knew I was addicted to riding the first time I went for a ride on the back of an ex-boyfriend’s GSX-R 400 (now that was a neat bike). Even though it was November and goddamn col I knew about two minutes into that ride that I wouldn’t be happy unless I got my own bike someday.
People take large and small risks everyday. Some people will never feel comfortable with the risks associated with riding a motorcycle. And that’s okay. I feel that I have taken the precautions I need to do in order to minimize the risks (lessons, proper gear, not riding like an asshat). I know that a lot of the risks are out of my hands: I can’t take the cell phones and Blackberries out of the hands of drivers, or teach them to look for motorcyclists (and scooters, cyclists, and pedestrians for that matter). I can’t take the idiot riders and make them better.
I’m not an idiot rider, but I’m an ignorant rider – I know that there is a lot more to learn. But ignorance is fixable. I know my limits and for now I’m content to ride within them. When I’m ready I’ll go somewhere safe (track days, Pacific Advanced Riding School) and start improving my skills and learning more.
I know people are concerned about me, but please spare me the horror stories. You aren’t going to change my mind. I love bikes, I have for many years. I do my best to stay safe.
29 Aug 2009
by Lauriein Motorcycles
Kyle drove us out to North Shore Suzuki Yamaha to pick up Paul’s bike this morning. Horace, one of Kyle and Paul’s coworker’s came out on his bike to ride home with Paul while Kyle and I followed behind in the van. It was awesome that Horace was there to ride with Paul; I think it made it easier for him and he gave Paul some tips when we got back to our place. Horace and Paul have gone out for a ride…they’re probably having a great time since the sun is shining but it’s not too hot out.
I picked up my helmet last night so I have the basic gear I need. It’s going to feel like forever until I can go get my bike…depending on our finances I may be able to get it on September 5th.
Here are some picture of the new addition:
First time sitting on the new bike!
Checking things over before starting 'er up.
That inline-four sounds smooooooth :)
See you at home!
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