So we decided to dig up an old relic, an 1979 Honda CB350F that I learned how to ride on and a family friend, Corbin also.  This bike has been around since I was 15 and has been through many crashes and much abuse but is still riding strong.  Making it the perfect learning bike for Samantha.  Once Corbin brought it over we adjusted a few things and made sure it was still tip shape. 

Then finally the other night all the forces of learning aligned and we managed to gain some free time after Samantha got home from work.  At first Hayden wasn’t very thrilled at the prospect of her mommy riding without her but after some food and rest she was ok hanging out on the tailgate of the truck and watching.

I have been verbally walking Samantha through the initial concepts of riding since our trip to Montana early August so now it was time to put it all together.  Our first task was to learn how to ingauge the clutch and slowly move forward.  In my mind this was going to be the most difficult task as Samantha has really never gotten along well with a clutch surprisingly thoughshe grasped this very quickly.

So we moved on, the next step was moving foward and being able to stop…without falling over or killing the bike.  Again this task was easily accomplished and within 15 minutes or so she was driving down the street all by herself.

Unfortunately I did not have a camera and it was dark so we dont have any good pictures but expect some to come soon.  We had her rolling down the street in no time and she was doing very well.  I hoped on my bike with Hayden and we slowly putted down the street together talking about what was going on and how to manage the bike.

The only real difficult task for her right now is turning, she doesn’t like the feeling of leaning the motorcycle which is common for any new rider.  So all in all in about 45 minutes Samantha learned how to ingauge the clutch move forward, stop, and ride down the street.  Not bad at all.

Next time we will work more on the basics of riding within our streets and getting comfortable at the low speeds, which are the toughest speeds to manage a motorcycle. 

Till next time…