another "squid" in Tampa.

[jchargu3]

My dad's been into bikes for as long as he can remember.. and I've always wanted to ride with him since as long as I can remember

Ever since he and my mom started riding the wings (an 87 and an 89) they go to Biketoberfest, Leesburg, Cotee River and all and I was always kinda sad I couldn't go... After all a bike only holds 2 people

In october my dad got a bike and told me it was for our neighbors friend and he was just fixing it up, I believed this story because I had talked to the guy about different bikes and he was signing up for the MSF course and all... Didn't think anything of it while I helped rebuild the bike, picking colors and all

Christmas day my final gift was a key to a Honda, got my nice "new" looking 1986 Shadow 700 and have been playing with it just about every day since...

Today I decided my goal was to actually put some miles on it, and I did..10 miles learning turns and techniques from the old man... Countersteering is second nature to me, but its the small circle turns I'm still having problems with

Signing up for the MSF course in mid-Jan as well

just wanted to say HI, this site has a lot of info that I like and have been using!

Heres a pic of the bike

[floridarider]

Nice looking bike.
I do most of my riding North of tampa where it's not as congested.
Be careful out there. You might check out some videos at
http://ridelikeapro.com while you're waiting on the course to be available.

[Scanogram]

Welcome from across the bay. Nice bike!

[jchargu3]

Originally Posted by floridarider

Nice looking bike.
I do most of my riding North of tampa where it's not as congested.
Be careful out there. You might check out some videos at
http://ridelikeapro.com while you're waiting on the course to be available.

I actually did a lot of learning from Ride like a pro 3.... I've watched it before and it helped my first time around but I watched it again last night and kinda did the head slap DOH! thing like "Why didnt I remember that?" Just going to have to keep doing them, and the MSF course will still be beneficial but a lot easier as well.

Before i ever saw the motorman vid I first saw my old man scraping floorboards in the neighborhood when I was following home from something, he did the lower speed zig zag and my first reaction was he's going down! but then he straightened right back up and did the last turn on the floorboards scared the heck out of me at the time but now its so common lol those wings will lean a lot further than I ever thought

I dont know if I;m to that level of comfort to go lock to lock without feeling like im going to drop the bike, but i'll keep working on it...



ALso I live in Seffner really so there are a few ways to escape traffic fairly easily, I live on Kingsway so when I go for a drive of even bicycle ride i'll usually head kingsways straight across I4 and up near the zephyrhills lake I think it is, past all the farms with the hills and all, its very nice and cant wait to do it on the bike.

[Koeppel]

Welcome aboard and nice looking bike!

[jchargu3]

Originally Posted by Koeppel

Welcome aboard and nice looking bike!

Thanks I like it, i'll put some more pictures up today... The background is distracting (the only pictures are next to our dually or in front of the house where you dont see the colors in good contrast)

I definately want to get a windshield for it and either find a set of highway bars or make a set, I want more lighting in the front and i'm limited at the moment (I have a set of HID projectors I wanted to put on my s10 but would rather do it on the bike) when aimed right it would be sweet!

[Wassup]

That was a great Christmas present!

Welcome to the board.

[jchargu3]

Originally Posted by Wassup

That was a great Christmas present!

Welcome to the board.

best username, ever. lol

Yeah it was pretty great even with me helping getting it done. I didn't pick up on it too much