Intro #1 - New Rider

[once_was_human]

Originally Posted by Ray McGinty

I'm going to chuckle all day! I can relate with your enthusiasm. "Fight the urge to wear your helmet around the house" is classic. I find myself looking out my window sometimes just to stare at my bike. It's love, I guess.

Best wishes on your test.

Ray

I can justify wearing the gear around the house; it needs to be broken in... That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

As for the test; wrote it yesterday. In Ontario, the test is broken up into 3 parts; Road Signs, General Knowledge and Motorcycle specific knowledge.
I got 100% in both the Road Signs and Motorcycle portions. I answered one question wrong on the General Knowledge portion, but I really don't agree with the correct answer. It had something to do with sharing the road with bicycles...

The correct answer states that you don't have to move over to avoid a bicycle riding on the edge of the road; the cyclist should know that they don't have the right of way and stay out of the way of cars... I chose an answer that stated that I would assess whether there was enough room to share the road, and if not, I would change lanes or shift over to avoid the cyclist. That only seemed right to me, especially since I can find the section in the Highway Traffic Act that states that bicycles share the road no differently than Limited speed motorcycles (scooters) or mopeds...

But, I digress; I passed... I have my M1 and I'm stoked to get out and ride... but I'm going to wait for the course. A week from Monday I start the course. The excitement is building.

As for the bike; it's still in pieces; carbs are off, seat is off and we're doing the fork seals today sometime. I ordered a bunch of parts from kapscomoto.com; some LED signal lights, an LED tail light with plate holder, a pair of spike bar ends and a pair of hand levers. I also ordered a new seat cover and am now shopping around for a low-profile windscreen.

I've also started shopping around for some luggage; fork bag, saddle bags, etc. I can't seem to find anything I like, or something I can afford (leather is expensive), so I contacted a guy who made some custom tactical equipment for me before I deployed to Afghanistan a few years ago (2006). He makes all kids of custom bags in heavy weight waterproof cordura. I'm hoping he'll make a set for me. I'm torn between simple black cordura (my wife's preference), or Temperate Woodland CADPAT (camouflage)... I have a feeling I'll be going with the black.

Anyway, things are shaping up nicely. I should have the bike on the road, plated and insured, by the time I take the course.

And, as for this website; I've already found a lot of very useful threads on everything... My appreciation goes out to this entire community.

Cheers