sanjuro
Rider
I noticed a just retired pro mountain bike racer got a dirt bike, and she commented she almost let the battery die for all the time she stalled it out in her driveway.
Last year during a trails event, at the end of the day in the campground, someone offered to teach her how to ride a motorcycle. She was given a 2 minute lesson on how to start a bike and use the clutch, and she quickly was riding around the campground, to the laughter and cheering of her friends.
At the same time, a quiet fellow asked me to teach him how to ride. I showed him the fundamentals in a boring fashion, going over the friction zone and power walking, and he succeeded in learning the first lessons of riding.
These are the lessons I was taught when I took a beginner motorcycle safety class, when I decided to ride motorcycles. I had decades of cycling and racing experience at that point, but unlike my introduction to mountain biking, where I received little training, I could not afford to crash on every other ride until I figured it out. My first crash on a motorcycle could have been my last.
On the other hand, a natural on two wheels could take training shortcuts when they start motorcycling. And expert bikers might encourage it. Many of them needed no beginner lessons, or they learned them in a classic fashion, the hard way as youths.
I wonder if she had a thorough first lesson about motorcycles, she could have mastered the start today.
Without the foundation of the basics, there is a skills gap which has to be bypassed, and that could be a risk. It is over a decade of motorcycling now, and I still depend on those basic lessons even though ride at an expert level now.
Last year during a trails event, at the end of the day in the campground, someone offered to teach her how to ride a motorcycle. She was given a 2 minute lesson on how to start a bike and use the clutch, and she quickly was riding around the campground, to the laughter and cheering of her friends.
At the same time, a quiet fellow asked me to teach him how to ride. I showed him the fundamentals in a boring fashion, going over the friction zone and power walking, and he succeeded in learning the first lessons of riding.
These are the lessons I was taught when I took a beginner motorcycle safety class, when I decided to ride motorcycles. I had decades of cycling and racing experience at that point, but unlike my introduction to mountain biking, where I received little training, I could not afford to crash on every other ride until I figured it out. My first crash on a motorcycle could have been my last.
On the other hand, a natural on two wheels could take training shortcuts when they start motorcycling. And expert bikers might encourage it. Many of them needed no beginner lessons, or they learned them in a classic fashion, the hard way as youths.
I wonder if she had a thorough first lesson about motorcycles, she could have mastered the start today.
Without the foundation of the basics, there is a skills gap which has to be bypassed, and that could be a risk. It is over a decade of motorcycling now, and I still depend on those basic lessons even though ride at an expert level now.