Beautiful, beautiful things

Confidence is an amazing thing.  I am NOT a natural athlete.  My husband is; David can throw, catch, and hit just about any type of ball.  He can sprint like a freaking cheetah, and he ice skates just as well as he roller skates.  Natural.  Me on the other hand, NOT a natural, lol.  I run as slow as a turtle, I'm deathly afraid to catch a football, and a year's worth of ice skating lessons taught me to skate backwards and manage to come to a shaky stop WITHOUT having to use the wall for brakes.  What I can do, is ride.  Am I a genius on horseback?  No, but I'm certainly not bad.  I just have to be mounted on an appropriately sized horse :)  Big barrels and short legs do not mix!  But the principles of riding well; staying in the middle, strong but relaxed arms, eyes up and looking ahead, heels down and legs steady ... that I'm good at.  And I DO have guts.  I have no problem with hopping on a "scary" problem horse and applying my knowledge to try and solve an issue.

Most recent equine "problem child".  Love it when they improve!

Maybe that's why I've taken to riding motorcycles, as David puts it, like a duck to water.  The day I got my bike, the ONLY road experience I had at ALL was 4 times around the demo track on the 2 demo Scouts I rode.  The only "curve" experience I had was around orange cones on a closed "range".  Well ... we left the dealership in Knoxville, hit the interstate, and headed up to Townsend, then through Gatlinburg.  If you've ever been to the sleepy little tourist towns of east Tennessee, you know the entire area is one small curvy mountain road after another!  We gassed up and rode those roads!  I had a few moments where I gritted my teeth and forced my hands/arms to relax, but for the most part I have had no issues.  My "fear" is of hairy stop signs; uneven ground and/or steep hills along with stops where you have to make a bold turn into the flow of traffic.  Sometimes when I stop, I feel the pull of the bike to one side or the other, and I get a flashback of dumping the Harley.  Just makes me more determined to hold my baby up and keep the rubber side down!

Love it that hubby and I do this together!

Sunday, I rode in front of David to my work.  I have a 30 minute drive; 10 minutes through town, then 20 minutes up the narrow, 2 lane part of the scenic road Hwy 411.  He followed behind me to make sure I seemed "good", and when we pulled into my parking lot he just shook his head and said he was amazed.  He said other than my tendency to ride in the middle of my lane instead of 1 side or the other, there wasn't much to "correct".  I felt good.  A little bit tense at times, but I felt confident enough to give it a go!  And then ... the rain came.  All.  Week.  Long.  We were able to take a QUICK ride around the block one evening after I put the baby down, and it was actually a little discouraging.  My ride around my actual neighborhood did not feel good.  I felt shaky and "off".  I could feel my arms tensing again and wanting to fight against the handlebars.  Dang!

I love my bike.  Have I mentioned that?

The weekend was a total wash, as was Monday morning.  I was beginning to get what I'm told is PMS.  Parked motorcycle syndrome, hahahaha!  I harassed David to plan us a ride for Monday when I got off work, somewhere we could spend a few hours together.

The view from Foothills Parkway.  Spectacular!

We headed out on 411 towards 129 ... that's the official name of the Tail of the Dragon.  I started to get excited, but horribly nervous at the same time.  The Tail is notorious on my lady motorcycle boards I frequent.  Most recommend staying OFF until you have several year's experience under your belt.  The in-laws told us we were NOT to ride it until we had at minimum 6 months experience.  They told David even he should not tackle it.  As we got closer to the start of it ... we turned off on Foothills Parkway.  That's a LOVELY scenic road up on a curvy ridge overlooking the mountains.  I was literally smiling as I felt Khaleesi eat up the turns and curves of the road.  I practiced on the tighter hair pin type curves looking around the turn, then looking WAY down the road and finishing the turn without actually "looking" at the road.  That's hard to do, but it definitely works!  I felt amazing through the curves, concentrated on staying in the middle of the bike and letting her do most of the work.  We rode about 3 hours or so.  Did NOT do the Dragon.

Are we gonna do the Dragon?  Not tonight!

    FINALLY, Tuesday, I was ready to hit the road solo.  I prayed like crazy that my comfort level would come back.  I just reminded myself to get in the friction zone, and stay relaxed.  It worked!  By the time I got to work, I was feeling pretty good!  The ride home was AMAZING!  I rode Khaleesi again on Wednesday, and that desire to grit my teeth was finally gone.  I ride my bike the same way I drive my car; not trusting anyone around me to drive safely.  Constantly scanning, backing off the throttle when I see brake lights, and generally driving as though I'm invisible.  Wednesday after work, we again headed out 411 to 129.  This time, after we turned off just AFTER the Foothills Parkway turn, David asked me if I was ready to tame it.  I said my bike is named after the Mother of Dragons, I'd better be ready!  I will just say it.  I am DAMN proud of myself.  Not once did I come to a corner too hot, no shaky start/stops, no issues through the curves at ALL.  Didn't miss a shift or stall the bike ever.  My mantra of Slow, Look, Press, and Roll went through my head at every turn.  The speed limit is 30, dipping down to 15 on the hairpin U turns.  We kept it between 20 and 40 the entire road.  I rode my own ride and had the time of my life letting her lean through the curves and power out.  One photographer; I focused on my ride didn't look at him.  At then end, we pulled down into the Deal's Gap motorcycle resort and regrouped.  I was proud of David too.  He looked like a bold and confident badass rolling through the turns.  He took them with a little bit of speed, too!  I let him get out ahead a few times, but for the most part I kept up pretty well.  To be honest, the hardest part of the whole ride was pulling OUT of Deal's Gap!  It's a pretty gnarly hill rolling out of that parking lot; AND I had Khaleesi's kickstand sort of down in a hole.  It was hard to get her out of it!  But I did great, and the ride BACK up the Dragon I laid hard on the throttle rolling out of the turns and kept right on David's tail almost the whole time :D

Thanks to Killboy.com for the amazing Dragon taming pic!

Thursday was more storms, and this morning I rode my 3rd solo ride to work.  What a DIFFERENCE some saddle time makes.  I rocked it out.  No hesitation, no shakiness, and not so much as a foot stutter the entire road to work AND back home.  Tomorrow is epic.  Heading back to McCloud Mountain, this time for breakfast.  That road in is intense; it should be FUN on the bikes.  Will be touring through THREE state parks.  Should end up being about a 10-12 hour day, taking into account breaks and eating.  Can't wait!  So blessed and happy to be on this journey; I love the connection I feel to my husband.  What a difference being on the same page makes <3

All 3 of us, first ride on the Dragon with 2 wheels!

Khaleesi and Cheyenne feeling good!

My Love Affair

My love affair with Indian Motorcycles began shortly after we moved to TN.  It was round about September, and my father in law (FIL) finally got me up on a bike.  He had a 2000 Honda Valkyrie; HUGE bike.  In CA, I had finally brought myself around to thinking it would be pretty fun to own a Can Am Spyder some day.  There was an outfit that rented them, and David and I had thrown around the idea of indulging in that one weekend.

First time I sat on an Indian ... love ...

Some of you know, when David and I met, he got me into riding ATV's.  We both bought Honda quads, and rode EVERY weekend we got the chance to.  I got pretty bold and confident; even got a little cocky once and ended up breaking my collar bone.  Still didn't stop us from riding though!  My quad was a 'sport utility' with a manual transmission, but an automatic clutch.  Which meant I had to shift like normal, but I didn't have to worry about choking it ever :)  We had a LOT of fun riding, and then I got pregnant with Kody.  From that point on, we more or less quit riding :(  David wanted to buy a motorcycle when Kody was about 7, but I talked him out of that and into buying a truck to go pick up my new HORSE with.  Obviously, I had to sell the horse to move to Cali, and I began to get that itch again; to get out and feel the wind.

We were so positive we were going to buy our own, we'd already bought helmets!

So the FIL took me for my first ride, and I cannot even describe the thrill it gave me!  I was simultaneously thrilled and terrified.  I may have even whooped once or twice.  From that moment on, I have become hooked.  My MIL had David ride her Honda Shadow out to our house from GA, and then she left it for about 2 weeks.  I rode with David on her bike for the first time, and we just had a BLAST.  East TN is motorcycle country, and there are tiny back roads GALORE around here.  It's also Harley Davidson territory, big time.  We live about 2 mins away from a dealer, and we decided to take a ride up there.  The bike I fell in love with is a Heritage Softail Classic, but I could NOT imagine EVER riding one myself.  And sadly, David just didn't like the feel of the bike.

Gorgeous.  Just not for us.

We were out and about one day just riding to every dealership that sells motorcycles we could think of, so David could sit on as many bikes as possible so he could figure out what he wanted.  We purposely went to the Honda dealer in Knoxville, then looked up the road and realized there was an Indian dealer up there as well.  Neither of us knew much, or had even looked at Indian before, so we headed up the hill to take a look.  Wow.  The super nice sales guy gave us the grand speech on the Springfield even though we told him we were NOT in the market for a new bike, EVER, lol.  I just fell in love.  They are beautiful, classic bikes.  Graceful curves, sleek lines, and deep, V-twin sound.  No, you don't see the crazy variety with Indian motorcycles that you do with Harleys, but that doesn't bother me at all.  I saw the Scout, and at first glance, it was not first love.  She's a classic, graceful bike, but not the fully dressed chromed out cruisers I'd developed a taste for.  At the time, I had no real plans to get my motorcycle license.  I was a complete, total, 100% beginner.  Heck, I wasn't even accustomed to driving with a manual clutch!  The Springfield became my 'dream' bike for David and I, and then I sat on the Scout.  Holy cow.  She was everything Harley Davidson wasn't.  I began to see visions of ME driving that bike.  The Scout is certainly CAPABLE of riding 2-up, but she's really not meant for that purpose, so David never really looked at her, but she became a fixture in my mind.

My dream baby

Fast forward to about 4 weeks ago, and I actually rode her for the first time.  COMPLETELY different animal than the H-D Street 500 bikes we learned on.  David was sort of steering me towards one of those, and we half way looked at them in the dealership.  I just don't like the looks of them.  To me, the Street 500, the Street 750, and all other styles that resemble that look turn me off.  Just not my cup of tea!  The advantage, she was a fairly easy bike to ride.  Nice smooth clutch pull, low seat height, and low weight.  But the Scout ... holy cow, she's a Cadillac!  SO comfortable to hold up, comfortable seating position (100% different than the Street 500), and a ROCKET when the clutch is at the sweet spot.  Took me about 1 minute to get comfortable with the forward controls, and the rest is history!

Easy to learn on, not what I want to own.

Can't believe I actually own her now, I didn't even think I would get my LICENSE any time soon, much less have a brand new Indian Scout sitting in my garage.  Her engine is technically "bigger" than the Vulcan even though the Scout is smaller.  I can say I finally have my "pony", lol!!  My petite little powerhouse pony.  I'm an Indian fan for life; can't wait to buy David a Chieftan in a few years (we've completely bypassed the Springfield, thanks to the demo truck, lol) <3

Somebody pinch me!

Chieftan, just wants one without the ape hangers!

Indian Motorcycles Demo Truck

So, when I was searching for info on the Indian Demo Truck, there wasn't much info out there.  There were a few YouTube videos about some of the demo ride routes, but no other real information as to How. It. Works. which is what I like to KNOW in advance :)  So, just thought I'd blog about the day!

We got up there about 20 minutes before the event began.  Let me preface this by saying ... it was COLD this morning; low 40's.  The dealership was wide open, and the motorcycles were all up by the truck.  Such a cool and impressive setup, I LOVE it!

Everyone was very nice.  They directed us to the table in the back where we were able to go through the sign up/sign in process.  We got a few freebies as well!  Signed us up on the iPad, entered our info, clicked "Accept", and we were given cards with our electronic info that at the next event, all we have to do is scan them.  Requirements for the demo ride are a class "M" license, age 18 or over, long pants, closed toe shoe, and I believe a long sleeved shirt as well.  They had some helmets you could borrow if you needed to.  The words were, "You're responsible for yourself, we're responsible for the bikes".  There was no charge/fees of any sort, and there was no test to complete on your level of experience, lol.  They do NOT ask you for your insurance information!  I feel like there's a great bit of mis-information out there from people that are ASSuming, and haven't actually participated.

This one was set up for "extended reach", so I couldn't ride her :(

This morning, it was just me, David, one other guy, and the leader/sweeper.  Since I have zero road riding experience, I wanted to follow David AND be at the back of the line.  I was so nervous/excited/nervous, but David assured me I was ready.  He said the state of TN had declared me knowledgeable enough and competent enough to have my "M", so I was certainly capable.

As we headed out, I power walked through the turn which was guided by cones, and thank goodness there was a gentleman holding our lane for us.  The dealership is off a BUSY main hwy in Knoxville.  Then it was on the road!  David was right; I was 148% fine.  Going in a straight line on the hwy is the easy part.  Making the turns are intuitive and simple, especially with 22 years of experience driving cars.  I was worried I would have tunnel vision and not be able to focus on everything around me, but I found myself exhilarated but relaxed.  I remembered everything I had been taught about friction zone, looking ahead, looking up, and braking smoothly with both front and back.  I'd like to think I rocked it :D

David rode the Chieftan first, and he absolutely fell in love.  He didn't care as much for the Springfield as compared to the Vulcan; he actually liked his Vulcan better.  The Chieftan, however, he said he'd switch to.

The route took us 20 minutes in the morning and made a few right hand turns with a short trek up the Interstate.  By the afternoon, that route was taking 30 minutes due to all the traffic :(  SO glad I had the time early on to "warm up".  The Scout is an AMAZING bike for a novice.  I'm short, and I feel so comfortable holding her up at stops.  2 weeks ago, I just took her for slow parking lot maneuvers.  Today, I opened her up on the road.  VERY easy clutch pull, easy throttle engagement, smooth braking.  I was not on an ABS bike.  I love how I can feel when I'm down in first gear.  It helps that the readout on the bike also lets you know what gear you're in :)  However, once you pull the clutch in you just have to count, lol!  I definitely like windshield vs. no windshield.  I rode both the smaller engine Scout Sixty and the bigger engine Scout.  No discernible difference in handling; in fact, I preferred the Sixty because it had the windshield.  Going 80 mph on the interstate without one is NOT my cup of tea.  I did feel some movement from the wind on the interstate; I don't think I would enjoy a long, straight highway ride on the Scout.  The smaller backroads/curves are more where I will enjoy her.

I WILL own one, it's only a question of "when"?  David really enjoyed getting to ride several other models; he even tried one with apes!  Not his thing, lol.  We rode a total of 6 times.  By early afternoon, they were getting more crowded and the traffic around the dealership was becoming horrendous.  We headed out the long way home around Tellico Lake.  Gorgeous day!  Thanks to IMOK for the great time!  We look forward to doing the demo truck every time it rolls into anywhere CLOSE to town, haha! :D

The GORGEOUS new Chieftan Limited; it's already sold!