Jan 23 • Introduce Yourself 👋
Thanks for having me!
I started riding in late 2021 on a CSC TT250 dual sport. Originally took my first MSF course probably around 2000 just for fun, about 5yrs later (and zero seat time later) I found myself on a friend's CRF450 going 40mph on a busy road, realizing I was NOT ready for that chaos yet. I successfully pulled over and turned around, but went wide on the turn back to the house and ended up in a ditch (no for real you guys, I did have to lay 'er down!). Thus ended any thought of getting back on a motorcycle for the next 20yrs.
Then, my good buddy I've known since we were children decided to get a TW200, and the game was back on. I debated, and after speaking to a trusted (older) friend with many decades on two wheels, he gave me the best advice I have ever received on riding:
"You must take it upon yourself to become a student of safety."
I took those words straight to the heart, and started my youtube "research", which quickly led me to DDFM. At first I thought it was a new way they were doing actual classes, until I realized Dan was just trying to fool us with some green-screen wizardry. Boy, did those videos initially terrify me. I told myself I would watch every single posted one, and make an informed decision at the end. Sure, riding is "28 times more likely" to end in a crash than a car, but it didn't take long to realize there are many steps you can do to greatly lower those odds. Shocking to learn that simply getting formal training, an endorsement, wearing full gear, and not drinking will already put you in the top safest 20% riders in the USA. That's when I decided I have two priorities here. 1, get home safely. 2, have fun. If either of those isn't happening, I would need to make a change.
So, I took the BRC1 class again and got my endorsement. In the next couple years I took the BRC2, then the ARC, and a second year at the ARC (because it's just...so...much...fun). Currently I'm trying to get into the RiderCoach program to become an instructor for the MSF in my local region for this year.
I chose to buy the scourge of the riding community... a Chinese motorcycle. CSC in California seemed to have the best quality control, as they are a middleman to a line of Honda engine clones from Zongshen. I heard it all, from "you'll be lucky to make it 1000 miles before you break down" to "I wouldn't put my worst enemy on one of those". 14,000 blissful miles later, and the only non-regular incident was a leaky fork seal. But this little engine got me wrenching on everything I could, and I was not scared to drop it trying to do donuts in a gravel parking lot.
This past spring I bought a Royal Enfield Himalayan 411, and I adore it. Obviously it rides far better than my first one, but of course, this new fancy reliable motorcycle cracked a piston head two months later and left me stranded in a cornfield for a day. With lots of help from incredible forum members from the UK, Australia, and India, I ended up replacing the entire top end myself over a couple months, it started up the very first time, and I've enjoyed another 2000 miles since the breakdown.
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Thanks for having me!
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