stumblingvickster

[stumblingvickster]

The hardest part to get used to in riding a motorcycle.

The most difficult concept for me to get comfortable with was counter steering. I don’t know why. On paper and when explained to me it made sense. I understand why it needed to happen and how. The fucking physical experience of it though did not feel right. There’s a 300 pound object between my legs and I am to counter steer it and all will be good. Like fuck that is hard to get comfortable with. 

I practiced this on my bicycle. Watch a shit ton of Youtube videos and really felt I could understand what that fuck it meant. I didn’t get that clicking comfortable sensation until the endorsement. That would be after my first course and second course, buying a bike, and all the other tests for the permit and one for the endorsement. And even now I’m not 100% comfortable but I get the concept and I can feel how it’s working and can envision how it’s supposed to be working. But damn it took a lot of tries and it will also take someone else who’s new a lot of tries. And that’s OK. 

The stages I progressed through started with being confused by what the fuck it meant to press on the bar or press down on the bar? Am I pressing down? Am I pressing the bar forward? How hard do I press? What should I expect the motorcycle to do? I learned in order to “press” the handle bar it meant pushing  the hand bar away from the turn you’re going in to and then you will lean the bike in the direction you are turning. Even that sounds fucking confusing. 

When they say press I now understand that to mean, yes you are pushing the handle bar forward in the opposition direction, but you will start to lean in the correct direction and therefore end up pressing on the handle bar for stability in the correct direction. Technically you’re still turning the handle bars in the wrong direction.  

I figured out the concept but it was still fucking hard and awkward feeling. I didn’t understand why these other kids in my class could do it with ease and agility but I felt robotic and forced. This understanding came in my second class when I realized how tin man I was. In order to ride a motorcycle you have to be light on your hands. Like real light. it’s almost as if you’re working with that bike not forcing the bike to work for you. Yes you’re in control but the bike is doing the work you want to be light on it and give it subtle cues and guidance to make it work properly for you. Riding on the handle bars and feeling like you have to force them isn’t right. There are times you will need to stabilize the bars but still just nice and loose. 

I know that sounds like no big deal. But the stress from riding a 300 pound motorcycle trying to get used to maneuvering this beast and remembering what the rest of your body is supposed to do tenses you the fuck up. You have to really remind yourself to stay loose and mobile in the shoulders and arms. Then you’ll see how little effort you need to press on the bars to tip in to the turn. It’s kind of a cool feeling. Now how far you press forward determines how far you tip and at various speeds and radius of curves the pressing will be different. I’m still working on figuring this out. 

Getting comfortable in tipping in to the counter steer quickly in a high gear well that didn’t come until the very end when it had to for me. The end of the endorsement test is a timed 22.5 second figure 8. You go through a right corner and then one left corner at an average speed of 15 mph. I may have been hitting those speeds in 2nd gear already while practicing on the course but I was never timed. So getting between the two turns one needed to accelerate and then tip in quickly and stay in a good angle as to not over shoot the turn. This I’m still not comfortable with as a noobie. To be honest I’m not even sure how I passed that part, maybe I was just a favorite. 

This is the part of the test where flattening out corners is best and being more skilled and experienced is needed. I wasn’t either of those and am still trying to figure out how to flatten the corner in practice. One thing I will say is I had to commit to those fucking corners. And maybe thats what the test really helped accomplish. I had the turn and I needed to commit. And committing is more about willing to press more leading to leaning more and having a tighter turn. When doing this I still had to remain loose and bring my chest forward, I couldn’t shy away from the lean of the bike. I had to embrace that scary feeling of how low of an angle my bike was leaning in order to get that corner. Which I did I guess because I passed with just .36 of a second to spare. 

Committing though to a deeper lean to make a tighter faster corner takes so much muscle memory. I am excited to practice with my Yamaha R3 in an empty parking lot going different speeds, pressing the hand bar with various amounts of force and seeing how that affects lean. Gotta test it all out hundreds of times to see what my bike can do with my body.

And as a person gets better with corner and tipping and speed, then another challenging concept comes in to play a lot more. Traction. We talked about it in the course and it made some sense but not really. We weren’t moving at fast enough speeds or doing enough maneuvers for me to really understand how traction comes in to play and what it means to spend some in one place and how that affects the rest of the bike. 

It’s a process and it will take time. Have to stay with it and stay excited. Also realizing more and more the fucking gear for riding is such a money suck. Ughh. 

[stumblingvickster]

Getting started in to riding. Don’t let others sway you from what you really want.

When I started to really want to get in to riding of course I read the best bikes, noobie mistakes, how to learn, different forums, websites, articles, even best exercises to get in shape. I didn’t have any friends with a motorcycle and the last time I was on one was in fall of 2008 I think. My uncle used to race I believe but never saw him on a motorcycle and my family or friends aren’t about riding motorcycles. Like everything else in my life I wanted to do something I had to figure it out myself and go with it. This is from an independent person’s perspective. I’m introverted but very driven. 

In my opinion, after the initial desire to begin, you start with the riding class. Which can be a bitch to sign up for. I live in Seattle and the only real motorcycle courses are offered outside of Seattle. I don’t own a car and public transportation/lyft could only take you so far. In order to get to these classes in fucking Kirkland I had to borrow a friends car. You sign up about 1-2 months out. The class offers instruction but also a permit test and endorsement test at the end. The whole reason for the class is to get the permit at least. The testing is pretty fucking stupid but we’re stuck with a system that doesn’t understand what it really means to learn something as a beginner. 

When I signed up it took place in January and it was fucking freezing in Seattle. And during this class it rained just a little bit. But before that. I did my research looked a clothes, looked at helmets, looked at best bikes for beginners. My eyes were set on the Yamaha R3. I wish I had talked to more people who rode about riding. Or gone in to more stores and talked to women specifically about riding and their experience. 

I had a male friend who wanted to tell me everything I needed to do instead of presenting the options available. That is so discouraging and from my research it conflicted with his opinion and he was unwilling to listen to what I had to say because I didn’t have experience. Well I can fucking read and who is writing about this shit aren’t inexperienced people, it’s people who have a following and are respected in the motorcycle community. 

Also wish I had sat on more motorcycles. I knew I wanted something in the small cc range but the style I wanted was conflicted between sport and standard/nake/cafe. I didn’t want Harley Davidson but I wanted Indian or Triumph. I’ll probably get one of those later in life really. But sitting on motorcycles and feeling the weight of the bike or the positioning of the bike and reaching for the brakes, clutch, and gear shift. Sitting in that riding position for a solid 10-15 minutes while maybe talking to a friend or the store staff. Seeing what bike really fits you. I don’t have friends that ride so I didn’t have any peer pressure on what to choose style or cc. Also I don’t bend to peer pressure, people are dumb or narrow minded and they don’t know what’s best for you and aren’t always looking out for you, only you can decide what is best for you. 

Also wish anytime I went to a bike store I tried on one article of clothing in different styles different sized and marked what fit and what didn’t. When going to these motorcycle stores it’s not like Target or Nordstrom. The staff are always the same and specialized for this industry. They will remember you getting comfortable with them quickly and diving in to the products will help the process of figuring out you want to ride or not. 

This is another place where you shouldn’t be pressured by people. Everrrrrrr. My male friend said full gauntlet gloves are the way to go and that Dianese was a pretty good brand. It is a good brand. My first 3 season jacket was from them and I loved it. But not all products will fit you right. Their denim style pants were ugly as fuck on me. Their gloves I was told are good and them coming tight is normal. I bought a pair of full gauntlet gloves with some carbon fiber crap on them as if I would be headed to the track immediately. Fucking terrible idea. I hate those gloves. They hurt and I wish I had tried on other pairs by all types of different companies. Sure they are good and look cool but fuck they hurt and I never want to where them. 

I went got a different full leather gloves that covered up to my wrists from Revitt. They are a little snug but they don’t cause me so much pain I never want to put them on again. And I can feel them stretching sooner than later. 

There are so many options for clothing that are still safe and comfortable you have to look at them all. ALL OF THEM! When you go to a store they want you to typically buy their shit, they’re on commission it makes sense. I’ve only been to one place where a girl said to try another store because their products didn’t fit. A lot of respect for that girl. BIIIGGGG take away lesson was buy what you will wear or else it’s just fucking wasted money and space. Which in Seattle space is limited unless you work at Amazon then you can live in whatever space you want. 

Will I end up breaking in those gloves to the point where it won’t hurt anymore? I fucking hope so but it’s not going to be until I absolutely have to and I won’t like the damn process. 

I bought my gloves before the course. I thought and hoped I would be getting pretty serious in riding. Also I thought it was just gloves and I could easily resell on craigslist because there are probably women out there that want cheaper gloves than what I paid for them which was 180$ I think. Fucking outrageous. 

So before this course I didn’t buy any gear except the gloves. I was still hesitant if I wanted to actually commit to riding. And that’s fine, it’s your process don’t let others push you around. If I had more experience on a motorcycle then maybe I would have committed first but I didn’t so I wasn’t going to until I knew for sure riding was for me. And I knew I would find that out during my first course. 

[stumblingvickster]

Twist in life - Motorcycle Love

I had a dream where I was riding a motorcycle and loved it. It was night time exhilarating and it felt so right. That happened about November 2019 I believe and it’s been a journey since. Lots of fucking ups and downs hopes and disappointments. But I’m getting there and like anything in life I’m fucking realizing, shit takes time. And dedication. 

[stumblingvickster]

What are these ducks doing? Midday group bath and swim by the Ballard bridge in Seattle. Never understood how they stand the freezing cold water.

[stumblingvickster]

Steven’s Pass legit! So much fresh powder and snow. But didn’t like the traffic coming back. Oh no sir! 

[stumblingvickster]

Malaysian food in Capitol Hill! If I ever get cravings I know where to go. 

[stumblingvickster]

Coal Creek Trail! New Castle, WA. Super easy trail. 

Best time is as soon as the park opens, no one on the trail, little noise pollution, just you and nature. 

[stumblingvickster]

Can always count on a good culture display at malls. 

[stumblingvickster]

Gunung Bunga Buah trail. Located in Genting Highlands, Selangor 

6 hour hike total.

Must be in good shape. 

Beware of leeches. 

[stumblingvickster]

Went for a bicycle ride, past roti canai and had to stop and get it with banana. Delicious, unfortunately it was in-between two auto mechanic shops. The smell fuel can definitely affect your taste while eating. It's ok though found another good place up the road.

Weekend bike rides with this treat sound perfect.  

[stumblingvickster]

Strong winds and loose soil, trees just fallen down. Monsoon problems = Malaysia problems. 

[stumblingvickster]

Discusses the four different types of leeches and how to remove them. Only one of the four leeches is a real one, with the others being metaphorical

Trying to figure out if I can stand hiking with leeches in Selangor jungle. Love that this article identifies the multiple types of leeches one needs to look out for :)

[stumblingvickster]

Xcape weekend. Sungai Lembing, Malaysia.

Be prepared for hot weather, big bugs, weak river, and 6th grade camp. :)

Still a great time with 6 girls and mother nature. 

http://xcape.com.my

[stumblingvickster]

Subak. Felt mysterious and magical, good find :) 

http://www.subak.com.my

[stumblingvickster]

This is not fog, this is rain. Monsoon season is here. 

[stumblingvickster]

GREAT 2014 conference at MaGIC in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. 

Designers, artists, entrepreneurs and musicians unite!

[stumblingvickster]

The best of Little India Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur