22 Feb 2018

Winter Sucks Ass

by Cherie-Lynn | posted in: Blog Post | 0

Living in Canada first off is incredible but riding a motorcycle here comes with some drawbacks – the major one being winter! I use to be a lover of winter if I’m being completely honest. I love the brightness that the snow created, I loved the crispness of a good cold morning and large flakes falling – so so beautiful. However, that was before I started riding. Even when I was riding on the back I still didn’t completely get the whole omg I need to ride thing. Now I get itI

As our weather in Southern Ontario is starting to change (Spring is just a little over a month away) us riders are all getting pretty anxious. Reading the forums and Facebook groups is both fun and sad as we wait. Watching our southern US friends out enjoying themselves on two wheels is pretty hard to swallow most days – We want to be out there too. Of course everywhere in the Canadian groups you get the winter and salt debates about riding late into the season or pulling your bike out to early. We are of the belief that unless you bought or are paying for someones bike you shouldn’t concern yourself with what others are doing.

Now all this being said the one great part about heading into the tail end of winter – there’s a bike show almost every month. I know, it’s awesome!

In January we headed to the North American Motorcycle Supershow and omg did we have fun. I’m not sure if it was the show or the people we went with but either way what a great time we had. It was a long day but a great one non the less. The area the we loved the most was all the different tourism boards. Even though we all now that the destination isn’t as important as the journey you have to admit that the destination is also important. We love our country and want to explore it as much as possible. This year will be a tour of the great lakes and we can’t wait to get going.

I didn’t come out buying however, Andy came home with lots of goodies – Harley boots, an Indian jacket, boot polish, accessories for his bike to name just a few things. As Don and Shelley (our buddies we went with) said “omg he got so much shit”! lol We have also decided that the next time Andy goes to a show he needs to bring a wagon just to carry all of his purchases. Thanks god he’s such a good sport and is willing to put up with us!

We also loved looking at all the custom bikes. To see what people can accomplish with these bikes is unbelievable. Their talents should be celebrated!

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The other area that we took our time going through was all the vintage bikes. This might have been Andy’s fourth area. He also found some guys displaying “vintage” Concours so he was able to have a good chat about his ’86 Councours (first year of the model). Of course while Andy chatted I took some pictures 🙂

Now as much fun as we had at this show we were already making plans to head to The Toronto Motorcycle Show that was taking place the weekend of February 16th-18th. They were having a She Rides event that I was probably more excited about than I should be lol Anyway, during the lead up there was lots of chatter in my female riding groups about who was going and wondering what the night held for us. I don’t think any of us quite got what we were expecting from the She Rides event.

This is what was posted on their website…….

Looking for a fun girls’ night out?

Grab your best friends and come to SHE RIDES on Friday February 16th!

More and more women are learning how to ride and discovering the fun, excitement, freedom and camaraderie of motorcycling.

SHE RIDES is a celebration of these women and the perfect opportunity for any motorcycle-curious ladies to take the first step or the next step in their riding adventure.

On the schedule for Friday: 1/2 price admission for women after 5 pm, as well as female-focused activities and entertainment, including a ladies’-only motorcycle draw for a brand new 2018 Kawasaki Versys-X 300 ABS, courtesy of Canadian Kawasaki. Click Here for more details

On the Friday we headed into the city early and picked up our daughter as she wanted to attend as sh’ed never been to a motorcycle show before and was curious what it was about and we thought this event would be the perfect opportunity to introduce her to this world. We arrived at 4:30 so paid $15 for parking (it was only free after 5pm and wasn’t indexed which we weren’t thrilled with but understood), we paid full price for the three of us to go in (women were 1/2 price after 5 – again we were ok with this). We looked around and hit a few of the vendors as I’ve been looking at the Rev’it Airwave 2 jacket for hot weather riding. The booth displaying Rev’it didn’t seem to have much female gear so when I asked I was informed, with a laugh, oh no we never bring hardly any women’s gear. What??? So off I went to look at other stuff and again had almost the same conversation with two other booths. One gentleman from a local to us bike shop also felt the need to mansplain things that I didn’t even ask or care about. Off to the stunt show next which was fun to watch I’ll admit. I’v already decided that I want to try dirt track racing this summer and see what all the fuss is about. I also figure that it will make me a more confident rider what i fit construction zones this summer. Last year I really struggled and would get so nervous when I hit gravel and road resurfacing areas. As we hung out for the night we never saw any female-focused activities or entertainment. The only thing that we came across that was listed on the website was the draw for the bike from Kawasaki Canada. Five women were picked to go try a key in the bike and the excitement they all showed was just so fun to watch.

I realize that what the booths have isn’t a show issue but not having things that were listed on your site – that is a show issue. I’m not sure if they have any women that ride on their planning group but if they don’t maybe it’s time to hire some and also actually talk to women about what we’d like to see.

I’ve talked about this before – when it comes to this sport women spend more money then guys do. The majority of men that I know have one pair of riding boots, maybe two jackets, two pairs or gloves and a hemet. Want to know what I have (and this is mostly all stuff from this year) 3 helmets, 3 jackets, chaps, 4 pairs of gloves, multiple pairs of glasses, 2 pairs of boots and that’s just what I can think of. My list for this summer includes a couple pairs of motopants, another jacket, motoshoes, and likely another helmet. Plus I bought a brand new bike in the fall. And the majority of women I know have multiples of riding gear as well. Just think what would happen if companies actually started marketing to us! It isn’t just the gear companies that need to do better. all the bike advertising I seen was either male solo riders and when a bike showed 2up riding it was man upfront and a women hanging on to him, even before I rode my own bike this drove me crazy!

Now one thing that the show did offer is the chance to sit on all the new models. It was less crowded and you had a great opportunity to talk to the bike manufactures.

I did walk away with two highlights from our evening however-

Watching our daughter learn how to pick up a dropped bike. We also heard how she now whats to learn how to ride 🙂 -which we would be completely thrilled with!

2. I got to meet the woman that designed my awesome Joe Rocket helmet! I’ll be clear she was helping me with a jacket at the GP Bikes booth and my helmet was sitting there so I proceeded to tell her that I had that helmet and how much I loved it. That’s when she spoke up and told me it was her design. How cool is that!

I realize that I might come off a little bitchy about the show and for that I apologize. I’m just really frustrated with having to search so hard to feel represented and I had really hoped that someone had finally tapped into the missing opportunity. One thing I do know for sure is that the company that does figure this mess out is going to soar!

I could also just be bitchy because frankly WINTER SUCKS ASS!

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29 Jan 2018

My First Trip

by Andy Buchanan | posted in: Adventure, Blog Post | 0

A continuation from My First Bike…

As I became a confident urban rider, I planned a longer trip. I was to go up the Bruce to Tobermory, across Huron on the Chi-Cheemaun to my parent’s cottage at Mindemoya on Manitoulin Island. I would spend a few days there and continue to Sudbury in time for my Grandfather’s operation and then back to Waterloo thereby circling Georgian Bay. I had done each leg of this route in a car a few times and I felt confident that I and the KZ were up to it.

Waterloo to Mindemoya

I set out with my sturdy little burro of a bike loaded with me, a tank bag and a small set of saddle bags that were made to put on a bicycle rack across the seat behind me. Bright and early, I set out to get to Tobermory in plenty of time to get on the ferry (the Chi-Cheemaun) to the island.

The trip up the Bruce Peninsula was long and I was beat when I got to Tobermory. Between my tiny bike, the wind and impatience of my fellow travellers I felt a little stressed when I got there. However, I arrived earlier than I expected and discovered another advantage to travelling on a bike. Instead of arriving and having to get in to the line of up to 100 cars waiting for the next departure, I was able to board the one about to leave. Apparently, they will take bikes up to the last minute under the “we can always fit another bike in the ferry” doctrine. So I was thrilled to ride through the line up to the front with the other two wheeled travellers. I had the smallest bike by far (next was a Honda Silverwing GL500) and felt a little self-conscious. No matter, I was made to feel welcome and they were happy to answer my questions about ferry etiquette and securing my bike. I did pass on the offer of a swig of Wild Turkey from the kind (but kind of rough looking) gentleman on the Harley.

Once on Manitoulin Island, all my cares just melted away. Having spent my summers there since I was small, being on the island is a trigger for me to relax and revert to the here and now. I de-ferried (is that a word?) and, knowing that Highway 6 would be filled with impatient cars behind me as the only route from South Baymouth, I pulled off and had a little rest to let them unload and head off. Then I set off to my parent’s cottage on Lake Mindemoya. For me, riding on Manitoulin is just about as good as it gets. The island is beautiful, the people are friendly and the roads fit me to a tee. I like a nice curving road that I can enjoy the scenery without feeling rushed. I had plenty of time so I zigzagged my way to the interior of the island and eventually to my parent’s cottage to stay for a few days.

Manitoulin Island to Sudbury

After a couple of days, I set out for Sudbury – a short distance of about 100 miles (160 km). This leg I knew like the back of my hand. The route went like this: Lake Mindemoya to West Bay (now named M’Ching), across the island to Little Current, across the swing bridge (definitely a sight to see) to the causeways skipping through a series of small islands towards the White Hills, over the White Hills to Espanola and then turn right onto 17 towards Sudbury. I knew the route and felt confident. My biggest concern was that my little bike was going to struggle on the White Hills. If you are old enough you might recognize the area as the setting for Rainbow Country (a Canadian young adult adventure TV series featuring a blond kid always getting into trouble and a sensible native kid who was always getting him out of trouble). The ride through the White Hills was beautiful and dramatic – beautiful scenery from all sides and drama from my little, underpowered bike struggling up the hills.

I lost power and the engine cut out somewhere between the turn onto Highway 17 and Nairn Centre. The engine cut out and I lost all power. I had been having problems with bulb burning out on the bike but this was a definite escalation. I got it going again but it died again near Lively. No power and I could not bump start it. After calling my brother who lived nearby and taking the bike to a local shop in Sudbury. My rectifier had failed, overcharging the battery, boiling off the water and generally wreaking havoc on my electrical system. Luckily, the mechanic had a KZ650 (beautiful bike)he was restoring so he swapped out the rectifier for me and ordered a replacement for himself. Replace the headlight bulb and all the signal bulbs (which had burned out) and I was back in business.

Sudbury Back to Waterloo

My Grandfather had a successful bypass surgery (props to the folks at Sudbury General) and even at 75 was recovering fast. Within 24 hours of his surgery he was able to let me know he was alright and show his mild disapproval of my beard. He was soon back to being the positive, optimistic person that was his natural state.

So, I set out back to Waterloo. This being Sudbury and around the start of September, it was cold setting out in the early morning. I did stop for some heavier, lined leather gloves (thank you Highway 69 Trading Post) and persevered. I will say a couple of things about Highway 69 back then (1989). There was a lot less multilane with only the occasional passing lane. The bugs were huge (no windshield, just a full face helmet). And people in RVs have no patience for a guy on a small bike. It was scary having a 30 foot Winnebago bearing down on me when I had buried the throttle and had nowhere to go. Slowing down to get a tailgater to back off is even scarier when it looks like a small house.

Rest of the trip was uneventful and I arrived back at school with the realization that if I wanted to go any distance, I needed more than my little Kawi KZ200 (185lbs and estimated 12 hp.) taking me down the road. As small as it was for trips, that bike was the most fun for the money I have ever had.

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18 Jan 2018

My First Bike

by Andy Buchanan | posted in: Blog Post | 1

After reading Cherie-Lynn’s post about learning to ride this year, I thought I would write a bit from my viewpoint as the husband and Encourager-in-Chief. Here are two posts (second will be published next Monday) – one about my first ~~love~~ bike and the other about my first big trip on that bike.

My First Bike

I started riding when I was at university (almost 30 years ago) as a lark. I had been saying that I wanted to get a bike but had almost no money to spare while at school. I had never had a bike of any kind growing up so I had no idea how to ride or anything about bikes really. Parental authorities felt that motorcycles were dangerous (yeah OK) and that a dirt bike of any kind was not suitable for an accident prone young boy. We did have a snowmobile (a ’70 Bombardier Olympique) that we ran mercilessly in the winter, but I always had lusted after the YZ80s and minibikes I had seen but had never ridden. I’m not sure if the snowmobile was safer the way that I drove it but it was more acceptable in the North (at least in my family).

One of my roommates at school mentioned that his family had an old bike at the cottage that I could get for almost nothing. I was past the age of consent and shooting off my mouth so he called my bluff and I bought the bike. $150 bought me a sturdy little ’78 Kawasaki KZ200 in fair shape (this was about ’89). A little more money got it certified and insured and a short written test earned me a motorcycle beginner’s license. This was prior to graduated licensing (like way prior). A short lesson in “there’s the clutch – there’s the brake – be careful” and I was on the road with the firm advice to “take the course” ASAP. The bike weighed 185 lbs and turned out an estimated 12 horsepower. I could get it up to about 95 km/h if I was going downhill, wind at my back with my chin pressed to the tank. I took the local riding course run by the Canadian Safety Council (I think) at Conestoga College. I passed the test for my M and the instructors gave me and my classmates the admonishment that we still had a lot to learn. It wasn’t long before I was riding it everywhere. I had to. I had no other vehicle and hated walking or taking the bus.

That bike was so much fun. Up to ~60km/h it accelerated like a sports car (remember, I had no experience on any other kind of bike) and it cost about $3.50 a week in gas. I paid $10/month to park on a pad next to the Engineering buildings instead of $40 across the road. Not only that, it was the perfect antidote to the peer pressure around drinking while at school in an engineering program. The stigma of drinking and driving was growing rapidly and I found if I had the bike, the pressure was off and I was still cool (OK – U of Waterloo Engineering cool) with the guys. When I started riding I had decided that zero alcohol was going to be my rule – a rule I still adhere to today. I’m only a light drinker anyway so it’s not a big sacrifice to stick to soda and coffee when riding.

For the rest of that summer and well into the fall I fell in love with my little bike. It took me everywhere and I rode it until I had to stop for icy conditions. The money I saved by not drinking easily paid for all of my bike expenses that first year. These days I have two large bikes (86 Concours ZG1000 and a 99 Vulcan Drifter VN1500J) but I still say that a small bike is just plain fun to ride.

Bottom Line: In my books, start on a used little bike like a CBR125/250 or a Ninja 250 or one of the small 250 cruisers (Rebel, Marauder, V-Star) and have some fun while you’re learning. They are cheap and fun to learn on. That’s what I did and never regretted a moment of it.

Leave me a comment and let me know what your first bike was.

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17 Jan 2018

Learning To Ride

by Cherie-Lynn Buchanan | posted in: Blog Post, Women Who Ride | 0

As many of you know 2017 was my first summer riding my own bike. I was always content to ride behind Andy and chat along, take photos and on occasion I even worked, thank god for smart phones where our offices can be where ever we choose them to be.

I often get asked why I decided to get my own bike so here it is – I just needed to.

A couple of years ago at the end of the season we were out riding and I wanted to go back to look at something so Andy found a parking lot to turn around and for those that ride you know that going slow is when most accidents happen. Well we went down, not hard but hard enough to scare us, once we got our bearings we were able to pick the bike up and ride it home. I rode a bit afterwards and was very nervous and before we knew it it was time to put the bike away for the winter. Well the next spring came I was still having issues with my nerves. A few times Andy could tell that he needed to stop. Without me saying a word he knew I was having an anxiety attack. I was fine when we were flat-out riding but going slow and turning was hard on me and therefore hard on Andy. That summer I still enjoyed the bike but not like before. Once agin, before we knew it it was time to put the bike away for another winter.

Enter 2017. When we would drive in the car I had issues. Andy knew it was easier on my if I drove as he started riding in the passenger’s seat more. The spring rolled around and it was time to get out riding I was better but I was still anxious. Canada Day weekend came around and some family invited us to come ride with them up on the Bruce. Well after seeing Andy’s cousin Mary handling her bike and seeing the pure joy it bought her I knew what I was going to do that coming week!

For my birthday I went and wrote my M1 – and failed 🙁 I went in not knowing that I had to write my whole G1. I thought because I was already a licensed driver (of over 20 years) that I just would have to write the motorcycle part – I was wrong. I’m happy to say that I got all the questions regarding the motorcycle and road signs right. The only questions I got wrong were the rules around driving with a G1 & G2. Anyway, I went back the next day and secured my M1 and called around to book my bike course. The day after that I bought my very first bike! A Suzuki Marauder 250!

While we waited for me to take my M2 course, the weekend of July 21st, Andy would ride my bike down to an empty parking lot and I’d drive the car so I could learn some basics. I really didn’t want to show up at the course and not even know what it felt like to ride my own bike. The one thing that Andy was insistent on was not teaching me to much. He didn’t want to teach me any bad habits that he’d picked up over his years of riding and I was ok with that answer. One thing that I did learn was riding a bike was a lot harder and tiring than I ever thought. By the end of the weekend I was having a blast, turning to the right and left, changing gears, learning emergency stopping. I’m happy to say that at the end of the weekend I passed the ministry test and was on to my M2.

Time to park the bikes and head to lunch

I still had to had to wait until September 7th until I could ride without the M1 rules which i learnt was a very good thing. Every chance that we got we were out on the bikes. Just when I thought I was doing ok I would make a mistake. One of the things we were told repeatedly in our course was to look where you want to go not where you’re trying to avoid. I learnt this the hard way – I hit a parked car turning out of our laneway. Thankfully I wasn’t going fast but I was turning and watching the car and not the street and then I panicked. Andy was able to hop off his bike and came running, and one of the neighbours that was out came running to check that I was ok. We picked up the bike, got it off the road and went looking for the car owner (there wasn’t any damage to the car but it’s the right thing to do) and after he asked if I was ok he asked about the car and said “no worries and ride safe”. As we walked back Andy was worried that I’d want to put the bikes away but I was positive that I wanted to continue on. Looking back I’m glad I did because if I would have gone in the house I’m not sure that I would have gone back riding. As a new rider you lean quickly it’s not if you drop your bike but when and so many other riders have told me the same thing. By the time we got home that night I was a bit sore and when I went to change I understood why. As the days went by the bruises got worse and worse. Seeing as it was hot I wore tanks out of the house but not shorts and I had people stop and ask me if everything was alright and did I need help, Andy wasn’t a fan of going places with me during these two weeks. I will add that every night I was back out on my bike though 🙂

I know not everybody likes to see injury photos so I’ve hidden them for those people 🙂

after I got home

What I looked like after 2 hours. I think the bruises on my arms were from my mirrors. It’s the only thing that I could figure out.

it’s not if you drop your bike but when

We continued to ride a lot over the rest of the summer and fall. At the end of September I did my first solo trip to my Dad’s (roughly 3.5 hours away) and when I came back I bought my second bike. I still have a lot of learning to do but am very comfortable riding now and since I’ve started riding my own bike I haven’t had any more anxiety issues when riding. I’m not saying this is the answer for everybody but it was the answer for me.

Cheers,

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