8's motohistory:
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I've already posted some of my motohistory when I wrote about what it was like to learn to ride, but that doesn't tell everything...so here goes.

3 years old: My parents got divorced when I was 3, and my dad went out and bought a motorcycle. For awhile, it was the only vehicle he had so he'd come to visit me on it. My mom would never let him take me for a ride though, so I would paste my face to the window when he'd pull up to the house and then again when he'd leave. Then he sold it and bought a VW camper bus.

Fast forward a few years.

8-13 years old: My dad never got another motorcycle, but a few of his friends rode. They used to take me for rides, but never did anything fancy for fear of facing the wrath of my dad should anything happen to me. =) From then on, though, I'd always wanted to learn to ride. It just looked like so much fun from the size of the grins on their faces when the got off the bike. Plus, it just had to be more fun to be in the driver's seat... =)

Fast forward a few more years.

24 years old: Pi took me for a ride on his brand new VTR1000. Remember me mentioning that my dad's friends always took it easy? Well, pi was not afraid of my dad (especially since he hadn't met him), and proceeded to ask me questions like "how fast is too fast?" and "do I have to keep both wheels on the ground?" =) He took me out for the ride of my life. I'd never ridden on a sport bike before, and it was a little unsettling at first (I felt as if I was gonna fall off the back). Poor pi almost had bruises on his waist from me hanging on so tight. But about halfway through the ride, I started to relax and enjoy it...even after that *huge* wheelie pi wasn't quite expecting (he meant to wheelie, just not that much...and he certainly didn't mean to bring it down that hard). =) Anyway, I still wanted to learn to ride (and had even tried to get into MSF in college), but after that incredible ride on this incredible machine I just had to learn NOW. So, pi taught me how (see post about learning to ride in the Ride Reports).

I bought the Bandit last July...and then almost killed myself 120 seconds after picking it up. Up until then, the only thing I'd ridden was a ysr50 and Scott's Honda cl350. The throttle on the Bandit is very sensitive and that was giving me trouble. Plus, I didn't fully understand the concept of slipping the clutch. That combination added up to a near disaster. Pi and I rode 2up on his VTR to go pick up my bike (mistake #1). I then paid for it, started it up, hopped on and proceeded to ride it home (mistake #2). We pulled up to a T-intersection and prepared to turn right onto a fairly busy street where traffic moves around 50mph...remember that I didn't fully understand the concept of slipping the clutch. Traffic cleared on the left, meaning that we were free to turn. Pi had me go first, so I put it in gear and begin to turn...except I give it too much gas and don't know that I can slip the clutch to modulate my acceleration. This takes me into the lane of *oncoming* traffic...and there's a car coming. Realizing this, I crank it over (understanding countersteering saved my life) and the car slams on his brakes and swerves. If he hadn't swerved he would have hit me. I managed to get back into my lane without going off on the other side of the road (I had it *way* over; no bike parts scraped, but I couldn't see the oncoming car very well because my bike was in the way), and then pulled off to the side of the road. Funny how it didn't really hit me until I pulled over and stopped, and then started visibly shaking. It didn't help that the guy driving the car was *pissed* at me, but pi ran interference and calmed him down enough to leave (thanks pi!). Then he came over to me to see how I was doing. We took it really easy the rest of the way home...not a difficult thing to do when you've got a picture of an oncoming car in your head and the screech of tires in your ears.

Today: I've been riding for about 9 months now and have put ~2500 miles under my belt. I think I've become a much smarter rider from my own experiences, and from hearing about and learning from others' experiences and mistakes. I've learned a lot from the Bandit, and it could still teach me plenty. I'll be very sad to see it go...but I gotta make room for my most recent purchase of a CBR F3. <g> Besides, I can try to buy the Bandit back in a couple of years if I sell it to a friend of mine. =)

That's my street experience...so where did the racing urge come from you ask? It was the video tape that Rob shot of his and Jeff's first race weekend, when they took the race school at Putnam Park. Rob had mounted his camara on his bike and taped his treks around the track. The riding and leaning, combined with the excitement of that really great pass Rob made, got me thinking "what the heck?" I love riding, and being on the track will probably teach me to be an even better rider. We'll see if that turns out to be true... =) On April 11th, I'll be taking that same race school at Blackhawk! <g>

Tabitha
'97 Honda CBR 600F3
'92 Suzuki Bandit
'89 Honda RS125

p.s. It's really cool reading about how people got into riding. I hope more people post their experiences.

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