hogcowboy
Active Member
Mine was a 1971 Honda 185 Twinstar. Blue in color so I named her Blue. First ever bike at age 31. She scared the heck out of me. So much so that I agreed to buy it only if the dealer would deliver it to my house. He did and it sat in the garage for the next 3 weeks while I got nerve up enough to try it out. I had to because that was the year of the first gas shortage in California and to find gas was a job in itself. But I finally got the nerve to sit on it a start it. You would have thought it was some 5,000 horse power monster I was so afraid of it. Now if your laughing your face off right now, just think, I hadn't put it in gear yet. So after convincing myself I now knew how to start it and rev it up, I shut her down and started to think about the next step. To put it in gear!
Well another week went by and I finally said to myself, just do it. So pulled it out of the garage one day after work and after having three or four cans of courage under my belt, I got all prepared and start it again. This time I remembered what dealer said about the gears being one down and the rest up. So I pulled the clutch in and stomped on the gear shift one time and it jumped a little. I said oh darn, what have I done. Still very scared I started to ease the clutch out and it started to moved. Now I'm really scared and I start twisting the throttle more and more. Wasn't going any where! I wasn't letting clutch out any at all. I had a death grip on that bugger.
So I began to get my wits about me and tried to get the clutch release throttle twist all worked to where it started to move. And then more and more and I'm basically walking along and then I release more and a lurch followed by an immediate slow down, then lurch slow down over and over to where I could no longer keep walking it along but was actually sorta riding and lurching with my feet just barely off the ground. I continued that all the way around the block. First gear all the way. Man I had won!!!!!
I did that every night after work for three more days. Around the block lurching still now and then still in first gear. I realized that was going to have to change so I got my nerve up to try a shift. I got going faster and faster then released the throttle, shifted up real hard and hit the throttle again. It revved up so much I thought I was going to blow it up. But it didn't go any where. All that for nothing. It didn't take too long for me to realize I didn't use the clutch so I basically did a power shift to neutral. Man was I embarrassed. So now I had to do it all over again. I did and finally got second gear and boy was I flying!!!!!
So that's how Blue and I began our life together. I continued the around the block thing until one morning I decided it was time to take her to work. That would also be the first time I got her to fourth gear. Now I was so excited and scared at the same time that it was down right hilarious. As if it hadn't been all ready. I got it all working pretty good going to work, all off 5 miles with hardly any traffic. But when a car did get around me I really was not sure what to do except try not to get run over. Believe me I had a death grip on the handle bar!!!!
Believe it or not I finally got where I was doing okay in the little bit of traffic I had to deal with and started to venture out more and more. I started adding goodies to the bike that ended up making it look like a baby Harley. Complete with batwing fairing, saddle bags and tote box. All matching the same color blue as the bike. Started taking longer and longer rides not just to work. I finally got a wild hair to take it from San Jose California to Bakersfield in the central valley. I have know idea how many miles that was but it was a bunch. Down highway 101, over Pacheco Pass and down highway 5. Most of that trip I had Blue wide open and wanted more for the first. That trip taught me a lot. Especially how to draft the truckers and prepare for the wind blast of on coming trucks.
Needless to say I made it but it wasn't too long after that that I began wanting something with a little more power. Never thought I would the way I started out. I kept Blue. Didn't trade her in on the huge 400 Hawk I eventually got. So I started all over with the Hawk. Too much power for me. It intimidated me so it was the same thing all over. Would only buy it if delivered, ect, ect. Put 66,000+ miles on the Hawk and I owe it all to Blue. Which by the way my new wife then decided she wanted to learn to ride and old Blue was there to teach. I hated to let her go but finally did after the wife graduated to a BMW and I traded the Hawk in on an 85 Electra Glide. Good times me and Blue. It was a sad day when she was rode away. So there's my story of Blue and how I learned to ride!
So what's your story?
Well another week went by and I finally said to myself, just do it. So pulled it out of the garage one day after work and after having three or four cans of courage under my belt, I got all prepared and start it again. This time I remembered what dealer said about the gears being one down and the rest up. So I pulled the clutch in and stomped on the gear shift one time and it jumped a little. I said oh darn, what have I done. Still very scared I started to ease the clutch out and it started to moved. Now I'm really scared and I start twisting the throttle more and more. Wasn't going any where! I wasn't letting clutch out any at all. I had a death grip on that bugger.
So I began to get my wits about me and tried to get the clutch release throttle twist all worked to where it started to move. And then more and more and I'm basically walking along and then I release more and a lurch followed by an immediate slow down, then lurch slow down over and over to where I could no longer keep walking it along but was actually sorta riding and lurching with my feet just barely off the ground. I continued that all the way around the block. First gear all the way. Man I had won!!!!!
I did that every night after work for three more days. Around the block lurching still now and then still in first gear. I realized that was going to have to change so I got my nerve up to try a shift. I got going faster and faster then released the throttle, shifted up real hard and hit the throttle again. It revved up so much I thought I was going to blow it up. But it didn't go any where. All that for nothing. It didn't take too long for me to realize I didn't use the clutch so I basically did a power shift to neutral. Man was I embarrassed. So now I had to do it all over again. I did and finally got second gear and boy was I flying!!!!!
So that's how Blue and I began our life together. I continued the around the block thing until one morning I decided it was time to take her to work. That would also be the first time I got her to fourth gear. Now I was so excited and scared at the same time that it was down right hilarious. As if it hadn't been all ready. I got it all working pretty good going to work, all off 5 miles with hardly any traffic. But when a car did get around me I really was not sure what to do except try not to get run over. Believe me I had a death grip on the handle bar!!!!
Believe it or not I finally got where I was doing okay in the little bit of traffic I had to deal with and started to venture out more and more. I started adding goodies to the bike that ended up making it look like a baby Harley. Complete with batwing fairing, saddle bags and tote box. All matching the same color blue as the bike. Started taking longer and longer rides not just to work. I finally got a wild hair to take it from San Jose California to Bakersfield in the central valley. I have know idea how many miles that was but it was a bunch. Down highway 101, over Pacheco Pass and down highway 5. Most of that trip I had Blue wide open and wanted more for the first. That trip taught me a lot. Especially how to draft the truckers and prepare for the wind blast of on coming trucks.
Needless to say I made it but it wasn't too long after that that I began wanting something with a little more power. Never thought I would the way I started out. I kept Blue. Didn't trade her in on the huge 400 Hawk I eventually got. So I started all over with the Hawk. Too much power for me. It intimidated me so it was the same thing all over. Would only buy it if delivered, ect, ect. Put 66,000+ miles on the Hawk and I owe it all to Blue. Which by the way my new wife then decided she wanted to learn to ride and old Blue was there to teach. I hated to let her go but finally did after the wife graduated to a BMW and I traded the Hawk in on an 85 Electra Glide. Good times me and Blue. It was a sad day when she was rode away. So there's my story of Blue and how I learned to ride!
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my RKP and my 98 FXSTC 
