Ride my own? No way…

I was 55 when I learned to ride my own and it was a rocky start. I had never considered learning to ride, preferring to be a passenger. But when my husband was diagnosed with cancer, he spent the six weeks of radiation time convincing me I needed to learn. If he didn’t make it, I’d have family to ride with. At that time, both brothers and both their wives, a cousin and her husband, another cousin, my son, as well as my husband’s nephew all rode.

My first bike was a 2002 Harley-Davidson Sportster Hugger. I needed lightweight and low, I’m short (I was just over 5′ 3″ then). Hubby had a Harley-Davidson Electra-Glide and it was too much bike for him with his illness. He traded down to a HD Heritage Softail Classic and I picked out the Hugger. The first photo in the collage above is me sitting on it at the dealer.

We were living in north-central Pennsylvania at the time and it was winter. Knowing we’d be visiting my brother in Florida soon, we trailered both bikes down there. We ended up moving to Florida and I took my first MSF class (I had refused to ride the bike before getting licensed). It wasn’t pretty. I was second from the bottom in the class, the person below me was a sheriff’s deputy that was only learning to ride because his wife wanted him to ride with her.

I had major issues with right hand turns and it was a couple of months before I figured out why. The realization came after I took out a neighbor’s mailbox, rode up and through her planter, and landed on the lawn next door. I was sore but we had to replace the mailbox and fix her planter. It was several weeks before I could ride again and we took me to an empty parking lot for practice. I had been locking my left elbow preventing my turning to the right (counter-steering, push right to turn right which).

But I still had issues with riding. After too many drops, we moved me up to a Low Rider which had a much lower center of gravity. Yippee! I did the Pony Express Relay for Cancer ride, going from FL to NYC via Chicago on that bike, then rode home solo on it.

When my husband was diagnosed as terminal, we moved to Tennessee. Harley-Davidson had just come out with the new Softail Deluxe and I jumped on it. The look I wanted, already lowered, and a weight I could handle.

My husband passed a month later and I spent the winter planning my cross-country trips, hoping to ride through all 48 states. I made it through 42, covering 27k miles. (I eventually grabbed the missing six New England state with my future husband in 2008.)

Another year passed and I decided to sell everything, buy an RV and travel. I found the perfect small (29′ Tioga Class C motorhome) and added a small trailer. But I was concerned about my big bike in campgrounds. I still wasn’t a fan of riding in gravel or dirt. So I found a great buy an a dual-sport BMW F650GS, already lowered at the factory. A friend drove to Texas and brought it to me. I sold the Deluxe to a friend, sold the house and cars, loaded up the trailer and hit the road in October of 2007.

It was in the early spring of 2008 that I realized I wasn’t getting out and doing things because loading/unloading the bike was such a chore. So I consigned it to a local BMW dealer, sold the trailer, and bought a small used car. I figured that was the end of my riding and at age 60, I was okay with that.

Fast forward to July of 2008 at an RV rally in Wyoming. I met my future husband who was also a full-time RVer, widowed, and a Harley rider. He had a 41′ fifth-wheel toy hauler he pulled with his medium duty Freightliner. His Harley trike conversion rode in the garage at the back. Talk about fate…

After traveling (then marrying) him, we found a steal of a deal on a used 2008 Harley Nightster. Only 500 miles on it, the owner no longer rode. I loved the low seating, the bigger engine, and the handling but oh my, the harsh ride was tough on my back. But it felt good to be back riding my own again.

In 2011 Harley finally realized they needed a better entry bike for women riders and introduced the newly designed Sportster SuperLow. I was in love. With a lowered profile, bigger gas tank, and improved shock system, I knew this was the bike for me. I wanted to test ride it but no matter where we were, they were out of stock.

We traveled to Sturgis for the big bike event, camping with friends and riding all around the area. Not knowing where to go next, I found Jamestown ND on the map. Hubby was collecting HD t-shirts from all the states and still needed North Dakota. To make that sweet, my late husband and I bought our first bikes in Jamestown, NY. To make it even sweeter, my current husband and I had bought property in Jamestown, TN. So off we went…

I walked into the dealer and there it was. My new bike. They weren’t allowed to conduct sales on Sundays so we spent the night in their parking lot. The next day, hubby stripped off what he could on my Nightster, things that would fit on the Sportster. We turned in the bike, signed the paperwork, and loaded up my new bike – no test ride!

From there we headed towards the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. My first time on my new bike was riding there, about an hour each way. We had helmets with headsets for communication and hubby was in the habit of announcing bumps and potholes so I could stand on the pegs on my Nightster, making it easier on my back. After the first ten minutes I told him he didn’t need to do that anymore. The SuperLow was as comfortable riding as the Deluxe had been.

I eventually added some custom leather , good sized saddle bags, and some custom pin-striping.

I put many miles on this bike, including riding the from home in Tennessee to Chicago to Santa Monica (te entire Rt 66), then back home on a more southerly route. I even got to turn age 66 while riding RT 66. But I knew that was my swan song. Balance and vision were becoming more and more of an issue and in 2015, we traded in this bike and hubby’s 2012 Tri-Glide for a new 2015 Tri-Glide and I became a passenger.

Again, I never thought I’d ride my own but I sure am glad I did.