u/TakboTanga

A lot of first experiences took place yesterday and today. So my heel toe shifter came in over the weekend so I installed it but didn’t get a chance to test it out. Come Monday I had to build up the confidence to ride on the open road because I had to bring my Vulcan to the Sheriff’s Office for a VIN Inspection and then to the County Treasurer’s Office for Tax and Registration.

So before heading into the public roads, I drove around my subdivision to test out the heel shifter and to ensure the placement was perfect for my foot positioning. Instantly loved it and my shifting was 100% smoother and I felt confident, which I could use every bit of. There was no hesitation at all and it helped me stop overthinking the shift.

After about 10mins of riding around I finally made the turn towards the main road and off I went. The butterflies in my stomach felt like they were ready to come flying out of my ass because I was so nervous. Once I got to the stop light at the intersection I just took a deep breath and said fuck it. Purposely shifted the bike into neutral at the stop so I could follow and repeat the steps in my head. No car behind me at all so I felt calm and just kept repeating the steps in my head. Once the light turned green I shifted down into 1st and just slowly rode through the right turn. Using the heel shifter I was able to get up to 5th gear somewhat smoothly. just a slight jerk going into 3rd gear of course.

Man that ride towards downtown felt like I was floating, my senses felt overloaded but focused. My eyes were scanning every intersection, every car in front of me, my positioning, and the dark lines in the middle of the lane that I tried my hardest to stay off of. That has been the most exhilarating thing I’ve done in quite a while.

Thank God I was able to get all the requirements done and on the ride home I even gassed the bike up for the first time. It went smoothly thanks to Youtube lol! When I said I’m taking the slow and calculated approach to learning how to ride, I meant it!

As the title says, I failed my final skills exam after taking the 2-day MSF Basic Rider’s Course. I wasn’t surprised because I foot planted on the sharp right turn from a stop and also on the U-Turn in the small box. What surprised me the most though is that several of the other folks that failed look totally distraught, hell one of the female riders actually started to cry also. I get it, with the safety card comes the endorsement and your freedom to really hit the open roads.

That’s not how I felt or viewed the situation though. I went into the BRC with literal zero experience operating a manual motorcycle. My riding experience comes from riding scooters and automatic 125cc bikes in Southeast Asia when I was in High School and Uni, but that was 20 years ago. So in my mind, I had no reason at all to pass that course because I have to get better. My safety and everyone else that shares the road with me depends on it.

That BRC was the most fun I’ve had in years and even after failing I went home and continued to watch videos on the basic skills, mainly slow movement turns and feathering the clutch properly. That following Monday, after a day of studying the review material, I immediately took the learner’s permit exam so I could legally ride a motorcycle, with stipulations of course. I then spent the next three days scouring Facebook Marketplace for a motorcycle.

Fast forward to now, I have this 2018 Vulcan S 650 ABS. From the reviews, I totally understand that it aint the bike for everyone, but it’s for me. I want to continue to learn and get better. I try to ride for at least 15-20mins every day around my neighborhood, just focused on the fundamentals. My biggest challenge right now is using my turn signal and actually remembering to turn it off and I’m okay with that. These are the challenges and frustrations that come with truly wanting to get better at something you really like.

I enrolled in another BRC in the beginning of August so I plan on just practicing and getting more hours into doing all the basic things that are taught in the course. I’m building up my confidence in riding on the open road and I’m fine with taking things slowly. I know this because I can sense my anxiety when starting the bike in my driveway, the jitters when repeating “Slow release that clutch bud, feel it move..”, and then the smile on my face and that peace and calm that hits once I start moving smoothly on the road. Wish me luck everyone and be safe out there!