No, I haven't taken the Motorcycle Safety class yet and I probably wont until the fall. That's why I'm not in a huge hurry to ride mine yet. I want to do it safely. So, for now it's just practicing. Either way now I always wear jeans and try to wear long sleeved t-shirts if its too warm for a jacket. I made the mistake, as soon as dh got home with the bike (when we bought it) I hopped on with shorts and not being familiar with bikes...wasn't careful and I burned my leg BADLY. I looked like a whole for a month or so...and so painful and ugly. I just have a pinkish round scar now...its not too bad. Now, I never wear shorts. My dh wears shorts and tank tops when he rides around town. But I'm not too crazy about that. We did take a spill this summer in our driveway and fell onto the grass...thank God that was all. He sometimes doesn't think beforehand what he's doing, especially pulling into the driveway. Like one time, he decided to take the sidewalk instead and he didnt swing far enough out and we about dumped then too. Our yard has big holes in it and he forgets and rides into them and thats how we fell. Now, LOL, I make him get into the street before I get on and when we get home...he has to drop me off in the street, too. I trust him on highways, roads, wherever, but he has issues with the yard/driveway. That's why I can't wait to ride my own! LOL.

Andrea - I highly recommend the MSC - it is awesome. Maybe DH would take it with you..... From what you tell me about his little spills, I'd advise you to hurry and get your own ride!!
You know at MSC they actually teach you to ride safely without any prior riding. You probably know more than most people that will be in your class already. Can't you take it before Fall?

Andrea - Thanks for asking about my braces. I got the ceramic ones on top and regular ones on bottom. Well I get bottoms next week. Yesterday I just got spacers on the bottom and I can't believe that four little wires can make my teeth so sore.
I will have to have my braces on for a year and a half. Then I will have beautiful long skinny teeth. Right now I have caps in the top front to fill in a space, when they correct the space with braces my caps will be much slimmer. I have noticed that with age I have become very high maintenance......didn't mean too......lol

True about MSC... I probably could take it sooner. I just want to slim down a little more before taking it. That's why I'm putting it off. I want to slim down another 15-25 pounds before I even get on the back of the Harley. That's how cruddy I feel about the weight right now. And today has not been a great one in terms of sticking to plan! My mom called and said that she made dinner for us...her homemade super cheesy enchiladas... and there's no way I'm going to turn those down! She doesn't make them too often. So, from the looks of it...today is a terrible wasted calories day...BUT I am going to workout after work. At least I can burn some of my snackies from this morning...eat 2 enchiladas for dinner...a few beers this evening (late St.Patty's day celebration...I'm part Mexican/Irish) and at least I will have accomplished SOME of my goals for today! Tomorrow night my dad is having us over for corned beef and potatoes...so I will really have to watch my intake tomorrow. I have a week vacation starting today at 4pm and my goal is to come back to work a little lighter!

Star-- Don't feel bad about being higher maintenance...you deserve it! Besides, its amazing what losing weight does to make us more self conscious of certain things.

Andrea - Rethink about riding after you lose more weight. I say ride now -lose as soon as you can....BUT Ride NOW.....lol JMHO ofcourse.
have to run and sign my lease - talk to you chicks on Monday - have a great weekend!

rats, I'm missing out on the conversation!!

First, Star, congrats on the steps towards your pearly whites boy, those dentists AREN'T kidding when they tell us "floss only the teeth you want to keep for the rest of your life"

Andrea, I completely agree with Star about NOT putting off riding until you lose some. I mean, I don't want to tell you what to do...everyone has their own comfort level, but you could be enjoying it sooner than later!

I know around here, the MSF courses fill up really quickly. I called in February of 2002, and was scheduled for SEPTEMBER but was on a cancellation list, and actually got in the first weekend of August that year.
As Star said, there are people who never had been on a bike, and earned their endorsement two and a half days later.

Boots - yes, over the ankle!! My first time I took my bike in a parking lot for practice, I promptly dropped it. The bike landed on my left ankle. My ankle was encased in a thick boot. 450 pound bike, and no injury to my ankle.

Gloves - yes! as Star said, even a passenger needs 'em. What happens when you start to fall? you put your hands out as a pure reflex, right? Gravel ground into your palms HURTS!! Long-sleeves always, and hopefully pants always. I've chanced riding in cut-offs, when I wanted to feel daring. And after that ride, I thanked the gods that I didn't take a spill and haven't done it since.

It doesn't really get hot enough here to want to go without a jacket. Even on a 90 degree day (rare!) I still wear my leather jacket. When you're going 50 mph (or 80 ) there's quite a nice breeze.

Gear - I splurged on my leather jacket. I only had a HD boutique near me, and I didn't want to chance ordering online. So I spent (GASP) over $300 on my jacket. I felt self-conscious about wearing HD when I ride Honda, though, and had my "Cupcake" patch custom-designed to cover the HD logo on back.

Leather pants I got in Montreal, at Screamin' Eagle. With the exchange rate, they were reasonable (about $80). I also got gauntlet gloves there for $20.

Just got a pair of leather chaps late last year, pretty cheap, $50 online.

At the Honda dealership where we bought my bike, I bought a pair of lightweight summer gloves. They have gel in the palms, to absorb shock and vibrations, and the rest is mesh. Nice and cool. I also have smooth leather gloves, and my snowmachine gloves when it's under 40 degrees.

Heavy-duty stuff - Joe Rocket Ballistic 4.0 Jacket and pants. This is what keeps me warm when I ride to work, when it's in the 50's in the mornings (just about every day in summer). I just get cold really easily. It also is super protection, tough nylon exterior, and "armor" in the shoulders of the jacket (also in the elbows, but I had to take that out, too bulky).

The pants have the armor from the knees to shins. I do feel bulky wearing both, but again, they're the only things that keep me warm in the lower temps. Then in the afternoon, I zip out the liner of the jacket, and stow the pants behind sissy bar. In my "slideshow" pictures, the black pants and the blue/black jacket are the Joe Rocket stuff. Pricey, but WELL worth the investment. Both waterproof, also.

My boots are Dingoes, they are wonderful, I have over 30,000 miles on them They're heavy-duty, weigh over 5 pounds for the pair, but also comfy enough that I can wear them walking for a long time. They come up over the ankle, and have a strap that buckles over the laces to keep laces from flying. They were around $90. I put those babies on, I'm 2" taller, and I walk with that biker swagger

What else? Helmet - I have a full-face, also keeps me warmer. I can only wear the half-helmet on warm days.

The amount of money spent on gear seems staggaring at first, but you have to accept that it's an investment. It will last for years. And any sport will have specific gear, that will be more expensive than something not meant for that activity.

The MSF course will tell you that you have to wear to the course; long sleeve shirt at the least, long pants, over-the-ankle footgear (some wear hiking boots if they don't have specific MC boots) eye protection (sunglasses or goggles), gloves, and a DOT approved helmet. Sometimes they have helmets available to borrow.

My instructor told us that he would disqualify anyone if they didn't have any of the above. But he did help someone, when they didn't show up with gloves, with telling them to quickly go to Home Depot (a couple miles away) to buy gloves. Any pair was fine, as long as they were gloves!

JEEZ I love talking bikes and it's kept me from wanting to snack

men! Hopefully he didn't do it on purpose, to get out of the packing chore!

Hey ladies,

Well, I am learning tons from you chickies! I really see why the gloves are important, even as a passenger. I am going to definetely look into some more riding gear. I was aware of the requirements for the class and I haven't bought anything for the class yet. It's been a tough year, in terms of finances for us, but we are going to have ti find some gear soon.

We did go to HD dealer yesterday to buy a battery for dh's bike and some brackets for saddlebags. I did sit on a Sportster that felt really nice and a Lowrider that I loved!

I don't have much else to say today...dh has gotten an awful cold this week, so he's been kinda down. I did 3 days of workout at the gym this week...I LOVE IT there! Anyhow, I will chat more with you girls tomorrow.

Have a good one!

Holly - I really enjoyed reading about all your gear, you ride in style girlfriend! I have a ton too but you explained it all much better....lol Also, about helmets - I have a DOT helmet and a unDOT half little helment (which I love) full of biker stickers. One of my favorites reads: "When I grow up I wanted be just like Barbie, that little ***** has everything" lol
Andrea - you will acquite gear over the years. For starters you need, helmet, boot, gloves, sun glasses - you can make-shift the rest until later. It is a big expense and ofcourse you can't do it all at once.
I was packing all weekend and am putting a Harley box together. With all our riding gear, scarfs, gloves, hair stuff, small purse/wallets, etc. That will be a pretty important box and one not to lose for sure!
Holly - you crack me up covering up a HD decal with Cupcake.....lol
Later Biker Chicks..................
Oh and yesterday was the first day of Spring and it snowed here. I think I really need to consider moving south....

Ok, so my 2nd day of Spring Break and I'm fighting off dh's cold...UGHHH. I slept all day and evening yesterday, but today I was deadset to get out and act normal! I am going to workout today, maybe just a short one, but anyhow...

It has been raining buckets here since Sunday night and it's cool outside...some Spring Break...well ladies, I will post more when I get to feeling better. Take care all! Sorry about the snow, Star.

Andrea - One good thing about working out on a regular basis, when your sick you can skip it and not worry about it. That's one way I know when I'm really sick, I don't feel like working out and so I don't. Take a break and get better, your body is trying to tell you something. It will pass and then you can go back to working out.
Get Well chickie!
The snow has melted and actually it is 45 degrees here, feels like a heat-wave. Now if the ground will just dry up real quick for the Easter Egg Hunts on Sunday........
later.

Hi Andrea and Star!! sorry it's been a few days. I work 10 hours Sunday, Monday and Tuesday; now I have four days off. silly!

guess what I did Saturday????? click below and see

(edit - I should have trimmed some stuff from this link - Andrea, if you haven't seen the pics yet, pm me and I'll pm the link to you )

and by yesterday, we had enough melting that I got my bike out of the garage by myself (over the remaining ice and snow) and went out for a while. ahhhh!!!!

Holly-
Nice pictures. I have to give you credit for not being a "sissy rider" I would never ride when there is snow on the ground!
Is that your website and you design the stuff? It is pretty cool! Tell us more.......

thanks, Star! The website is my husband's deal. I didn't even know about that Cafe Press stuff until I clicked on "buy". I still don't know much about it Though I do know that the "Route 666" stuff is his design, and if items sell, we get some percentage.

Andrea, sorry to hear about you catching a cold! If you feel too rotten to work out, that's your answer. Sometimes when you have a cold, but you still want to work out, it's good to examine where your symptoms are. If it's just your head, and you want to work out, that's OK. It's when your symptoms are below your head (throat, chest) that it isn't a good idea to exert yourself.

I was going to take the bike out again today, but it's overcast and about 42 degrees. Some sun would make all the difference! Both in comfort for me, and some warmth for the pavement for the tires to grip a little. So unless the sun shines, I won't take it out today.

Star, I definitely ride whenever I can...and in summer, when rain is possible, I try to determine if at least 50% of the ride will be NOT rained on and it's worth it. If I get wet on the way in to work, I have changes of clothes in my staff room, and there's a clothes dryer in the laundry room I can use. If I get wet on the way home, I'll just change when I get home
I know I'm sounding rather glib about rain - some rain is fine to ride in, other times, when it's slashing sideways and you can't see the road and others can't see you...that's when it's no good.

Star, have you heard of Harley Rendezvous? Held in June, on private land in Pennsylvania. My husband really wants to go. I've read some materials on it, sounds like a big big big party My only concern is that it's billed for "Harley Enthusiasts" - well , I like ALL bikes, but don't ride HD. Wonder if there is the harsh brand loyalty-bashing that sometimes occurs with die-hards. In the literature, it says "leave your attitude outside the gates" but I still don't know. Do you know anyone who's gone?

It would also be camping, and we have the thinnest sleeping bags in the world, along with the smallest "two person" tent in the world. My husband's torso is like the limit for that damn tent I've always contended that I will do MY part by riding hard with no whining for 8 to 10 hours, then I DESERVE a soft bed with clean sheets!!!

Have I told you all about the decorative Easter sugar eggs I make? I made a dozen to sell at the store. They're the hollow ones, with the little scenes inside? It took me three evenings, about 3 hours work each evening to make the 12. I sell them to the store for $9, and they retail for $12.95. I have to get some pics of the whole display table at work, it looks really nice; then I'll see about posting them here.

They're more a labor of love than for profit for me, I just take alot of pleasure in knowing how to do them, and love to hear people exclaiming over them, and I think it's therapeutic (sp?) for me. Something I'M in complete control of

Today is my lazy day, the first of my four days off. It feels so good to not HAVE to do anything today. I'll be more ambitious wiht housecleaning tomorrow, but today's mine on the couch with a blanket, and coffee, and the laptop warming my lap

That is the GREATEST!!!

and I thought my tank sticker was bad - "You don't need a d*ck to ride a motorcycle, but it helps to have b*lls"