Tags: Back Roads, Bluetooth, Cardo, Communication, GZ250, Hein Gericke, Helmet, Honda, Lee Parks, Minnesota, Motorcycle, Motorcycle Safety, MSF, New Rider, Scala Rider, Spree, Suzuki, Video, Wild Ass, Wild Ass Motorcycle videos
In this episode of Wild Ass Wednesday, we discussed the outfitting of a new rider! Everything from the bike, to the gear and why each piece was chosen. No “Overkill” on any of it, because it is a new rider. In the long run, he may not even like doing it! If you are looking to get into riding, this may just be the video for you. There is no need to go out and spend a pile of money on something that you THINK you might enjoy. Start small and go from there. It will not only insure you have a great time learning, but you won’t go broke in the process!
“We want to try something a little bit different this week with Wild Ass Wednesday.
A couple weeks ago I wanted to start a ‘Get to know us at Wild Ass’ kind of a series. Where we can run it, and it’s not always just about the product. You can actually get to know us. The people behind the scenes. Those helping to make everybody happier in the saddle. And kind of what we do in our free time, and how we like to live life I guess, up here in Minnesota.
So two weeks ago, you saw I posted pictures of the boy, getting you know, pictures on his new motorcycle. I told the little story of how we started with him riding on the Spree. The little back roads, and kind of want to introduce a new rider to the motorcycling community. Because as a passionate motorcyclist, we always want to see more of us out there on the road. It really doesn’t matter what you ride, as long as you’re riding. So that picture kind of, was intended to be a video that week. Weather, scheduling conflicts, just everything going on with life outside of work, took all of the time away and we weren’t able to get that video done. So now, a little video! Going to show you the motorcycle, the protective apparel, and just kind of my thoughts a little bit on how we introduce a new rider into motorcycling and make it enjoyable for everybody.
So we got him signed up for the motorcycle safety class that they do in town. It’s a three night course over the weekend. They did plenty of riding, they did their classroom stuff and all of that. The nice thing is, as a minor he, in taking the class, he finished the class. Passed everything. Got a hundred percent on both the skills test and the written test, but he still has to go in and take the permit test with the state of Minnesota. Once he takes the permit test, then he can schedule his motorcycle endorsement test which is another riding skills test. Which I really like, because there’s nothing wrong with testing him twice. So, we got him through that. Got him through the course. He’s now got his permit. Hasn’t been able to ride yet, but we’re gonna go through the gear that he’s gonna be wearing when he does.
So we didn’t go all fancy on the boots. Got him a good set of leather boots that he’s going to have to wear. An old friend donated the Hein Gericke jacket that he’s going to be wearing. And he’s super excited to see this thing being used because he hasn’t used it for a long time. And you know what? The price was right. It was given to us so we’re gonna take it! Gloves, my personal choice of gloves, I wear the Lee Parks Design, Outseam leather gloves. They’re super safe. Lee is an old friend of mine. You know I’m gonna tag him in this video, or in the comments below, so you can contact him and he can, you know, kind of fill you in more on his gloves they’re definitely the safest gloves in my opinion. They’re the by far the most comfortable out there. They’re great gloves to wear. The helmet, the helmet. I am a believer in a good quality helmet. So we got a real nice carbon-fiber lightweight helmet. But the important thing here is the Scala Rider communicator. The question would be “Why would I put a communication device on a helmet for a beginning rider?” Well I’ll tell you that as soon as I flip this camera around.
So, Scala Rider. Those guys are buddies of mine. I see them at all the shows. I’ve known them for a number of years. Been working with them. They’ve helped out my booth. I’ve helped out at their booth. Great group of guys, and they have a great product! So, the reason I would put a helmet communicator in the boy’s helmet is, when you send out a new driver, and they have a permit, they’re not allowed to drive alone right? Well you’re there to tell them pointers, give them pointers, give them advice, help them along the their first drives. On a motorcycle, the permit is the opposite. You can’t carry a passenger. You have to wear a helmet. You have to wear, you know all the safety gear. Which is awesome. But you don’t have anybody there to help you, or give you pointers. So this way, through my helmet, I can communicate and say “You know what? Watch for gravel up here. Here’s what maybe you need to work on.” We’re gonna take it slow. I can really advise him, and help him, and coach him, until he turns 18. Which is kind of our own rule. It’s just gonna, he’s gonna be stuck riding with me on slow little back roads until he gets the hang of it. But this way, I just I feel like it’s,it’s more of an opportunity for me to properly teach him to ride a motorcycle. Pointing out possible distractions and pointing out possible issues that could come up, that hopefully are not going to come up. But I want to be there and make sure I can do my best to prepare him to be ready to go riding on his own when he gets a little bit older. So that’s the reason for the helmet communicator.
I’d love to hear feedback on that! I don’t know of anybody that’s used one in this capacity. Other than communicating with your buddies, and listening to your Bluetooth. Which I’m not going to tell him we can do! So that’s just the reason for the communicator.
The reason for the motorcycle, I want a nice lightweight bike. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen, and how many people I know, that you know, they wanted their motorcycle license forever. They finally got their first motorcycle. And it was just way too big and way too heavy, and way too powerful. And they just got into trouble and it kind of ruined it for them. So kind of starting him off slow. That’s how we’re going to do it here.
I’d love to hear your feedback! I’d love to hear some pointers if you guys have them. I would love it for you guys to share this video out there! We’re gonna follow this story along. Hopefully we can get some yard work done today, and maybe put on a few miles this evening!
Keep in touch! Like I said, share it, comment it, post on it, you know, let me know what you’re thinking! Let’s have some fun with this ‘Getting to know us’ series here at Wild Ass! If there’s anything you want to know, shoot us a message and we’ll see if we can’t get you into the videos! We’ll talk to you soon!
Have a happy Wild Ass Wednesday! We’ll see you next week!”
-C