So I finally had my mind changed from the thought that this was dangerous, which it kinda still is, because of the other people around you. So yeah… Ive got myself a new Hobby.
Starting At the Beginning of the Story
So, growing up as a kid this was always described to me as a dangerous and stupid thing to do. Going through my child hood this remained my opinion throughout carrying on into my early adult years until now.
Why did my opinions change….. Well I could blame a number of people for this, the people around me at work, my neighbour (Sorry but its true, but not a bad thing HAHA), The Misses and the general community and online presence once I started looking into it.
How the new Hobby Began
As I said above, when those around you start there own journey in the Hobby and you see, among other things, the enjoyment that they get from it, It is far too easy to begin the thoughts of what it would be like for yourself.
So this is point at which I can start to blame the people around me at work and the online communities for getting me into it. They got me interested, got me searching online, working out how much it would cost me for both the equipment and the licence. The next problem for me was not knowing anything about the details of the hobby. I didn’t know the best way to get into it. Going out to buy what you need but not knowing if what your buying is a good place to start or a second-hand pile of crap is always a worry.
After a short while this problem was solved and is also the point where I can expand the blame to my neighbour as well. After they started in the hobby a few months prior seeing their progress I find they were already moving up to bigger and better things…. meaning what they started with was suddenly offered for sale!
So it being sold by people I knew and people who I felt knew would of looked after it meant I would be confident in buying it and it not being terrible.
This meant there was only one final hurdle to jump…. getting the approval of the misses. And this is where the blame finally expands to her as well. So one evening during the random conversations we have I raised that there was this new hobby I was interested in getting into. Surprisingly it was only a short amount of time before she suggests talking to the neighbour as they had the thing for sale. Me being me, not liking to come out of my social box, was hesitant with getting in touch. Yet before the threat of the Misses messaging them for me…. she already had. So this ended up with a day agreed to go and view it followed by me coming away agreeing to buy it….
Breaking it to the rest of the family and friends.
This simply started with posting a number of pictures online for people to guess what it was. It was funny with the answers especially when it was fully revealed they admitted to not guessing that because they didn’t think I was that stupid 😛
So with the pictures below and not scrolling down, can you guess what it is? The guesses of a lawnmower and a generator were not correct.
Everyone only had to wait a week before all could be revealed as this was the earliest day I could book to get the required training that was needed. So after a surprise visit to the parent was done…..
Yep… I’ve taken up Motorcycling… and so far… IM LOVING IT.
So How’s it Been and What’s Next
Going out for random rides and experiencing Bike meets has certainly been something. Yes I haven’t been going up to the random other bikers and making conversation, I doubt ill ever get that brave. But bumping into others I know and experiencing the atmosphere of the meets has certainly been a plus.
So since getting my CBT and getting out and about I have managed to cover over 1000 miles by using it to get to work while the weather is nice and also going out for the rides and meets.
As you can see during that 1000 miles the bike also reached 10,000 miles.
This is a little animation of some of the roads I have covered.
There has been some small bumps along the way… The first being on one of my first rides out where I fell fowl of the ‘you end up where your looking’ where I neally hit the curb on a roundabout and the second one where on a ride I realised that I had lost the screw that holds on the front indicator and it was hanging around on the bike.
So moving onto what is next…
Riding around on a 125cc is all well and good but it is not long before you get a little fed of of loosing 5+mph due to slight hills and the wind so I have started the process of getting my Full bike licence to upgrade to bigger and better things.
At the time of writing I have completed the first step of this process and passed my theory test and have also got my training and MOD1 booked as part of a DAS (Direct Access Scheme).
So check back here soon to see how I got on.