(The first part of this entry is here.) The practical part of the course started out simple: first, we learned how to walk a motorcycle (walk along beside the bike, not on it, and lean it towards you especially when turning away from the side you’re standing on), and then how to balance it at […]

Last weekend I took and passed the Ottawa Safety Council’s Gearing Up motorcycle course. I had meant to post an entry on Saturday night and an entry on Sunday night but I was too tired to think, so you get the whole thing in review instead. Wednesday night was the safety lecture and equipment inspection. […]

I just got a call from the Ottawa Safety Council, and they had a cancellation for this weekend’s motorcycle course, so I get to do mine this weekend instead of the end of June. Of course, that means I’ll be riding on an M1 for a month longer than planned, but it will also mean […]

I got my M1 license on Friday! The M1 license is the first step toward the M (Motorcycle) license in Ontario’s graduated licensing system. It lets you ride a motorcycle unaccompanied, without a passenger, during daylight hours, on roads with a speed limit of 80 km/h or less, with zero blood alcohol. It’s a short […]

I might have found a bike — an ’89 Suzuki GS500E, with 35k km, new tires, new chain and sprocket, red, for $2200. That’s a bit higher than I was thinking of buying (I’d planned to top out around $1800), but it’s also five to eight years newer than I thought I’d end up with, […]

not-actually-riding, originally uploaded by mendel. I had to do it. :-) (No, I don’t have a bike yet, but I have Photoshop, Google Images, and a chair!)

So there are a few things that I’ve wanted to do for a while, but which haven’t worked out because of money or space constraints — flying isn’t really in the budget now (and I’d hate to start and stop again, so I’m not going to start flying again until I’m sure I can commit […]