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Did She REALLY Buy It?
June 11, 2022 - When a 22 year old young lady wants a motorcycle for her own Wheel Epic Adventures, what does she buy?
Well, our daughter is that 22 year old young lady who decided that it was time to get her own motorcycle. Mama's nerves were about to be tangled up again. As if it wasn't enough to have our 24 year old son riding, now our baby girl was going to be embarking on adventures on 2 wheels as well. Can ya feel the grey hair and ulcers?
As parents, we want to protect our children but we also want to let them grow and experience life. I'm that parent too. I want my children to have some great adventures while they are young and not chasing them later in life. How can we, as parents, realistically tell our adult children "NO" when it comes to doing something we are doing? We cannot. We set an example and they are going to choose, at a certain age, to follow that example or go their own way. So when our youngest said, "I want my own motorcycle"...of course, we went along for the shopping experience.
On June 4, 2022, all three of us piled in the Gladiator and made our way to one of our favorite dealers, Gateway Cycles, in Mt. Sterling. They always have a wide variety of bikes and are very laid back when it comes to shopping. They allow customers to ride and get a feel for the bikes without high pressure sales. She had her heart set on a Vulcan and we knew that was going to be too much for a young lady of her stature.
Upon arrival, she was quick to let them know what she was looking for. They took her to the desired bike, a Vulcan. The beautiful machine was practically brand new. She threw
her leg over and quickly realized it was NOT what she had thought it would be. So, she began to just walk around looking and climbing on bikes. Every shape, size, make and model except the 'crotch rockets', she was immediately turned off by those. BMW, Yamaha, CF Moto (like her brother, @859Videos has), even a Harley 883Iron, like I (mama) had, and she loved and rode like a boss. Each bike was not checking off her boxes. Seats were too high, bike was too heavy, handlebars felt wrong, or it just wasn't appealing to her heart. Just as you would think she had exhausted her choices, she wanders over to a familiar brand, Moto Guzzi. Her dad has a V85TT. She knew she wasn't going to even try that one. She gravitated towards the V9 Bobber. Took it for a spin and came back with a small smile. Up next was the V7 line. She loved the 'powder blue'. She took it for a spin and came back with a big smile. We knew as soon as we saw her on approach, she was happy with this bike. The smile confirmed it. I felt a big knot in my stomach watching her the entire time and when she smiled, I thought I was going to have a panic attack.
I know my kids. I knew a that moment, she was not going to just keep shopping or plan to purchase this later, no matter how much I tried to reason with her, so I didn't try. Okay, I did. Pointing out that she needed to focus on her career, save some money, only able to ride on weekends at best right now because of said career etc etc. All of the logical things a mama would come up with to steer their child. The salesman didn't make it any easier when he revealed that they had a "special edition" still in the crate. He said it was a darker blue and a lot of chrome. She batted her eyes, flashed her big smile and off they went to the yard and began checking crates. When I caught up, they were tearing into the crate and she was crawling around with them like a kid on Christmas morning. When it revealed itself, she fell in love and smiled the biggest smile.
That was it....she was going to get this bike and I couldn't do anything to stop that. I had to walk away to refrain from being the "Negative Nancy". When they emerged from the yard, it was settled that she was going to give them a call and work on the details. She said she wanted to talk it over with us first. Maybe my walking away made her think of that, I don't know. We got business cards and gathered up her gear and left. The 50+ mile ride home, we talked about it. We, as parents, did our best to remind her that she was working a lot at the time and really needed to focus on that as it was a major career opportunity. We also tried to point out other things she was financially responsible for and how this would impact those things. Unbeknownst to us, she was in the back filling out their credit application and gathering financial documents. She knew the dealer incentives and how much insurance was going to be before we made it home.
In the following week, we thought that perhaps she had been consumed with work and life that she had put it out of her mind. We should have known better. She announces to us mid-week about 2 weeks later that she is working on the financials and will be going to pick up the bike that weekend. There went that stomach of mine again. I felt another patch of grey hair growing too. She knew I had plans to ride that weekend so she was formulating a plan for her to ride with me and we right back together, but she would be on her own bike. I knew at this point, I was not going to be able to talk her out of this idea. In reality, when I took my mama emotions out of it, I had to admit that it was unfair of me to even say 'no'. She did take the safety course and get her license at 17, just 5 years ago. As she had already pointed out, I got my license (again) recently and had already had 3 bikes while she had never gotten a bike ever. In her words, "it wasn't fair". While that kind of hurt and was immature, it was kinda true. Her brother didn't take the class until after me and was already on his second bike. Her daddy was also on his second bike. So while that statement may have been 'immature' it was filled with truth and I had to respect her for that.
The weekend was fast approaching and plans were changing. The original joy ride her dad and I were going to take was now a destination ride and he wasn't able to go. So I had to call on her brother. Of course, he was eager to join us. Plans were set and the ball was in motion. She would be on her own bike by the weekend.
Upon arrival at the dealership, I chose to just sit kind of sit back and watch her work. We walked in and they had it sitting ready for her. She looked it over, asked questions, took pictures and lined up a demo ride before she started paperwork. While she was taking a guided demo ride, her brother and I talked and he voiced his concern. As heartwarming as it was that he was worried about her, I had to remind him, "she was going to do this and we had to support her, just like we supported him". He said he had wanted to go on the demo ride with her but was afraid he would make her nervous. He was already formulating the plans for the ride home and how he was going to be right beside her. As a mama, I was very proud of my two kids at that moment. He was genuinely worried about her. When she got back, she was all smiles and ready to go sign on the dotted line. Her brother, being in the sales business, asked if he could sit with her and make sure she didn't get into something financially. To my surprise, she welcomed him. I made myself useful and installed her Sena unit on her new helmet. I was right outside the door and eventually invited in as she signed on the dotted line....
Then it was time to head home.
It took every ounce of strength I had to watch the events unfold. We discussed the route, made plans for gas stop, tested the Sena unit, only she and I had coms and off we went. I followed. Our first stop wasn't far from the dealer but the entire way I was a nervous wreck. Watching not one but both of my babies riding motorcycles right in front of me, out of my arms reach. Every car that passed, I said "thank you" to for not harming my babies. We left the gas station and as we made a turn, she almost dropped it. My heart and soul left my body at that moment. She was talking to me in the intercom the whole time assuring me she was okay. Just lost focus. I talked her through the recover, we stopped at the light and she regrouped. Off we went. The ride home was, for the most part, uneventful. We took back roads. While that might seem more safe, it can be just as dangerous as the interstate. So many things like idiots cutting grass and throwing clippings into the roadway. Dogs running out. Drivers taking both lanes of the already small 2-lane road as you round the corner. Of course, I have to refrain from verbalizing my fears in the intercom. Eventually, her brother chose to fall back and let me be the 'monkey in the middle'. Later he told me he was just extra nervous watching her that close and had to put some distance between them. He would fall back beside her when we went through a small town and talk to her. We stopped to eat at the halfway point. He didn't eat much, and sadly announced he needed to leave for work. Later he told me it was his nerves and he had to get home and relax before work. Of course, I reminded him that his feelings were valid and that was how I felt every time he got behind the wheel or on the bike. That was an adult moment for him.
She and I made the remaining trip home. She announced she had a stop to make. Of course, I am talking her through all of the options because the 4-lane road we had to cross was dangerous and getting back out was going to be equally dangerous. The parking lot we were going to was completely up hill with a lower flat area that I reminded her was going to be better for us to park on. Thankfully, she had already thought of that. When it was time to leave, I pointed out that going North to the next stop light would be safer than trying to cross into the 4lanes. That worked because she needed to get gas anyway. We were sitting at that light and sadly, the first incident happened. She was getting frustrated because the light wasn't changing for us. I tried to explain to her that the bikes usually didn't set the sensors off as she turned to look over her right shoulder at the car behind her, she dropped the bike onto mine. I was trapped and unable to set off my bike to help her. She turned it off and while fussing at herself, she used her adrenaline to pick it back up. She regained her composure and got back on just in time for the light to let us go. When we got to the pumps we discussed what happened so as to not to repeat that. She was trying to motion the car behind her to move up for the sensor. She said she had a lapse in judgement and knew better. Sadly, my bike got the ding on the fender but no one was hurt. We made the last 4 or 5 miles home without incident and at a much more relaxed and calm pace.
The moral here is...riding a motorcycle takes an enormous amount of mental and physical strength and energy. Getting on a motorcycle and simply twisting the throttle is not as easy as it seems. I am proud of her for having the courage to ride in a world that is often too self absorbed to care about others. I know the younger generations do not see the dangers us older folks see, but I feel like both of my kids see more than the average person their age because of their motorcycle riding. They realize the importance of true defensive driving. They both drive their cars with a different mindset because they have been the motorcyclist on the road with distracted drivers.
She bought the 2022 V7 Moto Guzzi Special Edition and
calls it "Salvatore", visit her Instagram for more. She is very proud of it. She has started her career and works from before sun up to sun down but she eagerly jumps on her bike and rides to work even in temps that mama begs her not to at 7am. So if you are out there in her path, please put down your phones, makeup, coffee cups or whatever and put both hands on the wheel and eyes up! You might not see h
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