This is another post in our “Enjoying Your Motorcycle Series”.

Greetings from Jeff at Biker Rags.

Pamo asked me to throw in my two cents for her “How to Enjoy Your Motorcycle Series”. So, after careful thought, here’s what I’ve come up with.

As you can imagine, over the twenty plus years that we have been in business, we have seen lots of folks that make motorcycling a part of their life. We’ve also seen a lot of folks that ride for awhile, never to be seen again. And we we see folks that still have a bike, but don’t ride much.

We always wonder why. Why do people quit riding? For me, I think one of the biggest reasons is that many folks don’t have the correct size motorcycle. I guess what I’m really saying is that many folks have a bike that is just too big for them. I’ve been guilty of it myself.

Fifteen years ago, my daily ride was a full dress Harley with a big trunk. It was big and bulky even then, but I was younger and stronger and I thought that’s just part of it. But over time, I got tired of trying to man handle my bike around parking lots and at stop signs.

Finally, I decided to swallow my pride and traded my bagger for a Heritage, a bike I still have but that is almost too big for me today. I still ride my Heritage, but mostly I ride my Indian Scout or one of my Sportsters. These bikes fit me and they ride as well as any bike. They are lightweight, nimble and my feet are firmly on the ground.

I read once that a good test to see if your bike fits you is to lift it off the kickstand, roll it twenty-five feet forward, turn it around and roll it back to where you started. If you can’t do this, your bike is probably too big for you.

Believe me- I hate that I’m not as young as I used to be- but I’m also more determined than ever to enjoy riding my motorcycle. It’s finally dawned on me that we don’t live forever, and that life goes by pretty quick, so I’m not changing the way I live. All I’m doing is making a few adjustments. Besides- there’s nothing on TV.

See you soon,

Jeff