It was a sunny Saturday morning with a bit of breeze swirling up bits of dust from the parking lot that surrounded us. The excitement and nervousness of the group was palpable. Everyone at the Canadian Motorcycle Association training course in Stoney Creek were all set with their leather or denim jackets, helmets, boots and gloves that they either recently bought or borrowed. My first time on the bike was a bit of a disappointment as we ended up taking turns pushing each other around the lot for about ten minutes to get a feel for the controls and how to the handle the 250cc bikes that are aren't much heavier than scooters. Still, it was exciting to be on a motorcycle, any motorcycle really.
The tinny roar of a dozen or so smaller displacement motorcycles was quite a contrast to the massive Honda Goldwings parked nearby. We rode in a straight line at first and then practiced our turns, though I don't think we got fast enough to recognize the counter-steering concept we were taught during the theory portion the evening before. Still after the basics we ran through a series of figure eights. The Sunday we were back again this time reinforcing mirror/shoulder checks, emergency stops, and reaction practices (not braking while cornering type exercises). And finally the M2 test.
I bought my first bike the weekend after that; a used Kawi Vulcan 500 from Blackstock, Ontario. From there it took me over 6 hours to ride back to Toronto, stalling at pretty much every red light I encountered. For me it was a great bike; comfortable, nimble, good looking and appropriately proportioned for my height. 5 years and 60,000km it was replaced with a bigger bike but I will always remember it fondly as with my first time on a bike.