We started a motorcycle club back in 2006 in southern California, I am not going to get into the club right now however later on we will get into it and discuss the workings of a true Motorcycle Club. I met lots of people with motorcycles over the years, somc were my friends that already had bikes, some were friends of mine who I talked into getting a bike, and some were just riders I met on the road. Why would you want to read this, well I am going to tell you why. If you are on the fence about getting a bike or you wanted to know how much owning a motorcycle changes your life then you need to know about the riders, true motorcycle riders are the heart and sole of the motorcycle community, without other riders by your side then riding will become very mundane for you my friend. Any real rider knows that there is a huge difference between riding alone and with another rider, first of all is how you enjoy the ride. I am going to say it right now there are a lot of posers out there who have bikes but don't deserve them. The first guy I ever rode with was my dad, his style of riding is to ride slow and enjoy every min of it, I did enjoy this style of riding from time to time, there is nothing like kicking the troubles of your life away with a nice relaxing ride. My dad introduced me to motorcycles when I was a little boy and it was bikes that we bonded with. He got me my first dirtbike when I was in 6th grade and whenever I outgrew it he would buy me a bigger one, totaling to 3 different dirtbikes over about 6 years. I wanted to buy my first street bike when I was in MOS training in Camp Johnson. I was there with a Marines whos dad had owned a bike shop, him and I discussed reviews, specifications, etc.. about several different bikes over the course of 3 months. Of course my dream bike was the Hayabusa but we came to the conclusion that a 2000 Honda 600f4 would be the best option I had from the bikes and prices we found in IL. I talked over the phone with my dad who was doing all the footwork locating the bikes and talking to sellers and dealers. My first choice was a 2000 orange/black 600 f4, but when we were getting close to closing the deal I talked to the dealer and ended up going with the ’02 600f4i. My first times riding the bike were with my dad and also with my friend Wilson with a Yamaha 600, this guy has been a friend of mine for a long time, he had a bike before I did and he had a habit of always showing off doing wheelies and such. I mention that because when he wanted to test out my first bike I told him no wheelies or tricks and that was the first thing he did, but when he wanted to try the Busa there was no way! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me! He had a crew of riders that were made of his cousins and their friends but they were a great group of people to ride around with, they knew that I was new to the sport bike world so they took me in so to speak and showed me the in's and out's of riding with a crew.
When I got out of the Marines I moved back to IL where my bike was and started riding full time, my second encounter with a rider is actually a friend who I talked into getting a bike, he liked my bike so much he bought the same bike with a different color. Marines become brothers and John and I were pretty much the definition of two different people who join up and become brothers in the Corps. John moved home to Massachusetts for a few months but I ended up getting him a job with me at Countrywide Home Loans as an account executive, there we became a two man bike crew riding EVERYWHERE!!! One saturday I decided to buy a Hayabusa so I did and as soon as I got it I was on the road, I ended up passing John and he knew it was me so I pulled over and he stopped to check out the bike. John fell in love with the bike as much as I had so he went out and got the same bike only a different color. On one ride we stopped for a soda at an ice cream shop near the lake and a group of 4-5 riders pulled in, one of the guys came up to us and asked if we were riding with anyone. (meaning if we belonged to a club) We told him no so he invited us to ride with his club sometime, we got his contact info and rode off. Later when we called him he had told us about a ride they were going to go on to "The Blessing of the Bikes". It was this HUGE event where thousands of bikes would get together and this guy would stand up in the middle and bless them all. The club was GR Street Riders MC, they were a good sized club of various bikes. The day of the ride it started to rain and got very cold so they were making a big deal about who is riding where and giving various speeches about safety and rider consideration regarding passing, speeding, and tricks. After the ride we all went out to eat and they had told us about more rides they had coming up and we were invited to come if we wanted to. The thing about joining a bike club already on the set is you have to prospect, I liked riding with other people but I had no intentions of prospecting for a club of members that could not keep up with me. (ill get into this later) So John was my second riding buddy and he liked to ride almost as much as I did, he would take his car more often then I would LOL but he was good. Picking out a friend you already have who doesn't have a bike yet is great because then you can teach them the ropes and they will be riding with you.
After Michigan I moved to California (Taking the Epic Journey I am telling you about) I didn't have a car or anyone to ride with when I got out there so I was always riding alone. There are a lot of riders out there so its really just a matter of finding the right people to ride with. I met three guys that I rode with the most while I was there, Wild Cat, Crazy Rob, and Shawn. I dont want to get too much into Wild Cat and Crazy Rob yet since I do want to talk about the club in detail in another post, but these two guys were the first guys I started riding with nearly every day. Cat was the kind of rider who would just show up on his bike because he was out riding and wanted to see if you were down to ride. Rob was a more laid back kinda guy, he was the guy who was usually at home but whenever you asked him to ride he would go. We road with some various clubs while I was down there but like I said I was not going to prospect for a club of members who couldn't ride as well as I could, Cat and Rob were some of the most dedicated riders I have ever met, we would go on rides that lasted all day and racked up 500-1000 miles at the end of the day. Wild Cat gets his name from his riding style, for the longest time he could not do a wheelie to save his life but that didn't stop him from trying every chance he got. On so many rides he would come to me and say "Damn Suicide (my name) you got the fastest bike out here and I am ahead of you waiting." Of course there were times when I may have gone over the speed limit but I have to say I dont like it because I dont run from the cops, he flashes the cherry and I am pulling over, I have heard and seen too many people go down trying to. Crazy Rob got his name from his personality on and off the bike, on one ride I remember it was bumper to bumper heavy traffic on the interstate. Rob, Cat, and I are splitting lanes riding in between the cars through traffic between the last lane and the carpool lane, this car ahead of us we can see this lady has here foot hanging out of the window. As we approach the car I know I see Rob extend his hand out and pat the girl on her foot as he road by, we had to be doing about 35-40 MPH so by the time he tapped her on the foot by the time she could react I was already riding by her so I got to see the surprised look on her face and I have to say....Priceless! Shawn was a rider I actually met at my duty station in 29 Palms when I was PCS'd from Oceanside (A very sad day, I had to leave the riders behind) when a Marine heard that I was a rider he told me there was another guy here who rides bikes and he is very good. Naturally when a rider hears of how good another rider is they get defensive of their riding abilities, after all no true rider will accept being out ridden. Anyways he introduces me to Shawn and we start talking bikes, I have to admit I dont remember when we first started riding together but I do remember asking him if he wanted to ride down with me to Oceanside and meet up with some other riders over the weekend. The ride is about 2.5 hours long and maybe 200 miles, he said yes so we took off, when we got there we spent the weekend riding with my buddies and heading back to base on Sunday. After that Shawn and I went to Oceanside quite often and went on a lot of rides during the week around the base area, he was a very good rider and was very talented at doing wheelies. He told me once that he could wheelie anything that had two wheels, he rode a Suzuki 750 so him and I would get competitive on speed and turns during some of the rides, he also had a nice camera that he would bring on the rides and take some nice pictures when we stopped and even once while we were riding. Many of the pictures I use on the posts were taken by him on our rides, Shawn ended up getting out of the Marines long before I left California, and Rob crashed his bike then moved to Texas so it ended up being just me and Cat.
These are not the only people I have ridden with in my days, but these are the few that deserve a Shout out and props! If any of you guys are reading this heres to the good times and remember to keep both wheels down! "For The Love Of The Ride"- Real Riders MC
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