Buonpastore - Shifting gears at 50: a motorcycle guide for new and returning riders

Lead Editor: Jarelle S. Stein

Associate Editor: Jennifer Calvert

Consulting Editors: Dave Searle, Scott Rousseau

Art Director: Jerome Callens

Production Supervisor: Jessica Jaensch

Assistant Production Manager: Tracy Vogtman

Book Project Specialist: Karen Julian

Indexer: Melody Englund

Vice President, Chief Content Officer: June Kikuchi

Vice President, Kennel Club Books: Andrew DePrisco

I-5 Press: Jennifer Calvert, Amy Deputato, Lindsay Hanks, Karen Julian, Jarelle S. Stein

Copyright 2012 by I-5 Press

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of I-5 Press, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Buonpastore, Philip.

Shifting gears at 50: a motorcycle guide for new and returning riders / by Philip Buonpastore; with contributions by Walt Fulton.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-935484-33-2 (pbk.)

eISBN 978-1-937049-76-8

1. Motorcycling. 2. Motorcycles. 3. Motorcyclists. 4. Middle-aged persons--Recreation.

I. Title. II. Title: Shifting gears at fifty.

TL440.5.B86 2012

629.28475--dc23

2011036628

I-5 Press
A Division of I-5 Publishing, LLC
3 Burroughs
Irvine, California 92618
www.facebook.com/i5press
www.i5publishing.com

Printed and bound in China
16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

For Lora

I bumped into Phil a couple years ago at a motorcycle rally, and since then weve had a few natters about how motorcycling is changing. Motorcycle journalists are a rare breed, not only traveling by motorcycle but also putting words together that we hope other riders will take to heart. Sometimes we share with each other our writings or our frustrations with getting our thoughts published. Phil consulted with me about his book, because he knew I was a vintage rider who had been there and done that and was now at an age where I was modifying my riding.

The face of motorcycling is much different today than it was when I started riding back in 1965. Then, lots of youngstersmostly menwere attracted to motorcycling, and the average age of a motorcyclist in North America was somewhere around twenty-five. Over the years, however, fewer young people have gotten into the sport. Today, the average age of a motorcyclist is about fifty. Among older riders, there are three groups, beginning with those who took up motorcycling in the 1960s and 1970s and just stayed with it and are now are in their sixties and seventies. Then there are those who were happy-go-lucky motorcyclists in their youth but put motorcycling aside while they raised families or developed careers. Today, with more free time and money, they are returning to motorcycling. Finally, there are those of a similar age who didnt ride in their youths but want to learn now. Shifting Gears at 50 has a great deal of advice for returning and late-entry riders.

Ive devoted forty years or so to writing aboutand teachingmotorcycling skills. I know that books can help people avoid costly and painful errors and surprises, so Im especially pleased to see a book focused on returning and late-entry riders. Remember the old saw: old age and treachery will win out over youth and exuberance. If youre getting into todays motorcycling at an age your doctor would describe as middle-aged or senior, do yourself a clever favor and read Phils book.

David L. Hough

Author, Proficient Motorcycling

I bought my first motorcycle when I was forty years old. I had ridden friends motorcycles and my big brothers dirt bike in my late teens and early twenties but did not have a lot of experience on motorcycles before owning one. At the time I bought my first bike, I had a job in field service that included the use of a company car, and I had a personal vehicle that was generally going unused. Before jumping in and purchasing a motorcycle, I opted to take a basic motorcycle safety class and get a motorcycle endorsement on my drivers license. After passing the course, I sold my personal car, and I bought my first motorcyclethat was the beginning of the life-changing experience of two-wheeled travel.

I bought my first motorcycle [at forty]that was the beginning of the life-changing experience of two-wheeled travel.

I started to ride as a pastime, gaining miles and experience on the bike, and extending time and riding range whenever I could. I joined several motorcycle clubs, most notably the Southern Cruisers; riding with a group helped me to gain more confidence in my abilities. Riding with the Southern Cruisers, especially on several day-long group rides, also got me comfortable with spending all day on the bike. It was a short jump from there to solo weekend travels and, eventually, from there to longer periods on planned motorcycle vacations.

About a year after I started riding, I took my first week-long, long-distance tour into northern Florida. The experience was overwhelming: the freedom of the ride, the feeling of being part of the environments I rode through, the ability to improvise changes to planned routes to explore interesting rural roads and areas, and the disengagement from the cares of daily life. That tour made such an impression on me that when I returned home to Atlanta, I wrote an off-the-cuff piece titled The Two-Wheeled Secret. It was my first attempt at writing a travelogue, and I just tried to capture some of the newfound feelings of unfettered freedom I had experienced when I traveled the open road on a motorcycle. On a subsequent bike tripanother week-long tour well into and throughout FloridaI brought my camera gear along to take photos. This time I intended to write seriously about the travel and possibly get a story published.

When I returned from my vacation, I sat down and wrote the article titled The Real Florida (see Travelogue 1, page 109). Then I went to a local bookstore and perused its magazine racks for periodicals that catered to both the type of travel I was doing (touring) and my type of motorcycle (a cruiser). Motorcycle Tour and Cruiser (now Roadbike) seemed tailor-made for my style of travel, so I sent my story to the magazine. Three days later, I received a phone call from the editor, Laura Brengleman, telling me she wanted to publish the article! A new career was born, just a few months shy of my forty-first birthday.

That was the start for me. Over the next several years, I toured the southeastern United States on my motorcycle, wrote about the trips, and sold the stories when I could. Eventually, it occurred to me that I had experienced, witnessed, or (in discussions with other riders about their experiences) heard about the majority of problems and pitfalls common to new riders. I felt that I could help new riders deal with issues ranging from how they learned to ride, to what kinds of bikes and gear they might buy, to how to improve their motorcycling skills. I also wanted to encourage new riders and let them know that although learning to ride a motorcycle well would require time and dedication, doing so would definitely be worth the effort. Learning to ride would make possible a whole new world of amazing adventures on the road.