Brian: Yeah. All right. We're here with a brand new rider named Angel from Sacramento. We wanted to get a fresh perspective. We're old, we're wizened, hopefully we're wiser, but we wanted to get Angel's perspective as a brand new rider, a brand new motorcycle owner, what life is like and what her journey is like. Wizened?

Angel: I call that too.

Robin: I'm using too many words. Welcome Angel to the show. It's our honor and pleasure to have you here.

Angel: Thank you. I'm excited to be on.

Robin: Was this the MSF curriculum? Did you take the MSF course or was it total control? Because I know that they have a hand in some state testing.

Angel: This was the beginner MSF course.

Robin: Cool. And how was your experience?

Angel: It was fun. I was nervous the whole time. I went in Thursday, did the whole classroom thing, learned the basics, how to stop, the mindset, make sure you're not drinking alcohol. Hopped on the bike for the first time and stalled a lot. I stalled probably about 15 times and caused traffic with the group. By Sunday, I got a little bit more comfortable with the clutch and braking. My instructor said, he doesn't say this often, but you're doing pretty good with your braking. Did the test and somehow passed. I don't know how I passed. I put my leg down multiple times. I stalled probably twice. I don't think I should have passed, but...

Robin: Congratulations and welcome to the fold. I told Brian before you got here that I have to actually be careful how I speak to you as a new rider, as an MSF instructor.

Angel: I'll have to say on record, thank you again for your email, because I read your email right before my test and you said, keep your head up. And that was my problem is I would focus on the cones and I just straight to the cones. But I kept my head up and I was able to make those smooth turns and look through the turn was the biggest thing for me.

Robin: It was the least I could try to do.

Angel: I think the most difficult thing was the friction, the friction zone.

Robin: Okay.

Angel: And learning that on the instructor kept saying was smoothly, smoothly. So I'm riding, I'm riding on my Ninja today and I finally got the gear shifting down because I'm thinking you have to be smoothly through each gear change. So I'm shifting into second gear, third gear, and I'm not, the bike's not moving. There's no power to it. Let me know if I'm wrong. Do you hold the clutch down faster going up gears? Does that make sense?

Robin: In the words of Scott Haas, who I hope will hear this episode, person who trained me how to become a rider coach. What do you think?

Angel: Again, I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos. I see some, some people aren't even using the clutch and they're, they're just shifting gears. I don't know how they're doing that, but holding in the clutch faster and going up in gears that made the ride a lot more smoother for me because I just kept what my instructor told me, smooth. So every gear shift, I was smooth and slow. I was too slow. So the bike wasn't going.

Brian: Yeah, be smooth and fast. You discovered smooth, but quick and, and smooth it out. Excellent. I'm not going to get into a description of what goes on in a motorcycle transmission unless you really want to.

Angel: I have no idea what's going on.

Brian: One thing I was going to ask was, do you have any experience with a car with a manual transmission or was this your first clutch ever?

Angel: None, none. I was the only, I was actually the only girl in the class. And during the breaks, all the guys are, they're gathering around. They're talking about CC. I'm like 1,000 CC. And I'm like, I got a, I got a Ninja 400. That's all I know.

Robin: You bought well, you bought so good. Yeah, you bought well. I am impressed.

Angel: Good to hear. I'm glad to hear that. You'll have to let me know if I got a good deal because I got a 2018 Ninja 400 out the door, one owner, 1,012 miles, $6,000.

Robin: That's a baby.

Brian: Yeah.

Angel: Okay.

Brian: This is in California too. I think you're going to be very happy. Yeah. When, when you told me what bike you were, you were getting, I'm like, that is so perfect. Like you'll notice that Robin and I, our bikes are not the biggest and the most powerful. Robin's got what? 85 horsepower on his bike. Yeah. And, and your bike has, I don't, I don't know how many horsepower it has, but yeah, it's plenty for, for you for a very long time, as long as you want to.

Robin: No matter how you feel about riding or if you're stalling or nervous or whether or not you think you're roadworthy, the class is designed not to be based on, hi, I am instructor and I am badge. I will tell you how it is. You did that good. You did that bad. The whole class is intended to be a combination of things that allows you to develop a physical skillset based on the information provided, which is scripted. We're reading cards. It's right there. We don't deviate from it. It has to be that. And for you to, whenever you have a question, there's some things we could field, but most of it is about the, what do you think factor? It's intended for you to self-reflect and better understand, well, am I ready for this? Is that something I feel comfortable with? How good am I at braking? How good am I at the clutch? As you were talking about, we used to do K&M three-wheel tours. We would take K&M owners on these trips. You met all kinds of wonderful people. Some people had medical conditions. They needed to be on three wheels. Some of them were in wheelchairs and all of these things. I was happy to do that job. And then a person showed up and they had a Ducati. They didn't bring the Ducati. They were there with their friend and they inserted themselves in the middle of these people and said, I mean, I would never do this. I ride a Ducati. Let's elaborate. I want you to know who I am. This is an introduction. I heard the person say this and I said, oh, cool. What do you have? And you know, it's a Ducati Monster. Maybe it was a Pedigale, whatever it was. He said, you know, it's a really fast bike. You know, it's a 900, 1200cc, whatever bike. It's really, it's a super fast bike. I said, oh, cool. Okay. So have you tracked it? Have you been to Gingerman? You've been to Road America? Blackhawk? Do you trail brake to a delayed apex? Exactly what posture do you prefer? Do you like to be chin over wrist? Uh, I mean, I just use it as like a commuter vehicle. So in front of all these wonderful people, I let there be a silence. And I said, oh, so it's not a fast bike. Well, I mean, what do you mean? It's not a fast bike because you're the one who's riding it. And I, and then I said, why don't you go ahead and turn around? I'm going to get back to these people. Now you go over there. And I took these guys out for a heyday. I hope that you can hold onto that because nobody gets to tell you what you are or aren't capable of based on the brand or the displacement.

Angel: Yeah. I hear that. Why do you think that is? Why do you think that so many bikers are, have that mindset?

Brian: Well, uh, let's get Dr. Freud in here and talk about the human ego and, and the, yeah, there's a lot of ego and it's easier to spend money than to work hard on skills. That's kind of a lot of it. Or they want to see the big number on, you know, oh, I'd rely on a leader bike. I've got a, you know, that kind of thing.

Robin: Because I bought the bike. I can now say I have it. And therefore you are supposed to equate me with the purchase I made.

Brian: Yeah. And I think that's on motorcycles. People identify with the bike and so forth more than you would. Some people, like I drive a minivan. I don't care. Cause it can, it can haul a trailer with a motorcycle on it is the main reason. I was going to ask you, Angel, and this, I haven't asked this yet because I wanted to hear it. What got it in your head to buy a motorcycle, to learn how to ride?

Angel: Ever since I was little, I always wanted to be a race car driver. I like going fast. I like the adrenaline part of it. Obviously that didn't happen. I work in marketing now. It's a lot safer. My 16 year old sister, she lives in Texas. She recently got her motorcycle. She got a Honda Rebel 300. Well, I thought, what am I doing? I am not using my free will like I should. I'm turning 25. I turned 25 next month. I said, I'm going to go. I made this decision two weeks ago, two weeks ago. I said, I'm going to get my motorcycle license. I went to one dealership. They were trying to sell me a BMW 300. And I said, I don't really like that. And then up popped the Ninja 400. And I watched a couple of videos. And I went online. I saw there was a Ninja 400 down the street. It was black, aftermarket exhaust, out the door. I went in the next day, Monday. I called the guy. I went right when they opened at 930. I said, do you still have the bike? He said, yes. I went straight there, put my deposit on it, pick up the bike two days later. And I drove it home yesterday, Friday. Long story short, that's what got me into riding. My 16 year old sister really pushed me. We're always in constant competition. So I had to get her dream bike and rub it in her face.

Brian: I did not expect that story, Angel. That's hilarious. That's ruthless in the best way. I love it. And it's great. Yeah, you took the course and everything. And it's exhausting, as you found out. That continues. I've taken advanced training. And I did an advanced off-road course, adventure riding course. And I was sore for like a week. So I was going to ask you, you've mentioned. So you got the bike home. I think there's a story there.

Angel: Oh, so I'm going to the dealership. My sales guy, Bo, he gives me the keys. He says, OK, why don't you just go up and down the parking lot just a couple times so you get used to the friction zone and the throttle. And I was like, all right. I get on the bike. I don't even warm up the engine. I just leave the dealership, hop on the road, and I'm off. I have to ride 13 miles because I'm dropping it off at my parents' house. Because I live downtown Sacramento. I don't trust it down here. In my mind, I'm like, holy crap, I'm actually doing this. I just bought a bike. I'm riding a bike. I'm trying to figure out shifting the throttle at a red light. And then there's train tracks that I have to go over. So I was told, make sure you go on the train tracks 90 degree angle. A lot of experienced riders, they slip here. So I was really careful there. I made sure to take the back road. I am crossing a busy intersection. I have a green light. There's a car coming, and they're wanting to turn right. I have my green light. This guy looks me in the eye and takes the right. And I get nervous. I just kind of switch lanes. I don't even look. I didn't look in my mirror. I didn't even look behind me. I just switched lanes because he was going to hit me. So then I just fixated on the car. I totally got distracted. I was not focused. At the next red light, I stalled. I stalled, and the bike wouldn't turn on. I didn't know what was happening. I saw this red light. And then, thankfully, this other female rider, she's coming in. She sees me. She puts her emergency lights on. She gets off her bike. She goes, are you OK? Are you OK? I'm freaking out. It's my first ride. My bike's not turning on. I don't know what to do. I'm going to die. And she's like, you're not going to die. Like, you're going to be fine. And she's helping with the gear. I hit the engine cutoff switch.

Robin: Thumb key valve. Except you have no valve. Injected bike, right?

Angel: Yep.

Robin: Sorry.

Angel: Then she goes, they're going to put it back on. She invites me to this motorcycle group on Thursdays. I'm like, oh, yeah, sure. I'm there. Yeah. She's like, oh, wait. I have a date on Thursday, but I'm going to meet you next Thursday. And I'm going to be there. And I'm like, OK, cool. I didn't get her name. I didn't get her phone number. I guess I'm just going to see her next Thursday. So I get the bike going. We both stop at this red light. She looks at me. She turns. She revved her engine. I'm like, I'm part of the gang now. I rev my engine. And then off we go into the first set. I make it to my parents' house. My parents are filming me coming in. And then I, because I'm still thinking about the car, what could have I done differently? I should have looked behind me. I really could have gotten hit. What could have I done differently? I thought I put my kickstand down.

Robin: Sidestand. We don't kick anything in this class.

Angel: I thought I put my sidestand down. I heard it. I thought I heard it hit the ground. I'm coming off the bike. The bike falls.

Robin: Oh, that's all right.

Angel: It was the slowest fall of my life. I picked up the bike. The first scratches. No. Within five minutes, I'm looking up where I can get a replacement.

Robin: A good thing about the Ninja 400 is that you've got parts for years. Like you can just, there's aftermarket. You might be like, oh, I like those mirrors better or those grips better. This bar ends better. The trick that I've always told, oh, this is going to happen a lot. The thing to do, let's say it that way. When you put your sidestand down, look at your sidestand. While you lean the bike.

Angel: And I was so, I was so good at that in class. But what threw me off is that guy making that turn. And I thought about that for four, like probably an hour. What have I done? There were three lanes. Maybe I should, I just have gone in the middle lane. Is that what I do from now on? Because they just don't see you.

Robin: Even if they're looking you directly in the eyes. Yes.

Angel: So in the eye. And he still went at a red light.

Robin: I was just talking to my wife, Maggie on a long ride the other day about this. The idea that you can focus on the horizon. Your focused vision is doing one thing. If you relax what you're paying attention to most, you do see what you're going towards. But your peripheral vision is sort of absorbing the context of the reality around you. And that is incredibly important, especially itemizing what makes you frantic. That's going to happen a lot. Yeah.

Angel: That leads me to my next question is what do you guys recommend for lane placement?

Robin: I've got a lot to say about this. And it goes like this. What do you think?

Angel: Instructor told me try not to ride in the middle. Because that's where a lot of the oil is from all the cars. Just pick a side.

Robin: What has been your experience on the roads that you ride most often? What do you see? I have an opinion. It's short. Whichever position in the lane allows you to see the most and be seen the most. Yep.

Angel: Got it. Okay. Because I was told don't stop directly. Then you can become a motorcyclist sandwich. I was like, okay. And I'm never going to be in the middle of the lane then.

Brian: There are a lot of places where you come to the stoplight and the middle of the lane is full of drippings from cars. That's one factor among many. People turning in front of you is welcome to real life. I'm sorry. That's just how it is. I used to work on my uncle's watermelon farm. I can tell you that people will do the same thing in front of a bright red truck full of watermelons. But the other thing mentioned there is one of the skills that you'll learn is how to let it go instantly. Yeah.

Angel: Okay.

Brian: That's a tough one. That's tough to do. But that affected your outlook the rest of the ride. And that's something you'll pick up over time. Because there's no point in road raging on a motorcycle. You're vulnerable.

Robin: Kevin Hart. I love it when people in a $500,000 car road rage with a person in a $500 car. I'm in a $500 car. I'll kill us both. I don't care.

Brian: You know, obviously maneuver around, get out of the situation, use your maneuverability, use your power. You also have to, okay, that's behind me. Now I need to focus. And the thing Robin talked about where...

Robin: Hold on, hold on. What I talked about was this. The question is very simple. What do you think? Yeah, there you go. Could you have spotted those droplets? If you're riding and you're watching the road and your peripheral vision, is it maybe up to the rider to figure out which lane to be in?

Angel: Yeah, it's up to the rider. There's no way. Again, I don't want to be fixated on the road and where the oil spots are. I got fixated on a pothole and went straight on the pothole. Keeping the focus on the horizon, what's going on around me.

Robin: Can you still see around you while you're looking at the horizon?

Angel: No, not really. I get fixated really easily.

Robin: Okay.

Angel: I need to work on that.

Robin: That is a self-reflective opportunity for understanding. If that's your tendency, you now know that about you. It doesn't matter if you fix it, as long as you know enough about yourself to make your decisions based on what do you think.

Brian: That expanded awareness, you touched on it earlier and Angel is starting to see the problem with fixating. But that whole, I see everything around me, I perceive all this stuff, that higher level of mental functioning is a lot of what I think, for me, is the fun part of motorcycling. It occupies your entire brain.

Angel: Yes.

Brian: You see what's going on. Hey, did you see that hawk over there? There's a goat. That kind of thing.

Angel: The tree looked nice today.

Robin: I have a question for you, Angel. Are you in a hurry to know all of these things?

Angel: Oh, definitely not. Quick story. My dad, he's a pilot and I'm a daddy's girl. That's my best friend. So he wasn't flying today, so he went to the parking lot with me and he just sat there and he just watched and he helped me. He doesn't know anything about motorcycling. He was just kind of teaching me, teaching me about the clutch and washing me around the whole thing and I can see how proud he is. Watching me learn something new, kind of like, learn how to drive a car again.

Robin: That's awesome.

Angel: But I'm in the parking lot, I'm doing slow maneuvers, I'm doing the figure eights, I'm doing the slow, the 90 degree turns are killing me. The slow 90 degree turn and where I can position my body, I feel like the bike is going to fall and I'm just getting used to the weight of the bike and again, the throttle and the clutch and I decide I'm fatigued. I'm ready to go home. I'm leaving the parking lot. There's a stop sign. This semi-truck just blows through the stop sign and I'm just realizing, California, I'm on my bike. People don't know how to drive here in California.

Robin: Yeah, that's everywhere.

Angel: We do not.

Robin: The rule of law on the road does not make you a winner when you climb into the forever box. If you went into that intersection and said, well, they hit me, but don't worry, I won because the law, you have lost.

Angel: Yeah, always assume they're out to tell me what I've been told.

Robin: If it works for you, yeah, do it. Do what works. Do what keeps you upright.

Angel: That was all I did today. I was on the bike for about around two hours off and on just practicing my turns and getting the shifting down. I finally got the shifting down at the end when I learned that, oh, I have to let go of the throttle quickly and then rev the engine a lot faster instead of doing the slow. Whoa.

Robin: One thing I like to do during a break is if a student is nervous about how the clutch is behaving or if how the throttle is behaving, the things they hear, some people get frantic when they hear the noise. You can practice this. Go find a safe environment. Like you said, your dad's a pilot. Go to the airfield. Come on. So the trick is if you sit still on a running bike, squeeze the clutch all in, shift into first gear, take a solemn oath with your right hand, and then slowly find the friction zone very carefully. And all of a sudden you'll feel the bike starting to pull forward. At some point you can, oh, I'm moving now. And you've never touched the throttle. You're in first gear and you're chugging along. All that's happening is the motor is constantly spinning. And as you begin to release the clutch control, you're engaging the motor with the chain and it's scratching and scraping, which is okay. It's built for that. You know, it's scraping, it's scraping and slowly it's digging in. The bike begins to move and then you slowly release. And then you are in motion and you never needed your right hand on the throttle.

Angel: I did not know that.

Robin: The flip side of that coin that's really good for the soul is to squeeze the clutch in and rev the engine just enough that you're like, oh, I'm not sure I like that. A third of the way into the rev range, a third of the way in, or halfway to the rev range, just like, oh, that eee, that's, it sounds angry. And if you let go of that clutch, you have a unicycle. If you find that halfway to the RPM range and you begin to do the same thing, just ignore the sound, ignore the sound, and you'll feel the slow. Okay. The instant you're moving never means now I don't need to worry about the clutch dump.

Angel: Yeah. That's my problem.

Robin: Then address the problem.

Angel: Yes.

Robin: Yeah. If the gas is on and you find the point where you're grinding in and it makes, it's making loud noises, but it's starting to move. Pay no attention to what you hear. Only pay attention to what you see and keep on ruining that clutch with a deep digging grind until all of a sudden now, oh, well, shoot, I'm going 25 miles an hour. It's two sides to a very nerve wracking coin that if you can conquer that, then you're ready to start addressing the stupidity of society around you.

Angel: What they didn't tell me in class is that when I'm ready to shift now into second, third and above, I've got to let go of the clutch a lot faster. Is that correct?

Robin: What do you think? I knew he was going to do that.

Angel: I know. I should have saw that coming. I got a lot more comfortable on the bike when I was, when I let go of the clutch faster going second and above it was first, the way I have to be really smooth, smooth. So when I tried that going into second and above the bike, wasn't going anywhere, it sounded weird or it was all, they didn't tell me that in class. Is it like that for every bike or are there bikes where you do have to be really smooth on the clutch for each gear shift?

Brian: The feel of the clutch is going to be a little different. The engagement points can be a little different. It depends on how it's adjusted and whether the, you know, whether the cable's ever been, you know, that kind of stuff. But yeah, they're pretty, it's pretty much all the, the principles you're learning now are the motorcycles work the same, the world over every bike, you know, there are differences, but, but yeah, the skills you're learning, you know, you could hop on something else and, and, um, you, it would take you a little time to figure out exactly where this one engages. Like, oh, I need to have my, my, my hand needs to be here and not here. You know, that kind of thing.

Angel: See, I ha I don't even know maintenance. I've got to learn maintenance on this bike. When to do the oil changes. When should I swap out tire? Um, there's so much, I just really jumped into this two weeks ago.

Robin: This is good. I love that. I am so happy for you. So fun.

Angel: Was this a little spontaneous? Yes. Am I having a quarter life crisis? Maybe I'm excited for it.

Brian: You'll figure it out as you go. I do all of my own work to an extreme on motorcycles. And you know, Robin and I have talked about that. Yeah. A lot of people, uh, like when we talk to Jasmine, for example.

Robin: Oh yeah.

Brian: She's in New York city. There are good mechanics there. Shout out to Jasmine, by the way. Drops it off and, and, and picks it up later.

Angel: I like that.

Brian: You know, you're in California. So there's, there's, there, there are good shops around Indianapolis. It's a little tougher. And plus I, you know, I have, I've had vintage bikes for a long time. So you just have to, you're on your own there, but so yeah, you could decide to do that. You could, you know, you could decide to learn more and more about it, but stay curious, learn stuff, try new stuff. I really love the fact that you're finding support in an almost unexpected places. Like you said, your parents were appalled, but your dad's out helping you and he's proud of you. That's cool.

Angel: My dad was like, all right, I got to accept it. I'm not getting rid of the bike. So what is it going to do? We just go out there and, oh my God, it was really nice to see his face. And he finally told me, he's, you know, I'm proud of you. Oh, I'm proud of you. You're doing something new. And I'm like, oh, thanks dad. And he's trying to explain a clutch to me. Cause I have no idea. I've never driven. I've only done one of my laps. I have no idea what I was doing and he was helping me out. When I'm, when I'm flying a plane, it's kind of like the same thing. Like you have to look through the turn and I'm like, look through the turn. You're in the sky. What are you looking at?

Robin: Yeah. Brian had a segment going that relates as it were to flight. The term that really sticks out that I want to assimilate, it's called a helmet fire.

Angel: Helmet fire.

Robin: Ask your dad about a helmet fire.

Angel: Okay.

Robin: I'm sure he'll have some knowledge of what that is. And then you can bring that back.

Angel: I will. Let me write that down.

Robin: We've discussed it before and it's deep.

Brian: I'm going to admit it right now. I have no idea what you're talking about, Robin. What the hell is a helmet fire?

Robin: Okay. Interesting. So I barreled around a left-hand turn in rural Wisconsin and I saw a yearling, like the size of a Great Dane deer crossing my path and I decided, okay, I'm going to break. I will also try to swerve because I have that skillset. My judgment said, okay, I'm going to hit this deer. I don't want to, I'm going to try not to, but the likelihood is there. I postured myself and I slammed into this deer. And just before I did, I said, this is going to be expensive. Not a helmet fire. A helmet fire. I come around the corner. There's the deer. Cutoff switch, brakes, clutch. I don't know. Pedals, brake. Don't even hit the deer. End up in the ditch wrapped around a tree. That's a helmet fire. Don't know what to do. Let's try everything all at once. Instead of making use of what you know, mashing buttons when you're gaming. Pour soda on the keyboard.

Angel: You guys have been writing for so long, so you may not remember. How did you, and how long did it take you to get to that point where you don't have helmet fire, where you just automatically, you just know what to do. Like you just said, oh, this is going to be expensive.

Robin: You are a fellow writing human with opposable thumbs, a fellow adult, a conversationalist. Did your new acquaintance make the right decision in hitting a deer? No. I screwed up. That's not experience talking. That's the result of a mistake. And the best part of it is that I survived the ordeal. I don't wish that on anyone.

Angel: The mistake was you were just going too fast.

Robin: Very good chance. And I have not corrected that mistake and have no intention of doing so.

Brian: Or outriding your sightline, that kind of thing.

Robin: Overdrive.

Brian: Yeah. My second broken leg was a car at night. I was going straight. The car was turning left, so she crossed in front of me. And I'm pretty hard to fool. I'm pretty hard to get. One of them got me. One of the things I'm really proud of is that I had no idea what the car looked like because I was looking where I wanted to go, which was a space that did not include a car. It's just dumb as hell, isn't it? I'm on the ground many feet away with a broken leg and wrist.

Robin: I give you 51.49 on that one.

Brian: Yeah.

Robin: It was 51% smooth and 49% you still hit the car.

Brian: Yeah, exactly. The cop's like, so do you know what happened? He's assessing. I'm like, yeah, I'm not knocked out or anything. I was like, a car hit me. And he's like, oh, what kind of car? I was like, I don't know. I wasn't looking at it. At some point, I had gotten to that point where I was able to deal with an emergency in some way. I still screwed up somewhere. She was doing this fake and go, no, I'm going to... No, I'm going to... No, I see you. No, I don't. So there was still a bad decision that started the whole thing. So I don't know if that's any kind of an answer.

Robin: If there's any one thing I want to do for this new member of the riding society, it's give you an arsenal of observation to determine what information you let in.

Angel: Yes.

Robin: For example, I have a form on the website for when people sign up for our commercial motorcycle tours. And one of the selection is, what is your skill set? And people will select advanced.

Angel: Define advanced. What is advanced? What is an advanced rider?

Robin: You just said everything that needs to be said about that select option. And I'm going to change the form to where when they selected, they get posed with a very complicated question that is not hard to answer if they're advanced by whatever standard that is. Point is, anybody who says, well, I've been riding for 400 years. And this is a shout out to Rita, a rider coach trainer and a mentor to me. Rita's the one that taught me how to ride the advanced rider course stuff. 400 years. Have you been riding 400 years or have you ridden one year? 400 times. You are an aspiring young rider. You look like the kind of person who gets out. You're going to be in places where somebody is going to be, well, hello, young lady. Oh. Well, I can tell you all of the things you need to know.

Angel: Yes, I accept that. In fact, I got in CycleGear last week. And let me tell you, I got more help from other customers than the actual employees at CycleGear. I went in there, I was ready to buy some, I forgot what kind of brand helmet it was. He picked it out, he put it on. He was like, okay, I was like, this is the helmet, just go ahead and put it at the front for me and then I'm going to go look for some gloves and I'll be right back. Some customer goes straight to me. Oh, I saw you got this helmet. Can I show you another helmet? He shows me Shoei. He convinced me to buy a Shoei, so I buy the Shoei. He's like, you don't want to keep that on your gear. I promise you, Shoei is a great brand.

Robin: Did you check your head shape?

Angel: I didn't do it with the employees. I didn't do it with him. I just, he put it on. He said, put your two fingers on your forehead. I was like, okay. He's like, perfect. I'm like, all right. I walked out with a Shoei. Is that a good brand?

Robin: One of the best. Brands tend to favor certain head shapes. Arai has actually changed the fold and adapted to many head shapes. Shoei tends to be the intermediate level. The real trick is the Snell test.

Angel: I learned about that.

Robin: Head shape and Snell.

Brian: The Snell standards have years on them and so forth. I think we can be pretty confident that the Shoei has the latest. Usually Shoei and Arai are the top two brands that people talk about. You pick the one that fits you the best.

Angel: The first one I picked was about a $300 helmet. It was like all these colors and then you flipped it. There were sunglasses that came down. I hear different things. How often do you replace your helmet?

Brian: A rule of thumb is every five years a helmet. They won't let you on the track if your helmet is older than five years. That's just an approximation. What happens if you ride a lot is after three years, your helmet is truly not a nice place to be. It's a very personal garment. Let's put it that way. On a high-end helmet, you can pull the liners out and you can wash them. That helps a lot. I rotate between two helmets and usually about every three years, I'm buying one. You've got a ways to go. Don't worry about it.

Angel: Okay. They're not cheap. This is not a cheap hobby.

Brian: No, no, no.

Robin: The return on investment is a negative.

Angel: Yes.

Brian: Yeah, and tires. Like Robin and I will nuke a set of tires in 3,000 miles. Most people get more miles than that. It's hilarious when new motorcyclists encounter that reality. It's not like your car where they go 40,000 miles.

Angel: Robin, do you replace your helmet same time frame?

Robin: You really should replace your helmet within the five-year mark. I tend to.

Angel: Okay.

Robin: But also it's like if your helmet drops, did they show you about the triangle where you place it on the ground?

Angel: They did not. They just told me, don't put it on the gas tank.

Robin: Don't put it on the tank. Don't put it on your seat. And sometimes you'll be like, you know what? I'm going to do it just once. Okay, fine. But the point is to try not to. Because if it rolls off, if it lands, the protective shell on the inside, which is a solid foam gelatin, cracks. And that's the purpose of it is now it's defunct. No longer a protective shell. It's just a soft interior.

Angel: Mm-hmm.

Robin: When there's an impact, the whole helmet collides and shapes to your skull to the impact to protect you. Any slight slice in it causes it to deteriorate rapidly. And I'm not going to lie, I dropped my beloved Arai, which was not cheap, and it landed on its top. And I've been using it ever since. So whatever. The point is, it's fine.

Brian: Yeah. The guidance from Arai themselves is as long as there's not a head in the helmet, when it hits the ground, a drop from a bike is really not going to compromise the safety of it. It'll cause a scratch. It might knock something off or whatever. But this is, you know, someone from Arai, and this is the official company line. So.

Angel: Black Friday coming up, I'm about to pull the trigger and get some more stuff. Do you have any recommendation on cameras?

Brian: The Insta360 is the one that I've seen around the most.

Angel: Okay.

Brian: People can get amazing footage from it. You've looked into it a little more than I have. I don't think you have one yet, right? Is it correct, Robin?

Robin: I know what I'm doing. I haven't done it yet. I had a GoPro for a long time and all of our tour footage to get people to sign up is all video footage from a GoPro, which is cool. I remember Jasmine speaking about New York City, where the cops will randomly just be like, well, we've got to get our budget. Here's your ticket, you know, and she'll be like, I didn't get a ticket. And he's like, what are you talking about? She'll point at the camera and they'll be like, Oh, that's just New York style. Joanne just talked about Android auto tablets that you can get for your bike. They're touch sets, different gloves are intended for motorcycling and you can get sets. They actually have cameras, one for the front, one for the back. They go direct to cloud. You can save 10 minute blocks. So it's constantly cycling. And if you find something that's like, I want to keep that, you just go keep that. It puts that whole 10 minute block over here and then keeps the cycle going. So you're storing specific videos for anything that is incriminating. They'd say that you were speeding or, or they say that you were hogging the lane. The trick is to not end up in those situations, exercise the knowledge that you learned to create as much of a space buffer in front and behind you before these things could ever become a concern.

Angel: Spacing. Spacing is key.

Robin: Yeah.

Angel: I asked you during the email and you told me that you're in Chicago. You know, I'm here in downtown Sacramento. My biggest thing is security. I'm so scared this bike is going to get stolen.

Robin: Where are you parking?

Angel: It's street parking.

Robin: Downtown Sacramento, California street parking. You don't have an assigned space. You don't have a permit space.

Angel: That's why it's currently at my parents all locked up.

Robin: How far are they?

Angel: They're about 10 minutes away.

Robin: They're 10 minutes away.

Angel: 10 minutes away. No traffic.

Robin: That's where you keep your bike.

Angel: Okay.

Robin: You may as well have the most robust textile cover you can get with lock loops and a disc lock.

Angel: Okay.

Robin: The real trick to the disc lock is that bungee cord that connects to the grip that reminds you, Hey Robin, you're an idiot. Just remember you have a disc lock on, so you don't start the bike up and then rip off the front wheel by riding away.

Angel: Yeah. Have you ever had a bike stolen?

Brian: I have not. No.

Angel: Okay.

Brian: But I've seen things. Don't wash your bike. That helps. I know that.

Angel: Don't wash. How do you even clean? I know nothing. Do you clean them? Do I tell you about the car wash? It's got an article about that. I'll take a look.

Robin: We can do this as long as we want. I am inspired by your enthusiasm and I want to apologize for the constant interjection of what? Oh, let me tell you all about it. Like you don't necessarily need that. The beauty of these conversations, it is your experience to savor and the best response I can ever have for you is whatever it causes you to try to come up with your own answers, however wrong they might be by anybody's standard, your own included. That what do you think thing?

Angel: What do you think?

Robin: If you trigger that, just tell me the answer. I just want to know the answer. That's the beauty of it. It's like if you are forced to put the gears together that arrive you at an answer. We as new fellow writing friends have done our job to take you to task because it is scrubbing your brain as Brian would call it in brain scrub going. You are considering all of these things.

Angel: Yeah.

Robin: If you work hard enough to arrive at in confidence in your own personalized result, whatever you have arrived at, it's never not okay to bring in the committee.

Angel: You said something confidence, confidence. What's one thing that I can do to really build my confidence?

Robin: Build your competence.

Brian: The stuff you're already doing that parking lot practice with your dad. Yeah. That is great bonding time. Don't get me wrong, but that's also doing that practice until you feel that confidence that you can get your attention up where it needs to be and around you. Not have to think about your fingers as much. You'll get there.

Angel: I hope so. I don't want to keep looking down to see what gear I'm in every time.

Robin: Yeah. Listen to that motor. Yeah.

Angel: I was watching one YouTube video. The guy was like, just cover the dash and you're going to learn like that. I'm like, um, I don't know.

Robin: The YouTube thing.

Angel: I'm hearing various opinions on YouTube. Yeah.

Robin: Yeah. It can be a little varied. If you find yourself among a crowd of like-minded writers and any one of them tells you everybody's welcome, nobody's invited, invite yourself.

Angel: It's a very small community, but the community is very welcoming. Four days and I've already been invited to three meetups.

Robin: Nice.

Angel: Just going to text from the interior that they're having a meetup tonight at five. And obviously I couldn't make it. And then I was invited to a coffee, a coffee and ride next Saturday. And then there's a Thursday night meetup. I mean, it's crazy how welcoming the community is.

Brian: Yeah.

Angel: I was not expecting that.

Brian: And it's funny that random lady who helped in traffic just stopped, saw a problem, helped fix it. Off you go.

Angel: Yeah. These unicorn horns on and she was so cool. I was like, what am I doing? Looking like Batman all black. Like I've got to get some color on me. That's another thing. I've got to get some color on me because I'm looking like Batman on my bike.

Brian: Oh, okay.

Robin: Well, do you like, do you like the Catwoman like black on black? I do. Okay. And that's fine. You can ride in any way, shape, form you want to, as long as you pick the right venue or the right solution. They make a hyper-reflective black tape. Ooh. Blindingly reflective.

Angel: I like that.

Robin: In the sun, you're still just black. Got the whole sleekness going.

Angel: Yep.

Robin: But then this tape just makes it sunburn off of any car's headlamps.

Angel: What is that called? Recto-reflective. Okay.

Robin: As long as it does the job. Would you like to do this again?

Angel: Yes. A hundred percent. Yes.

Robin: Okay. Cool.

Angel: I've got a question for both of you. What's easier? I'm hearing two different things. Riding on the freeway or riding on the street? I got my bike from the dealer. One guy told me just go on the freeway, just go on the freeway straight to your parents' house. The other guy told me, take the streets, go slow. What's your opinion on that? For a new rider, baby rider.

Robin: What do you think?

Brian: I knew he was going to do that. If you stick to surface streets, you're going to be repeating the things you just learned and you're going to be very close to those speeds. If you get on the freeway, then there's less controlling needed, but you're at higher speeds and there's a lot of stuff you haven't practiced yet.

Angel: Yeah.

Brian: That was kind of how I answered that. Whether that was a good answer, I don't know.

Robin: I don't hate the answer. I think I would add one thing to really bring the safety into the mix. And that's that if you do the former and you choose roads that are lesser traffic, all the better.

Angel: Yeah.

Robin: If you don't know whether or not you're roadworthy, then are you, you have been trained well enough that you now officially know how to ride in a parking lot no faster than 25 miles per hour in a controlled learning environment that is being heavily monitored. Now you're putting yourself in a world of ignorance that could seem like it's conspiring against you. How far from that, or at least how much control over those circumstances do you have?

Angel: As much control as my training has given me. I mean, I thought it was too easy. I was like, this is way too, it just passed like that. And now I can go to the DMV, take the written test and I'm licensed. No, like it was way too easy. I'm surprised I got the bike to my parents' house safely. I definitely feel like there's even more training.

Robin: So if that's the current status and there's no rush and there's no pressure and you're young, do you need to insert yourself into complicated situations that are just barely outside of your experience or comfort zone? You can continue to grow the competence, which gives you saddle time and contributes to the confidence. The game is eliminating the threats.

Angel: Yes.

Robin: I take a lot of risks. A lot of them, my fellow coaches, I have been ostracized for. I'm not really part of the game anymore.

Angel: Are they calculated risks?

Robin: Brian? Yeah, we're doing the math. Slicing and dicing. There's just a lot of people who think that, well, because what you're doing is outside of my comfort zone, you should not be doing that. And a lot of times we'll stick to those guns. And I will see people who should not be doing that and think, yeah, you definitely should not be doing that.

Angel: Well, I like my life. I only get one. So yeah, but just as careful as possible.

Brian: If I pass a truck, does Robin feel like he needs to, he has to do it? No, he's, he's riding his own thing. He's an independent person who doesn't have to do what I do. If I'm leading and I pass a truck, Robin's not required to follow me. That well-calculated risk on Highway 22 that we're not talking about. And the same in reverse. One of the more dangerous things I've heard somebody say to me once is, well, I just do what you do except a 10% slower. Please do not do that. What I do is my business. What you do is your business. Don't mix them up. Don't get peer pressure. Don't get into groupthink and things like that. I think one of the things you're finding is everybody's very welcoming. And there's also a lot of, you hear some stuff and people will confidently tell you stuff that's not quite right.

Angel: Gotta put your pride inside. I am very much so.

Robin: I think the next episode should be Angel and Maggie.

Brian: Yeah, I think we should get Maggie to talk. Yeah. I think Angel has some questions for Joanne the gear chick too.

Angel: I don't even have a jacket.

Brian: Joanne will tell you, spend money. No, not cheap.

Angel: Yeah, don't cheap out. Death for the slide, not the ride.

Robin: Yeah. Anything that inspires self-awareness is the best answer we're going to have. And of course, given where you are, I imagine you've probably come face to face with, well, let me tell you something, sweetheart types.

Angel: Oh, well, 100%. It's like I don't even know you. I'm just telling you I have gloves and you just walked up and told me that I'm getting the wrong helmet, but it worked because I got another job.

Robin: You're going to have to address that on your own terms, the incredible amount of ignorant confidence that wants to let you know that you should just roll the dice and experiment and see if it works out for you. Sorry, it didn't. Sorry about your leg. We love talking about bikes and we're going to say what we've experienced, tell war stories and say the things we feel and think. But the truth is that the only answers I have for you entering this incredibly depreciative financial strain of a hobby is that that entire class you took, you may not have seen this, but when a person steps off the bike and says, this isn't for me, I'm leaving. That self-awareness was the whole game. The class worked. They realized about themselves. They shouldn't be doing this. They don't do it. You made it through and you're thinking, I don't know how I got through that. I don't even think I'm roadworthy. Yes. You can play that to yourself. You can play that in your head. It's not for me to judge what bike can you handle? I don't know. You might get a triumph rocket three, which is 2,300 CCs of hellfire, or you might get a moped that doesn't run and you push it home and stand next to it. I'm not in charge of what you can or can't handle. You are. There are going to be people that are going to walk up to you and insist. You owe Brian and I nothing.

Angel: Thank you. I really appreciate you saying that because I already have ran into a few of them. But you said something about the mental capacity that it takes to ride a bike. Oh, my gosh. It's insane. I had to take a nap before going back to the classroom after riding. I have not been sleeping. I'm getting probably three hours a night. Three hours a night. I'm going to work. Carl's like, you better drink coffee while you're drinking coffee.

Robin: Do you have the angst?

Angel: Yes. For the past week and a half, no sleep. I don't know how I'm up right now.

Robin: That requires a safe environment. Yeah. Public roads are heavily trafficated. It's a word now.

Brian: It's a word now if you want it to be.

Robin: There is no place for angst. Yes.

Angel: Fatigue. Fatigue is, I heard, the number one cause of crashes.

Brian: Yeah, it's a big one. Are you having fun? That's what I want to know.

Angel: Oh, in 1000%. I would not change anything.

Robin: That's not a real number. I'm going to need an actual demographic. Our people will talk to your people. We have a contract. We'll figure all this out.

Angel: No problem. I'm getting in touch with my lawyer. Do you guys still have fun? Do you guys still have fun after all these years?

Robin: No. Oh, God, no. I hate motorcycling.

Angel: I hate it. Why would you have a podcast?

Robin: Motorcycles are dangerous.

Brian: It's one of those things that's incredibly deep. You can always learn and always have new experiences. Robin's running a tour next spring, Truth or Consequences. Look it up. We'll put her an ad for it.

Angel: Okay.

Brian: I've been there twice, and I'm really, really, really working on if I can get out there and do it again, rent a bike again.

Angel: That sounds fun.

Brian: All summer, so many experiences. It's central for me, central for Robin, motorcycling in the life. For a lot of people, it is. I wouldn't worry about getting bored.

Angel: We haven't even talked about the mental benefits.

Brian: Oh, yeah.

Angel: The wind therapy and what that can do and how it helps with stress. Meditation on a bike.

Robin: Yeah. You remember from the class, search setup smooth?

Angel: I remember spat, speed, position, danger.

Robin: You took the MSF course? I think it's... Total control?

Angel: It's a California something. I think it's that one.

Robin: Oh, yeah. Am I getting on that? No, you're good. That's fine. It's okay to do so.

Angel: I remember the eight weeks out of these spats.

Robin: So what does spat stand for?

Angel: Speed, position, and turn. How you get there all the way through.

Robin: That's excellent. The MSF, we say slow look, press roll. So slow down, look through the turn, press to initiate the lean, and roll on the throttle to make the turn. Eventually, it becomes search setup smooth. Search what you're doing, set up for the corner, and then smoothly take the corner. Something I've been thinking about lately, when I am in smooth, I am also in setup.

Angel: Oh, okay. You're already leading.

Robin: Thinking ahead. This is not a technique I'm trying to push. I'm trying to say that the mind has got to be thinking 3D chess. Hopefully, we'll get to talk about that a little bit next time. I didn't know how this is going to go.

Angel: I didn't either, but I enjoyed it.

Brian: It's amazing. Thank you.

Angel: Mr. Brian Ringer. How long have I known you now? Probably earlier this year.

Brian: It was earlier this year. Awesome.