As I approached my 56th birthday I was feeling bored and thinking more and more about getting back into riding. My wife, in her kindness, suggested that I go out and get myself a bike. She didn’t have to offer twice.I found what I thought was the perfect bike for me. A Honda Shadow. I needed to get my “bike legs” back and the Shadow was great for that, however a few months into my riding adventure I found myself disliking the machine more and more.
As I regained my “bike legs” I found that the Shadow had poor handling capabilities and the lack of cornering ability was quickly teaching me how much I could push the limits of the bikes performance. I am not talking about top speed here but how to lean the bike, braking ability etc. Consequently I learnt a lot about my own ability and how much more I needed to learn.
Two and half years later I sold the Shadow (opened a few beers I must admit) and bought a Harley Road King. It took me another 12 months of riding to fully understand the breaking and handling nature of the Road King, especially using the front break more than the year. Finally, 4 years after I took up riding again, I had a bike that suited my needs completely.
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