Lee Heaver: Your First Motorcycle

Transcript

[0:00:36] Charlie Hoehn: You’re listening to Author Hour, enlightening conversations about books with the authors who wrote them. I’m Charlie Hoehn. Today’s episode is with Lee Heaver, author of Your First Motorcycle. Before you buy a motorcycle, there is a lot of information you need to know in order to get going and keep you safe while you’re riding. By the end of this episode, you’ll know the critical tips before you buy your bike so that you can have the confidence to safely hit the highway. Now, here is our conversation with Lee Heaver.

[0:01:24] Lee Heaver: I bought an 1989 Honda CB-1. It was a 400 cc motorcycle. A used the motorcycle I bought at a dealer and it seemed fine to me and I rode it. Everything was decent about it. I didn’t really know if it was running poorly or not. It was two wheels and an engine and seemed good to me, but it did have hesitation in the throttle and I thought that was normal. I thought it was kind of weird, but it did get to a point where it just would shut down on me and I had to restart it and start it up again. It was older bike, so I thought, “Okay. Maybe that’s just an older bike thing.” It really struggled on some hills and put me in a dangerous situation. I’m like, “This isn’t right, and I can’t keep riding around like this if it’s potentially going to die on me in a very dicey situation.” When I did bring it to a different place to get looked at, the valves needed to be readjusted and worked on. When that was done and I picked up the bike, it was like I had a brand new motorcycle. Like this one I have now, even though it’s the same. It felt completely different. When I bought the bike, I thought that was normal. I didn’t know any better and the dealer should have recognized that and at least warned me about it before sending me out there. They may not even know it by themselves. They just got the bike, said, “Yeah, it’s good enough. We’ll just sell it as is.” Maybe they never even rode it. I don’t know. I should have brought someone with me or got it checked out by someone right away, because it’s my health and safety on this thing. I maybe got really lucky and nothing bad happened, but I drove it around for quite a while though, figured that out and get it fixed. Some very simple things that I could have done to avoid that risk.

[0:03:30] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah. What kind of things did you learn from that experience? Was that really the pivotal moment where you decided, “I’m going to learn everything I can about my motorcycle.”

[0:03:44] Lee Heaver: Yeah. I don’t want to learn everything about it. I don’t have the mind to just really get in and take out all apart, but I really did realize that, “Hey, I got to take this a lot more seriously.” I do need to have someone check it out and not just once every – anytime it gets broken down. I got to keep on top of this. I got to prevent this from happening. I got to make sure this is nice and safe. It’s not like a car or a little check engine light comes on. You’ll never really get that warning with a motorcycle. It’s really on you to make sure it is safe to ride.

[0:04:23] Charlie Hoehn: That’s surprising to hear. I’ve never driven a motorcycle. I’ve ridden a couple of times on the backs of friends and it is a nerve-wrecking experience for me, so I tend to steer clear of it. I’m surprised that there’s no check engine lights. How often are you having to get your motorcycle checked. What are the things that motorcycle drivers really need to be looking out for?

[0:04:47] Lee Heaver: A lot of motorcycles don’t ride a lot. If you drive your car around for 10,000 miles a year or 20,000 miles a year, generally, a motorcycle rider will only ride a thousand, two, three, maybe 5,000 miles a year. It’s not enough time and miles to really show that there’s something wrong with it, but motorcycles that sit around still need to be taken care of. The gas can go stale. You don’t want to leave dirty oil in there. You want to change it with a little more frequency, and you’re basically taking a flashlight and checking all over your bike a lot more. Tires don’t last nearly as long either, so you got to keep an eye on that, because those are like two points that connect to the road. You can’t be complaisant about the tread life or how much air is in the tires. You need to check that regularly.

[0:05:46] Charlie Hoehn: Let’s talk about your book. If you had to pick one idea or story from the book that our listeners are going to remember three months from now, what would you say?

[0:05:59] Lee Heaver: If you’re going to get into motorcycling, start with a smaller motorcycle.

[0:06:03] Charlie Hoehn: How small?

[0:06:04] Lee Heaver: About 300 cc’sor 500 cc’s. In that range.

[0:06:09] Charlie Hoehn: I don’t even remember what cc’s mean. What does that translate to?

[0:06:13] Lee Heaver: It translates to that, it will have enough power to get you around town and ride on highways and you’ll still be faster than most of the cars on the road.

[0:06:23] Charlie Hoehn: Okay. What do first time motorcycle riders typically buy? Do they far exceed 300 to 500 cc’s?

[0:06:33] Lee Heaver: Yes, they can. You could buy a 600 cc sport bike which will do 0 to 60 in 4 seconds or less. You can buy a cruiser, like a Harley Davidson which has 800 or 1,200 cc’s, and that’s an immense amount of power. Along with those bigger engines, they carry a lot bigger weight, so then they’re harder to manage and the acceleration is so intense, so fast, that you’re just not used to it or capable of it. Even if you drive sport cars and you race them, a motorcycle is vastly different than that, and it takes a while for minds and bodies to adjust to riding a motorcycle. If you start with a smaller engine motorcycle, and those are all a lot lighter and easier to manage, it’s so much easier to learn how to ride, get comfortable with it and learn the advance riding on a smaller motorcycle as well so that when you get to a bigger one, you’re better prepared.

[0:07:34] Charlie Hoehn: I understand that, but why does this really matter to somebody who’s getting their first motorcycle? I know a handful of friends who have motorcycles, and I know at least one of them would say, “Nah! I’m just going to go for the one that I’m going to grow into, and I’ll learn on that.” Why does it really matter to them to start small?

[0:07:59] Lee Heaver: It’s just easier to learn on something smaller. If you want something that you can grow into, you absolutely will, but the learning curve is a lot steeper, and if it’s stepper that means you have a greater risk to your health and safety. That’s the real key point here. Sure, you may avoid transaction fees. Buying the motorcycle and selling it for less. It may cost you a bit of money there, but you will get so much more forgiveness with a smaller motorcycle when you make mistakes. On a bigger motorcycle, you just don’t get that forgiveness. The cost of starting with a smaller bike is really, really small, because when you own a small bike and you’re ready to sell it, you’ll be selling it to the biggest possible market that wants to buy it. It will be a quick sell.

[0:08:46] Charlie Hoehn: What are some of the other ideas in this book that maybe I would not be able to guess or find easily with some basic research online?

[0:08:57] Lee Heaver: Probably buying a motorcycle. There’re lots of different opinions and strategies there, but a lot of people will take out a loan to buy a motorcycle and the terms of the loan can be challenging. The salesman or saleswomen, whoever is selling you the motorcycle, their job is to get you into a motorcycle no matter what. Whatever motorcycle you want, they want to put you there in it and they can set you up with a loan that have really unfavorable terms. It will get you the bike, but you’ll be paying this loan off for longer that you have planned and interest cost could be a lot higher than you really realize and understand. Part of my book is dedicated to buying for your first bike or any motorcycle, the smart and efficient way. Because motorcycling is not cheap. There’s definitely a good startup cost to getting into it and joining a club.

[0:10:02] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah. What are those costs?

[0:10:04] Lee Heaver: If you want to learn and buy the gear and buy a motorcycle, you’ll need at least $5,000. If you want the nicer stuff and maybe a nicer bike, it can get closer to $10,000.

[0:10:19] Charlie Hoehn: Dang! This is obviously something not to take lightly both from a health standpoint, but also from a financial standpoint. It’s a significant investment.

[0:10:28] Lee Heaver: Yeah, absolutely.

[0:10:30] Charlie Hoehn: Do you talk at all in your book about Vespas and scooters? I don’t know what those cost, but I know they’re under 5,000.

[0:10:37] Lee Heaver: Yeah. No, they are. You can get a motorcycle for $1000 or $2,000. I’m including your gear and the course and maybe a bit of insurance thrown in there as well.

[0:10:49] Charlie Hoehn: A course is required to ride motorcycles?

[0:10:51] Lee Heaver: No. It’s not. You can learn on your own.

[0:10:53] Charlie Hoehn: Oh, really?

[0:10:54] Lee Heaver: It’s not a law that you must take a course. You have to through the licensing. Technically, you can learn in a backyard or an empty alley or street.

[0:11:04] Charlie Hoehn: What is the licensing mean?

[0:11:06] Lee Heaver: We have to get a license to drive a car. You must get a license to ride a motorcycle.

[0:11:13] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah. You got to answer questions on a test, basically.

[0:11:17] Lee Heaver: Yeah. At some point, an examiner will have to watch you ride a motorcycle.

[0:11:22] Charlie Hoehn: Okay. What are some of the things that you learn in the course? Let’s start there. If I took a motorcycle course, would I feel that that’s a worthwhile investment after I’ve done it?

[0:11:31] Lee Heaver: Absolutely, because we’re going to force you to do exercises and drills with a lot of repetition. When we learn things on our own, we typically rush through them. With us, we’re going to make you do these things over and over to get that repetition, to get that muscle memory and so that when you need to rely upon that skill, it’s automatic. It’s easy to learn how to ride motorcycles. It’s really hard to stay safe, and what we’re focusing on.

[0:12:05] Charlie Hoehn: Interesting. Yeah, it’s making me think back on my days of learning to drive a car. I grew up in Colorado, and so in our driver’s courses we had to practice over and over and over hitting ice skids and it has, for sure, prevented me from getting in crashes at least a handful of times, because it became automatic. So I can see that. Give me the essential drills that you put new motorcycle riders through that are so critical to them developing the muscle memory for.

[0:12:41] Lee Heaver: Riding a motorcycle slowly. If you can ride a motorcycle slowly, it definitely increases your skill level of riding it faster, because there’s so much balance involved there. When we ride a motorcycle, we don’t really ride it slowly, but you will have to do it 5% or 10% of the time, which could be traffic, gas stations and parquets. If you’re unable to do that, you’re basically going to be walking your motorcycle. You won’t look confident either.

[0:13:12] Charlie Hoehn: Speaking of, do you teach new motorcycle riders how to start their motorcycle in a way that’s super awesome and makes girls go, “Oh my gosh! Who’s that guy?”

[0:13:24] Lee Heaver: Yeah, you can get – When we put them off for the first time, we tell everyone, “Get your Hollywood revs out of your system. Rev it off and whatnot,” but it’s such a terrible way to ride a motorcycle. It’s fine stationary, but once you get moving, you really need a steady throttle hand.

[0:13:42] Charlie Hoehn: Do you also give any recommendations to motorcycle riders on how to not wake up babies in the middle of the night while riding through neighborhoods?

[0:13:52] Lee Heaver: Absolutely. The loud pipes on a motorcycle is definitely one of those issues that we all deal with. They’re really unnecessary on a motorcycle. There’s a big drive; “Loud Pipes Saves Lives.” I’ll agree with that.

[0:14:12] Charlie Hoehn: Is that true?

[0:14:12] Lee Heaver: No, it’s not. Loud pipes saves lives, inconsistently.

[0:14:18] Charlie Hoehn: I don’t even know what that expression means. How could it save a life?

[0:14:22] Lee Heaver: Because if the motorcycle is really loud, drivers —

[0:14:25] Charlie Hoehn: Oh, you can hear it coming — Yeah.

[0:14:27] Lee Heaver: But it’s not exactly you can pinpoint where that motorcycle is, but also cars or trucks are very well-insulated, so they can’t hear you as well. They’re a little distracted too. They’re focusing on other things. It will inconsistently save lives with its loud volume. For the most part, it just annoys people, and the best way to ride a motorcycle is to ride as if you’re invisible out there, because if you’re relying on your loud pipes to save you, you’re going to get disappointed at some point.

[0:15:04] Charlie Hoehn: Right. I was obviously kind of joking around there a little bit, but there is some seriousness to some of these questions that I’m about to ask, which is like do you coach new motorcycle riders on humility? Part of the reason that you get a motorcycle is because it’s awesome. It’s fun. It’s dangerous and exciting, right? Similar to owning a gun in some ways, and not to compare the two really, but I’m just saying the mindset has to be; this is a tool. I can obviously have fun, but I also need to stay grounded and humble; that this can also be very dangerous if used improperly. Do you coach them on how to not go nuts and put their lives at risk?

[0:15:59] Lee Heaver: Absolutely, because once you get on a motorcycle, it’s exciting. So it’s going to make you want to do things you wouldn’t normally do. Being on a two seats or two wheels and an engine, you’re really exposed out there and you’re on something that has a lot of acceleration, it’s exciting. You could have your friends around you and you’ll just want — You will finally become a different person, because now you’ve got the helmet and you’ve the motorcycle gear. You’re feeling pretty good. You’re looking and you want to go out there and really experience this. You will end up riding your motorcycle a lot faster than you would drive your car.

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[0:17:51] Lee Heaver: With how exciting it is, I definitely recommend that everyone go do some advanced riding training or some track days so you can push yourself and get that exciting moments out of your system. It’s hard to manage. I still have to manage it every time I get on a bike, because I’m having a great time. For the most part, everyone is getting to get exposed to it, especially male riders. Women riders have much better brains for keeping it reasonable out there.

[0:18:24] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah. They just don’t get flooded with testosterone, I guess.

[0:18:27] Lee Heaver: Yeah, exactly. When guys get out there, yeah, they can really get themselves in just some potential troublesome scenarios. But if you can get yourself out to a track where you can go as fast as you want and lean the bike over as much as you want, you’d get it out of your system, you’ll learn the bike more and you’ll just be a lot more grounded and more appreciative of how dangerous it can be to ride on the street at those ridiculous speeds.

[0:18:59] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah, I think that’s great advice. What percentage of motorcycle riders actually do what you’re talking about?

[0:19:05] Lee Heaver: Probably 10% or less.

[0:19:07] Charlie Hoehn: Oh, man! It should be much higher.

[0:19:10] Lee Heaver: Yeah, I really wish it would be, because I do teach on the track and you do see a lot of people come out, but a lot of times they are the same ones and you get new people come out, which is great. But there’s a general healthy fear of they don’t want to drop or crash their bike, which unfortunately it’s just part of riding a motorcycle. You are going to falloff at some time, but most likely it’s going to be a minor thing. Especially if you’re in a safe learning environment, falling off your bike will be a non-event. It’ll be scary, but you will learn a lot from it. I had my first motorcycle crash on a track. I had a bit of an education event to learn my bike. So when it happened, it was scary, but nothing happened. My bike was damaged, but I was okay. My motorcycle gear did its job and then I knew, “Okay. That’s as far as I can lean my motorcycle over. Don’t do that again.”

[0:20:12] Charlie Hoehn: To be honest, I was a little nervous about this conversation, Lee, because one of my childhood friends, he died in a motorcycle accident and it was the exact scenario kind of we’re talking about, is he just sort of — I don’t know. It was just bad conditions to be driving in and it’s just going too fast. This is a subject that’s dear to me, and I’m sure you’ve had this conversation many times, but how do you get — What are the conditions that you’re like you should never — If it’s your first motorcycle, steer clear of these until you have a certain proficiency level.

[0:20:55] Lee Heaver: Trying to keep up with other riders that are better than you. There’s a great motorcyclist, so you always have people to ride with as long as you’re social. If those people are a lot better than you and you’re trying to keep up, you’re most likely going to make a mistake. Don't think the taking one motorcycle course is enough. You should be always trying to learn.

[0:21:19] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah, ongoing education.

[0:21:20] Lee Heaver: Yeah, absolutely. It’s the same goal with piano and dance. You can’t just take 20 hours of dance lessons or piano lessons and then go perform in front of an audience. They’ll just boo you off the stage.

[0:21:35] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah. When do you recommend highways for instance?

[0:21:39] Lee Heaver: Very soon after. Highways are much safer places to ride than cities.

[0:21:44] Charlie Hoehn: Than intersections. Yeah.

[0:21:45] Lee Heaver: Intersections are the most dangerous place to ride. The less of those you ride, the better off you’ll be.

[0:21:51] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah. What else in your book do you really want to impart and share with people?

[0:21:58] Lee Heaver: Wear your motorcycle gear. It’s not going to make you invincible out there, but it’s going to make you really close. It is really designed very, very well to protect your head, to protect your body. While you won’t be immune from injury, being fully geared up will make a huge difference when you have those moments where you make a mistake or something happens in front of you that there’s just no avoiding it.

[0:22:31] Charlie Hoehn: Have you had any of those moments?

[0:22:33] Lee Heaver: Oh, yeah. I’ve crashed on the track. I’ve crashed on my ride when I was riding through Baja, Mexico, and motorcycle gear makes all the difference, because I didn’t hurt myself enough that I couldn’t ride. My bike suffered some damage, but it was okay. I’ve fallen a lot with dirt motorcycle, dirt riding and those courses. Again, it’s the motorcycle gear that really makes a huge, huge difference. A few of my friends have had some very nasty crashes, including a couple where we had the helicopter was called in to take him away. A motorcycle gear is the difference between their lives and they all were covered relatively quickly and they all rode motorcycles again.

[0:23:21] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah. Just to bring some levity to what we’re talking about earlier. Have you heard the comedian Greg Giraldo’s standup on motorcycle gear?

[0:23:32] Lee Heaver: No. I might have. Just give me a few of the punch lines.

[0:23:37] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah. He basically says his whole life he’d wanted to ride a motorcycle. He just thought it was so cool. Then finally he got one, but his dad his entire life had told him, “You can do anything you want, just never ride a motorcycle. Never ride a motorcycle.” It was his birthday and his family was there. His friends were there and one of his friends gave him some gears, some leather pants and he unwrapped them and he thought, “Great. Now, I have to pretend I’m gay for the rest of my life,” just to keep his dad calm, that he’s not a motorcycle rider. Anyway, I know you just released the book, so congratulations. You own a business, obviously, around helping people ride their motorcycles. Can you tell me how long you’ve had that business?

[0:24:33] Lee Heaver: I started it in April 2014.

[0:24:36] Charlie Hoehn: April 2014. Cool. Had it for little over three years, what have been some of the transformations you’ve been most proud of with your customers that have come through?

[0:24:49] Lee Heaver: I’ve seen them get into motorcycle racing right away, take a bunch of courses, and they’re winning races. They’ve gone from — Like one student in particular, he learned in May of 2015 and the race that he participated in this year, he has beaten out the trophy holders of several years. They’re good riders and he’s beaten them out with less than two years of experience riding motorcycles. I’ve got another student, he’s currently in South America and he just rode down there up in Vancouver, Canada here and he’s just riding all down through there with, again, not a whole heck of a lot of experience, but enough and a good head on their shoulders that they can do it. If you really want to get into these big interesting and fascinating rides that you see in movies and television, it’s absolutely possible. You’ll just have to spend a little more time on some extra training and some extra gear, but you’re not too far away from doing some very incredible amazing things in a motorcycle.

[0:26:05] Charlie Hoehn: Awesome. What are you most hoping for? What would be your dream testimonial from somebody who read your book?

[0:26:13] Lee Heaver: That it changed their life, that they got into motorcycling and they were looking for that next adventure or something that can give them more excitement in life and they took it, they got into it, they met a bunch of new people, they have a new social circle and they’re doing these big rides that they never thought that was possible. They’re just extremely happy and enjoying every moment of it. I love reading and hearing about that, because I do get so many students in where when I ask them why they’re getting into it or what’s it about for them and they’re just looking for something new to do that’s exciting. They understand the dangers. Their parents and friends are — Most people will tell you that it’s dangerous, it’s crazy, you’re going to get yourself hurt, yet they’ll do it anyway, and they still want to learn, given society’s view on motorcycles, and they do it and they enjoy it thoroughly, because you really do connect with the road and your motorcycle far more than you would with a car.

[0:27:26] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah. I believe that. Everything in life is a what if and a risk and it’s just a matter of are you going to be prepared to mitigate against that risk? It sounds like you’re just strongly advocating lifelong learning and going into this with both eyes open.

[0:27:47] Lee Heaver: It is inherently dangerous, but as long as you have the right approach — You can make anything dangerous and make it very, very safe. When we live our life, just living our lives, our biggest risk are going to be health related, given the way we eat, our diets. There are cancers, heart attacks, strokes, those are the top three reasons or top three things that are going to get you in life.

[0:28:15] Charlie Hoehn: Right. Even taking pills, the pills that are in your bathroom. If you’d been prescribed, that has a huge risk for a lot of them too.

[0:28:26] Lee Heaver: Absolutely. You’re going to take more risk riding a motorcycle around. No way to get around that. But let’s have a look at where can we make it safer. One insurance company in the U.K. found out that all their motorcycle riders that drive cars too, they don’t claim as much. They don’t get in as many car accidents, because they’re so much more aware out there. It makes you a better driver of your car, and a motorcycle can be —

[0:28:57] Charlie Hoehn: Is that true? Relative to number of motorcycles versus cars on the road, motorcyclists have a lower percentage of crashes total, or is it crashes reported?

[0:29:08] Lee Heaver: When a motorcyclist drives their car, they’re less likely to get into a crash versus someone who drives a car that doesn’t ride a motorcycle.

[0:29:19] Charlie Hoehn: Oh, okay. I got it.

[0:29:20] Lee Heaver: If you ride a motorcycle, you have more risk. Absolutely. There’s no way to get around that.

[0:29:26] Charlie Hoehn: Yeah.

[0:29:26] Lee Heaver: The vast majority of crashes, like well over 90% are rider error and just poor choices.

[0:29:36] Charlie Hoehn: This is going to sound like a completely ridiculous question, but I’m genuinely curious, do you think there will ever be such a thing as self-driving motorcycles?

[0:29:46] Lee Heaver: Yeah, Honda has one that they just kind of had a little video where literally the motorcycle balances itself and will follow you around with it. Yes, I do think that’s possible, and they’re just doing some testing with a robot motorcycle rider. They’re taking one of the top racers in the world, Valentino Rossi and putting him up against a motorcycle with literally a robot riding it.

[0:30:17] Charlie Hoehn: That’s wild stuff. Lee, can you give our listeners a challenge, what’s the one thing they can do from your book this week that could change their life apart from spending a few grand on a motorcycle? What could they do if they’re still on the fence thinking about getting a motorcycle?

[0:30:38] Lee Heaver: They’re still on a fence. I’d just go to a motorcycle dealer and start sitting on them, see how it feels to sit on a motorcycle. See what you like about it, what speaks to you about it. When you first get on, does it scare you? Does it make you excited? It costs nothing to look at motorcycles.

[0:30:59] Charlie Hoehn: That’s great. I love it. How can our listeners connect with you and follow you and even take a course with you.

[0:31:07] Lee Heaver: My motorcycle school is First Gear Motorcycle Training. It’s up here in Vancouver, B.C. Canada and we run nine months out of the year from February to October. You can find me there to that website. I’ve got my own website, ridefar.ca so you can see all the interviews and reviews and rides that I do there, and in the social media stuff too. You can check me on Instagram in Do You Ride Far.

[0:31:36] Charlie Hoehn: Awesome. This has been great. Thanks so much, Lee.

[0:31:38] Lee Heaver: Yeah. no, you’re very welcome and I hope to see more motorcycles out there on the road. It’s changed my life for the better and it definitely can change a lot of people and you can still do it very, very safely.

[0:31:53] Charlie Hoehn: Many thanks to Lee Leaver for being on the show. You can buy his book, Your First Motorcycle on amazon.com. Thanks again for listening to Author Hour, enlightening conversations about books with the authors who wrote them. We’ll see you next time.