Doc Wong's wife just completed MSF, now what?

[DocWong]

Be honest, Doc, how will you feel the day she passes you on the back wheel going into turn 10 at t-hill?

No, actually I'd be SO happy and proud! Seeing anyone improve skills or anything else for that matter is something I can always appreciate and don't feel any the lesser for.

Like anyone else though, she'd have to work at it and put in some time, effort, thought and training. Guess I'd have to be out there with her and do all those track days with her.

 

[Nemo Brinker]

It's just a simple fact that anyone who we share our lives with will experience both good and bad due to our influence. We take them both together and hope that the good far outweighs the bad.

I'll bet that if someone asked your GF privately what she thinks about riding she'd talk about the good times and would never mention the broken ankle, unless she thought there was a good story in there somewhere.

True that. I did ask her, and sure enough, she has almost entirely good memories, and wants very much to ride again when she's healed. Meanwhile, I'm doing my best to support her through the injury--it's now in a walking cast and she can drive again. Share the pain, share the good times.

Woah really? I looked up those boots and they look pretty protective. Maybe I am under the wrong impression and that ankles can be broken, protection or not? Or was her ankle pinned the wrong way? Or was it such a hard low side that without the boots, her entire foot would have been broken?
...

Hard to say, of course. She hit a large, sharp-edged bump on a corner exit with lots of sand and powdery dust, came off the throttle, and the front deflected enough to send her down at about 10 mph. She said the ankle felt like a spring coiling until it snapped, as the footpeg caught the toe of the boot and rotated it outward.
Gear, even high-end stuff, is harm reduction and not a panacea. I suspect that without good boots, instead of a small lateral malleolar fracture, she'd have some sort of spiral tibia/fibula fracture.

Most importantly, best of luck and enjoyment to DW's wife as she begins her moto journey. Trust, love and excellent preparation go a long way.

 

[LikeWaah]

Hard to say, of course. She hit a large, sharp-edged bump on a corner exit with lots of sand and powdery dust, came off the throttle, and the front deflected enough to send her down at about 10 mph. She said the ankle felt like a spring coiling until it snapped, as the footpeg caught the toe of the boot and rotated it outward.
Gear, even high-end stuff, is harm reduction and not a panacea. I suspect that without good boots, instead of a small lateral malleolar fracture, she'd have some sort of spiral tibia/fibula fracture.

Hmm..I'm gonna have to look up those medical terms. Not exactly my forte.

It sounds like it wasn't so much a fracture from compression, as it was from a sudden rotational force applied to the foot? Doesn't seem like hard protective boots would help in a situation like that. I would have been more concerned about my protection if I had heard she broke her ankle because it was crushed under the weight of her bike.

Thanks for sharing details, I hope she makes a full recovery.

 

[Razel]

Hmm..I'm gonna have to look up those medical terms. Not exactly my forte.

It sounds like it wasn't so much a fracture from compression, as it was from a sudden rotational force applied to the foot? Doesn't seem like hard protective boots would help in a situation like that. I would have been more concerned about my protection if I had heard she broke her ankle because it was crushed under the weight of her bike.

Thanks for sharing details, I hope she makes a full recovery.

No, since there's no spiral break, it most likely is a compression break. Check out "bimalleolar ankle fracture", which is a more serious compression break. Happens when the side case lands on your ankle as the bike falls over after the foot is dragged off the foot-peg. Boots can't hold up against a 600lb bike falling over.

DAMHIKT ...

 

[GearChic]

Egggsactly.

AJ said it best

I've got a slightly different perspective, being the wife in our riding duo - although our situation was a little different in that we went through MSF together and started riding at the same time. After moving out to California, however, I really got into riding, and he pretty much just stuck with commuting. I've finally started dragging him out for the fun of it, and he's gotten a lot better a lot quicker, partially because he not only was willing to listen to my advice, but also took it and used it. Not fair! What took me a few years, blood, sweat, tears, and time in the saddle to figure out, he managed to assimilate in about 1 year

My advice from a woman's perspective: don't give advice unless it's truly needed (ie very dangerous behavior) or she asks for it; hook her up with other people to ride with and other newb friendly groups; let her take the reins and lead you around places and afterwards, keep your mouth shut unless she asks for advice - and then, keep it concise; still keep riding your rides even if she can't come, otherwise, she'll feel like she's holding you back.

As for the feelings of trepidation - you'll have that no matter what. We (as a couple) have been riding for over 7 years now, and I still have a (mild) worry every time he gets on the bike. I would imagine the same goes for him. We don't voice this to each other, it's just something you have to accept. I do find, however, that I worry about him less when we are together (even if we're in different groups and can't really see each other) than I do when he's alone. Find what you love about riding, and allow her to find what she loves about it...it's okay if you are into different aspects of riding (something I'm now working at getting better about).

 

[DocWong]

Yes, definitely, thanks AJ for sharing your perspective!

OK so we went out and looked at bikes with her sitting on various bikes. Though I tried to steer her towards an older generation Kawasaki Ninja 250, previously dropped gently on each side, she kept looking at the newer sport bikes.

Then she saw the "Ninja" ZX10 and really liked it's looks and I could see that gleam in her eyes. I'm thinking: "over my dead body."

"Hey honey, look at this one, this is even better." It was a new generation Kawasaki Ninja 250. So this is what she ended up with:

Let's see how this all goes: She's happy and I'm hoping for the best.

 

[two wheel tramp]

We had a newbie rider on one of your group rides a few months back who had a ZX14... way too much bike for him. I'm glad you steered your wife towards a good starter and I hope you both have fun riding together.

 

[DocWong]

We had a newbie rider on one of your group rides a few months back who had a ZX14... way too much bike for him. I'm glad you steered your wife towards a good starter and I hope you both have fun riding together.

Yes, he wanted the baddest of bikes, scared the sh.... out of himself and is selling the bike. He's keeping his Harley though.

Tomorrow I'll take her out to Canada College parking lot, I hope it'll go well.

 

[sopranos]

Yes, definitely, thanks AJ for sharing your perspective!

OK so we went out and looked at bikes with her sitting on various bikes. Though I tried to steer her towards an older generation Kawasaki Ninja 250, previously dropped gently on each side, she kept looking at the newer sport bikes.

Then she saw the "Ninja" ZX10 and really liked it's looks and I could see that gleam in her eyes. I'm thinking: "over my dead body."

"Hey honey, look at this one, this is even better." It was a new generation Kawasaki Ninja 250. So this is what she ended up with:

Let's see how this all goes: She's happy and I'm hoping for the best.

Beautiful bike and smart decision!

What year?

 

[iamjr2]

I would like to offer my wife and my experiences...

My wife also choose to learn to ride after riding on the back of my bike for a year while we were dating. She took the MSF basic course, geared up (believes in AGATT) , and got her own bike (having the left brain / right hand maturity and physical size, to buy a 600 class bike).

After taking the basic MSF, which she found useful but limited, wanted to expand her riding experience as quickly as possible given the time we had available to ride (kids, jobs, etc..).

We looked for a suitable training opportunity, but found none (she wanted a "early learner" experience on a closed area, like a track day for people with less than 100 miles experience... stuff like basic downshifting (one gear, then more than one, and letting out the throttle without a minivan behind her...). Usually the answer we got was "go get 1000 miles and then sign up"... or they were too group oriented (this could be a good business opportunity).

We discussed it at length, and after I made all of the mistakes noted in previous posts about how to offer advice, (my style based on 25 years of street riding, and hers being completely different..), we decided on what I think is a unique approach.

We purchased a set of helmet to helmet intercomms, and set off on rides togethers. These started as short rides (< 1 hour) with me in the lead, her following...

During the ride I would call out all of the things I was looking at during my scans, why I was choosing a section of road, when I thought up or down shifts were appropriate. She would also talk about what she was looking at, ask questions, let me know how comfortable she was. I could adjust the pace based on that, or stop and take breaks to talk... (topics were all over eg: traction "why did my tires feel slippery back there?, to silly, "why do the cows look at bikes but not cars?")

I would say it was a pretty effective way of helping her learn. Early on, I over committed her to situations she was not comfortable with and one of those lead to a fall (low speed, on the side of the road), hurting her and the bike. She examined the situation and the causes, considered the risk and decided to continue to ride. We stepped back and really talked about each ride being based on advancing her capabilities (example: we didn't hit a highway untill the 15th ride!) and she could call a ride off at any time..

Her skills now after a year plus and a couple dozen + rides are vastly improved, we still ride with the comms (it feels weird to ride with out them now..). She's got her 1000+ miles and now she's leading, commenting, setting the pace... and looking forward to a real track day.

I feel she is a much better rider than she would have been just "putting in miles" on her own.

My commitment was considerable, I pretty much dedicated all of my/our available riding time to mentoring her, and many times it was hard not to screw on the throttle on the twisties to maximize my enjoyment level. She was always concerned about that, but my position was and is that I now have the best riding buddy a guy could ask for...

There you go... hope our experience can help others.

Oh, and since someone will ask (it is BARF!)... yes she hawt...

 

[sv2007]

Man, this is a way too new experience for me, I feel like a newbie in dealing with this!

My wife never worried about me hurting myself on a bike, she just said, "Don't hurt yourself, if you do, I'll finish the job!" But now the shoe is on the other foot.

Last year she talked about learning to ride, now, policy with anyone that wants to ride is that I don't encourage or discourage riding. I figure that anyone that wants to ride has to have a strong desire to ride since that is necessary to improve their skills and get thru the initial learning curves and beyond.

So now, last week she took the MSF course and passed and now we're looking for a Kawasaki EX 250 for her first bike.

It's very strange, I find myself with some very mixed feelings on her riding. Though it's all new and exciting for her, I know that she doesn't know much if at all of the pitfalls, dangers and areas where one can get into trouble riding. As with any experienced rider with lots and lots of miles, you always gain a tremendous amount of experience over time and your safety margin improves. The thought of her hurting herself has me a bit besides myself, crap, how does the SOs of others deal with this?

It's ironic, after all these years of doing all of the Doc Wong Riding Clinics and helping so many riders over the years, still has not prepared me for this...

Anyone know how to do a "Vulcan Mind Meld????"

So what now? Anyone have similar experiences?

Show her all the crash videos on youtube and then post-crash pics on the web (bloodier the better), this is what I did for a coworker after he recently finished his MSF class. He's properly scared now and will listen to me better.