A girl, and her failed attempt to be cool.

Fellow riders, allow me to share a recent experience of mine:

One day I was cruising the moto section of craigslist and I found an add someone had posted, looking for a riding buddy. I noticed the name on the add was female, so I thought “hmm I wonder what it’s like to ride with a girl”.

A couple days later we met up at a local coffee joint. She seemed cool enough, cute but shy. I noticed she had a huge tattoo of a Blood Elf on her forearm, and a huge tattoo of the Master Sgt. from halo on her shoulder?!?! I just thought "WTF wow she's made some interesting life choices for sure". We talked about bikes a bit and it was obvious she didn’t know anything about how to maintain a motorcycle, or even keep it in running shape. I told her she could come by my place and I’ll show her how to adjust her chain, change the oil etc. She seemed interested, and even though I made a couple attempts to get her to come over, she always managed to flake somehow. Eventually I just gave up. As much as I want to help a someone have a safe operating bike, I’m not going to beg them for my help.

After a couple rides, she tells me she can’t stand her 250 because it’s not as fast as my CBR and she needs more power. I told her to just take it easy, learn how to ride the bike properly and don’t worry about the power till later. Of course she didn’t want to listen to me, which seems to be a common occurrence with new riders when given advice.

A couple days later she found a guy selling a 1994 ninja zzr1100, who was willing to do an even trade for her 2008 ninja 250r. She called me and asked if she thought it was a good bike/good idea. I immediately told her it was a bad idea and she should keep her current bike. Upon further investigation of the craigslist add, I find the bike is a total POS, with damaged fairings, a dented frame, and pieces falling off. I called her back and explained why that bike is dangerous, especially for a new rider like herself. Her response was “She would think about it, but she’s going to check out the bike and test ride it anyways”.

Low and behold a day later she is the owner of a beat to hell 1994 zz1100. I tried to hold back my cynicism which was hard, since she basically disregarded everything I said. But for the most part I was able to bite my tongue.

About a week later we met up to go ride and so I could check out her “new” bike. The bike was even worse in person. I kicked the chain to get a good ballpark of its deflection. I would say the chain had about 3-4 inches of free-play. It was so bad it made an actual “chain” clank cling sound when I kicked it with my boot. “You really need to adjust your chain its dangerous like that” I told her. Her only reply was “I don’t know how”. I just sighed and continued to look over the bike. Plastic pieces are falling off, her gas gauge didn’t work, the bike was just beat to hell. After examining her bike, her remark was “yea I know it needs work.

After riding with her a couple times, it was becoming obvious that she just had a piss poor attitude when it came to riding. After rides we would stop and I would ask her how she liked her new bike compared to the ninja 250. All she ever responded with was "i dunno" or "how much faster her new bike was". No comments on the extra 250lbs of weight, or how she was obviously plowing it into corners and having trouble keeping a steady pace (which she was able to do on the ninja 250).

Through all of this I could not keep thinking in the back of my head “This girl is going to crash and seriously hurt, if not kill herself, and there is nothing I can do”.

I tried to help her with the bike mechanically and she didn’t see the importance. I tried to help her riding technique and she was too stubborn to listen. All I could do was remove myself from the situation. What if she crashed and died while we were riding one day? I felt like I did all I could to help this poor little squid-ette.

So I stopped talking to her for the most part. We are still friends on facebook and she posts status updates on her “riding adventures and mishaps” quite frequently. Today she left a status update that caught me off guard, but only because it happened faster than I expected.

Take a look for yourself. I have attached her status updates to this thread and they paint a clear picture of this girl’s utter failure.

Girl: Getting a Motorcycle this Friday, yay! I'm really excited.
November 18, 2009 at 1:36pm

Girl: Got my Motorcycle Permit today!!!!
January 8 at 3:50pm

Girl: Got a Motorcycle, yay! Ninja 250r Thanks to Alec for the help!! Will post pictures when it's delivered later.
January 9 at 3:48pm

Girl: Yay!!! Took my first ride on a friends motorcycle, most fun I've had in a LONG time!! Now I just need to work on stopping with out stalling the damn thing.
January 22 at 3:51pm

Girl: My fine is $585
January 22 at 4:01pm

Girl: What color should I paint my bike? Thinking Hot Pink with some white pearl for details... Hmm.
February 3 at 3:09pm

Girl: Zx11 is crazy. Need new break pads apparently ><
March 18 at 11:32pm

Girl: Broke my toe. Dropped a 600lb motorcycle on it.
March 25 at 11:54pm

Girl: Yay Finally got a new motorcycle jacket and some summer riding gloves. Hot pink gear for the win!
April 2 at 3:20pm

Girl: I totaled my motorcycle. The throttle got stuck at 60 and my front break went out. I honestly thought I was going to die for a minute. That realization is truly horrifying, let me tell you. I closed my eyes, and hit the curb. I ended up losing a lot of skin on my stomach, and I'm covered in huge bruises and scrapes. Knee is really messed up too. Also sprained my shoulder.
April 8 at 1:30pm

:banghead:

 

I already mentioned she was "cute". I have a girlfriend. I was just looking for a riding buddy honestly.

I'm not divulging any names or posting any pics of her, because I have to draw the line somewhere. I'm sure we have all had similar experiences with unexperienced riders. Some people just won't listen. How far is going "too far" when it comes to preventing a serious catastrophe?