Am I too old for new adventures? I’m a hiker and backpacker who loves being outdoors and when I realized motorcycle camping was a thing, I wanted in! There was only problem – I had never ridden a motorcycle before. Can an older woman with no motorcycle experience learn to ride?
Can a 54 year old woman learn to ride a motorcycle?
Wanting to know if there were other over-50 women learning to ride a motorcycle, I googled “Can a 54 year old woman learn to ride a motorcycle?” I was hoping to get some inspirational stories that would get me revved up (sorry!) enough to sign up for a Learn to Ride class. Instead I got a Reddit thread with a bunch of guys talking about trying to teach wives or girlfriends how to ride a motorcycle, and it didn’t go well.
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Do you have to be athletic to ride a motorcycle?
One said it would be fine if the woman was ever athletic. Sure, I’m a hiker, but no one is going to call me athletic. If you’ve seen my hiking videos, I’m always out of breath and I’m so clumsy. I wasn’t sure I could learn to do it. But I decided to try anyway, and I signed up for a Learn to Ride motorcycle course. Then I had to tell my husband I did it.
My husband has a motorcycle so this wasn’t completely crazy to him. But I had never been on his motorcycle – not even as a passenger. I expected him to roll his eyes at me wanting to do this, but instead he blew up my phone with links to motorcycles for sale. I hadn’t planned to buy one yet – I wanted to see if I liked it first – but he said I should practice and I could always sell it if it wasn’t for me.
Buying a motorcycle before ever riding one
I really liked one of the bikes he sent me – a 2015 KTM 390 Duke. It was a Tuesday I signed up for the class and he sent me motorcycles to look at. Wednesday we called the owner of the KTM and set up an appointment for Thursday. I couldn’t test drive it because I’d never actually ridden a motorcycle (I didn’t even know how to start it at that point!), but Friday we brought her home. I was now a motorcycle owner even though I’d never actually ridden a motorcycle before.
My MSF Learn to Ride course was still two months away – it was the first one I could get into (they fill up quickly). I had some time to practice and learn before taking the MSF class.
Learning to ride a motorcycle in a parking lot
The next day – Saturday – we took the bike to a parking lot right down the road from my house and I got on and rode it around. And it was fine! I went very slow and my turns were very wide, but I was riding and even managed to get it into second gear. My car is a manual transmission / stick shift, so shifting isn’t a complicated concept for me. It’s just in a different place than I’m used to and more of a struggle when you’re worried about staying upright!
On Sunday we went back to the parking lot (me in the car, him on the bike) and I got to ride it again. I was slow and wide again, but I was an absolute beginner and so excited about learning to do more and getting better.
Learning to ride a motorcycle on the road
On Monday I got insurance. Tuesday I went in to get it registered. While I was there I took the motorcycle written test, got all the questions right, and got an Temporary Instruction Permit, or TIP. A TIP is a learner’s permit that allows me to ride on the road with another licensed rider in sight of me. I had only ridden a motorcycle for the first time a few days before, and now I could ride on the road. That seemed crazy, but I wanted to do it anyway!
The next day I had my very first motorcycle ride on the road. I followed my husband and we drove around some subdivisions near us. Hitting 40 miles per hour felt insanely fast and it was great – I loved it!
Practice rides
Over the next month, I had more practice rides. Sometimes on the road with my husband, sometimes doing circles in my driveway. I was getting better, slowly, and reaching greater speeds. I still turned slowly, though less wide than I once did. In my driveway and parking lots I practiced skills I would need for the motorcycle endorsement test. They administer the test at the end of the Learn to Ride course. There was still an entire month before the class, which was disappointing. I wanted to do more, now!
MSF online course
My course was through my local Harley Davidson dealership – Hot Rod Harley Davidson in Muskegon, MI – and it was with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF). As part of the MSF course, there’s an online learning program you have to take. They send it to you a month before your class.
I got the information for the online course on a Tuesday, just after Memorial Day. I did a little on Tuesday and a little on Wednesday to break it up into small chunks rather than cram through it. Then, on Thursday morning, there was an email about a cancellation in the class that was starting the next day! The first person to respond that they were interested gets the slot. I was first and I was in! I finished the MSF e-course that night and showed up Friday evening to get started.
Taking the MSF Learn to Ride motorcycle course
Friday evening was paperwork and classroom time. 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning we started on the range and went until afternoon. It was 95º. Then, physically and mentally exhausted, we went in for more classroom time.
We repeated this again on Sunday only this time, thank goodness, it was only 85º. At after range skills, it was time for the evaluation that would decide if we got our licenses or not.
Passing the MSF course to become a licensed motorcycle rider
Yes, I passed the class! I’ll make another post about what the MSF class was like. After the class I went home, paid my cycle endorsement fee online, and printed my endorsement paperwork right away. Five weeks earlier I had no motorcycle experience. In that time I learned to ride, took the class, and got my license. I went for my first solo ride that night!
If you think you’re too old to learn to ride a motorcycle
I heard someone say recently, “If you think you’re too old for something, that means you need to do it now.” And it makes sense – we’ll never be any younger than we are right now. I’m glad I did it – my age didn’t hold me back. Honestly, I don’t feel that old, but I nearly let internet horror stories scare me away. And it turned out there were a lot of people my age – and some older – in my class. So don’t let fear hold you back – if you want it, go for it!