Do You Have Throttle Control?

I started riding in Miami when I was a sophomore in college. I was over at my buddy’s house on a Saturday and he just bought a used motorcycle. I was drawn to this little Honda, love at first sight. It screamed, “Let’s have some fun.” 

I asked my friend if I could take it for a ride. With a beer in hand, while sitting on his couch watching football, he said, “Go for it.” He threw me the keys. I was out the door and about to take my first motorcycle ride. 

The problem was I had no idea how to ride a motorcycle. Never been on one and never had anybody teach me. But I did know how to drive a manual transmission car. How much harder can this be?

Clutch, gear, gas. Right?

The first thing I had to do was find the clutch, gear shift, throttle, and the all-important brakes. I figured it out after studying the bike and pushing on the various levers and handles. 

The lever on the right handlebar was the front brake. The pedal under my right foot was the rear brake. The left handlebar lever was the clutch. The lever under my left foot was the gear shift. And finally, the right handlebar grip was the throttle. It had to be. It moved and the left grip didn’t.

Intuitive it was not. But so what? I’m going for a ride. I jumped on.

I pulled the clutch in and started the bike. Then I kept stalling as I tried to get going. It took me a while to coordinate letting the clutch out with my left hand while rotating my right hand on the throttle. But I finally got there. 

Then came second gear. 

While focusing on pulling in the clutch, and searching with my left foot for the gear shift, I almost hit a parked car. Really close call.

I motored through a residential stop sign because I forgot where the brakes were. As I fiddled around finding the brakes, I found myself approaching a stop sign that guarded a four-lane 45 MPH road. I’m screaming at myself, “Stop. Stop. Stop.”

But I couldn’t. I didn’t know how to stop. 

So I rolled right into the four-lane. My heart was pounding. I was waiting for the big impact. One lane cleared. Two lanes cleared.  I see cars. One is hard braking as his front end dips. Third lane cleared. A car veers quickly to the left. Fourth lane cleared. I made it. My heart was pounding and my eyes were as big as saucers. 

But I was safe and surprisingly, exhilarated. 

Now I was in another residential neighborhood with no traffic. This gave me time to find the brakes. Within a half-hour, I was a motorcycle rider. I was riding. I was operating this bike. Open road. Wind in my face. Big smile on my face. I was hooked. I’ve been riding ever since.

Forty-five years later

My coach at the California Superbike School last May said, “I’ve been watching when you get on the throttle toward the end of a turn.” He said this with concern in his voice. And I’m thinking, “I’ve been riding motorcycles out of turns long before you were on this earth.”

He continued, “It looks to me like you are getting on the throttle a little too early. Not way too early. You see, when you hit the throttle too hard while the bike is in a lean, it could mean trouble.” 

“What kind of trouble?” I asked.

“A hard throttle in a lean will kick out your rear tire and you’ll be on the ground before you know it.”

We then had a discussion on proper throttle control in a turn. When to roll off the throttle and when to roll on the throttle. All geared to safety while maintaining maximum speed through the turn.

And then my coach said something that changed the way I’ll ride forever

“You know everyone here, no matter how much experience they have, is working on throttle control. If you want to be a great rider, it is something you’ll practice every day.”

So now I think about throttle control every time I am on my motorcycle. By paying attention to this one basic of riding, I become a better rider every day.

But what about life?

Continually practicing the right basic in each area of my life makes me a better man. 

In family, it’s presence.

In faith, it’s prayer.

In business, it’s profit.

I just need to know when it is the right time to roll on or roll off my throttle.