Articles continued
(continued from page 25)
and to have ample power without
having to install thousands of dol-
lars in accessories. Being a shorter
woman rider,
this can be a
very tall order. I
don’t like riding
other people’s
bikes or even
test riding them,
as I don’t want
to be responsible
for the bike if
something
should happen.
So, after John asking several times
if I wanted to ride the Challenger, I
finally agreed and off we went with
me on the Challenger and John on
his Super Glide.
The first thing I noticed with this
bike was how light it felt compared
to my Indian Chieftain, which is a
bagger that is already on the lighter
side of life with a low center of
gravity. The second thing – the
spring-loaded kickstand. What an
amazing invention. For those of you
like me who have had to reach their
leg out multiple times to get the
kickstand in or out, you know what I
am talking about. I reached my foot
out to pull in the kickstand and it
just snapped into place – and a big
smile appeared on my face. These
little things really matter. They are
like little touches that say, “Hey, I’m
thinking about where you have
struggles and want to make things
better for you.”
Next, I maneuvered the bike out
of our carport, through the grass,
and onto the road with ease, and
off we went. John
put me in the
lead with a plan
for us to take the
backroads to
Mena and come
home. The nor-
mal 15 minutes it
takes to get from
Hatfield to Mena
flew by and I
wasn’t ready to
get off the bike, so we decided to
go up the Talimena Drive. At one
point, we stopped at an overlook
for pictures and then decided to go
back down the mountain. Over our
intercom system I told John to give
me some space as this was going to
be a full U-turn situation and those
usually take me a bit of extra room.
I took a big breath, made the turn
around, and let out a sigh of relief.
It was effortless and I was able to
stay in my lane without feeling the
need to take up the entire road. It
reminded me of our sport bike days
when I would confidently maneuver
my bike around at parking lot
speeds, something I have not done
since transferring over to the bigger
baggers. With a smile on my face,
we headed down the mountain and
onto the backroads home.
On the road home, two cars were
in front of me with a straight
stretch and a dotted yellow line. John was talking about something
on our intercom, but all I could
think about was passing these cars.
So with a, “John, I’m going to
pass...” and realizing that he didn’t
hear me, I said once more as I
pulled out, “John, I’m passing now,”
I rolled back on the throttle and
took off, easily passing the cars in
the short space available. I could
hear him downshifting as I pulled
further and further away from him.
This caused me to break out into
joyful laughter. Never in my time
riding with John have I been able to
run away from him like I did. I
laughed the rest of the way home.
In short – I loved almost every-
thing about the bike. It handled
well, I was almost totally flat-foot-
ed when stopped, the power was
strong but controlled. The kickstand
is easy to find and get in place. The
handlebars are comfortable, the
switches for raising and lowering
the windshield are easy to use with
gloves and easy to find. The only
thing I would consider changing
about the bike was the seat. It was-
n’t my favorite on our first ride, but
I didn’t seem to notice it so much
on our second. You can guarantee
when John said he wanted to go on
a New Year’s ride, I quickly agreed I
would go as long as I could ride the
Challenger! CMA
buildings, trees, or through
mountain passes you may expe-
rience a gust of wind.
Riders must stay relaxed. A
tense rider will tire out much
faster. A tense rider becomes
stiff. A stiff rider causes the bike
to become stiff and not as
responsive to steering input.
Riders cannot control the
weather, but we can choose
what weather to ride in. Riders
must decide for themselves when weather conditions
become too harsh to ride safely.
Be prepared for the wind by
knowing what to expect and how
to react. There are times we may
have to ride through any weath-
er. I am reminded of the words to
the old folk song “Baby the rain
must fall, baby the wind must
blow. Where ever my heart (GOD)
leads me, baby I must go.” CMA
John Jr and Holly Ogden
oversee the South Central
Region as National Evangelist.
(continued from page 27)
pressure on the hand grip than
to hold your body in a lean into
the wind. Riders should take
more breaks when riding in high
wind.
Wind will affect your bike, so
do not let the wind surprise or
scare you. Look for signs of the
wind like flags flying, debris
blowing, trees and bushes wav-
ing. Large vehicles coming from
the opposite direction will cause
a gust of wind. When riding past
Mike Phillips is a certified Motorcycle Safety
Foundation (MSF) instructor in Arkansas.