Grandma gets her Motorcycle endorsement

While demonstrating zero interest in riding her own bike and only a little in pillion, my wife’s brother (major HOG guy) delivered a 1978 Honda XL75 to her. On June 30th he and I strapped it onto the motorcycle lift with the rear tire not touching and ran her through the operation thereof.

She immediately began researching all things about riding, and signed up for the first available beginner class and DMV written test appointment.

Manual choke, hand clutch, foot shift, separate front and rear brakes with hand and foot … imagine all the foreign things there are to learn. Next was a month of my driving what eventually got named “Piglet” to the unused school parking lot where she would ride around for about an hour before I rode it home.

A full month later she took her beginner class at 71 years old, the most senior in the class on the only not new bike, the only carbureted bike, the only kick-start bike… and passed the Montana riding requirement.

The next phase was me trailing Piglet on Dr Zee, stopping her occasionally for teaching moments, but that became rare to zero during the next month.

Last Tuesday (9/12) her DMV appointment finally arrived. 

She passed the state’s written test, and with the riding portion already completed,

She earned the big M.

That very same afternoon a used riding jacket and many pairs of gloves I found on a motorcycle forum ad arrived.

The timing was BEAUTIFUL. She received a serious upgrade to her gear as a reward for earning the endorsement.

Pictured here is her ‘new’ BMW-branded, armored, summer motorcycle jacket.