Who wants a sport bike? A cruiser? A tourer? An adventure bike? At the end of the evening, I approached the teacher to ask about helmets. What would he recommend, full face or modular? At some point, I must have mentioned that my dream was to travel across Canada by bike.
And in the end, he was right. After a little research online, I zeroed in on the fGS as a perfect starting bike —low seat height, not too much power, well balanced, reliable, and easy to ride and maintain. A quick search on Kijiji turned up one for sale near me on the West Island. It even had hard luggage and a touring screen, all set for cross-country touring. It seemed destined to be mine, and within a few days, it was. Getting that bike has been one of the best decisions of my adult life.
I thought it would be essential for a new rider and not having ABS was almost a deal-breaker for me. But fortunately, the few people I consulted about my decision were not fans. So I did. Honda engineers outsmarted the riders for their own safety. Mostly this meant squeezing the front lever, not grabbing, to load the front contact patch before pulling harder, and using just a little rear to stabilize the bike. I did this every time I stopped, even when cruising along the Lakeshore, at every stop sign and every light, front and rear in correct proportion, so it became muscle memory.
I knew I also needed to develop my off-road skills to become an ADV rider. I actually planned to do rides with both clubs too but that never materialized. This instruction set the perfect foundation for off-roading, and then it was just a matter of practice. I go up to my local church parking lot and do slow speed maneuvers.
As Jimmy said, off-roading is all about balance and traction control, so I practiced the balance stuff on Bigby regularly. I also practiced the traction when I could, getting out of the city up onto the dirt roads and ATV trails in the Hawkesbury area. I never learned it street limits; I could lean that bike over and scrape the pedals, even with knobbies on, but I discovered its limits on the trails.
