Got kicked out of motorcycle class tonight

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CubsBullsBears
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17 Jul 2020, 10:26 pm

This was an opportunity I took to find a new hobby during the pandemic. Tonight was the first night of a weekend long class that would also be all day tomorrow and sunday. During the first 2 hours of slowly learning how to operate a motorcycle, I was having a harder time than others fully understanding it all. And then, one of the instructors pulled me aside and basically told me that they weren't going to let me continue because they were worried about someone getting hurt.

It's a depressing reminder of the mentally screwed up klutz I have been for a long time. I'm left questioning a lot of things about myself, including the embarrassing things about me with understanding stuff and if the way I am will prevent me from getting the type of girl I want. The issues I've already had with dating in Middle School and HS certainly don't help with that.

It's been 14 months since I graduated HS, and I still have those embarrassing issues that plagued me in school. Maybe my life will never be ideal.


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kraftiekortie
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18 Jul 2020, 6:33 am

Forget about it.

I can’t ride a motorcycle.

I had to withdraw from a sign-language class once. Pretty embarrassing.



SecretOpossumCabal
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18 Jul 2020, 7:40 am

Yes sensory overload and clumsiness is pretty common with us, it is likely a good thing that you do not learn to drive a motor vehicle. I will not ever learn to drive because I've always been clumsy and it doesn't take much activity for sensory overload to take effect, and it wasn't too long ago that I mentioned this here because I would certainly get myself or someone else killed eventually. Adjust your life around your clumsiness and don't fight against it because you will get others hurt if you let pride push you into dangerous circumstances. Work with the currents, not against.

There are other factors involved because a lot of women will not date a man that cannot drive, so this aspect you also have to anticipate and accept. IMO take women out of your mind and focus on your career and THEN women. Male aspies often have to compensate by having a very good job, so you should focus on that. But this is easier said than done because certain corrosive things keep males suspended in their hyperfocus on women (such as pornography). Beware of those things as a young man because they atrophy male ambition and keeps them preoccupied with distractions.

Have you considered cycling? Much less dangerous though you still have to keep your clumsiness in mind and not thrust yourself in a situation where too much is going on. Plus it will keep you in shape. I still have to tell myself to just get off the bike if there is too much activity going on in the road, otherwise I will likely get extra clumsy through sensory overload and crash into something which has already happened.

We're like mules, we're not NTs so we will never run with the stallions, but if we can accept that and adjust accordingly we can become very good at what we do, just as mules excel at pulling weight moreso than stallions.



shortfatbalduglyman
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18 Jul 2020, 8:00 am

See if you can get a refund

Same thing happened to me when I was 22



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18 Jul 2020, 8:47 am

Do not give up hope.

Start with a moped which is more like a powered bicycle. Go for one with the brakes on the handlebars and has automatic gearing. (Most are like this).
Go out and enjoy yourself on that. If you find that too much learn on a bicycle first.

I have to admit that though I would need to learn too as I have only ever had mopeds which are easier, but what is wrong with that. Someone I knew had a 400cc version which was automatic and had the brakes on the handlebars. He said (This was around 14 years ago) that they made a 600cc version as well. His 400cc version was a luxuty armchair of a machine!


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CubsBullsBears
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18 Jul 2020, 8:59 am

SecretOpossumCabal wrote:
Yes sensory overload and clumsiness is pretty common with us, it is likely a good thing that you do not learn to drive a motor vehicle. I will not ever learn to drive because I've always been clumsy and it doesn't take much activity for sensory overload to take effect, and it wasn't too long ago that I mentioned this here because I would certainly get myself or someone else killed eventually. Adjust your life around your clumsiness and don't fight against it because you will get others hurt if you let pride push you into dangerous circumstances. Work with the currents, not against.

There are other factors involved because a lot of women will not date a man that cannot drive, so this aspect you also have to anticipate and accept. IMO take women out of your mind and focus on your career and THEN women. Male aspies often have to compensate by having a very good job, so you should focus on that. But this is easier said than done because certain corrosive things keep males suspended in their hyperfocus on women (such as pornography). Beware of those things as a young man because they atrophy male ambition and keeps them preoccupied with distractions.

Have you considered cycling? Much less dangerous though you still have to keep your clumsiness in mind and not thrust yourself in a situation where too much is going on. Plus it will keep you in shape. I still have to tell myself to just get off the bike if there is too much activity going on in the road, otherwise I will likely get extra clumsy through sensory overload and crash into something which has already happened.

We're like mules, we're not NTs so we will never run with the stallions, but if we can accept that and adjust accordingly we can become very good at what we do, just as mules excel at pulling weight moreso than stallions.
1. I used to go ride a bike a lot and I still have one, but I've been too lazy to take out over the last few years.

2. I do drive. I've had my own car for the past year and a half. No accidents or tickets so far.

3. I must clarify. When I first learned of this class the website said that it was a "recreational vehicle class". I assumed that meant dirt bikes, which is what I was really interested in, although the particular bike I was on last night was at least similar to a dirt bike I'm sure. I have NEVER wanted to ride a motorcycle.

Not that I know for sure things would've been any better if the class leaned more heavily on dirtbikes. In the summer of 2014 my mom and stepdad dragged my stepbrothers and I out to a place in rural Wisconsin where some guy gave dirt bike lessons. There were times when I actually went around the track freely but there were also times when it took a bit to fully understand what the instructor was telling me about how to operate it. At one point, I must've hit a different gear or something because the bike dragged me a certain ways before I fell down and got a nasty scrape on my kneecap in the process. 6 years later, nothing's really changed regarding my listening and processing information skills. :cry:


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CubsBullsBears
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18 Jul 2020, 9:04 am

shortfatbalduglyman wrote:
See if you can get a refund
I guess it'd be worth a try. I wasted a combined $280 or so with the registration fee and buying a long sleeve shirt, jeans and high tops just for that class.


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jimmy m
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18 Jul 2020, 10:31 am

When I was a teenager in California, I decided I would like to drive a motorcycle. I looked up some want-ads and found a dirt bike for sale. I had never driven one before. So I looked at the motorcycle and the seller asked if I would like to take it for a spin. I said "Sure". I got on and drove it around the block. As I drove it, I lost control and ran into a telephone pole. I was dangling from the pole while the motorcycle proceed to go down the block. It was a sight to behold and if I was watching I probably would have laughed. But it hurt when your body hits a pole at 30 mph. Normally an NT would simply walk away at this point. But being an Aspie I decided to buy the cycle and learn to tame it like a horse. I did. I would take it out into the desert and drive where there were no trails.

I found out that the reason why I crashed was because the throttle would stick. I fixed that problem.


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kraftiekortie
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18 Jul 2020, 10:36 am

I would never ride a motorcycle on my own—unless my doing so would save someone from serious harm.



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18 Jul 2020, 11:26 am

kraftiekortie wrote:
I would never ride a motorcycle on my own—unless my doing so would save someone from serious harm.


How does one man have so much sweetness, how ???


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jimmy m
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18 Jul 2020, 11:35 am

When a mother watches her young son ride a bicycle for the first time -

when her child falls down and skins their knee, she wipes off the dirt, clean the wound, kisses the knee and then put him back on the bike. That is how we learn to ride bicycles.


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kraftiekortie
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18 Jul 2020, 12:27 pm

That’s how I learned to ride a bike.

Riding on a motorcycle on a highway is different, though. I, as an auto driver, don’t like driving near a motorcycle.



jimmy m
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18 Jul 2020, 4:00 pm

In California, there is a lot of wide open land. Much of it is desert. The federal government owns most of it.

The federal government owns 47.70 percent of California's total land, 47,797,533 acres. At least when I was young, one didn't need a drivers license in order to ride a dirt bike off road. It is a good way to learn.

Apparently that has changed a little bit. Currently according to the Internet:
If you are operating it on lands open and accessible to the public for OHV recreation, whether public or privately owned, it must have either a highway license or an OHV identification sticker issued by DMV. OHV stickers include "Green Stickers," "Red Stickers," and California Nonresident OHV Use Permits.


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18 Jul 2020, 4:26 pm

Well all things. Considered notice a great of the time the Government does not mark the land they control. Mostly.
Just my experiences. In. Parts of some states .
starting out with a small powered moped is a great , early step. Into motorcycle riding .


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goldfish21
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18 Jul 2020, 8:10 pm

Good. Sounds like the instructors are true professionals and recognized that your impairments & limitations are hazardous to yourself and others and took the correct course of action to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

In my younger days I believe I was too impulsive to ride a motorcycle and could have killed myself making one stupid impulsive move for a thrill. So, maybe in the future you’ll find that 19 was simply the wrong age to pursue this, anyways.

I took motorcycle riding lessons with the best school in town a couple years ago. Learned a lot. Bought my first motorcycle a year or so ago - as did a few others in my family around then and the count continues to grow. Anyways, I’m more athletic than my twin brother but my fine motor skills, balance, and coordination have always been poor compared to normal and his - he has Way Better natural coordination for sports and things. For me to feel I’m on my game, present, and confidently capable of riding I need to make sure to keep on top of the treatment protocol I’ve been treating my ASD (and comborbids including dyspraxia) with for the last 7-8 years. If I slip in my diet or treatment protocol, my focus, balance, and coordination suffer and I’m not as fully present and safe to operate a motorcycle - I mean, I can still do it.. but it’s just way smoother and all around safer for me to keep my health in check vs eat a terrible diet and not do the other things I do to keep my body, brain, & nervous system firing on as many cylinders as possible.

It’s said that motorcycles are second only to helicopters in terms of degree of difficulty of a machine for a human to operate. I’ve ridden a few smaller trail bikes here and there as a kid in Boy Scouts, my grandfather’s old Honda 90 a couple times when I was a teenager, and a small Honda dirt bike when I was 23 - I really pushed that thing hard to try to keep up with my friend who was a woods racer lol I bottomed it out on rocks in a dried out creek bed and snapped the rear plastic fender - it was his wife’s bike.. oops. Lol anyways, back then I was Capable of riding one but I wouldn’t say I was particularly Good at it lol but I managed. I wouldn’t even learn of my ASD/dyspraxia etc for another nearly 7 years when my symptoms were at their lifetime worst. At that time I would have been downright dangerous on a motorcycle! I wouldn’t have even attempted it tbh - my coordination was so bad I would trip on my own shadow, and I was having difficulty using my hands & fingers to tie my own shoes. I’ve learned and done a lot since then and while I’m not in my Peale physical condition since I’ve been laying around eating and drinking too well for the last handful of months gaining the so-called “covid-19,” (lbs lol) I’m still in plenty good enough condition to hop back on a motorcycle. Licence lapses again so redoing that and the basic skills test so that when my bike is ready to come home from the shop I can get back in the saddle and riiiiiiiide away a whole lot of summer days & evenings on my collector motorcycle. (Code for old lol but I am actually going to get collector plates - that’s why I bought an old one, to save $ on insurance.)

Oh, and when I took the lessons I was pretty exhausted from working super early mornings and commuting etc so sleep deprivation affected my brain functions and ability to learn and do things. There were definitely some concepts and practices that didn’t come so naturally to me, or things I didn’t realize that I ought to have and instructors had to point them out to me - probably wondering why I didn’t just “get it.” I didn’t disclose my ASD and most certainly never have to the driver’s licence place because you have to sign waivers saying as far as you know you’re healthy and good to drive/ride etc and I wouldn’t want them to question that ever. Some of the things instructors had to point out to me are things Probably everyone else almost ever just intuitively grasped but it’s as if I had difficulty physically perceiving and processing them in those moments so didn’t realize the mistakes I was making until they were described to me. But then I could consciously make myself aware of them and in turn improved my operating of the bike.

I remember having some minor difficulties with fine clutch work - as proper clutch movement between positions is approx 1 playing card thickness of clutch lever movement. At first this was rather difficult. Also, keeping fuel regulated at the right amount wasn’t super easy at first, either. But, I improved with practice - and Also applied the same principles of physics to make shifting in my 6 speed manual car So Much Smoother than ever before in my life. The next ride I went on with my twin brother (who bought a Ducati with a dual clutch so doesn’t have to get good with a clutch) he was surprised how smooth my shifting had gotten! He’d probably be impressed with my driving, too, now. I haven’t been seen my motorcycle since November 29th 2019 (in shop, ready soon I hope.) But I did spend the Winter plying my trade working with my hands and getting Very Good with putty knives and trowels at regulating very fine tolerance thicknesses of materials on walls and ceilings - like layers of liquid material so thin and evenly regulated that you can see through them while they’re still wet. It’s learning to use my hands like This that makes me eager to get back in the saddle with 75horseponies between my legs to see what my hands can do! 8)

Blah blah blah TLDR?

1.) Good. Better safe than dead.

2.) My symptoms didn’t always allow me to safely ride a motorcycle.

3.) The diet and treatment protocol I’ve devised for my ASD Also dramatically improves & maintains my balance, coordination, and fine motor skills to the point that I can safely ride the 2nd most difficult machine to operate.

4.) I believe this is also possible for more people on the spectrum. So, just because you can’t safely do it Now doesn’t mean you can’t safely do it Ever.

*motorcycle accelerating onto the highway sounds* :ninja: 8)


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goldfish21
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18 Jul 2020, 8:28 pm

CubsBullsBears wrote:
shortfatbalduglyman wrote:
See if you can get a refund
I guess it'd be worth a try. I wasted a combined $280 or so with the registration fee and buying a long sleeve shirt, jeans and high tops just for that class.


Cheap! Even if you are out the money, it was a Very Inexpensive class and the value in that money spent is learning, from professional experts, that you are Not Safe to be operating a motorcycle. (At least for now, anyways.) $280 is a small amount of $ in exchanged for your continuing to stay alive. :)

And I say cheap because our courses were approx $1,000.00 per person And I spent $140 on a pair of hiking boots that would be safe to ride in. There are cheaper classes here ($600ish or whatever) But we all paid the extra money to the best school with the best reputation because they don’t just teach you how to operate a bike to pass a skills test and road test - the extra value is in that they teach you how to stay alive. So, Zero complaints from my about paying $$$ just saying $280 may be a sizeable chunk of change out of your budget, but in the grand scheme of motorcycle lessons & shoes, it’s cheap as chips so don’t sweat the $ loss!


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