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Open House at Honda of Norfolk
29 April 2007

By Laurie Sherfey
Photography by Steve Sherfey

It was a lovely Spring Day, and there were a thousand things we needed to do around the house. Everything in the yard is growing like crazy, the house is a disaster, and the laundry was in its usual mountainous state (a.k.a. Mount Washmore). Everything needs to be trimmed, pruned, scrubbed, or hauled away. So the husband and I got in the cage and headed out to Honda of Norfolk. It's just down the street from us, but more than far enough away from all that other not fun stuff.

We didn't ride the motorcycle, because my better half doesn't share my enthusiasm for riding. But he does kind of like looking at motorcycles, and he seems to be endlessly amused by MY enthusiasm for them! Also, he takes great photographs, and for once, I was hoping to send Phil an article with lots of pictures. Everyone likes pictures. We figured Honda of Norfolk would be one big photo opportunity on this particular Saturday, since they were having an open house. They offered such temptations as free lunch, and with a valid motorcycle license, you could test drive selected Honda models.

My first two-wheeler was a Honda scooter - there's a picture of it in my photo album. I bought it used at Honda of Norfolk, about 7 years ago. I've never forgotten the way the folks at Honda of Norfolk took care of both that scooter, and me. They treated me like I'd bought one of those shiny new Goldwings, instead of a 1985 scooter with over 32,000 miles on it. They were always honest, had fair prices, and always got me back on my scooter as quickly as possible. It was all good.

When I got ready to move up to something bigger and more powerful, I was very disappointed to find that Honda no longer seems to make anything that a tall long-legged person like me can ride comfortably. I looked at everything in their current line, and the main thing I found was the Silverwing scooter. That was unfortunately way out of my price range, and there are very few used ones to be found, especially around here. Besides, I thought it was time to ride a "real" motorcycle. So, I regretfully settled on something besides a Honda. And I do love my Suzuki V-Strom. Still, I miss that great Honda service, and I still think Honda is unparalleled in quality.

So, enough on background - the open house was sort of like a homecoming to me. I could check out some new Hondas, have a bite to eat, and I knew there'd be a whole lot of nice people there. I might even get to finally ride a Silverwing, and see if scooters really are my destiny. So, we grabbed the camera, my riding gear, and headed out.

The day was a little overcast, and we wondered if that would scare people off. It was still early when we arrived, and there wasn't a huge crowd in the lot. Still, there were shiny new Hondas all lined up in front of the dealership, and lots of friendly people in classic Honda red. We decided the people would come. We looked over the motorcycles on display. I admired the scooter lineup, which included a Silverwing, and Reflex, a Helix, a Metropolitan, and a Ruckus. These are 650 cc, 250 cc, 250 cc, 49 cc, and 49 cc, respectively.

I wanted to ride the Silverwing and the Helix in the worst way, but was disappointed to find the scooters were not set up for the demo rides. Okay, I can adapt. The options to test ride were a Shadow 750 (black with cool flames on the tank!), a VTX 1300, a Goldwing, and the Interceptor. I felt like Goldilocks - the Goldwing was just too big. The Interceptor - no, it's a sport bike, and I am just not lean and mean like Phil. Crouching over the fuel tank just feels unnatural to me, and dangerous. It makes my knees ache, too. The 1300 cc's of the VTX scared me, and the heel and toe shifting concerned me a little, too.

I've never ridden any motorcycles but my own, and I worried about trying to handle all the differences at once. That left the Shadow, which seems way to short for me. Still, it was much more of a motorcycle for an amateur. So I signed up for the Shadow test ride with a friendly Honda employee.

The test rides were going out in groups of 5 and 6, with an escort or two for the 4 test riders. No heading for Mexico on a hot motorcycle today! I laughed as I watched the mismatched group of bikes leaving the lot - it reminded me of the Biker eNews staff heading out for one of our "Staff Meetings".

While waiting for my turn, we took a leisurely look at the motorcycles inside the showroom, including the familiar antique Trail 90, which is even older then my Elite 250 scooter was. It's even older than me! That makes us both….uh….classics. There was also a nice selection of shiny new bikes - Shadows, CBR's, VTX's, and even an adorable Rebel. What a bargain. If only I were a lot shorter….

I also talked to the guy ahead of me in line, who told me he rides a Magna. I'd meet up again with him later, after we'd both had our test rides. He was interested in the VTX 1300, because it's shaft-driven. When he told me his Magna has 4 cylinders, I thought it would already be a lot smoother than my V-twin. But each of us has our own thing. With my strange preoccupation for scooters, I can't really judge someone else.

There was a cool older gentleman also trying the Shadow on for size. He was falling in love with it, fast and hard. He told me he'd been a Goldwing rider, and we talked about all kinds of things. He turned out to be 90 years old. He still moved around like a guy about half his age, and was as sharp as a tack, too. Motorcycling must be more than just good for the soul! I could also see that the fever to own and ride is ageless and timeless. That makes the whole idea of getting old a lot easier to take.

I knew as soon as I got food, my turn to ride would come up. But the grill was fired up, and those hamburgers and hot dogs smelled so good we were going crazy. So we decided to risk it. Sure enough, about halfway through my perfectly prepared hamburger, they told me my time had come. I took two more huge bites, and started putting my gear on as fast as I could. I could feel people looking at me strangely, but I'm sort of used to that. I jammed my helmet on, zipped up my riding pants, and climbed on.

The other riders were pretty much ready, but I realized my motorcycle wasn't even running yet. The key was in the ignition, I had the kickstand up, the clutch in, but nothing happened when I pushed the start button. It turns out the key wasn't in the on position. Boy was I off to an auspicious start!

Once I had the engine running, I put it in gear, and gently eased off the clutch. Once moving forward, I quickly discovered it takes a lot more muscle to turn the Shadow at low speeds than my V-Strom. But I managed to get it turned, and fell in behind the Goldwing as we headed out of the lot.

We turned left on Thole Street, and I settled in to get a feel for the motorcycle. The engine felt great, the brakes and transmission were smooth and natural feeling. The seat was cushy. My only complaint would be the leg room. I could tell after a couple of hours on the road, I'd be pretty miserable. Still, for this short ride, it all felt great!

By the time I turned the bike onto Granby Street, I was starting to really enjoy it. We rode in staggered formation down Granby Street, stopping at several lights, and then headed east on Willowood Drive. Yay, a bridge! The last leg of our ride was on Tidewater Drive, back to the Honda dealership.

I really liked the way the Shadow felt, once I got used to it. Once you're moving, it turns beautifully, and it rides like a dream cruising down the street. I even managed one stop light without putting my feet down. Nice balance, peppy acceleration; those extra 100 cc's apparently make a big difference. It's not hard to see why there are so many of these out on the road.

It was fun pulling back into the lot. I was no longer nervous about doing something really stupid. I had a little trouble backing it back into the parking space. I almost never do that with my motorcycle; I like the workout of having to back it out the hard way.

It occurred to me about then that I might be the only woman test riding a motorcycle that day. People were definitely staring. After I got off, a couple of people came up to say hi, recognizing the "klutzy parker" as the Ramblin' Redhead. I still can't believe it when people recognize me! They always say kind things about my writing, and about the website. It's nice to know people out there read our stuff, and enjoy it.

I also spotted a very cool black and turquoise motorcycle across the lot, and signaled to my husband to get a picture of it. Then I noticed the owner was the guy ahead of me in the test ride line. So I charged on over for a closer look, hoping to maybe kick a tire or two.

Laurie checking out other people's rides

Turns out he let me sit on it, and his friend, who was as tall as me, likes V-Stroms. So we hit it off famously. I really do like Honda people! They're proud, but not the least pretentious. They love talking about their motorcycles, and about riding.

We took lots more pictures; I tried to talk a cute young woman into buying a Metropolitan Scooter, and had another ice cold soda from the cooler. Wow, what a cool event. I even got a picture taken with Mike and Dave, the excellent mechanics from their famous service department. When we finally pulled out of the lot, there was a large crowd of people enjoying themselves, and I hated to go.

I really need to figure out how to own another Honda someday. You really do buy a lot more than just a machine.

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