A Woman and Her Honda Insurgent

Once I inform individuals I’ve a motorbike, I get one among three responses. The primary is that bikes are harmful and never well worth the danger. The second is {that a} Honda Insurgent 250 isn’t a “actual” motorbike. The third response – and my favourite by far – is delivered within the type of a narrative about somebody’s trusty first bike that they’ll always remember.

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I’ve heard the horror tales of life-changing accidents. These tales I can respect. They arrive from a spot of caring, generally a spot of loss. They’re not enjoyable tales, however they’re tales that should be heard.

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As to the second response, I’ve misplaced persistence with those that say the Insurgent isn’t an actual motorbike. The Insurgent 250 is small, that’s true. You received’t discover it on an inventory of the highest 10 strongest bikes. You received’t discover it on anybody’s listing of dream bikes. But when individuals who inform me the Insurgent 250 isn’t an actual motorbike may hear a number of the third kind of responses, they could have a unique perspective.

The third response is my favourite as a result of it’s the one that almost all aligns with my very own expertise. It comes from riders who’ve owned a Insurgent 250, normally as a primary bike. Once I inform these individuals what motorbike I’ve, they gentle up. They inform me about how they discovered to experience on a Insurgent. Or how they left work in a path of mud on a Insurgent when their partner was going into labor or taught their little kids to experience on a Insurgent. I can relate to those tales as a result of they’re fueled by that first pleasure of sitting on a motorbike.

Once I determined I wished a motorbike, I searched all over the place. I printed off Craigslist postings and requested my family and friends what they considered them. I took photos of bikes with “For Sale” indicators on the facet of the street. I didn’t actually know what I used to be in search of till I noticed a posting for a 2014 Honda Insurgent 250.

I took my dad with me to have a look at it the very subsequent week. It was the least intimidating motorbike I had seen up to now. It was beautiful, with shiny black paint and a classy “Insurgent” sticker on the fuel tank. I admit, my enthusiasm about lastly discovering a motorbike that was inexpensive, sufficiently small for me to sit down on comfortably, and in nice situation might need clouded my judgment, however I nonetheless assume it’s a fantastic bike. 

Some issues are stunning not due to their complexity however due to their simplicity. The Insurgent wasn’t making an attempt to be something it wasn’t. Likewise, I wasn’t making an attempt to impress anybody with a thundering loud exhaust or state-of-the-art know-how. I simply wished to be what I used to be: a brand new rider comfy and joyful on her first motorbike.

Earlier than I ever sat on a motorbike, I rode horses. My horse is called Chief. I nonetheless have him, though now he spends his days grazing by way of retirement. He’s a mild big, calm and regular. He caught with me by way of thorn briars and winding wooded trails. We even have the identical hair shade. One factor I discovered from Chief was learn how to belief what carries you. I developed an identical belief with the Insurgent.

My Insurgent has been my loyal mount for six years. It has carried me from Dover, Tennessee, as much as Grand Rivers, Kentucky, a city of about 400 individuals nestled between the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers with a incredible restaurant referred to as Patti’s. To get there, I am going up the Hint by way of Land Between the Lakes. I cease for a break in entrance of the previous iron furnace. I experience by the elk and bison vary. I swing by the planetarium and watch a Beatles laser present. Earlier than lengthy, I’m eating at Patti’s, chowing down on bread baked in a clay flowerpot and a 2-inch-thick pork chop.

My Insurgent has additionally carried me to Aurora, Kentucky, dwelling of the Hot August Blues Festival and Belew’s Dairy Bar. The reminiscence of a Belew’s double cheeseburger with the patty edges crispy with grill taste nonetheless makes my mouth water. On the Sizzling August Blues Competition, people from all walks of life stretch out on the riverbank and catch up whereas bands get down with it. You by no means meet a stranger in Aurora, even for those who’ve by no means seen a single particular person there earlier than. By all these experiences, my Insurgent was with me.

I’m not making an attempt to persuade you to go purchase your self a Insurgent 250. When you’re new to bikes and wish one that’s simple to experience, reliable, and never very costly, then a Insurgent is an effective selection. It’s not flashy or spectacular, nevertheless it has a personality of its personal. Nor am I making an attempt to persuade myself that I made the precise selection. If I may do it over once more, I wouldn’t change a factor. All I would like is for brand new riders to cherish their time with their first bike and for skilled riders to take a second and keep in mind what that felt like.

Allison Parker joined the Rider employees as assistant editor in August 2022. That is her first story for the journal, and it appeared within the December 2022 situation. –Ed.