Weight and Riding
BaldRider Presents: Another motorcycle-adjacent topic
“I’ve struggled with weight all my life”
I am one of those people. The CDC says that 41.9% of the USA is obese. Right now, at least, I am in the 58.1%. Let’s talk about it.
Early Years
When your family treats food as a mechanism for demonstrating love, it should not be surprising that I was an obese child. My mother was also obese. My father was always thin and my brother would rather hide his food than eat it. Who hides spaghetti? That is commitment.
I have no memory of a time growing up when I wasn’t overweight. I do distinctly remember another child in first or second grade asking me if I had lost weight. It was an April Fool's joke. Funny.
Autumn 2004: Standing next to my new-to-me 1985 Corvette. Weight around 230. I have no pictures of myself before this that I know of.
My weight didn’t get any better as I aged. The scale was pushing 230lbs in sixth grade and had to be approaching 300 by senior year of high school, though not confirmed. It wasn’t until June 15th 2003, the summer before senior year of college, that my mother tried out this new fad called Atkins. She asked if I would do it with her. Cold pizza after work on the 15th was the last carb-laden food I ate for a long time. The scale registered 215 ell bees by the time I received my degree in the Spring of 2004.
Young Adulthood
April 2011: Just me and my KLR in the wilds of Idaho. I still have that Fieldsheer jacket but it needs to be retired. I look pretty old for 29. Weight unknown
Weight fluctuated between 220 and 240 for the next 8 years. The tail end of that period was when I first got into motorcycling. Weight was not an issue then. This was also when I may or may not have dropped a Z1000 from a homemade wooden lift.
Then 2012 happened.
Work stress caused significant weight gain. By June, I was back up to 280. It didn’t help that I was working in a manufacturing environment where food was everywhere all the time because we manufactured food. August of that year also brought a sudden and unwelcome surprise: unemployment. Eating ice cream for breakfast with nothing to do but apply for jobs and watch television didn’t help, either. Something had to be done. Lose-It was my app of choice to start keeping track of my weight. I eventually landed a job in another state and the change of scenery and was initially helpful in losing weight, reaching a low of 242.5 in 2014.
“It’s just like getting fat. It retracts before impact.”
I ballooned up to 320 again by 2016.
California
I crossed the border through the fruit police checkpoint and into California weighing just over 290lbs.
December 6, 2016: The first day of my new life in California. 290ish lbs.
I had given away all of my bigger clothes before moving from the Midwest because everyone is thin in California, right? Well, have you ever had Thai food? It is amazing. I could get it delivered in California. I couldn’t get it at all where I was living previously. Casey’s has good pizza and donuts. Not the same.
I was eating takeout almost every night and my weight reflected that. I had hovered in the 310s for a while except for that one 19-day period where I was on a water fast and lost 30lbs. A short-lived improvement.
Pro tip: Don’t break a 3-week water fast with $100 worth of Taco Bell.
My search to relive my early motorcyclist glory days (can you call a single year that?) had me searching for another z1000 in 2018. The 2003-2006 model was my favorite. Some were available but I considered them all overpriced (is anyone noticing a theme on my site on this topic?). A local dealer was advertising a sale on leftover 2017 model Z900s which, from everything I had read online, was roughly equivalent to my 2003. I bought one and sold it three years later with under 800 miles on the clock.
Did I buy the wrong bike? Maybe.
Halloween 2020 at Home Depot: Weight unknown
You see, back when I had my Z1000, I was not over 300lbs. The rider triangle between my 2003 and the 2017 was not significantly different. I was older, too, but not that much older. My knee bothered me from my Suzuki oopsie but I’ve always had bad knees. I just wasn’t comfortable on it. I didn’t have any confidence. I felt awkward and stiff. Seating was uncomfortable. No, it must have been the weight.
Where am I now?
The driver for weight loss now is almost entirely driven by motorcycle comfort and safety.
Motorcycles have weight limits. Some are higher than others. Some bikes weigh so much with so few horses on tap, they can barely get out of their own way without the burden of carrying around heavy riders. Every pound counts when you ride a 40hp, 800lb sidecar.
*cough* Ural *cough*
September 2021: Introducing my dad to the Ural at about 270lbs.
When you weigh 300+lbs, any motorcycle suspension will be under sprung. I think most bikes are set up for a 160lb rider. Even if you install the proper spring rates for your weight, being obese and out of shape reduces your ability to maneuver and reaction time. With every cager out there trying to kill you, you don’t want to be at any more of a disadvantage than you already are.
I started counting calories and doing the keto diet on April 14th, 2021, essentially at random. I was less than a year from my 40th birthday and losing weight only gets harder as you get older. I remember walking downstairs, pulling out the kitchen scale and logging calories for the first time since 2019. I didn’t weigh myself that day but I estimated my weight to be 300lbs.
The scale read 269 by the time I picked up the Ural in August. I fell off again and returned to 290 by the end of the year.
Struggles with keto continued and I hovered in the 270 range until July 2022. I decided keto wasn’t working. A calorie deficit was the only thing that would. I set a goal to be down to 230lbs by Thanksgiving or 40lbs in four months. My goal was exceeded, landing at 224.6.
Snowmageddon 2023: Sometimes the right tool for the job is a chainsaw. Weight around 220lbs.
Returning to the 220s has been a goal since the early 2010s. I ordered an Aerostich R-3 suit to force me into keeping the weight off. Gaining weight again would be the equivalent of lighting $1500 on fire.
I need to schedule a visit to the doctor and have them tell me what weight I should be targeting. The BMI chart has me no longer overweight at 194lbs. If the doctor tells me 175, I’m just going to laugh and walk away. The last time I was at a doctor’s office, I was at 323. What do doctors know, anyway?
I am currently 217lbs (27.9 BMI). Weight loss has essentially stopped since the holidays but has been relatively stable. You have to play close attention to it or you (me) can easily gain eight pounds in a weekend. I don’t have a lot of motivation these days to lose more. After struggling to lose any weight and mostly gaining for a decade, I am not stressing about it anymore. If I can drink beer and stay around 220, I’m good.
My beard is probably 5 pounds. Yeah, let’s say that.
Unexpected Consequences
All that weight loss has caused new issues. The Goldwing’s aftermarket (Traxxion Dynamics) suspension is sprung for a heavier rider. The springs make it a little harsh without a passenger. It isn’t anything I can’t deal with but it is an odd experience being too light for springs. I can definitely tell a difference from the 40ish pounds I’ve lost since I bought the bike.
Gear is an issue, too.
I’ll get thicker pads for the RF-1400 someday. When will supply chain issues end?
My helmets are now too big. Shoei sells thicker pads to save me from buying new helmets. I bought them for my J-Cruise II but no online retail establishment has replacement pads for an RF-1400 in stock. The full-face helmet being a little large isn’t as much of a problem as a ¾ but I like my helmets snug (as they should be).
My riding glasses are also too big. I had to buy smaller ones. Same with gloves. My 3XL Fieldsheer riding jacket that I have had for over 10 years is overdue for replacement and size is the last straw. I’m swimming in it. I don’t even think Fieldsheer makes motorcycle gear anymore. The rest of my gear is all too large and needs to find a new home. Good thing I have that Aerostich.
Who cares?
Thanksgiving 2022: 224.6lbs. I believe this is what the kids call ‘drip.’
Performance is a thing. Every pound counts when loaded down for adventure on something as low-powered as a Ural. The massive flat-six in the Goldwing doesn’t really care but decreasing weight by eating less is easier and cheaper than adding horsepower no matter what you ride.
My current weight has made things easier. Maneuverability is exponentially better. Sitting in the saddle for extended periods of time is less painful without an extra person’s worth of weight sitting on my tailbone. Those 1000 mile per day trips shouldn’t be too much of an issue now. Definitely cheaper than buying new seats, too.
Riding is fun. It is why we do it. Riding is more fun for me now that those pounds are gone. None of this is to say that you have to be thin to ride motorcycles. You do you.
Afterthoughts
The weight loss couldn’t have come at a better time with what I put a deposit down on this week. It has a total weight limit of 265 pounds. Big things could be happening.
I keep the pantry locked and loaded.
I attribute a lot of my ability to lose weight on Quest protein bars. I consume 1-2 every day as a meal replacement. Maybe they’ll sponsor me one day. There is a program called ‘Quest Squad’ where you do their social media campaigns for them in return for free or reduced-priced products. I considered signing up for it but, as part of the contract, they own all of the intellectual property associated with the campaign. I have a price but a coupon code isn’t it.
Maybe I should have started a weight loss blog instead of one centered around motorcycles. I could have been the next Amberlynn Reid. But, you know, not a total dumpster fire.
