Why We Ride- Jenn’s story
“The niche communities within the motorcycling world are some of the best I’ve ever been a part of. There’s always some things you don’t align with, but I would encourage anyone to join in – there will be a group for you somewhere in there. Or it could be the best solo experience you’ve ever had. ” – Jenn Chaput
Welcome to a new blog series here at Triumph of Seattle called “Why we ride”; in this blog we will get to know our customers and the TOS team sharing the motivation behind why we ride motorcycles. Recently I had the pleasure of riding and spending a little time with our technician Jenn who just returned from an epic solo trip from Seattle to San Diego and back on her Triumph Street Triple. I hope you enjoy getting to know her as much as I did, this lady has inspired me to plan my first solo!
When asked about her first memory of riding/motorcycles, Jenn shares a story about her childhood.
“My best friend since 2nd grade came from a family of Harley riders. It was a tradition for their 4 kids that at 15 they would get their endorsement and first bike. I loved that family and was jealous of their dynamic. Some of my extended family on my father’s side also rode various bikes across the country or on small trips and something about it always drew me in. I told my parents in 2nd grade I wanted a motorcycle to which they laughed and said yeah right. I begged to go on a ride with my uncle when he offered but they refused. I dreamt of riding my entire childhood.”
Getting her motorcycle license has been a dream of Jenn’s since she was child when she and her best friend agreed they would get our endorsements together when they turned 15. Sadly right when they reached the age of 15, the endorsement age was raised to 18. Jenn’s parents refused to allow her to get her endorsement, so the moment she moved out of the house to WA she started researching. She found herself in a dark place at this point in her life and felt ready to give up. It was at this moment she felt a motorcycle was the answer to all her problems, and it was.
Jenn bought her first bike at 18 with no endorsement and having never been on one. Her uncle helped trailer it from Port Townsend to his home in Bellevue where it stayed until she got that much desired endorsement. Jenn traveled back home to MT to take the class because she still had a MT license and didn’t want to get a WA license. Her father, who had quit motorcycling earlier in life after an accident, ended up doing the class with her and they both found the experience together to be a lot of fun. Upon her return to WA, Jenn’s uncle put her on an old Honda with a sidecar with him as passenger for two loops around the parking lot.
Jenn’s first bike (and bike she learned to ride on) was a 2005 Kawasaki ZX-6R 636. The first time she finally got to ride her Kawi 636 she did one loop, came to a stop, fell over, and broke the brake pedal. Her uncle gave her some tough love: ‘no more until you get it fixed’, not at all what she wanted to hear. So she got to work, fixed it, lowered it, and proceeded to learn to ride on the streets of downtown Seattle where she now lived. Looking back she reflects, “Maybe that’s not ideal but it felt like the most amazing thing in the world to me. It was like I was finally born into the person I wanted to be.”
I asked Jenn what were some of her challenges and victories she faced: “I am extremely short (only 5ft) so height was always an issue but at the same time wasn’t. It never phased me from considering riding, it was just how do I do this? In that first year I can’t even count how many times I dropped it and every time the brake pedal broke. Eventually I just got them welded instead of buying a new one every time. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to pick any bike and ride it without it getting lowered or altered which made me really sad but today I ride everything. You just learn to get used to it. When I started riding I didn’t have any friends with bikes or anyone that really understood so it was a very solo journey from the start. But every time I got on that bike I felt more alive than I ever had.”
What does she ride now you ask? Jenn rides a 2020 Triumph St Triple RS among others. She bought her first striple after her dream bike (BMW S1000RR) was totaled leaving Jenn in need of a bike for a track day in just a few weeks. At the time she was employed with Triumph of Seattle where the employee discount was the most affordable option for a new bike and thus began her love affair with Triumph. Ironically, she really didn’t like her STriple at first because she was so in love with the BMW engine it just didn’t cut it, but after three years she loves her Street Triple so much she just bought a second one. She says “It’s the perfect mid range bike”.
Solo rider or group rider?
“I do both. Depends on the day which I prefer. If it is a group I prefer a small one. I used to be a part of an MC where we would get pretty big groups and do large charity event rides which were fun and amazing in their own way but I learned to ride by myself so solo has a special place in my heart”.
When asked if she prefers road, track, trail, touring or adventure she tells us: “Road and track are my specialities, but I would love to get into the dirt.”
I asked Jen what her experience has been as a woman in the motorcycle community and working as a technician in the industry. She shares very honestly it has not been easy or fun because of her gender. She’s faced a lot of sexism or just being viewed as “hot” and not a person. As a technician she feels doubted because she is not a man, but stands confidently in the knowledge that she knows what she’s doing and loves every second of it so that’s what matters. Despite all the petty or superficial stuff it’s been worth it because the positives of motorcycles outweigh the headaches. “You do it for you and nobody else so that stuff doesn’t matter.”
Final words from Jen: “Riding for me is the only time I feel like I can breathe. It’s the only place I feel the truest sense of tranquility in my soul. I’ve not lived a happy life at any point, but riding gives me all the feels to keep pushing forward. It’s the reason I’m alive. “
Photos from Jenn’s recent solo trip from Seattle to San Diego and back when she stopped over in San Francisco.
