Charis served as Playboy's Miss February, 2003, and went on to co-run the SilverStar clothing company with husband Luke Burrett.
I sat down with Charis to find out more about her passion for motorcycles; here are excerpts from that conversation.
Two-Wheeled Beginnings
When did you start riding motorcycles?
I actually started riding horses at the age of six, and I started riding dirtbikes and motorcycles at the age of ten. So, I like to ride things [laughs].
I was really pretty good at it. With horses, I was #1 in the country for English show jumping at the age of ten, and so riding around barns and stuff, everyone rides motorcycles and dirtbikes to get around. Motorcycles and dirtbikes are literally just a part of that horseback lifestyle.
Instead of having to walk a quarter mile or half a mile to get back to the barn from the show ring, you jumped on a little Honda 50. So at ten years old, my dad was like, "It's on, you can get on the motorcycle and go off on your own." That was the beginning of my motorcycle riding.
It was a blast. I was always the wild child, I tied a plastic sled to the back of my motorcycle and forced my brother and sister on the back of it, and I was always trying to jump the little berms in the yard, always trying to do something to the next level. I had worn out the path around the house.
What was your first bike?
I had a Honda 50 and picked a number for the front of it. Since I was ten, it was #10. So I have a picture of me in my red t-shirt on my Honda 50, and my girlfriend that was probably 11 or 12 behind me. But when I stopped riding horses, the motorcycles kind of went with it. I wasn't riding motorcycles any more, and my life went into school and being a teenager, getting into my 20s and kind of partying, different things like that took center stage before anything else.
It just so happened I had this crazy dream about riding a street bike. I don't know, maybe I watched Angeline Jolie in the movie "Wanted," and a few weeks later had this dream that I was riding. I always call myself "Gasoline Girl" because I like anything that takes gasoline; I like fast cars…
When I met [husband and business partner] Luke and we got together, I got on the back of his bike and that was pretty much it. I was a passenger. I'm not really a passenger in life, I like to be doing it, too. I don't like to go for the ride, I'd rather give the ride, you know what I mean? My dad raised me very much like… he didn't raise me like a guy, but there wasn't anything I couldn't do. There was no boy/girl thing, there was never "That's what boys do."
What else do you want to do in the bike world that you haven't already?
I would love to really get on the track more. I'd love to do some of amateur racing, I really have a passion for technical, controlled speed, and getting faster and faster times on the track. We were doing track days, and that for me is probably the most exhilarating and exciting; it's very second nature to riding horses. Everything about riding horses in the English show jumping world is extremely technical, and the bikes are better because there's no brain to them. I can make it do what I want it to do. It's going to listen to me. The whole other thing with horses is that you're dealing with something that sometimes wants to do something completely different than what you're asking it to do. With the bikes, it's technical. When you're coming into a turn, where you're hitting your apex and how fast you're going, all of that is all down to a science. So if you're really technical about things, you can go faster and faster. That's exciting. And when you don't do it the right way, you find out very quickly.
How did you get back into riding later in life?
Well, I had this dream, and it just so happened that about a month later Yamaha was in our Silver Star [clothing company] offices. We were talking about collaborating, them being a part of our industry and the things we do, and us being a part of their industry and what they do, and I said to them, "This is so strange, because a month ago I had this dream that I was riding a street bike. Just a couple of days ago, I saw this black bike with gold wheels go by, and I said, 'That's the bike I want!'
When did this happen?
This was about a year and a half ago. So they said, "That's funny, because that's a Yamaha. That's our bike." And they probably thought I was ridiculous, but I was literally just freaking out, going "That's the bike I have to have, and I want to ride bikes." It was an R6, the bike I have now. When they heard me say this and saw that I was this kind of girlie girl that was into tough guy stuff, a light went on in there heads and they were like, "Wow, you'd be a great person to represent our brand for women getting off the backs of bikes, and on one themselves."
I think a lot of girls that are on the backs of bikes obviously, there's a "no fear" factor. They like speed, they like to get out there and live a little dangerous, and so I think they're already that type of girl, and a lot of times they're a girlfriend of a guy who's riding, and the girls are cute, sexy girls. And a lot of times they think a cute, sexy girl can't be the one riding the bike, you have to be the accessory, the trophy, on the back of the bike. When they see girls that ride, they're usually tougher, so there seems to be a missing link between girls that are riding the bikes, and the girls that like to be on bikes. And I think I'm a great connection for Yamaha to show that even the Playboy Bunny that probably would rather be in LA drinking champagne and having her fake nails done and keeping everything looking pretty all the time and didn't want to hurt herself is the perfect person to put out there and go, "Look, it doesn’t matter what you do or look like, you can ride a bike, too." And if you want to ride and like getting on the back, you probably also like being in control and riding your own bike.
What's your relationship with Yamaha? What do you guys do for each other?
Well, you know SilverStar [Charis's and her husband Luke's clothing company] has always been involved with different action sports, whether it's MMA, motocross, surfing, skateboarding, or action sports. Moving into motorcycles and the racing side of things was kind of a no-brainer for us. Yamaha saw that some of the other large motorcycle brands were also branding themselves out of their particular market and getting into action sports and showing other athletes riding their bikes.
I think Yamaha was really smart to jump onboard and grab a brand that is known for our sponsored athletes, and do this collaboration where they get some of our market share with athletes in these sports, and bringing those consumers into the motorcycle world.
Have you had any spills?
I had a really good accident on my way to X-Games last year. We had been on the road for about an hour. We were on our way towards LA and pulled in to get some gas. I think every time you turn your bike off and you get back on, you should do a—I don't want to say safety check, but you should get into that mindset that you're going to get back and ride again. I didn't. I had already been riding, so I took off out of the gas station like a cowgirl. That's the only way I can describe it. There was no thought process, I was back on the highway.
Luke and our friend Luca were in front of me, and I gunned it and got back onto the entrance onto the highway, and went to turn. I was going really fast, so I laid some brake down. A week before we had been at MotoGP, and my guys at Silverstar had decided that they were going to ArmorAll my tires so they were pretty for the bike show. When I laid down the brake, I hit the white paint. It was like the bike was on ice skates. Tony, who redid my bike, when he did the crime scene investigation [laughs], he said I laid down 15 feet of perfectly straight rubber. He said, "I've never seen anybody lay down 15 feet of perfectly straight tire. Ever." He said I must have had Kung-Fu grip. I began to turn, but I didn't make it and went into the guard rail, and I have two huge dents in my thigh. My doctor, my chiropractor told me that looking at the dent in my thigh, I should've broken my femur. I have a huge gash that will be there permanently. I didn't get stitches, which I probably should have. Scars are sexy, right?
I got up from that and didn't ride my bike for two, two and a half months, until I Roger at Hot Bodies Customs in San Diego did a new body for my bike, and then Tony at Sesto Customs did a bang up paint job and a made it into the Buddha Bunny bike.
Any advice for women who want to get into riding?
Definitely! Go take a course, whether it's a regular street/road course, or if you want to, do aYamaha/Miller riding school, which is something I did. They do it at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, Vegas, and Willow Springs. I would say, by far, that it's the best way to go. Not only do you learn how to ride the streets, you learn a lot of technical stuff about what the bikes are capable of doing, they teach you how to ride on tracks, too. And when you know how to ride on a track and you're dragging your knee at 50 miles an hour on the second day around a turn, it makes you much more confident on the street. You learn how to brake, you learn how to do all those things.
Did you start off with a basic MSF course?
Nope.
So, straight into the fire!
Straight to it. I grew up that way, that if you want to do something, you just go do it—like Nike says.
When when it comes to gear, you have to be protected. The people I see out there in some situations, some people forget it's not them, it's other people on the road that aren't paying attention you have to be worried about. So it's not your experience or expertise in driving a motorcycle, it's what other people can do. And since you have nothing around you to protect you, only your clothing and your jacket and helmet and pants and the things you're wearing… when you're missing the skin off your ass or your arms, it's not that cute. And it doesn't grow back. We're not reptiles, you know what I mean? When you've got asphalt in your arms, and they're broken… reptiles are able to grow new skin or tails, and we're not. Once you lose it, it's gone. I hate the "Coulda, woulda, shoulda," you know? You should just take care of yourself and do the right things ahead of time. Safety first.
Any other advice for women?
There's nothing more powerful. I really feel that it's something huge that I achieved. It gives me such confidence to say that I can ride that bike myself. I'm one of those people that… what if the only way out was this single engine airplane, and I could leave a horrible situation if I knew how to fly this plane. Or what if all that's sitting there is a motorcycle? I want to do as many things as possible, because you never know what situations you're going to be in.
For a woman to be able to ride a motorcycle, it gives you such incredible confidence in everything that you do. I've been walking through the mall before and seen somebody holding their helmet, and I go, "You know what? I ride a motorcycle." It feels good. Like I said; if you like riding on the back of a motorcycle, then why not ride one yourself? Why not be the girl that's riding the bike next to your boyfriend or your husband. You don't have to be on the back. Take control of it yourself. Why put your life in somebody else's hands, even somebody you love? Get on that bike and ride it yourself!
SOURCE:
about.com
Basem Wasef
Motorcycles Guide
