Crush -> RE: You're a biker when... (9/26/2007 6:04:24 PM)
|
Check...check....not yet...check....check....check.....(....)..... I ride to work every day unless I *have* to carry something in I can't strap to my cycle. And I've strapped some strange things. (Ever take a laser printer to work on your cycle? I have...). One day I'll relate the story of how I rode and flew (from) a Harley at 65 mph....oh heck, sure... It was a cold day after Thanksgiving. We were going on an after-Turkeyday ride. My ride wasn't working (repairing the starter) so I was able to borrow my buddies Sportster. Originally my wife wanted to ride it but opted to ride her cycle instead. This was not any Sporty, but one that was "reworked" quite a bit. Dual disk brakes with metallic calipers, high end rebuild, forward controls. Heck, I was in 3rd gear and still blowing fuel at 65mph. Way set for performance. And WAY top heavy. So we're crusing through Ocala. Stopped for lunch. Then back on the road. I'm feeling a little comfortable with the bike now, so instead of following WAYYYYY back, I'm riding a few lengths behind. Tooling along the divided highway Just Fine. (And still hoping to get enough speed to actually get to 4th gear!) Then the ride leader decides to pull into a median cutover. Quickly. I brake. Well, I missed the rear brake (which slows your tail down) and grabbed the front brake. Those metallic pads on those dual front disks stop....instantly! The next thing I know the bike is upside down and I'm going "Awwww f****ck!" Yep, the front wheel had locked up and the back end decided it wasn't ready to stop (I did miss the rear brake control, ya know) and it kept going up and over. Normally you are dead at this moment, since that bike wants to land on you...all 500 lbs of the critter. But somehow I "got off" the bike and started rolling down the center grassy median. All the time I'm thinking "I'm glad I'm wearing a helmet....I'm glad I'm wearing a helmet..." for 75 ft! The bike? It landed on its side and left a mark 65 ft long in the cement roadway. Handlebars at 90 degrees from normal. A heck of a scrape on the bags. And some busted plastic and chrome. I ended up paying the deductible. It turned out that the Harley shop was only about 1/4 mile from the scene.....we rode the bike down there from the scene, very gingerly! So after I stopped rolling I jumped up and raced back to check on the bike. Yep! Since it was cold I had been wearing EVERY piece of leather (take that, PETA!) I owned, my helmet, gauntlets, goggles, long underwear, etc. I ended up with a bruise on my shoulder and a skinned knee...the leather didn't abrade through, but the denim of my jeans did rub against my skin. And of course, I DID plan to keep riding it back home if it wasn't dinged "too badly." BTW, I did get a "10.0" on my "dismount" from the riders (including the guy who owned the bike) behind me. And all my wife heard (since she was in front of me) was "Dennis is down, Dennis is down! Dennis is up?!?!?!" A firetruck was on its way back and saw my accident. Stopped and checked me out. I was OK, especially for someone who should have been on his way to a hospital after that! The really sad part was having to "ride bitch" on the rest of the ride back home. THAT sucked!
|
|
|
|