Hey Unc and other Bikers

Y'all be careful out there. Read in a local newspaper a few days ago about the death of a 30-something motorcycle rider not far from here. They didn't say how they know this is what happened, but, the report was that he was riding on a rural gravel road along a typical section line road when a cat entered the roadway. He braked hard and laid the bike over in an attempt to miss the cat. Fatal decisionmaking.

I do enjoy a scooter get-together. But I'm not much of partier...and the term "biker" hardly fits me. One of my riding buddies coined the term "motorcyclist" to differentiate us from the 'gotta-ride-with-black-leathers-n-dew-rags-and-silly-gloves-with-no-fingers' old gray-headed guys. I bet their Preparation-H has Harley emblems on them..Now my riding attire consists of worn out old Levis, white t-shirt and tennies, accented by a cammy GeoShack ball cap...the epitome of fashion!

But like I said, social hour is always enjoyable. I love to listen to the local 'bikers' at such events talk about two thing: everything they've done, and everything they're going to do. And both are lies. :pinch: But fun good-time company is good for the soul.

paden cash, post: 340893, member: 20 wrote: Now my riding attire consists of worn out old Levis, white t-shirt and tennies, accented by a cammy GeoShack ball cap...the epitome of fashion!

Ooh makes me cringe. Obviously you have not been seriously hurt recently and have forgotten what true pain feels like.

I spent about $3,000 on surgery involving gravel in my elbow socket. Gloves and a Levi jacket would have saved me a lot of pain and money.
Luckily I was wearing a helmet cuz I would look awful funny walking around without part of my scalp. It's amazing how far you can do a head stand while sliding down the roadway.

imaudigger, post: 341329, member: 7286 wrote: Ooh makes me cringe. Obviously you have not been seriously hurt recently and have forgotten what true pain feels like...

Well, yes AND no.

Yes, I have NOT been down in a good long time. No, I haven't forgotten what a cruel mistress pain can be...I hope you heal up quickly. Elbows are painful...and hands are worse!

Years ago, I had little bits of gravel and course sand ground into my left forearm from the wrist up to my elbow. The scab took about four or five months to heal. But for almost two years after that, every so often, I would lay my arm down on a desk or something...and I would have a sharp pain....and it would stay sore...and get festered...and after about 3 days of misery ANOTHER little bit of sand would eventually surface! It took forever to heal.

The last time I went break dancing on the asphalt was not fun either. As I slid I was trying to writhe to keep tender tissue from grinding away. I finally settled on my right hip and (Thank God) slid off the pavement into the grass. I had only slid about 75' but was pretty sure it was a least a half a mile. I had little raspberries all over me and my right butt cheek was shining in the sun...the Levis were flat gone back there. I have truly been lucky in my old age. It has been 10 years since I went down. I layed it over in a grass field where everybody was parking at the Minco Honey Festival...Money Penny was on the back. We hopped right back up and acted like everything was good....I hurt for a week.

Yesterday, on a two lane asphalt highway, I turned back into the south wind and my lucky riding hat left my head. In an effort to stop and turn around to retrieve it, I locked up the rear wheel. Instead of letting off, I was determined to make this field entrance to turn around, and my sliding rear tire started drifting to the right. I realized I wasn't going to make it so I let off the brake...I was only about 15å¡ sideways, but I was still going fast enough that all that weight still wanted to get behind the front wheel...and it tried...I almost tumped my scooter over to the right in the middle of the highway. It snapped my neck and almost threw me off. I dodged a bullet for sure. I did find my hat, though.

Oh, and contrary to what I said in the earlier post, I usually do have on a jacket or sleeves...;-)

The elbow surgery incident happened years ago and I am 100% healed with no problems.

I was used to riding an enduro bike, where the front brakes are used in combination with the rear.
Hopped on a dirt bike...brother mentioned something about the front brake giving him some problems so be easy on it. Tested it out and thought it was fine. About 3 minutes into our ride, I was in the power band through a straight away and had to hit the brakes to make a corner....front brake immediately locked up..I started over the handle bars, but was still hanging on for dear life. The result was the bike standing on end then me standing on end.

I have other people I know that have had bike accidents. Two friends racing on a curvy country road, one laid it over and went through a barbed wire fence. Another friend had an on-coming car cross into his lane on a hair pin turn...almost lost his leg...another had a chain break and almost went over a cliff...another ran head on into a cement truck....

I'm sure you have similar stories. The long story short if you can afford it, riding gear is great insurance.

Experience is the Mother of Longevity. Some people think it odd I pay good money for a new chain every two years and fuss over the chain tension like a hen. Hopefully they will never understand why I care so much about a silly chain......

Experience goes a long ways, but it doesn't protect you from all of the idiot drivers out there...putting on eye liner, texting, watching movies, reading the paper, braiding their hair...ect.

My friend that had the accident because of the chain is actually a very lucky guy.
First his kidney ruptured - had very little blood left, but lived to tell about it.

Then there was the time he fell through a plate glass window at 4 a.m. Squirted all of his blood everywhere. Hopped in his car to drive himself to the hospital and made it about 1/4 mile before passing out. Luckily a log truck driver found him laying in the road and got an ambulance coming. Lost nearly all of his blood again.

Then he had this wreck because of the chain. The bike landed on his leg and trapped him on the shoulder of the road (next to a cliff). His leg was pinned under the pipes. I think it was a pretty bad burn.

They say bad things happen in 3's. Hopefully he is done.

Losing a chain in itself is not a bad thing. In a perfect world the chain drops to the pavement and the scooter rolls to a stop....

What usually happens is the chain breaks (or throws off the sprocket due to poor tensioning) and then jams itself around the rear sprocket, seizing the rear wheel in a nanosecond. At 75 mph, you keep going and the bike doesn't. If you tried to hang on to the bars, you flip over on your back and slide into your fate. If you don't have a good grip on the bars, you can perform a beautiful and graceful swan move as you belly flop at high speed. This involves everything from your knee caps all the way up to your chin. Then, about the time you start thinking "hey, I lived..." you remember there is 600 pounds of scooter that is not far behind you...and closing fast.

I was lucky and when the rear wheel locked up the bike began oscillating left and right, with each cycle peak a little wider, with the bike leaning over a little more...I think I made three wobbles before I slammed into the pavement, face and hands first. It all happened in about a second and a half. It hurt.

As I crawled to the edge of the road, trying to maintain consciousness, the two guys I had been riding with turned around and one had stopped and picked up my bike. He was all smiles and tried to cheer me up by telling me the bike didn't have too many dings and scrapes...I remember thinking at the time that a twenty dollar bill would have bought somebody that bike on the spot...I wasn't real happy.

All my bikes have fairly new chains on them. In my mind it's cheap insurance.

Then there are people like the guy they showed on the news yesterday or the day before. They had him on video. Just as a biker was passing him on the left, he intentionally swerved into that lane, thus sending the biker into a disastrous crash and burn. After being stopped, the driver was asked about the bike rider's safety. His answer was to the effect, "I don't care."

Was out for a MC ride today on my Street Glide, felt great to get some wind therapy. Here in CT, the fall foliage is at its peak colors. Lots of reds and oranges. Beautiful day to ride. Old man winter will be here soon enough.

You can't afford not to wear some decent gear. If you're cheap like me, you'll look like a sale rack going down the highway. You know, all the ugly stuff no one else would buy.
Try these sites:
MotorcycleGear.com (the new name of New Enough) :: Motorcycle Jackets, Helmets, Gloves, Boots, Luggage, Parts and More!
Motorcycle Closeouts
Discount Motorcycle Helmets, Motorcycle Jackets, Motorcycle Gear, Tires at Competition Accessories

I called it good last year after 40+ years of riding, and yes that is a skiff of snow on those bags!