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I thought of the motorcyclists here the other day. One overtook me, bounced up in the air, and went tumbling and scraping down the road. I didn’t know what I was going to find when I went up to him, in the grass and nettles by the road. He was OK, but his ankle was a bit buggered.
He hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d been following me on a bendy country road, and then when an empty straight came up, he overtook. His speed was moderate, and he only eased past me - no ripping acceleration.
The road had a depression running along its length for about 20 yards. You would hardly notice it in a car, and he couldn’t have foreseen it until he hit it, moving back onto the left of the road. The bike did a bunny-hop and down he went.
Clear, straight road, no obvious hazards, moderate speed, and he could have been dead if he had hit something hard.
His protective clothing saved his skin, more or less, and his boots left him with a sprained rather than a broken ankle. I stayed with him for an hour until his partner was able to come and get him. A farmer pushed his bike several hundred yards to his farm. He was an experienced rider and he did nothing wrong. Driving away, I couldn’t help but think of Geoff.
Last edited by tribe125; Jun 1, 2024 at 12:43 AM.
So much more can go wrong quickly on a bike. I was talking with someone whose father was going on a cross country road trip on his motorcycle. I couldn’t help but think “Don’t you worry?” He made it to Arizona when one of his riding companions made an emergency maneuver that caused him to lose control of his bike and he died in the ensuing crash. I suppose you take your chances and it’s up to each person to decide where to draw the line, but for me, as much as I love the romance of a motorcycle, I think they’re on the other side.
Read my latest IWL blog entry! An Ode To Rule Breaking
I sold my bike this week actually - too dangerous.
Nah its just because I did have my own garage so gave charge or wash or maintain it.
I'll get another some time.
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Been there , done that. First thought is to get the bike safe , then check youself. Used to carry spare clutch and brake levers , also seemed to snap , odd.
Hated how they used to scrape down a road before re-surfacing as tyres followed the grooves , and loose gravel , sand like glass too.
What got me off bikes was tank slappers.
Swap to aftermarket levers, they have ends that will break off to save the lever.
Some, like these on my Ape, will fold up.
Steering dampers help with slappers. Even my old '02 came with a basic one.
The Ape has an Ohlins that's adjustable.
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It’s been about 24 years now, but about this time of year, I was always up in Asheville, NC, for the annual Honda Hoot week-long event. I was on my RC51 riding with another attendee on the Dragon. While there, we met Jason, one of the junior editors of Cycle World magazine, who is attending the event for the publication. We planned to ride from the dragon about 30 miles up the Blue Ridge Parkway just to enjoy the ride. About noon, we were getting hungry, so we got off the parkway, took a few amazing, super tight turn roads, and found a little town restaurant. During lunch, we all talked about how much fun it was riding, not having to deal with traffic and just enjoying the ride. We also talked about how every ride didn’t need to be a race. Jason had to leave early, but we stayed back and had some homemade pie at the little restaurant. That evening, when we went for one of the night's events, the buzz was going around, and then we found out that on the ride back. Jason was struck by a vehicle that crossed the center line and ran head-first into him. He was DOA at the hospital. Having been with him nearly 2/3 of the day, we were pretty certain that anything that happened was not his fault. Then we started thinking about if we had not returned for the pie. We probably might’ve been hit by the truck on the way back. Sometimes, pie can save your life.
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Last edited by Samanator; Jun 2, 2024 at 01:59 PM.
Cheers,
Michael
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