My turn to tell all

[mrc]

Woke up this morning at 5am and no one in the house wanted to talk to me, logged into my favourite site to read a few post. I landed on the

 

Embarrassing Moments

 

Had a good laugh reading all the mishaps people owned up to. Well here goes.

 

1st drop:

I was 16 yrs old and my first bike was a Honda 400 I woke to find the bike on its side. I took it out to early in the spring and the kick stand sunk in the mud during the night.

 

2nd drop:

I was 17 yrs old pulled into the place were I worked in a big hurry to get my pay check. Jumped off the bike and ran in the front door, realising what I did turned to see her falling over because I forgot to put the kick stand down.

 

1st crash

I was 18 yrs stupid. It’s been 28 yrs since I have laid one down (brand new Honda 500 Custom). Young and fearless I would play on a hill going to my friend’s house. I would come over the top of a hill and start down the hill, half way down the hill the pipeline crossed the road creating a jump. The hill bottomed out and the grade changed to up hill again. My friend lived at the end of the road, 90 degree turn left into his yard. The road ended at his driveway and the Canadian white pine forest started.

 

Done right: Hit the jump at 50 m/hr and catch some air, apply full breaks to make the left turn. Not a lot of room for error.

 

Done wrong: Hit the jump at 50 m/hr and catch some air, and have the throttle stuck wide open…… apply full breaks with the motor screaming. I was able to hit the kill button turn the bike sideways and skidded into the pine forest. The bike hit a small tree stood up and rested on the tree in an upright position. (Unbelievably not a scratch on the bike). I was thrown from the bike when it suddenly stopped, I hit a tree or two, and laid in a ball, I was not seriously hurt, no broken bones, scratches and pride. My friends dad was outside in the driveway and watched the entire show and came to my aid. This was the day I learnt to respect the bikes.

 

Stupid Stupid Stupid

 

I have not laid one down since then. I have ridden with a number of new riders since then and always tell them, you will drop it, you will fix it and if no one is around no one will know if you can keep from telling some one. Just don’t be stupid.

Edited February 19, 2009 by mrc

[N7228]

Goldwing - Early morning - dew on the grass - good morning to ride to the office....... I stopped at the end of my long gravel driveway to pick up something lying in the drive. I put the kick stand down and started to dismount when I realized I was already on a downhill slope and the bike started forward a bit. Decided the item in the drive could wait until I returned.

 

I pulled onto the country road (right turn) and began a leisurely cruise to work. My road winds a bit and as I leaned into a lazy left curve I heard the sound of the kick stand grind on the pavement.

 

I immediately came upright and frantically kicked for the stand with my right foot but (you can't see it while riding) I was already on the far right-hand edge of a road that was quickly going left.....

 

Just before I left the road (six inch drop-off) I mannaged to position my big toe directly between the pavement and the kick stand! One broken toe later I was in the ditch at about 40mph on wet grass. Couldn't apply more than the slightest brake without going down on the grass and soft dirt. Popped up over a neighbor's concrete drive and tried to grab a little rear brake on the concrete before going back into the ditch. Looked up and noticed that I had a choice. The big Oak tree or the water meter. Both seemed determined to assist me in bringing the 800 lb beast to a stop.

 

I chose the brakes and just as I suspected, it dived for the ground! I dived for any soft landing I could get. My face sheild plowed a 4-5 inch deep row through the neighbors grass, most of which ended up in my helmet and mouth, and the bike lost a mirror, some shine, and a little of the excitement I felt for it!

 

Only broken bone I ever got! Told the wife at the Dr.'s office, "I don't know, it just left the road! Must have been some gravel or something..." It was at least a year before I (accidentaly) admitted I left the kick stand down...... she said, "I told you when you bought that thing to be carefull. I'm just glad you aren't hurt!" (Her version of "I told you so!" as the Dr. set the bone break.) I tried to explain to her that I was in full control all the way to the scene of the crash! I love the auto-kill kick stand feature on the Venture........

[Freebird]

Good stories from both of you. I'm glad that I have never done anything stupid.

[massey130]

I had posted earlier about putting our new to us RSV in the ditch and i could not, for the life of me figure out how the heck i had done that.

 

i was turning right out of the asphalt driveway onto our gravel road.

 

i had last rode a crotch rocket 25 yrs earlier and the venture is a completely different animal.

 

i did a lot of searching to figure it out. watching clips of RLAP helped me to figure the following:

1. a turn starts on the outside of the turn, not the inside.

i did not have enough room to turn and my turn radius was too big.

2. target fixation - i saw i was going to go in the ditch and went there. my fear

of turning too sharp on the gravel has since then been overcome.

 

with practice and the above facts, I have since been able to pull out of the driveway as i know i should be able to. coming back onto the driveway has improved 100% also. getting use to the bigger bike has been enjoyable although frustrating at times.

 

I will say this "I love this scooter"

 

i had signed up for RLAP houston, but got rained out. i should be rescheduling soon.

 

dale in La

[Marcarl]

Good stories from both of you. I'm glad that I have never done anything stupid.

[Freebird]

HEY....you keep quiet.

[Marcarl]

HEY....you keep quiet.

I sure will,,,but you tell it sooo good,, I would like to read it again. Did I say enough yet??????

[Freebird]

Which one?

 

Crashing the Fat Cat.

Changing my oil.

My shoe laces getting hung on the shifter.

 

I could go on but enough is enough.

[Yammer Dan]

Mowing the grass?? Don't really have to be bike does it??

[Rocket]

Mowing the grass?? Don't really have to be bike does it??

 

Or cleaning up the clippings........ But then, there is soaking the insides, of a couple of helmets, while having dinner........ Sometimes he gets a wet head, as a result of his own actions & not someone elses...........

[Marcarl]

Which one?

 

Crashing the Fat Cat.

Changing my oil.

My shoe laces getting hung on the shifter.

 

I could go on but enough is enough.

I'd go for the first one, it includes a motorcylce, pond, wife, helmet, cage, jumps, flower bed, HD, speed, needed bike repair, checking things over before you ride,,,,,,,,, just about everything that has an interest on this site.

Now if you tell it,,,,,keep in mind that this is a PG rated site, and you cannot necessarily tell all.

If you don't tell, I might have to go back in the far reaches of my mind and discover what I can remember, but I make no wild promises to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

[DragonRider]

Good stories from both of you. I'm glad that I have never done anything stupid.

 

:rotfl::rotfl:Not that driving your riding lawnmower into your pond would qualify............:rotfl:

Edited December 14, 2009 by DragonRider

[mrc]

I am glad I don't stand alone:rotf::rotf: