TonUpSoldier
bad assed, super fast and fully gassed
So i left Steves after we worked on shimming my needles in my carbs (fantastic mod BTW...if you have any hesitation in the midrange from an otherwise good running bike...DO THIS! its easy, and WELL worth it.) So im headed toward the highway, and just about to get on it, passing thru the intersection before the on ramp, and I see a guy pushing his bike down the sidewalk. So I pull over to see if I can help out at all. I ask the guy what seemed to be the matter, he says, dead battery. I asked him if he would like me to help him pump start it and he said sure. Well, it was a Vulcan 1500, so no lightweight by anymeans. But that kinda played into our favour, as there was only a lil hill and since it had so much heft, it actually helped us get it going fast enought to bump it. So we get it running, and he pulls into the driveway that Id parked my bike in. Says thanks and what not, I say no prob. We're both sitting there now, waiting for a hole in rush hour traffic. Im watching him. He seems fidgety. Uneasy. Playing with the clutch lever, and bliping the throttle. At first, i write it off as him trying to keep the revs up on this monster so the battery doesnt die again. Suddenly, he starts to move. Theres a hole. I let him pull out first. Hes rolling. All the sudden, he dumps the clutch. The bike BLASTS off in a straight line, headed right for the curb on the other side of the road. And hes doing NOTHING to prevent it. It then occurs to me, this guy doesnt know how to ride. At all. I watch him, thinking What the hell is he doing? He just happens to miss two cars sitting at the light, darting between them. His feet are down, like he's trying to stop it. The bike is bucking wildly as he keeps feeding it throttle and slamming the brakes on. Totally out of control. He's frozen up. He smashes into the curb on the other side of the street. The bike falls over on top of him. Now he's laying in the middle of the road, with a 1500cc motorcycle laying on top of him. I quickly look and then dart thru traffic on my bike, whip it around on the other side of the street and jump off. I pick up the bike as he pushes as much as he can. Then i help him up. I ask him if he is ok. He shakes his head yes, but i can see that he is shaken up pretty bad. He has some visible scuffing, but no real injuries. Elbow bleeding a lil bit. (of course he DID have a helmet on, but only jeans and a tshirt on.) The bike is fine. Some scuffs on the pipe, but nearly impossible to notice. I again ask him if he is ok. He says yes. I ask him if he would like me to give him a ride to a phone or something, to call someone, cos the bike is now quit again, and i didnt think, after that, that there would be a chance he wanted to get back on it. He said no. He was going to sit, and collect himself. Then he'd try to bump it again. So, i left him there, after assuring that he was going to be ok.
So...they say Karma is a b1tch. I figured, i'd done more than my good deed for the day, by stopping to help the guy (wasnt really thinking that at the time, as i would have stopped to help ANY motorcyclist in need) and then PLUS some by helping him get is poor wrecked arse off the pavement. So I head home. Up the superslab. At Steves, we'd also adjusted my shocks, one step UP on the preload, cos they felt a lil mushy. They felt much better now, blasting up the highway, my newly shimmed carbs ripping thru the gears. The bike said GIMMIE MORE when i wacked the throttle. I had a MASSIVE grin on my face. It felt like a new bike
I crossed over an overpass, and I dont know if you guys have sections of your highway when you pass over such overpasses, there seems to be a dip in the slab. Well we do. And this one jolted me a bit. New stiffness in back, wasnt quite prepared. No biggie. Then i hit another bump. This time it felt weird. Like one side of the shocks were loading up, and the other werent. Kinda lopsided. Now the spidey sense was tingling. Something was awry here. I gave the bike some wiggles back and forth in the lane. She seemed to be handling fine. No instability. No odd vibrations. So i continued on. I headed up the ramp to US35. Right hand banker, up to the minislab. Throttle up to speed, and shortly after, hit another bump, as this section of highway is poorly maintained. THIS time, I HEAR something scrape pavement. Ok, now something is up. I start looking around the bike, slowing abit. I look down and back up, trying to maintain some semblance of concentration on the road. I see nothing. I look out over the wheel and back up. I see nothing. Then i look down to my left, and there it is. One of these pretty good jolts has made my kickstand come down. Crap! This is no good. I look up, just in time to see a pretty nice left hand sweeper coming up. Now the situation has become grave. Quickly i make an attempt to swipe at the stand with my foot, and whiff. I really couldnt see it as traffic was coming up as well. As well as the upcoming left hander, to my right was another on ramp, with cars coming up it. $hit, this was getting worse by the millisecond. My attempt at knocking the kickstand back up was no good, and i sure as hell was NOT leaning that bike into a left hand turn, not for anything in the world. So, I grab and press front and back brakes in unison. Im slowing, but not fast enough. Im going to run out of straight road. So, I head for the grass median between the highway and the onramp. Im aware that anymore pressure on either brake is likely going to lock it up, and im sure that i dont need that to think about right now, as i am processing just about as much as i can handle at the moment, between the traffic behind me, the cars coming up the ramp, and the on coming end of pavement. I hit the grass, still doing about 25-30 mph. Still on the brakes, the change in texture below the rear wheel causes it to lock up, and the ass end of the bike starts to fish tail left and right a bit. I instantly noted it, and had it under control. A half second later and I was stopped. My adrenaline was coursing, i was shaking and a bit weak in the knees. I was about 10 feet from the on ramp, and would have been road kill in short order. I took a deep breath, put the kick stand up. Sat for a minute, and then when traffic was clear, pulled back out on the road and headed home. This day had certainly been an interesting one!
Oh an after note here. When i got home, i had a look at my sidestand spring...its a bit weak. Think i have a spare one laying round in my pile o GS parts downstairs...That will be replaced tomorrow! LOL
So...they say Karma is a b1tch. I figured, i'd done more than my good deed for the day, by stopping to help the guy (wasnt really thinking that at the time, as i would have stopped to help ANY motorcyclist in need) and then PLUS some by helping him get is poor wrecked arse off the pavement. So I head home. Up the superslab. At Steves, we'd also adjusted my shocks, one step UP on the preload, cos they felt a lil mushy. They felt much better now, blasting up the highway, my newly shimmed carbs ripping thru the gears. The bike said GIMMIE MORE when i wacked the throttle. I had a MASSIVE grin on my face. It felt like a new bike
I crossed over an overpass, and I dont know if you guys have sections of your highway when you pass over such overpasses, there seems to be a dip in the slab. Well we do. And this one jolted me a bit. New stiffness in back, wasnt quite prepared. No biggie. Then i hit another bump. This time it felt weird. Like one side of the shocks were loading up, and the other werent. Kinda lopsided. Now the spidey sense was tingling. Something was awry here. I gave the bike some wiggles back and forth in the lane. She seemed to be handling fine. No instability. No odd vibrations. So i continued on. I headed up the ramp to US35. Right hand banker, up to the minislab. Throttle up to speed, and shortly after, hit another bump, as this section of highway is poorly maintained. THIS time, I HEAR something scrape pavement. Ok, now something is up. I start looking around the bike, slowing abit. I look down and back up, trying to maintain some semblance of concentration on the road. I see nothing. I look out over the wheel and back up. I see nothing. Then i look down to my left, and there it is. One of these pretty good jolts has made my kickstand come down. Crap! This is no good. I look up, just in time to see a pretty nice left hand sweeper coming up. Now the situation has become grave. Quickly i make an attempt to swipe at the stand with my foot, and whiff. I really couldnt see it as traffic was coming up as well. As well as the upcoming left hander, to my right was another on ramp, with cars coming up it. $hit, this was getting worse by the millisecond. My attempt at knocking the kickstand back up was no good, and i sure as hell was NOT leaning that bike into a left hand turn, not for anything in the world. So, I grab and press front and back brakes in unison. Im slowing, but not fast enough. Im going to run out of straight road. So, I head for the grass median between the highway and the onramp. Im aware that anymore pressure on either brake is likely going to lock it up, and im sure that i dont need that to think about right now, as i am processing just about as much as i can handle at the moment, between the traffic behind me, the cars coming up the ramp, and the on coming end of pavement. I hit the grass, still doing about 25-30 mph. Still on the brakes, the change in texture below the rear wheel causes it to lock up, and the ass end of the bike starts to fish tail left and right a bit. I instantly noted it, and had it under control. A half second later and I was stopped. My adrenaline was coursing, i was shaking and a bit weak in the knees. I was about 10 feet from the on ramp, and would have been road kill in short order. I took a deep breath, put the kick stand up. Sat for a minute, and then when traffic was clear, pulled back out on the road and headed home. This day had certainly been an interesting one!Oh an after note here. When i got home, i had a look at my sidestand spring...its a bit weak. Think i have a spare one laying round in my pile o GS parts downstairs...That will be replaced tomorrow! LOL
