Just checking in with a few stories fellas....
MOTORCYCLE CRASH!!!!
Its been 7 years, 22,000 miles, and I finally dumped her on the ground!
I was at the halfway point of an amazingly fast paced group ride from Philly to Maryland and back. I was coming down from a hill to an abrupt stop sign, hit a large amount of gravel and the front tire washed out. I stuck my foot out to recover but my foot slid out as well!...Down We Go!
I sprang to my feet, flipped the bike up and got it on the kickstand immediately. "Damn you got the bike up so fast I couldnt get a pic!"
(Was the first thing I heard while I was getting up..haha)
GLUG GLUG GLUG!....Gas is pouring from the carbs! QUICK! shutoff the gas, QUICK! Bust out your secret homemade tool kit, youve been there before!...You know what to do! Its a stuck carb float on the right side. Allen keys....screwdriver....shaky hands....embarrassment! Time to disassemble the carb, on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere, while 10+ guys and 1 girl stand and watch you! "Pressure's on Tom!"...Youre ruining everybody's day, Tom!"..."You better fix this right now or youre fuked in the middle of nowhere Tom!"
Panic, Fear, Pride....Swallow that sht and focus! Trial, error, and the help from a few guys and a passerby, we got the carb working, reassembled, and the bike started right up! Passerby had a pair of pliers, he straightened out the bent brake pedal and license plate bracket. LETS RIDE!
Found out after we started riding again that my handlebars were loose and wiggling around while I negotiated the curvy mountainous terrain. "SHAKY HANDS....SHAKY BARS....BUT I'M HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!!"....hahaha
Tightened the bars with a borrowed socket set, ripped off the dangling licence plate bracket, rode the 100 something miles home...not a scratch on the bike! A bump on my forehead and a scratched helmet!
RODE HOME TRIUMPHANT!
THEN THE FOLLOWING MONTH....
Was riding with the same group of guys I crashed in front of the previous month on a weekend trip up to New York. Doing 85 on 95 North, in the back, when BOOM! BLAMP BLAMP BLAMP....Bike got super loud and I knew right away when I looked down....Right Shorty pipe fell off!
I pulled over to the side and my phone started blowing up. Everyone heard a noise and figured it was me..haha. I told them to go on without me and walked about a half mile back on the shoulder looking for my pipe. Didn't see it, so I crossed the highway and walked the other shoulder back and found it in a ditch. Still hot, but not really all that scratched up considering it plinked down the road at 85. I grabbed some Styrofoam laying on the ground and carried it back.
The clamps I had were always crap but the right one mustve loosened from the previous crash. Didn't have that size allen key so I knocked it off the pipe and had to bend the opening on a curb to get it to slip back on. Then I wired it back up with some extra romex that I keep coiled on the passenger pegs for sticky situations. Rode it home with the fingers crossed and had no problems.
Missed out on a great ride though so I was pissed about that.
AND THEN....
My buddy sold his old Honda Shadow Bobber and got a brand new 2014 Thruxton! Nice bike although I don't like the riding position and turning radius. It's got him wanting to ride a lot more so its cool to finally have a buddy to ride with. I'm usually a lone wolf.
