Corners Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Well if you remember thread where the pro's and con's of riding a motorcycle was talked about - with or without a family and the 'ol saying being applicable - "When you feel like you've learned all you can while riding them, it's time to sell them." About seven days ago while coming back from a City - over a "mountain full of really good curves," I looked in my mirror and seen a Kawasaki LC1500 coming up on me really fast. Two lane road and he blasted past me. Not to be outdone, I cracked the throttle and the race was on. I blew past him on the second corner we were coming up on - a 45 mph corner. Went into it at 70mph with no problem and could barely hear the right floorboard scrapping the pavement. Figured I had him beat but he was right on my rear. I knew the next corner would be a left hand, 35 mph one - my favorite! He tried to pass me with his front tire about even with my left saddle bag. When he seen the 35mph corner coming up fast, he backed off a little and I cranked on more throttle. I can't say if I was doing 83, 84, 85 - but I knew I was in the 80 mph range and this time, over the roar of my exhaust pipes I not only heard the floorboards (ripping) not scrapping the pavement. Had the bike laid over so far that the left floorboard came up and was pushing my boot into the side of the frame and had it pinned there. I was waiting for the back tire to lose traction and figured the bike was going to slide out from under me. I gave the bars all the countersteering I could and by pure luck, made it through that curve. The second I came out of it I looked in my mirror and the Kawasaki was not in sight. But while looking in the mirror, had my speed down to around 65, I didn't notice a rock exactly in the middle of my lane. There was oncoming traffic, guard rail to my right and at that speed I did not want to swerve. I hit the rock with the left side of the front tire. Many old time bike riders always told me if you have a tire blow out on you, pray it's the back one. I quickly learned why. The front of the bike immediately started shaking. I had all I could do to keep my hands on the handle bars. And I was told that with a blown front tire, as you start to slow down, the front end shaking only gets worse. Very true words. I don't have a clue how I managed to keep the bike upright and stopped. The Kaw. rider stopped and said he had never been beat that bad. Anyway, got on the cell phone, called my buddy and he came with his motorcycle trailer and we loaded it up and took it to my shop. Got a new tire put on. The next day, with the Title in my hand, I jumped into my pick-up, went to the Dodge dealer and got in touch with the Gen. Mgr. He said if I ever wanted to sell it, he wanted first choice. I sold it to him right where we were talking. Sold the bike but "gave" him about $2,500 worth of Harley gear. Six helmets, three leather jackets, chaps, etc. I'm so very thankful I'm still walking but when I realized I thought I knew all there was about going through curves I knew it was time to call it quits. It's gone, I miss the heck out of it but now I can spend more time tricking out my RAM truck. Just a quick FYI. This bike was bought new in 2004. Never took a water hose to it, never clayed it and only used hot water and a "bath towel" to wipe it down. Used multiple waxes and polish on it until I found Adam's products. Take a look at how Harley's paint is so hard. The one little spot in the picture is from a small rock chip. The "little spot" is just behind the chrome fender tip. Not a swirl or any kind of scratches on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormChaser Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Scary moment and I'm glad you were able to keep it under control. Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylander Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Wow, powerful story. Sounds like you made a solid, good-spence decision. I assume your wife is a bit happier these days, too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Slow Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Bill, I'm glad you are safe and even more glad you are wise enough to know when to make the correct decision. Your experience reminds me of when I decided against being a pilot. After my first and only solo flight I was shaken to my core. Too many thoughts of 'what if' were going through my head while up there. I love flying, but only in the passenger seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGenCoupe Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Scary, but you should not have been racing. Glad your Ok though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjoeaull Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Good decision, that was my thread you remember. I was amazed at how serious and powerful the comments got. Just from my little question about wanting a bike! But I'm about 75% over the desire to get one, could have saved my life and I will never know it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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