Karen and I went out on the motorcycle today. She rode/drove it for the first time this season. We won’t talk about the first time I rode it this season, since I hit the only patch of snowy gravel within a mile and downed the bike and broke the windshield (I didn’t like that old windshield anyway…). While we are not mentioning it, I won’t mention that I was stopped when I did it, go figure…
Anyway, thought you might enjoy this pic. Doesn’t she look good on the bike!
Been there, done that, but on an 850 lb cruiser bike. Mom and I were just leaving Fox Hosp. parking lot in Oneonta after visiting my mother. It was a slight up hill start and a slopping lot to our left. Not a good combination becasue I had to turn into the slope while going uphill and not give it too much gas due to being a parking lot. I didn’;t give it enough gas and I said, “We’re going over,…..all the way over!” I was right!!!
We not only went over, we went all the way over because of the downward slope the frame of the bike didn’t hold it back as it normally does.
Some people on the 3rd floor were looking out a window and saw us go over. By the time they arrived to help I had the bike uprighted.
But in order to upright it, Grace had to hold the break lever on the right side to keep us from rolling back while I lifted it up. This was because when we started to go over I hit the shift lever with my foot, by mistake, and threw it into neutral while trying to put my foot down on the ground to stop us from going over.
Neither of us were hurt at all, thank the Lord. My pride was hurt but that’s good now and then so you don’t get too cocky about riding a motorcycle and think you know everything.
The very first time we went over was in another parking lot. We had gone for a nice ride and decided to stop at a local ice cream/hamberger joint for something to eat. I was an older Goldwing but it weighed a hefty 870 lb without anyone on it. We pulled in right next to people in a pickuip truck. I put down the kickstand but I didn’t realize it didn’t go all the way down. So, I stepped off the bike and over we went. Grace had been instructed to stay with the bike in case of an accident so she just hung on. The frame of the bike kept it semi upright and I just stepped onto the ground and told the lady in the truck. “My wife loves to ride the motorcycle so much that the only way I can get her off is to tip it over”. Grace informed her right away that it wasn’t true. Again, my pride was scratched but not my wife nor the bike. My newer Goldwing has a light that engages when the kickstand is all the way down. Also, one cannot start the bike until the kickstand is all the way up. Those are great safety features as some have started their bikes with the kicksatnd down, forgot about it and clipped a curb throwing them and their motorcycle over. One local man laot his life while driving 55 MPH and hisd kickstand was down and as he leaned into a lefthand curve it flipped him and his bike into a truck comeing opposit direction. On our older Goldwing Grace would always say, “Kicksand up?” And it was a good reminder for me.
Karen is so smooth – oh how I wish I had a bike… Maybe someday!
Doug, Great stuff. I guess you always have to be on your guard.
Wes, Karen does look good on two wheels. Is she a “natural” at it like everything else “sporting” she does?