Harley Down

[mdisher]

So I'm on my way home from work...

The transition from Route 63 to Route 4 is a nice ramp. If you're inclined to, you could probalby get knee down. The merge to Route 4 is faily wide open and traffic is generally lite there.

So I'm about to take this right hander (at a leisure pace mind you) and as I start around the corner I see a guy standing there with his road king on it's side. Being the nice guy that I am, I pulled over to render assistance.

As I walk back I see the skid marks, and then the scrapes, and where the grass is all torn up. I ask him if he's OK, which he appears to be, only extreemly stressed out. Another motorist stops and we get the bike up and push it up to the pavement. He's busy assessing the damage.

Again I ask him if he's allright. (He was wearing the standard Harley protetive gear, a pair of aviators, a wife beater and jeans and he doesn't appear to have a scratch on him).

I asked him what happened, he said he didn't really know. (It looks to me like he was going just a tad to fast for that big ass bike).

I pointed out, that it's only parts, most will buff out, the important thing is that he's OK. He looks at me like I'm crazy. He said I just picked this up new and was bringing it home. (the dealership is maybe 10 miles down the road).

It sure was pretty. Right about that time a cop pulls up, gets out and starts assessing the situation. Now if I was a betting man, I'd bet this guy didn't even have his Moto Endorsement yet. Shit happens, I get that...

The cop starts up a conversation, and that was my queue to move on...

Somewhat traggic, brand new bike and all, but the look on the guys face, the anger and frustration would have made an excellent photo.

-MD

 

[Fred W]

I pointed out, that it's only parts, most will buff out, the important thing is that he's OK. He looks at me like I'm crazy. He said I just picked this up new and was bringing it home. (the dealership is maybe 10 miles down the road).

So, what. He'd rather the bike was fine and he was crippled?

:asshat2:

 

[mdisher]

I was somewhat miffed myself... Perhaps he's afraid of what his wife/significant other will do to him when he gets home.

I mean if you crash, and there are no scars to prove it, did you really crash?

 

[panayoti]

we rode up to harley in the ditch over in AR a while back. As we are getting the bike out of the ditch he tells us to be careful not to break anything. At that point I was ready to let go of the bike an let it fall back in the ditch. Then the guy tells us that the bike is a rental ! I got a good chuckle out of that.

 

[Slick]

I do not see how that is sooooo funny.

Not everyone can ride as good as you guys who make fun of the others.

I know that most Harley riders are not great riders, but do you all have to be so mean?

 

[Fred W]

Now that's funny right there...

 

[FJRocket]

Hey, I remember the first time I scraped the engine guard on my Road King. I can see how a nubie could freak out and lose it. The transition from rice burner to chrome tractor is not easy. It's a whole different animal. And you really can't lean them into curves very far at all. Remember that time lapse of the guy in the Dragon losing it? Not hard to do on a Hog.

Glad the guy was OK, and the bike probably not in too bad a shape. He was probably disgusted with himself, and in shock. Well, good thing HD sells so many aftermarket parts. Looks like he'll be farkling the HD sooner than he thought.

 

[mdisher]

I do not see how that is sooooo funny.Not everyone can ride as good as you guys who make fun of the others.

I know that most Harley riders are not great riders, but do you all have to be so mean?

Mean? I don't think I passed judgement on his riding ability or lack thereof. Shit happens, I get that, I was behind a FJR last year that went down on an on-ramp because of gravel. What I was poking fun at was his attitude about the whole thing.

Certainly dropping a new bike isn't any fun, but considering he crashed at 'speed' and it wasn't a parking lot tip-over. He should be thankful he was unscathed.

 

[odot]

Where's all the HH club members? This should be a riot in progress.

 

[TriggerT]

I posted a few weeks ago about going to fast into a corner, and ended up on the far shoulder in the grass.

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=102440

I'm glad it wasn't treated as a joke. I am the last person in the world to cut any slack to a Harley guy, but we all start somewhere, and I would be willing to bet we have all fooked up at some point in our riding careers.

Now his reaction about the bike being fixable, and being so damn lucky to walk away without a scratch, well that makes no damn sense.

 

[odot]

Harley world is different then others. We're more concerned bout the scoot as opposed to our well being. We're not immortal.

 

[Docholiday]

Somehow there are people who don't appreciate how lucky they are when they go down and don't get injured despite the lack of proper protective gear. I'm sorry to hear about any bike that is dropped, but if there is nothing learned from a minor mishap they set themselves up for a bigger problem in the future. I hope the Harley guy thinks about his own health when he recovers from his shock about the bike.

 

[twowheelnut]

Sucks to read that. If a new bike and only 10 miles from the dealer, the tires could have been the culprits, too.

A few years back, I had to stop in a SBHD for some syn and as I pulled up I saw some of the employees struggling with something in the bushes across the street from the driveway entrance... Yep, a brandy-new Road Glide buried nose first into the hedge - and that mutha was all the way into the hedge, too!

Poor guy... not only was his new bike trashed, but behind him wagging her fingers and screaming at him was his SO. I felt like I shoulda went and hugged him.

 

[05fjrBluedevil]

I do not see how that is sooooo funny.Not everyone can ride as good as you guys who make fun of the others.

I know that most Harley riders are not great riders, but do you all have to be so mean?

Mean? I don't think I passed judgement on his riding ability or lack thereof. Shit happens, I get that, I was behind a FJR last year that went down on an on-ramp because of gravel. What I was poking fun at was his attitude about the whole thing.

Certainly dropping a new bike isn't any fun, but considering he crashed at 'speed' and it wasn't a parking lot tip-over. He should be thankful he was unscathed.

Hey I remember that , I remember my first wipe on a a two wheeler........ I was riding on old shep road here in Louisville, It was a great day.... I had only had my 1100 limited edition Virago for a few months.... there I was all cool tooling down the road on my yamahog.... I bought it because it looked nicer to me and cost less than the aforementioned....hog.... So here it is July 3 1986.... decided to drag foot pegs going around a corner and hit oil and the rear slide out and I bounced much like the gravel I hit on that ramp.... I didn't wear helmets back then even though I had one...... I remember sliding to a stop and watching my baby slide on toward a truck in the opposite turning lane and it popped up on its feet and just busted parts flying everywhere..... I only remember being mad that I had hurt my baby..... and then pulled it to the side of the road and slammed it down in disgust... So I guess I can rationalize with his thinking, maybe he had already accessed his own damage and with out any scars to show for it and the fact that his SO was more than likely totally against him getting the bike in the first place having to call her or show his buddies his new ride was just too much to handle a day into ownership.....

oh I do not think you were to hard on him in this post......like you said s happens and you were only making an observations of how he reacted to your questions that he was alright... how dare you be more concerned about his well being than that of his hog......

 

[James Burleigh]

Sucks to read that. If a new bike and only 10 miles from the dealer, the tires could have been the culprits, too.

A few years back, I had to stop in a SBHD for some syn and as I pulled up I saw some of the employees struggling with something in the bushes across the street from the driveway entrance... Yep, a brandy-new Road Glide buried nose first into the hedge - and that mutha was all the way into the hedge, too!

Poor guy... not only was his new bike trashed, but behind him wagging her fingers and screaming at him was his SO. I felt like I shoulda went and hugged him.

I tend to believe that it's bad karma to sneer at any rider on any type of bike who goes down (not saying that happened in this post). I will happily participate in trying to understand what happened to learn from it, and shake my head if it appears the rider was in over his / her head, failed to dress properly, take safety training, etc. But I don't like to pile on top of the "what of dumb f**k" stompings some riders get in some forums and threads.

Again, I just think it's bad karma, because at the end of the day [did I really just use that cliche?] we're all human and susceptible to errors of one type of another that can put us on the ground. Those stompings strike me as acting superior, or proud, and "pride goeth before the fall."

One form of pride that Reg Pridmore cautioned against in his book is that if you're ever running down the road and feeling too damn good, re-evaluate, because you're getting cocky and over-confident.

Just my $0.02.

 

[cadman]

Perhaps he's afraid of what his wife/significant other will do to him when he gets home.

He's not afraid of his wife/S.O! You did say he was wearing his wife beater.....He's was mulling over the hulimiation factor of telling his bro's about his just bought 10 mile f__k up!

He was the badest thing on the road for a few moments.

cadman

 

[twowheelnut]

I tend to believe that it's bad karma to sneer at any rider on any type of bike who goes down (not saying that happened in this post). I will happily participate in trying to understand what happened to learn from it, and shake my head if it appears the rider was in over his / her head, failed to dress properly, take safety training, etc. But I don't like to pile on top of the "what of dumb f**k" stompings some riders get in some forums and threads.
Again, I just think it's bad karma, because at the end of the day [did I really just use that cliche?] we're all human and susceptible to errors of one type of another that can put us on the ground. Those stompings strike me as acting superior, or proud, and "pride goeth before the fall."

One form of pride that Reg Pridmore cautioned against in his book is that if you're ever running down the road and feeling too damn good, re-evaluate, because you're getting cocky and over-confident.

Just my $0.02 $.020.

Yep, that's why I wanted to go and hug the poor sog.

Oh, and fixed for inflation adjustment.

 

[xharleyrider]

I have a friend who use to sell Harley's for a few years. He has told me stories about these guys purchasing bikes who had limited skills if any! He always suggested that they take the MSF course. Each of them said the same thing, I use to ride a lot when I was younger so it will be like riding a bicycle again. Well these so called like riding a bicycle again returned their bikes damaged the very next day.

It's not that Harley riders are unskilled, ( well some are ) some just think it will be easy to ride. I own a Harley now and have had a few of them in the past. I did take the the basic and advance classes and started out on a V Star to get my skills good enough to ride a bigger bike like the Harley. I totaled my first Harley at Sturgis without a scratch on me, but I was wearing proper gear including a helmet! My rear tire lost traction in a corner on one of those tar snakes.

However, I would have to agree, a lot of the Harley boys can't ride worth a crap. I use to be a road captain and saw it first hand. They had no excuse to be on any type of bike for that matter.

 

[FJRMGM]

inexperience + big bike + corners = UH OH