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Nov 21, 2007

Thursday Thirteen #1: 13 motorcycle mishaps that I’ve had

Filed in Thursday Thirteen



Thirteen motorcycle mishaps that I’d had



    1988

  1. My first ever “accident”: I was practicing on a quiet private road, stopped, and felt the bike start to slip from under me. Rather than get trapped, I figured I would step off the bike out of the way. Instead, I tripped over my own two feet and fell head-first down a ditch where I gibbered with laughter for some considerable time afterwards.


  2. Dismounting is apparently dangerous. While doing so I burnt my leg on the tail pipe and had to have a dressing.

    1996

  3. Eventually I grew up and started to take lessons. Very early on, I failed to steer and crashed into the curb opposite. This was in a small English town on Saturday at lunchtime. There was an Audience. I fell flat on my face–this is why I always wear a full face helmet–suffered bruises and a scrape, and bent the bike’s forks. I also got on again, rode it back, switched bikes, and continued my lesson.


  4. I dropped the second 125 at an intersection. The clutch broke. I then did my first ever bump start. My teacher started calling me Terminator.


  5. Again while stationary, I dropped Katie, my 535 Virago, once. Neither bike nor rider sustained any harm beyond surprise.


    1998

  6. While on a ride out to Morgan Hill, it rained just enough to make things slick. I had the very interesting experience of not realizing I was in second gear, revving the engine too hard, and having my rear tire attempt to pass my front. Eventually, I fell over. Whee.

    2004

  7. I cannot remember a single accident in the years between 1998 and 2004. In March 2004, I set out solo to Santa Cruz just before my birthday. I hit fog on Highway 1 and was tailgated by an idiot who could not understand that I was blinded by the condensation on my glasses and visor (not to mention the shades; it had been sunny before). I made a hasty turn into a state beach to escape, skidded in gravel, and fell over. Arnie, my Virago 1000, lost a mirror. Some guys came running from their picnic in the mist and picked my bike up again.

    I ate a banana. Things are always better after bananas.

    2005

  8. I went to see a man about a bike. I did a test ride. The test ride was unpleasant (the tires were underinflated) and I was about to say “no” when I dropped the bike. It was the first time Beastie’s left foot peg ever flipped me the bird.

    I bought the bike.

  9. We were going camping and on the way out was a very steep uphill switchback. I was in the wrong gear. I stalled. I fell over, downhill. Don, who was on my inside, did the same. We all played dominoes. My left peg flipped me the bird.

  10. I was going to Berkeley to do some snarfing when I was clipped by a van passing me. The driver slowed, looked back, and then drove away. I had just been in my first hit and run.

    I was not badly hurt, but I was seething.

    The bike’s side cover was pierced by the shifter assembly. Don came over and helped me patch it, then we patched it with JB-weld. My left peg flipped me the bird.

    The JB-weld waited until June, when I went to Nevada, to fail. I also picked up a loose connection on my battery. With the help of a good friend, who held my bike up when I had to use the bathroom, I had an interesting ride home. I was unable to put my bike on the side stand because every time I did it would gush oil. Eventually, we had to get the cover welded.

    2006

  11. I attended a safety class in May. It rained. The class was canceled because almost everyone, myself included, failed to bring either proof of insurance or registration. I lost my $150 fee because of it–expensive mistake. On the way back I skidded in the mud and water and went down.

    2007

  12. I was riding along minding my own business when my rear plate decided to come off, dragging with it my entire tail light assembly, and lodging itself in between the fender and the swing arm. I was on a freeway at the time. It was very “interesting.” I was not hurt, but Beastie looks like Frankenstein now.

  13. My bike wouldn’t start. We tried to bump start it by towing. I fell off. So did a mirror. I got bruises, and learned about the wonderfulness of arnica.

    The welded side cover remained intact, but my left peg…flipped me the bird.


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