Who rides motorcycles?

[Piston]

The wife and I both ride Harleys. A couple of months ago, the wife wanted to ride to the coast for lunch. We saddled up and headed out on CA-58. About ten miles west of Bakersfield, a medium-large dog came onto the highway to chase me. It missed me, but took my wife down at about 60mph. She was thrown off, clear of the bike, and rolled like a pencil off the road and into the weeds. Her 2010 Street Glide beat itself to death down the road, and ended up on the shoulder 50-75' farther down than the wife. Wife was wearing protective gear, and didn't break any bones. Skinned both elbows, both knees, and all her knuckles, and got a large hematoma on one thigh. The beloved Street Glide was totaled. Everything that was painted or chromed was bent or scratched, and the frame was broken. Fortunate she was thrown, as it would have beaten her up severely. She rode her new 2016 Street Glide home October 3rd.

Cheers to your wife for getting back on a bike and not letting the accident push her away from riding.

Also, I'm glad to hear she was wearing protective clothing. There are a lot of people out there I see riding and just cringe at the thought of the pain they will go through if they end up sliding across the pavement.

 

[MoPops]

Cheers to your wife for getting back on a bike and not letting the accident push her away from riding. Also, I'm glad to hear she was wearing protective clothing. There are a lot of people out there I see riding and just cringe at the thought of the pain they will go through if they end up sliding across the pavement.

Totally agree. I'm head to toe in gear. Every time.
Super glad the gent above's wife is ok. Sure could have been worse. All my crashes have been on gravel or dirt, and almost all at low speed. Only once with any speed, and it ended with a broken fibula, in three spots. (Through tall motocross boots.)
Motorcycle riding is not an activity taken lightly.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

The wife and I both ride Harleys. A couple of months age, the wife wanted to ride to the coast for lunch. We saddled up and headed out on CA-58. About ten miles west of Bakersfield, a medium-large dog came onto the highway to chase me. It missed me, but took my wife down at about 60mph. She was thrown off, clear of the bike, and rolled like a pencil off the road and into the weeds. Her 2010 Street Glide beat itself to death down the road, and ended up on the shoulder 50-75' farther down than the wife. Wife was wearing protective gear, and didn't break any bones. Skinned both elbows, both knees, and all her knuckles, and got a large hematoma on one thigh. The beloved Street Glide was totaled. Everything that was painted or chromed was bent or scratched, and the frame was broken. Fortunate she was thrown, as it would have beaten her up severely.

She rode her new 2016 Street Glide home October 3rd.

I've ridden 58 many times, and the part west of McKittrick to Santa Margarita is some of the best motorcycle road in California. I'm sorry to hear your wife was injured by a stray dog. It's too bad people don't control their animals. Some think it's acceptable to let them roam, but in this day and age of high speed roads, doing so should be a crime. I hope you found the owner of the dog involved, and were able to obtain restitution. As for getting back in the saddle, I know how hard it can be. Back in '03 a Ricky Racer crossed the centerline on his GSXR and struck me head on, sending us both to the hospital. I was out that night, he died there. It was a long recovery, but the full face helmet, boots, gloves, and Aerostich riding suit I was wearing limited my injuries to a few broken bones. It was and still is a struggle balancing the joys of riding against the demonstrated possibility of grave personal injury, and I applaud you're wife's determination and fortitude in getting back on a bike.

 

[Teachu2]

The dog had no tags or collar, and made no dying declaration. GEICO was excellent, but the 2010 was worth about half of the cost of a comparably-equipped new one.

 

[Teachu2]

The dog had no tags or collar, and made no dying declaration. GEICO was excellent, but the 2010 was worth about half of the cost of a comparably-equipped new one.

 

[kcflhrc]

Well we kinda got off track here but it looks like several TBN'ers are riders too. I was kinda surprised at the amount of posts. I didn't think there would be much response. I guess we love our motorcycles as much as our tractors. Thanks for all the replies and ride safe.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

I started having some eye trouble earlier this week (just couldn't see working anymore for a while), so I headed out on the bike to the Sierra Nevada mountains for a couple of days. The weather was iffy, but I wasn't gonna let that interfere. Mornings would be clear and bright, and by 3PM the clouds would gather and I'd be running in and out of showers. I did manage to find a few golden aspens, but apparently the drought is causing most of them to drop their leaves before they change color. I saw many stands that were bare sitting right next to others that were still green with leaves. Some gorgeous cottonwoods and willows though, but those were down at much lower elevations and were spread pretty thin. It was still great to get out, especially on weekdays with almost no traffic on the roads. Except for going around Lake Tahoe, which was full of tourist traffic and road construction. At one point I was even stuck behind a school buss for quite a while. He insisted in stopping in the middle of a state route, halting traffic in both directions while the little darlings (mostly high school age by the looks of 'em) lollygagged their way off the buss. But that was the worst of it, and just made everywhere else seem all that much better. I did hit some pretty good rain coming over Sonora pass just before sundown, but by the time I got to camp it was dry again. My gear is very good so I was dry and warm the whole time, just had to slow down a bit on the slippery roads.

Had a funny moment when I tried to get my candle lantern going and discovered that the Ohio Bluetip strike anywhere matches were anything but, and the butane lighter I'd also brought was a dud. I did have a flint stick and a piece of hacksaw blade, but how's that going to work on a candle? Well a few drops of gasoline solved that problem and I enjoyed my turkey sandwich with Jim Beam by candlelight.

I had hopes of staying out another day, but the trip back over the mountains had almost no aspen trees, and a big chunk of it was through forest that had burned this summer. I was under overcast skies as well, and by the time I made it back to the east side the skies were very black to the west. I gave some thought to heading back that way to bag another mountain pass, but that would have put me heading north on tourist choked CA-49 that evening, and probably gotten me another drenching besides. Skies to the north were beautiful and blue, the roads wide open, and I was only a few hours from home, so a comfortable bed and a hot meal won out. But I got two days of great riding in, saw some nice fall color, and even felt Jack Frost pinching my cheeks a time or two, so it was all good. There's a lot to be said to reducing life's problems down to "where am I going" and "do I have enough gas to get there".

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[Humblebub]

I shall repeat your last line many times.

 

[3930dave]

I started having some eye trouble earlier this week (just couldn't see working anymore for a while), so I headed out on the bike to the Sierra Nevada mountains for a couple of days. The weather was iffy, but I wasn't gonna let that interfere. Mornings would be clear and bright, and by 3PM the clouds would gather and I'd be running in and out of showers. I did manage to find a few golden aspens, but apparently the drought is causing most of them to drop their leaves before they change color. I saw many stands that were bare sitting right next to others that were still green with leaves. Some gorgeous cottonwoods and willows though, but those were down at much lower elevations and were spread pretty thin. It was still great to get out, especially on weekdays with almost no traffic on the roads. Except for going around Lake Tahoe, which was full of tourist traffic and road construction. At one point I was even stuck behind a school buss for quite a while. He insisted in stopping in the middle of a state route, halting traffic in both directions while the little darlings (mostly high school age by the looks of 'em) lollygagged their way off the buss. But that was the worst of it, and just made everywhere else seem all that much better. I did hit some pretty good rain coming over Sonora pass just before sundown, but by the time I got to camp it was dry again. My gear is very good so I was dry and warm the whole time, just had to slow down a bit on the slippery roads.

Had a funny moment when I tried to get my candle lantern going and discovered that the Ohio Bluetip strike anywhere matches were anything but, and the butane lighter I'd also brought was a dud. I did have a flint stick and a piece of hacksaw blade, but how's that going to work on a candle? Well a few drops of gasoline solved that problem and I enjoyed my turkey sandwich with Jim Beam by candlelight.

I had hopes of staying out another day, but the trip back over the mountains had almost no aspen trees, and a big chunk of it was through forest that had burned this summer. I was under overcast skies as well, and by the time I made it back to the east side the skies were very black to the west. I gave some thought to heading back that way to bag another mountain pass, but that would have put me heading north on tourist choked CA-49 that evening, and probably gotten me another drenching besides. Skies to the north were beautiful and blue, the roads wide open, and I was only a few hours from home, so a comfortable bed and a hot meal won out. But I got two days of great riding in, saw some nice fall color, and even felt Jack Frost pinching my cheeks a time or two, so it was all good. There's a lot to be said to reducing life's problems down to "where am I going" and "do I have enough gas to get there".

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Thanks for sharing a late Fall ride with us.

I know of no better therapy than burning 1+ tanks of MC gas.....

Rgds, D.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I started having some eye trouble earlier this week (just couldn't see working anymore for a while), so I headed out on the bike to the Sierra Nevada mountains for a couple of days. The weather was iffy, but I wasn't gonna let that interfere. Mornings would be clear and bright, and by 3PM the clouds would gather and I'd be running in and out of showers. I did manage to find a few golden aspens, but apparently the drought is causing most of them to drop their leaves before they change color. I saw many stands that were bare sitting right next to others that were still green with leaves. Some gorgeous cottonwoods and willows though, but those were down at much lower elevations and were spread pretty thin. It was still great to get out, especially on weekdays with almost no traffic on the roads. Except for going around Lake Tahoe, which was full of tourist traffic and road construction. At one point I was even stuck behind a school buss for quite a while. He insisted in stopping in the middle of a state route, halting traffic in both directions while the little darlings (mostly high school age by the looks of 'em) lollygagged their way off the buss. But that was the worst of it, and just made everywhere else seem all that much better. I did hit some pretty good rain coming over Sonora pass just before sundown, but by the time I got to camp it was dry again. My gear is very good so I was dry and warm the whole time, just had to slow down a bit on the slippery roads.

Had a funny moment when I tried to get my candle lantern going and discovered that the Ohio Bluetip strike anywhere matches were anything but, and the butane lighter I'd also brought was a dud. I did have a flint stick and a piece of hacksaw blade, but how's that going to work on a candle? Well a few drops of gasoline solved that problem and I enjoyed my turkey sandwich with Jim Beam by candlelight.

I had hopes of staying out another day, but the trip back over the mountains had almost no aspen trees, and a big chunk of it was through forest that had burned this summer. I was under overcast skies as well, and by the time I made it back to the east side the skies were very black to the west. I gave some thought to heading back that way to bag another mountain pass, but that would have put me heading north on tourist choked CA-49 that evening, and probably gotten me another drenching besides. Skies to the north were beautiful and blue, the roads wide open, and I was only a few hours from home, so a comfortable bed and a hot meal won out. But I got two days of great riding in, saw some nice fall color, and even felt Jack Frost pinching my cheeks a time or two, so it was all good. There's a lot to be said to reducing life's problems down to "where am I going" and "do I have enough gas to get there".

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Well written, RedNeck... makes me want to climb on my iron horse and ride, ride, ride.