Well, sad news from the land of two wheels. The population of sportbikes in my town just went down by one. As of today my bike is no more. I went to visit it one last time (to get the plates) and tomorrow they come to take it off to the land of salvage. That’s right, the insurance people declared it a “Total Loss” situation. Apparently I did close to $7000 worth of damage to the bike. So, after I pay the difference between what the insurance will give me and the payoff amount I will be bike free for a time being. THIS SUCKS!! Now the next time I will be on a bike will be in October when I take the MSF course. Uggg. The longer it takes to get back on a bike the harder it will be to get comfortable again. Plus, and this is a minor issue, they don’t make my bike in that color anymore. So I may have to switch from Honda to something else. It’s looking like if I get another bike it won’t be till next year due to the end of the season and all. Oh well…life rolls on right :)
I have to say that this whole situation has made me take a step back a look at things a bit differently. As scary as it is to admit a lot of little things added up to me being ok- the bike rolling away from me, wearing my leather jacket instead of the mesh one because the of the temperature that morning, leaving work later and missing all the major traffic, missing the pole on the side of the road, going lowside not highside. If any of these things had gone the other way it’s very possible that I would not be around anymore or at least not in one piece. Morbid thoughts I know but very true.
I feel that I have some sort of an obligation to let other new riders (and some older riders) know that their opinions on riding equipment are a bit outdated and dangerous now, seeing as I have a new insight into the subject. Especially with PA repealing the helmet law. In the past few days I’ve seen an increase in un-helmeted sportbikers with absolutely no head protection. It boggles the mind, it really does. There was actually a “helmet destroying” event in my area over the weekend. I sort of understand the whole “gov’t shouldn’t tell me how to behave” argument but we have a seat belt law for cars and nobody seems that upset over it. So, what’s the difference? Other than having to pay for a helmet I mean. I had planned on joining ABATE soon anyway so this may be as good a time as any to get on board. Well, I guess that that is enough serious talk for the day.
In happier news I had a great weekend in Richmond, VA. Dale Jr. didn’t win but neither did Jeff Gordon so it wasn’t a total loss ;) Mini-golf (I lost by one stroke), pool, football, racing, beer and Hooters (the restaurant) = Smiles for miles. So all in all I had a good time. Next stop, PSU on the 20th to meet up with 2/3 of the M’s. Ahhhh, memories.
I have to say that this whole situation has made me take a step back a look at things a bit differently. As scary as it is to admit a lot of little things added up to me being ok- the bike rolling away from me, wearing my leather jacket instead of the mesh one because the of the temperature that morning, leaving work later and missing all the major traffic, missing the pole on the side of the road, going lowside not highside. If any of these things had gone the other way it’s very possible that I would not be around anymore or at least not in one piece. Morbid thoughts I know but very true.
I feel that I have some sort of an obligation to let other new riders (and some older riders) know that their opinions on riding equipment are a bit outdated and dangerous now, seeing as I have a new insight into the subject. Especially with PA repealing the helmet law. In the past few days I’ve seen an increase in un-helmeted sportbikers with absolutely no head protection. It boggles the mind, it really does. There was actually a “helmet destroying” event in my area over the weekend. I sort of understand the whole “gov’t shouldn’t tell me how to behave” argument but we have a seat belt law for cars and nobody seems that upset over it. So, what’s the difference? Other than having to pay for a helmet I mean. I had planned on joining ABATE soon anyway so this may be as good a time as any to get on board. Well, I guess that that is enough serious talk for the day.
In happier news I had a great weekend in Richmond, VA. Dale Jr. didn’t win but neither did Jeff Gordon so it wasn’t a total loss ;) Mini-golf (I lost by one stroke), pool, football, racing, beer and Hooters (the restaurant) = Smiles for miles. So all in all I had a good time. Next stop, PSU on the 20th to meet up with 2/3 of the M’s. Ahhhh, memories.
posted by Jason at 3:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home