I live close enough to a rural winding highway to hear the motorcycles as they travel. The Harleys have their special rumble, and there may be many as they go on their weekend rides. The what I call rice rockets have a different sound. The riders have a mostly clear straightaway after a long curve, and that is where they open up, lay low over the handlebars, and reach speeds a sane person would not want to reach. We have had a few accidents, but no fatalities, but it could happen. There are deer, trees very close to the highway, and plenty of driveways on blind curves. Mistakes at around 100 mph don't lead to skinned shins, or a few bruises. I hope it doesn't happen, but it's almost a guarantee it will.
we call them crotch rockets, nurses call them organ donors. i parked my harley a couple years ago, just too dangerous these days and i don't heal as well. i do miss riding so.
ReplyDeleteI owned a Honda 550-4 for a few years. I enjoyed riding it, but didn't ride it much. When I needed the money, I sold it. What really caught my attention was how everyone I knew with a bike and a wreck story to tell. Some were serious, and when my brother was killed riding one Sunday morning, any thoughts of a bike in the future disappeared.
Delete750 Honda Super Sport bored out to 1000. Only broke one arm.
ReplyDeleteThen I became a family man.
They're fun, until someone gets hurt.
DeleteNever have, never will.
ReplyDeleteMy father had one before he joined the Coast Guard at the end of WW2. He had a wreck on an icy street before he went, which prompted my grandmother to sell it as soon as he shipped out.
DeleteEnjoyable, but I'm a wee bit too long in the tooth for one now.
ReplyDeleteI've built a lot of highways. The new pavement has lateral grooves 3/8" deep, every inch, which allows traction, helps prevent hydroplaning, and will grate skin to the bone. It's not a good day to get road rash from that type of paving when laying a bike down.
DeleteThat's why we called them 'organ donors'...
ReplyDeleteIf there are any not damaged.
Deleteheh...living in Daytona for 38 years and experiencing Bike Week every March and October made for very interesting times.
ReplyDeleteDaytona Bike Week is where the rubber meets the alcohol. We have a Jeep weekend, where the authorities have to deal the same mentality with the ability to drive into the Gulf and ruin their high-dollar machine.
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