| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
Ah, Sh*t. I Low Sided. What do I say when something like a low side happens? I ‘m mostly OK; I think I might have sprained my thumb. I’m sure that I’ll be really stiff and sore in the morning, but right now, only my thumb is hurting. I did hit the ground with my right shoulder pretty hard. The windshield on the bike is scratched up pretty badly on the right side, the rear turn signal is broken and the lens on the front signal is gone. Other than a few other scratched items like the muffler, that’s it. I was almost stopped when the bike went down. If I hadn’t of been on a tar snake, I don’t think I would have gone down at all. I was behind a pickup that was behind a dingbat. The dingbat came to a sudden stop in the middle of the road, put on her signal and turned. The pickup had to pull a panic stop. I also had to make a panic stop, but that’s when the front wheel washed out and I went down. I didn’t hit the truck and nobody else was involved. If I had left a little more space between myself and the truck, I probably would have been OK. I guess that’s the lesson I need to take away from this. I believe that almost all accidents are preventable. I need to anticipate all the various disastrous scenarios and take appropriate action. This was a single vehicle accident, so the fault lies completely on me. I have to learn from my mistakes, so I don’t make the same one again. It was a nice day up to that point. The temperature was in the mid 40s (roughly 8º C) and I didn’t see a cloud in the sky. A lot of the snow had melted over the past couple of days, so there wasn’t so much salty water covering the road. I had hit the quarter car wash for the third time in four days, so the bike was looking a lot cleaner. I was almost home when the Fit hit the Shan. Oh well; that’s the way it crumbles; cookie wise. Well; I’m home now. I have a 2” thick pork chop that I’m going to coat in Shake&Bake for my dinner in a couple of hours. That, along with some Stove Top Stuffing and some Green Giant Frozen Vegetables should make me feel stuffed, it not comforted. I’m just pissed off that I made such a stupid mistake. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I took the X1 in to work this morning for the first time in a while and had to reeeally tip toe a couple of times to avoid washing out myself. Looked wet but there was a skunk stripe of ice down the middle. Glad you made it through yours with a minimum of tissue damage as well as equipment damage. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Sorry about the drop Crusty; glad nothing worse happened. They say taking a long hot bath (not a shower) tonight will minimize soreness tomorrow. Might be worth a try. | ||
| Ourdee |
Sorry to hear about the drop. Glad it wasn't worse. | ||
| Buellish |
I'm glad your ok and the bike isn't too badly damaged John.I low sided my R1100 RT a few years back on 60 going up to TWO.Bruised ribs and almost four grand damage to the RT,live and learn. | ||
| H0gwash |
So glad you could walk away. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Gretchen and I are very glad you're able to post this from your home, preparing to make dinner... and not from an emergency room or hospital bed. Enjoy the pork chop, sounds delicious. | ||
| Doz |
I had a customer fall and break her hip today. She slipped on some oil on the garage floor. Screamed in pain all the way into the bus. Glad yours was nothing like that! | ||
| Court |
Glad to hear . . . 1) That you are fine. 2) That the bike is largely unscathed. 3) That you were able to take away a couple "continuous improvement" tips. We all learn when stuff like this happens. Also . . in the "good day" column . . . just found another BBQ in the neighborhood. Untested . . as of this moment. . . but on the list. Enjoy the pork chop and celebrate that you had a lot better day than the pig. | ||
| Ourdee |
Poor pigs. Cows and chickens are involved in breakfasts. Pigs are committed. | ||
| 86129squids |
   At this writing, SO glad to hear you're OK! It'll take a day or 2 to inventory yourself, your gear and the bike. Hot showers or hot tubs are awesome...soak them sore bones, friend. If you can still make it to Suches soon, maybe you should stay at Copperhead Lodge up in Blairsville... lodge, cabins with hot tubs. Planning to install a jacuzzi this year, hopefully... me and mine are getting old, creaky bones. Might as well start braising myself... Hope your pork chop was proper, and restorative. | ||
| 86129squids |
Oh, and BTW all those emoticons were aimed at RD. Not funny at all to go down... I've found that I'm allergic to pavement. | ||
| Ourdee |
A sprain is an injury to a ligament, which is a soft tissue that connects bones to each other at joints. The most common ligament to be injured in the thumb is the ulnar collateral ligament. This helps connect the thumb to the hand on the side near the index finger. It allows the thumb to act like a post. Injury to this ligament is sometimes called “skier’s thumb” because it is a common injury from a ski pole. The radial collateral ligament is on the other side of the thumb. It can tear, but this is not as common as a tear on the ulnar side. This is the one to watch for. | ||
| Ourdee |
I have had this. http://www.assh.org/handcare/hand-arm-injuries/thu mb-sprains | ||
| Crusty |
Flat Track, Anyone? I love Flat Track racing. It's the closest and most exciting motorsports racing I've seen. I saw my first Mile race in 1973, and I've been in love with it ever since. This year, things are going to get even better. There are two full on Factory teams with possibly more getting into the mix, as well as several independent, but no less competitive, teams. Also, the rules have changed a bit. In the Twins class, the same bikes will be used on all four types of tracks; Mile, 1/2 Mile, Short Track and TT. No more will a rider have to ride a 750 twin for the bigger tracks and a 450 single for the smaller tracks. Flat Track is starting to gain in popularity in other countries. When I was in Australia, last year, I went to the Troy Bayliss Classic, and the racing was excellent. There are some fast Aussies on dirt tracks. The Spanish Superprestigio has hosted American riders who have competed against and beaten Marc Marquez, who's kinda fast on a road racing track and is very much behind Flat Track in Spain. Valentino Rossi also has his own dirt track which he uses to practice on and has invited promising riders to use on occasion. If you've never been to a good Flat Track race, you're really missing something. Anyhow, this year, for the first time, there's going to be a TT race on a specially built track at the Daytona Int'l Speedway. Admission is dirt cheap (pun intended) and they're even offering free tent camping if you have a ticket to the race. That's got me really thinking. I could ride to Bike Week for short money and see the TT for about the same price as tent camping alone. You know; that sounds Veddy Interesting. I think the Tramp is waking up! | ||
| Etennuly |
Spring is coming Crusty! I enjoyed flat track back in the day. I went to Welland Canada, a couple years running. Hamburg NY fair grounds, where they put hay bails around the outside of the horse track wood knee rails. They invited them to run at my home car dirt track in Busti NY a couple of times. They were always exciting and there was no doubt the riders were nuts! | ||
| Crusty |
I Feel Like… I feel like I’ve been shot at and missed, but sh*t at and hit. (That was another of my dad’s less than politically correct expressions) I guess the accident the other day just soured my attitude. It seems like life is conspiring against me. Everything I was hoping for has gone to hell. Every time I see a house in Cincinnati that looks promising, something jumps out to stop me from getting it. I’m losing hope that it will happen. Hell, David got bit by that damned Brown Recluse spider when he went to look at that one dump. Everything else has been blocked for a variety of reasons. In any event, the house search is not looking too hopeful. EBR has stopped production again. I don’t think it’ll make another comeback. They never produced any Black Lightnings at all. I could buy an 1190 SX, and modify it to almost Black Lightning specs, but it wouldn’t be the same. I don’t know if I want to put that much work into building a Gentleman’s Express. I worked on the Roadster a bit today. I discovered that the pin that the rear brake caliper mounts to is broken and the pin that holds the brake pads in place is rubbing on the brake rotor. I went by the Harley shop to get both pins, and they don’t have the broken one in stock. The parts guy checked online, and the nearest dealer that has one is in New York. It’s a freakin’ three dollar part and nobody close has one. I should have it by Tuesday or Wednesday. Whoopie. I did get some good news, though. Even though the turn signal relocation kit comes as a complete kit, I can get just the stalk the the turn signals attach to. It only cost me $33.00 and change instead of $90.00 for the whole kit. I almost asked how much the XR 1200 crankshaft assembly would cost. I still don’t know if I want to spend a bundle building an engine, or if I’m going to just use the one that’s in the bike right now. My thumb has been giving me fits since the accident. My right shoulder hit the ground pretty hard, and it hurts too, along with my back, chest, thigh (both inner and outer) and my entire pelvic area. I feel like I went 15 rounds with a meat tenderizer, and lost every one. To top it off, I had a real bitch of a Migraine last night that’s still with me. I think that’s called adding insult to injury. Or somethin’. My Social Security came in today, and it’s already 80% spent. Hospital & Doctor bills, excise Tax on the Roadster and the Credit card payment. *Poof!* there it goes! The capper came tonight. The road to Tuktoyaktuk won’t be open for June. I had gone on ADV Rider and asked for any update on the construction, and the reply I got said, in part, “I will be keeping up to date on the new road. It will definitely not be open officially for June. The current official opening date is the end of this summer and for next spring.” So that takes care of that. I think I’ll just hit a few races in the eastern part of the country this year, and keep my focus on paying the plastic down to a zero balance. Sometimes Life sucks a big one. For now, I just have to do the Next Right Thing, and ride out the rough stretch. There WILL be better days in the not too distant future. | ||
| 86129squids |
Gotta look on the bright side... I got my taxes done yesterday, and instead of paying (as I expected), I'm getting $300 back! Sun's out today, gonna run errands on the Beemer, then go have a cookout with my best buddy, his girl and mine out on Little River in Walland. Crusticle, have you thought of seeing a chiropractor? Might help... or visit a good hot tub. | ||
| Griffmeister |
Hopefully the warmer weather as well as the email from EBR saying their doing limited production of the 2017's has helped to brighten your day some. | ||
| Crusty |
As The (Brake) Rotor Turns Back when I worked in a Helicopter Logging operation, we mechanics would joke about the soap opera aspect of life as gypsies. We decided that we would name the Soap As the Rotor Turns. (I wonder if As The World Turns is still on TV? ) Sometimes, my life feels very much like a soap opera; lately, especially. Yesterday, I went out to the garage to try and sort out the rear brake problem with the Roadster. There was also a minor electrical problem, my right front turn signal wouldn’t work. since it was the minor problem, I decided to tackle it first. Now, my Service Manual was sitting in storage in Fitchburg, but I figured, it wouldn’t be necessary. Well; it wasn’t necessary, but it sure would have cut my troubleshooting time down by about 75%. The turn signal problem was easily solved; it just needed a new bulb. However, as soon as I changed the turn signal bulb, the headlight quit working. And so the fun began. After pulling the gas tank, seat, luggage rack and windshield, I proceeded to pull apart every connector and sprayed them with Deoxit to get all the corrosion off. After doing that for a while, and getting things nice and corrosion free, I found the problem and fixed it. Of course, it was the first thing I should have looked at. The blades on the fuses were corroded. Once cleaned, everything worked like it should. Then I looked at the brake caliper. When I looked closely, I discovered that the mounting pin wasn’t broken as I’d thought; the mounting hole that the pin fit into was wallowed out. The caliper was shot. So I called the Harley shop and ordered a new caliper. I jury rigged a way to keep the caliper up so that it wasn’t riding on the rotor, and went out to go pay for the caliper and to go by my Tax Accountant’s. They had called to tell me my taxes were done, so I had to go there to pay them. Since I was out, I went by the Storage garage and grabbed the Service Manual and a bunch of tools to swap out the caliper when it comes in. I was thinking as I rode over to Leominster and Fitchburg that it’s a good thing I’m getting a refund. I can pay for the parts for the Roadster and also have the money to pay the Accountant. Put money in the Savings account? You gotta be sh*ttin’ me. Just for kicks, I bought a Lottery ticket. When I checked, this morning, I didn’t even have one number. Lady Luck just doesn’t want me to have any money, I guess. Oh. well. Well; it doesn’t look like I’ll be riding to Daytona for the TT. I’ll just have to sit in front of my laptop and watch it live on Fans Choice TV and wish I was there. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Could you post pics of your caliper? I'm having a hard time understanding what went wrong other than "broke". | ||
| Crusty |
Once I get the new one, I'll post pics of the clapped out old caliper. | ||
| Ourdee |
Lady Luck rides in my swingarm.  | ||
| Crusty |
What Next? Three years ago, my oldest friend, Bill died. That sparked me into hitting the road to live like a Tramp for a while. I lived as cheaply as possible and avoided Interstate highways in favor of secondary roads that allowed me to see the country. And I saw a lot of the country. After traveling around the USA from May to November, I flew to Australia and stayed there for three months. I saw a lot of really neat stuff there, as well. I came back to the US in February of last year, made some changes to the Roadster and set out again in May. I had more adventures and saw even more of the country. I even went up into Canada and saw Glacier, Banff an Jasper National parks, which are spectacular. Last July though, the Engine in the Roadster died in the middle of Illinois. That ended my Tramping for the summer a bit prematurely. I’ve always wanted to ride to Alaska. I was planning to go, when I found out that a road was being built that would allow me to ride all the way to the Beaufort Sea in Canada’s Northwest Territory. That’s when the flash of Inspiration hit me. I was going to ride to Tuktoyaktuk, which is the town at the end of that road. At the same time as all the above was happening, I discovered that even though I love to travel, I would really love to have a home base. I had my own house for a little over a decade, and I really miss being a home owner. My brother David lives in Cincinnati, and while visiting him, I discovered how cheap property is there. It struck me that I actually could have my own house and travel. David was more than willing to check out houses and give me his advice. However, things aren’t going well right now. I can’t seem to connect with a house. Each time I find one that looks promising, it eludes me. One had an offer placed before we did. One was in a neighborhood that didn’t look too good. A couple were in very high crime areas, and one was not for sale at the indicated price. It was a starting point for an auction, and was expected to go up over three times the advertised number. Now, I can’t seem to find anything that appeals, and I’m starting to lose hope. In other news, I learned that the Road to Tuktoyaktuk won’t be finished until late summer or next spring. That rules out riding there this June as I had been planning. I was thinking that maybe a run down to Daytona to see the TT race at the Speedway during Bike Week would be a good thing. Then this week I crashed while making a hard stop on a wet road. When I was inspecting the bike for damage, I found a fairly serious problem with the rear brake caliper. It has to be replaced. Well; the money I was going to use to go to Daytona is going to the Harley shop, instead. So, I’ve been pretty down for a couple of days. This morning, while seated on the porcelain throne, I was reading a letter in Rider magazine about stopping to smell the roses along the way. My focus has been slipping away from that to being destination driven, again. I need to refocus. Yes, I still want to ride to Tuktoyaktuk, but there’s a lot more to look at than just the end point of a journey. Because of the lifestyle I adopted a couple of years ago, I’ve had some amazing experiences. I’ve seen family members that I haven’t seen in years as well as friends I haven’t seen in years. I’ve made new friends. I’ve been to places that previously I had only read about. I’ve visited the Geographical Center of the 48 Contiguous (Conterminous?) United States, I’ve visited the Geographical Center of North America, I’ve seen Carhenge and the Cadillac Ranch. I’ve discovered that Kansas is not a boring state to cross and that Nebraska has beauty that I never suspected. I discovered that one of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten was in a tiny restaurant in Marysvale, Utah, and some of the best Pulled Pork I’ve ever had was cooked on a smoker that looked like a locomotive in West Virginia. I've heard every kind of train horn in use today (usually at night, while I was trying to sleep) and I've heard Coyotes howling in the distance (also at night, while I was trying to sleep). And all the people I’ve met and all of the people who have helped me along the way. People who have offered me a place to stay or a meal to eat. Folks who threw money at me so I could go to Australia, and the members of BadWeB who all got together and organized a Relay to get me and the dead Roadster home last Summer. When I look at all I’ve been given, I really have no call to be feeling depressed. I’ve been living a life that’s full of beauty and wonderful people. If some of my plans go awry, that’s OK; it means that there’s another opportunity for unexpected blessings to come my way. I still have no clue where I’m going, but I bet it’ll be nothing less than amazing. (Message edited by Crusty on February 26, 2017) | ||
| Zac4mac |
This snippet is a perfect example of why I enjoy reading of your adventures, John. A goal, reality and it's frustrations then the triumph over adversity and a rosy sunset.... scooter-drama at its finest! Carry on Z | ||
| Ourdee |
Amen! | ||
| 86129squids |
"I would like to beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now." Rainer Maria Rilke | ||
| Pwnzor |
This snippet is a perfect example of why I enjoy reading of your adventures, John. +1. Good on you, John. | ||
| Crusty |
I Think I’m Being Tested Lately, I’ve been on a streak that I’d have to describe as extremely frustrating. It seems like everything I was considering has gone pear shaped. I fell in love with the EBR Black Lightning, then EBR stopped production. I was going to ride to Tuktoyaktuk in June, and the road won’t be open until September, at the earliest. I want to buy an affordable house in Cincy, and I can’t seem to connect with one. Last week, I crashed the Roadster while braking hard. Now I need a new windshield and some turn signal parts. Then, I saw that the rear caliper was sitting down on its mounting pin. I thought the pin was broken, but the caliper’s mounting hole for the pin has wallowed out. The whole assembly needs to be replaced. I’m flat freakin’ broke and I can’t seem to make any headway reducing my credit card debt. In response to a PM I got from a member on the XL forum, I stated, Since I can't get to Tuktoyaktuk this year, I'll put that off until next year. I'm just going to ride the Roadster in it's current form for now. I may still get an EBR, but that won't happen until after I'm in a house. I just received a PM from a member of BadWeB about a 2014 EBR 1190 SX that has many of the mods I want to make for an insanely low price. If I buy the bike, my house hunt will come to a screeching halt, ‘cause I’ll have to use all my cash reserve plus my Tax Refund for a down payment. But it’s such a good deal, that if I pass on the bike, I probably won’t ever see such a good deal again. I also have to consider how my luck has been going. If I buy the bike, then the perfect little house will come on the Market the day after I shell out the dough and get a loan from the Credit Union. If I pass on the bike, the only affordable houses I’ll see for months will all be contenders for the Roach Motel of the Year Award. Hell; if I get all psyched up and decide to spend my Tax Refund, this will be the year the IRS decides I should be audited for every year since 1966, and they’ll hold my refund until their audit is complete; probably sometime around November of 2022. Well; I don’t have my refund yet, so I can’t spend it. That gives me time to see if anything develops before it gets here. I’ll see how it all shakes out. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Get the bike... get the bike.... get the biiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkkkkeeeeeee............... |
