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Riding Buddy Home


Bob Palin

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Due to Laney's attempts to break her back learning to pick up a GS I ended up with Buddy (K12RS) at my house in Torrey and Buddy really wanted to go home. I hadn't ridden a K bike much at all before, I tried one in 1984 but my knees touched the fairing so I got a GoldWing instead (!). I also rode a dealer's K100 loaner which was just a horrible bike, vibrated like crazy, had a rock hard seat and no suspension.

 

My first 122 miles on Buddy were on Utah 12 - it doesn't get much better than that. From the first curve I liked the bike, it just goes where you think, the riding position is neutral and very comfortable, no weight on the wrists, of course Master Yoda's riding position is perfect for this bike (geez, I wonder why).

I was really getting into the ride over Boulder Mountain when I came round a bend to find the Garfield County Sheriff just pulling out, luckily it was a sharp turn and I wasn't pushing it, he certainly gave me a good look. Just down the road I caught up with 3 more bikes moving at a very "sensible" pace, I bet they just got tickets. I passed them with ease and enjoyed myself without going wild all the rest of the way down 12.

I love the way the power comes in on this bike, when in gears 4-5-6 I couldn't tell which it was a lot of the time, it pulls in top gear like the RT does in 3rd. The handling is great though the shocks are not in the best shape, I wondered how they were working at all given that I weigh more than twice as much as Laney, it turns out they had been pumped up for Boney to ride back from Gunnison but I must weigh 60lbs more than him. Wind protection is good too, looks like the windshield can be adjusted but I couldn't see how it worked, if I ducked my head down a few inches I was in still, silent, air.

 

As I finished UT12 the clouds began to look very threatening, especially to the south and west where I was headed. I abandoned plans to go over Brian Head because it looked really rough over there, when I reached Carmel Junction the best choice seemed to be Zion so that's what I did. I ran into a little rain before reaching the tunnel where I had to stop, the ranger said it would be about 5 minutes so I killed the engine and sat half on-half off the bike looking round at the scenery.

 

That's when it happened, suddenly I looked round and the bike was falling, it grabbed my leg and I went down with it ending up with my foot trapped under it. The ranger lifted it up just enough to get my leg out then the guy in the SUV in front of me helped me pick Buddy up, the shame of it, I felt absolutely awful looking at the scratches on that lovely fairing, Laney will kill me. I will be drummed off the board because I can't even be trusted to return a bike to its owner in good shape. I haven't dropped my RT in its 106,000 miles and it's 10 years at least since I dropped

any bike. The K bike sits quite high on the side stand and it was facing slightly down hill, apparently some small movement I made caused it to roll off the stand.

 

OK Richard, it's your turn, let me have it...

 

Naturally this rather spoiled the ride from there on but I did my best. The clouds continued to gather and soon the lightning was starting to flash all around especially when I got onto I15. I'd read the story about the guy who had been killed by lightning the week before while riding and was hoping that I wouldn't actually run into the storms, on the other hand having scratched Buddy...

As I got to the Virgin River Gorge it was getting really black, I had a reservation in Mesquite and every turn of the road seemed to change my prospects. By the time I left the gorge it was 28 miles to Mesquite and a huge storm was raging in front of me, there's nothing out there so I just kept going. It was after sunset by then, 18 miles to Mesquite, the storm is still just in front of me but the rain is falling, should I stop? 8 miles to go, now I'm under the edge of it but no rain, the lightning is flashing every 3-4 seconds, sometimes with multiple flashes making a strobe effect that shows stuff flying sideways across the freeway, giant tumbleweeds and all sorts of fragments and trash.

As I came into Mesquite I really wished I had made a reservation at the north end of town, it looked like the final 3 miles was going to make the difference but I did make it to the southern end without getting soaked or struck by lightning (obviously).

As I stood in the check-in line holding my helmet people looked at me like I was crazy, I am of course, eventually one guy asked me if I had ridden a motorcycle in that. He had come from the south (Las Vegas) and had to pull over 3 times because he couldn't see, he told me that worst of the storm was just a few miles south of Mesquite, glad I didn't choose Vegas for the night.

 

The next morning it was a nice clear sky though there were palm tree shards all over the place and lots of wind blown junk. The rest of the ride was on I15 and the LA freeways, I really like the cruise control, first bike I've ever ridden with it, I want it! It was soon pretty hot, the World's Tallest Thermometer in Baker said 104 and by the time I got to Laney's I was exhausted, partly from the heat and partly from the stress of mauling poor Buddy and partly from driving in the LA traffic, I don't miss the traffic at all!

 

Laney lives in a confusing jumble of nice townhouses and it took a few hot minutes to find her place even after I found my truck, Laney and Dennis were both there so I had to fess up in person. Suddenly the sun shone again, Laney had dropped Buddy on the same side in Torrey in the spring so the damage I had done hadn't made any difference, I'm still an idiot but at least I didn't add any new decoration. Laney was very kind about my mishap, thank you Laney, I hate to damage other people's things.

 

So, I liked the K and I could see myself owning one, I think it handles better than my CBR1000, it turns in quicker in particular which I really like.

 

After significant re-hydration I set out for the return trip in my truck, there is something to be said for air conditioning in the desert!

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Marty Hill

Bob,

 

To err is human, to admit it is something or other. grin.gif

Thanks for bring buddy home. thumbsup.gif

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You Rat Bastar....I mean hey it could have happened to any of us and I think 99.5% of us would have admitted it (though with less flair). I still would trust you with my RT amigo.

 

Kaisr thumbsup.gif

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skinny_tom (aka boney)
You Rat Bastar....I mean hey it could have happened to any of us and I think 99.5% of us would have admitted it (though with less flair). I still would trust you with my RT amigo.

 

Kaisr thumbsup.gif

 

I loaned my RT to Bob last year when his tranny went on vacation. He took it home then fessed up to a scratch that I put on the bike in the first year of ownership, stating he wasn't sure where he'd gotten it. (I can tell you exactly where it came from! eek.gif)

 

Bob's a class act, but we're gonna have to stop loaning him scratched bikes before he has a coronary! grin.gif

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Les is more

Posting about your mishap really took some . . . well let's just say that maybe Richard will have a little present for you at the next Torry. grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

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maybe Richard will have a little present for you at the next Torry. grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif
Whatever Richard does, I deserve it dopeslap.gif It's the current silence from him I can't stand...

 

Isn't this irrefutable proof of Karma?

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Bob- K's love to roll off the side stand. Its common knowledge among K owners that you always leave it in gear, roll forward until it stops and then deploy the side stand. Consider yourself finished with part 1 of 3 of the initiation process. You still need to have a quick disconnect fail and spray fuel all over God's creation and you also need to lose a system case on the freeway. tongue.gif

 

I dearly miss the power of my KGT--one can easily find 140 mph on an innocent high speed pass. grin.gif

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Consider yourself finished with part 1 of 3 of the initiation process. You still need to have a quick disconnect fail and spray fuel all over God's creation and you also need to lose a system case on the freeway.

 

Would you be referring to me? grin.gif For the record, I only sprayed gas all over the town of Hurricane, UT, and didn't lose the case, it stayed bungeed on the bike so it could comfortably rest on the muffler long enough for a serious meltdown of the case and the contents.

 

Bob IS a class act, and I'm glad you had fun on the way in - at least before Zion! smile.gif Buddy is even better when the shocks are right, and if the weather's good, the Virgin River Gorge is a perfect place to ride him through.

 

 

PS - you can take Buddy out again anytime!

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DavidEBSmith

Y'know, all this time we thought it was Sock Monkey who's the troublemaker, maybe it's been Buddy all along.

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Y'know, all this time we thought it was Sock Monkey who's the troublemaker, maybe it's been Buddy all along.
Nope! That dang monkey killed my final drive when we were monkey sitting for Laney on the way to UnRally IV in Staunton WV and we were nowhere near Buddy! grin.gif

 

Strong is the Sock Monkey in the Dark Side of the Force, hmmmm! And far his reach is, yes! eek.gif

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Francois_Dumas

Sounds like finally you managed to match your story to your avatar grin.gifgrin.gif

 

Good tale, shit happens.....

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Would you be referring to me? For the record, I only sprayed gas all over the town of Hurricane, UT, and didn't lose the case, it stayed bungeed on the bike so it could comfortably rest on the muffler long enough for a serious meltdown of the case and the contents.

 

Actually I was referring to me about the gas and to a half a dozen other folks that have lost system cases off their RS or GT's. So you've experience some of it too I see--complete initiation--sorry. frown.gif

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You still need to have a quick disconnect fail and spray fuel all over God's creation
I had a quick disconnect fail on the RT and spread gas all over Jamie's garage - do I have to do that again? (Not on my RT, the QDs are gone.)
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Well Bob you didn't have to literally scratch your itch but now that you've got that out of your system,

STRAY NOT TO THE DARK SIDE grin.gif

 

FWIW often when I park the GT I give the side stand a slight kick to make sure it is fully deployed.

 

Thanks a bunch to you & all that helped out on this situation thumbsup.gif

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That bit about the storm...was that Tuesday the 27th? If so, I hit it

too. We were about 10 miles from Mesquite when it became apparent stopping

would be a prudent thing to do smile.gif Stayed at one of the casinos for $25. The

last 6 miles were ridden in a gale. Just as we got the last of the stuff off

the bikes, the clouds opened up and just dumped. Glad we didn't decide to ride

on to St. George smile.gif

 

UT 12 rocks.

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Bob,

It looks like no good deed will go un..... tongue.gif I'm glad you got buddy back to Laney without any more excitement.

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If "misery loves company" is any consolation...my RT rolled off the kick stand while I was washing her. I happened to be in front of it working on the windshield so had no chance to grab it or throw myself under it. The driveway is sloped and finished with a broom finish. Scratched the hell out of the luggage.....$175. The bike wasn't straight down the slope either. Sucks.

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If "misery loves company" is any consolation...my RT rolled off the kick stand while I was washing her. I happened to be in front of it working on the windshield so had no chance to grab it or throw myself under it.
Dude, we need to have a little chat about your "priorities"! eek.gifgrin.gif
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Dennis Andress

I suppose I should write something about driving Bob's truck (with my bike in the back) home from Torrey. After all, it was an unforgetable part of the adventure. Unforgetable that is because Bob took away all the uncertainity of traveling after Laney's back injury. I think that says it all - Thanks Bob.

 

79843484-L.jpg

 

P.S. We named Laney's cane in your honor.

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I should also thank Dennis for cleaning my truck - he vacuumed out the inside as well - it looked like new!

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Thanks Bob but it took both of us to clean your truck.
Ooooh, that'll leave a mark! grin.gif

 

With the dirt and dust in Torrey and the way he uses it there, I'll wager that that pristine condition lasts about a week! wave.gif

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Thanks Bob but it took both of us to clean your truck.
Ooooh, that'll leave a mark! grin.gif

 

With the dirt and dust in Torrey and the way he uses it there, I'll wager that that pristine condition lasts about a week! wave.gif

 

Maybe you should take some pix.....so you remember what it's supposed to look like... dopeslap.gif

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Maybe you should take some pix.....so you remember what it's supposed to look like... dopeslap.gif
Too late, it's sitting out in the back yard in a pool of mud, been raining most of the night. I'd take it for a nice red drive today but those tyres I bought used from the Mexicans don't look up to the business. I'm getting new, much better, dual purpose tyres on Monday on the way to TOR (Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor - $180 each!) Might have to take the truck out on some of those CO passes just to use the tyres, not Schofield - the truck is too big for that.
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