RevRay Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 New Years eve the decision was made, the promise of mild weather for New Years Day. I choose to fore go late night celebrations and get out early for a winter ride. Jan. 1st. 6:30am the temperature is hovering in the mid 40's. All geared up excited about showing off my new bike to friends for the first time I felt like a kid again with a new pair of PF flyers. With a little more than a thousand miles in the saddle I pick a route that would included an hour and half of highway riding to try out my handi work of adding 1 1/8 inch high density foam to the stock seat in the hopes of stretching the stock ergos. After a 90 ninety mile stretch on the Taconic State Parkway, watching temperature fluctuations of 10 degrees in both directions in just as many miles had me concerned about black ice. The thought was now to head west on any road that took us in that direction to Falls Village in Ct. the undulating roads through mostly horse country the brilliance of a winter ride had me caught up in the moment. Traveling at a spirited pace a simple dog leg with a T intersection to the left at the dog leg chicane section of wet road I found a small piece of ice less than 1/2 square foot. I would describe it as a fat tar snake sensation quickly followed by the rear wheel shuttering side to side, with motorcycle corrected; straight up brakes fully applied my hopes of stopping before reaching the fence were dashed by the pulsing of the ABS, my last thoughts before hitting the fence was good it's vinyl. After blasting through said fence terrifying several grazing equine I came to a quick stop. Now covered in combination of manure and mud I struggled to right the motorcycle, with a little help from a friend the bike was back on the road the unbroken fence rails replaced. Off we go to our destination. The adrenaline rush masked any pain but did nothing for my bruised ego. A visual inspection seemed to indicate all is well except for the mirror hanging by turn signal wires. Duct tape repair completed. I continued my day of riding while working on the ego replaying the event over and over again in my mind. My Conclusion to the days event slow the f___down a______. Back home a closer examination finds a cracked side and front cowl, I proceed to remove the damaged parts, while doing so I break a plastic tab, not wanting to lose a premium parking spot, I choose to take the GS to a local hardware store to buy plastic weld and saw blades which will easily fit in my top case. With purchased items safely in topcase I head home. At a traffic light about a quarter mile from hardware store I was the first vehicle at the intersection, in the right tire track of the center lane on a three lane express way service rd. in first gear clutch depressed, watching my six for incoming boogies when I spy something in my right side rear view. I turn to look over my right shoulder the car behind me decides to lane share with me in doing so he hits my left side jug and knocks me over. I was fit to be tied, yelling at the operator through my helmet(darth vader), tallying up the costs to fix a broken rear turn signal lens, a new valve cover and mirror by my calculations 700 dollars is what I tell the operator. Can you imagane the surprize on my face when he peals off 7 consecutive 100 dollar bills. I already had a turn signal lens, I'm gonna live with scratched valve cover and mirror after all it is a GS. My win fall will more than cover cost of VFR parts of $440. PS to those who know Beloved Barbara mum's the word, about intersection incidence, The only reason she found out about the black ice was because of the manure smell... Link to comment
BerndM Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 WOW...glad you're OK after all that. I bet on retrospect you probably wish you'd stayed home and nursed that New Year's Eve hangover. Ride safe dude! Link to comment
Kathy R Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 First; I'm thrilled you are OK. Second; Man I'm glad you got that over with and now onto 2012 riding. I can see you in my minds eye crashing through that fence. I have to say that reading it, the way you wrote it, I almost got a chuckle when you remarked that it was plastic. I sincerely appreciate how you handled it all. Me, I may have called it a day when I got the first bike home. That would have been time for a beverage. Link to comment
Michaelr11 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 This time of year the temperature can be very deceiving. Just because it's 40* out does NOT mean that the asphalt temp is above freezing. Glad you are okay. A long few years ago I was living in that same NY/CT area and a sunny winter morning called out to me. There was snow on the shoulders and at the edges of driveways. The sun was causing melting and runoff that came downhill from a side street and ran across the road on a very gentle curve - but the road surface was obviously below freezing because I instantly went down and slide another 50 or 100 feet. Wore down the corner of a turn signal pod and the edge of an engine guard and had a lesson learned. Link to comment
TEWKS Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 $hit & roses comes to mind! Sorry to hear Ray, glad it wasn't worse. Put down the hammer, for you debt collection is where it's at! Pat Link to comment
enfoman Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Ray- Great first hand account description. Glad you got back in the saddle without a scratch. Link to comment
tallman Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Ray, Glad you're ok. Take care. Link to comment
jbr7t Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 So out of all that my mind goes to....... Why did this guy have such a large sum of cash handy and why so quick to pay you the (to him) seemingly random amount you came up with and move on? Seems a bit shady Jus' Sayin' Link to comment
Selden Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 So out of all that my mind goes to....... Why did this guy have such a large sum of cash handy and why so quick to pay you the (to him) seemingly random amount you came up with and move on? Seems a bit shady Jus' Sayin' Before spending those Benjamins, I would take them to a bank to verify that they aren't counterfeit. Better to be disappointed than arrested for passing phony money. It would also be interesting to have them tested for traces of cocaine.... Let's hope the rest of 2012 is less "interesting" for you. Link to comment
Hank in WV Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 From what I've read, almost all paper money has traces of cocaine on it any more. Link to comment
Quinn Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 From what I've read, almost all paper money has traces of cocaine on it any more. Let me know how that story goes over when you get stopped. ---- Link to comment
Kathy R Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 From what I've read, almost all paper money has traces of cocaine on it any more. Let me know how that story goes over when you get stopped. hyjack Snopes /hyjack Link to comment
RevRay Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Bernd, Yes sir a nursing a hangover would be perfered. Kathy, Could have been more clear in discription, trip to hardware store was a week later. And yes I did have a beverage or two. Tewks, Tupperware much cheaper at Honda.. Enfoman, Not a scratch just a couple of black and blues on each bicep. James, Selden This happened in a neighborhood where it is not uncommon for home buyers to show up at the bank with shopping bags of cash when purchaseing a home. Benjamins have been deposited no problem. RR Link to comment
ltljohn Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Ray, Glad to see only the bike was damaged. Link to comment
jbr7t Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 James, Selden This happened in a neighborhood where it is not uncommon for home buyers to show up at the bank with shopping bags of cash when purchaseing a home. Benjamins have been deposited no problem. RR Wow, I'm riding in the wrong neighborhoods! Link to comment
Dundee387 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Sorry about your New Years mishap. I was also out that morning, at about 10:00 am in south central Connecticut. Ran into a patch of black ice approaching a sharp left curve. Downshifted just prior, back end got squirrelly, but I managed to keep it upright. Speed was slow, as I saw the road had been heavily treated.... It's a pucker feeling for sure. Glad your ok. Link to comment
jbr7t Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Lots of ICE warnings here in Va today. So I drove my truck instead of the bike. I'm pretty sure today's commute will cost me what a week of commutes cost on the bike. Link to comment
Urban Surfer Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Wow! right through a fence. You needed a camera on the bike. Glad your not injured. I have been considering bringing the bike out of hibernation, the weather seems O.K., then I checked the parking lot at work this morning. There was a shiny glaze of ice over most of it, even though the air temp was 5 deg above freezing. Link to comment
Spyder Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 why so quick to pay you the (to him) seemingly random amount you came up with and move on? Seems a bit shady Jus' Sayin' Clearly you never met Rev Ray in person Glad you are ok Rev! Link to comment
Rotor Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Glad you're alright! Excellent read... Link to comment
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