Lows. Then higher highs

[SmithSwede]

One of the things I love about motorcycling is how often the bad and unpleasant experiences give way to fantastic ones that make it all worthwhile.
 
Anyone else have the same experience? 

For example, last night I was riding to Corpus Christi.  It was a 7 hour ride, cold all day at about 42 degrees, with a constant, strong western wind.  Shortly after it got pitch black dark, my engine started to cut out completely while I’m trying to keep pace with all the 18 wheelers bombing down the road.  I eventually figured out the side stand was dropping down due to bad bumps in the road. 

I gave up about 8:00 pm, fairly miserable, checked into a cheap motel, and questioned my sanity.  Then it started raining.   Ate a stale sandwich I had packed and turned in. 

This morning?   Temps were balmy 65 degrees.   Beautiful weather.  Took a back road through salt marshes, saw pelicans and storks, sun glistening off the water.   Just a stunning, glorious wonderful day to ride.  Breakfast tasted better than I have had in months. 

Am I alone in experiencing this strange dynamic?

[AH Fan]

Not at all............. happens all the time that's the reason I continue with this sport/hobbie   

Ciao

[LowRyter]

Much worse.  Was at a Beemer campout at Talihina in '99.  Had a great time.  But got food poisoning Saturday night.  Slept in the bathroom about 3am.  A cold front came in, N winds and 40 degrees all the way home to OKC. Threw up before the first gas stop.  I was so sick I left my jacket open to keep cool. By the time I was riding by Shawnee, lost a prescription lens from my glasses.  When I got home and off the bike, I was shivering uncontrollably.  Got in the tub to warm up and immediately threw up in the tub.  Cleaned up, exhausted, went to bed about one in the afternoon.  Called in sick to work on Monday.  Back to work on Tuesday.

Other than getting late to the BBQ Saturday and the aftermath, it was a great weekend of riding & camping.   

But I thought I really might die.

I will say that any ride you take and you have some adversity, like rain, wind, hail, freezing temps, snow flurries, crash, (all BTDT), it makes the rest of the trip more memorable.  And the good times that much better. 

Just not sure how many I have in me.

[oldbike54]

 Everything can change
 In the blink of an eye
 So let the good times roll
 Before I say goodbye .

 Dusty

[Huzo]

One of the things I love about motorcycling is how often the bad and unpleasant experiences give way to fantastic ones that make it all worthwhile.
 
Anyone else have the same experience? 

For example, last night I was riding to Corpus Christi.  It was a 7 hour ride, cold all day at about 42 degrees, with a constant, strong western wind.  Shortly after it got pitch black dark, my engine started to cut out completely while I’m trying to keep pace with all the 18 wheelers bombing down the road.  I eventually figured out the side stand was dropping down due to bad bumps in the road. 

I gave up about 8:00 pm, fairly miserable, checked into a cheap motel, and questioned my sanity.  Then it started raining.   Ate a stale sandwich I had packed and turned in. 

This morning?   Temps were balmy 65 degrees.   Beautiful weather.  Took a back road through salt marshes, saw pelicans and storks, sun glistening off the water.   Just a stunning, glorious wonderful day to ride.  Breakfast tasted better than I have had in months. 

Am I alone in experiencing this strange dynamic?

No you certainly are not.
It’s the dramatic contrasting of fortune that bring the biking experience into vivid focus...

[Gliderjohn]

Damn, food poisoning on a bike trip. Had a bad enough bout with that around Christmas of my senior year of HS. Ended up in the hospital for three days. Wasn't concerned about dying but was wishing I would. Terrible.
GliderJohn

[Dharma Bum]

So, what did you do to fix the side stand?

[SmithSwede]

So, what did you do to fix the side stand?

I just sprayed grease on the pivot point until is was freely moving. 

These things are weird because the pivot point is near the exhaust, so it gets hot and “burns out” the grease.  About every 1,000 miles.  I should have greased it before I left on this trip.   

What happens is that with inadequate lube, the side stand is pretty hard to move.  A big bump in the roadway can be enough to move it downwards a bit, but without enough lube the return springs can’t bring it back up.   Properly lubed, they can. 

[LowRyter]

Damn, food poisoning on a bike trip. Had a bad enough bout with that around Christmas of my senior year of HS. Ended up in the hospital for three days. Wasn't concerned about dying but was wishing I would. Terrible.
GliderJohn

It honestly felt like I was on a ride and death was following me.  After I got off the bike, I thought it caught me.

[blu guzz]

the most difficult rides then make the best stories now.

[Guzzistajohn]

I guess the first scenario that comes to mind would be JC85's ride for the gonads that we do in the heat of the summer to convene at the Prairie Nut Hut in Altoona, Ks. We ride across the hot barren Kansas landscape over roads that seem to never have a curve unless it's at a four way stop to the Taj Mahal of prairie provisions, The Nut Hut for a hot steaming platter of breaded and fried calf testicles and a cold brew! Makes the whole trip worth while! 

[80CX100]

I guess the first scenario that comes to mind would be JC85's ride for the gonads that we do in the heat of the summer to convene at the Prairie Nut Hut in Altoona, Ks. We ride across the hot barren Kansas landscape over roads that seem to never have a curve unless it's at a four way stop to the Taj Mahal of prairie provisions, The Nut Hut for a hot steaming platter of breaded and fried calf testicles and a cold brew! Makes the whole trip worth while! 

     I have to bump this up in simple recognition of a fine piece of penmanship that had me pi**ing myself laughing 

     SS, re the highs and lows, absolutely  I could go on forever ad nauseum,lol. The high maintenance hot tempered Italian mistress analogy is right on 

     Just trying to pick up my first MG was challenging. I blew up the rear diff in my lifeline plow truck, '98 GMC 3/4T as far southeast as you can get in Ontario, just before a major snowstorm blew in. 

     My tow bill home to NW Quebec, for my truck, trailer and CX100, with a discount was $860.

     That was easy compared to some of my electrical adventures,lol. 

     But there's nothing quite like the sh*t eating grin I get from the bikes. 

    Could be when I twist the throttle, or just get into a good rhythm  and cadence on a nice relaxed zen ride, or just looking at them in the garage   

     
   

[SED]

Great story SmithSwede.  I know what you mean, but I don't have the brutal time you have making miles in the weather.

The closest is when riding through Yellowstone on the '47 Ariel (brother on '50 Norton) we got in a traffic jam up on Dunraven Pass (8800') behind a Harley and cars. 

The cause was a bull bison striding up the centerline - GuzzistaJohn's platter o' nuts swingin' in the breeze.  The little white Toyota moved all the way to the right and accelerated by.   The guy on the Harley was pushing back and so was I.  I backed up against the front bumper of a big white Ford truck so we were stuck. The Harley roared and squirted by.  I waddled to the edge of the asphalt and waited 'til Mr. Bison was about 10 o'clock, put my head down and puttered by as quietly as I could.

I was elated!  I was laughing and whooping in my helmet - arms in the air and cheering.  There was a spectacular view to the SE as I broke across the pass.

Your story reminded me of the contrast in feelings.

My Brother had seen the whole thing earlier than me dodged into a pullout to take this picture.