So there was I. . .

[HardAspie]

I am thinking hard about motorcycles. I have gained so much from motorcycles and motorcycling and motorcyclists over the years of my life and I want it back. My plan, and there are several factors to be found and dealt with, is to get a Moto Guzzi V7, probably a Stone late this year or early next. As I think motorcycles I ponder back to earlier days and experiences I have had on bikes. I thought I would write one of these here and hope that other people on the forum would reply by way of telling stories of their riding. Here is one of mine, a short one, to start it off.

I was riding my Suzuki Gt 550L east on a two lane road in agricultural lands near Ontario, California. I was alone, and rising perhaps five above the speed limit on a road as straight as a ruler across marvelously green land. The road was a dark grey line between to earthly pool tables. I was wearing a bell Star 120 helmet which began to pop loudly. What was happening? Aha! I found out quickly as the bees that I I was running into began to impact other parts of me. About the time I figured out that my bike and myself had run hard into a dispersed swarm of honey bees. . . OUCH! What was that! I was not born the day before and I knew what pain was about, but nonetheless the depth and sharpness of this was horrid.

I got beyond the cloud of bees and pulled off the road to find that one bee had found its way between my chin and helmet strap when either it stung me with purpose or perhaps just because the impact was of the right geometry. Whatever the cause I think that the combination of strap and speed of the hit made a very efficient delivery of bee venom to my. Ouch!

Damn, I want another motorcycle.

[Hymes Inc.]

Your story reminded me of the permanent bump next to my nose. Somehow a wasp made it into my closed full faced helmet and stung me. Couldnt stop fast enough.

[HardAspie]

That's worse than the bee!

Once whilst riding the same Zook, this time northbound on the 605 freeway in Los Angeles County and in heavy traffic at about 60 MPH another incident happened. Things happened to me on that 550. This time I was riding along in well behaved traffic when suddenly here it came. A stone about the size of a golf ball. It headed generally my direction and yet bouncing around enough that there was not way to take evasive action. Then Bam! It hit me in the face. . .

. . . well, except that I had that same Bell Star 120 on my melon and the stone hit the chin guard. It hurt! The stone was heavy enough to rock the helmet. The chin guard hit my chin hard and my ears hurt from the rapid rotation of the helmet. I think I might have been knocked silly (I know, there are many who would say I am silly anyway.) by the stone and behind me was a tanker of tandem trailers. Ha! I felt a bit of pain but stayed conscious and upright and rode on.

Love full face, even if there is a chance of trapped wasps!

[lucydad]

Yep, got my share of bee stings while riding.

Hmmm...story?  Did I tell you about the one about the hubcap on the SW Freeway in Houston.  This is back four years ago when I just started riding again, and just venturing out onto the dreaded, death dealiing SWF.  Was tooling along about sixty on my yellow Kawa EX 500, light traffic, and this hubcab sailed at me, skipping down the lanes.  Missed hitting me by inches.  Got that big pucker factor.  Thing could have sliced me good.  Actually heard it pinging on the concrete. 

Then there was today:  enormous fun!  But that story with pix is for Tom to tell. 

Go get you a motorcycle! 

[HardAspie]

I need that motorcycle!

I must await the dawn of social insecurity to afford it. Time will pass. :-)

Once, still on that Zook, I had ridden up into the mountains outside the Los Angeles basin. A friend was with me, on a Honda CB 175. At one point his bike could not handle the combination of up hill grade, elevation, and head wind. We stopped and he turned around and headed down hill. I had the GT turned quickly thereafter. Now, my previous bike had been a CB 350 twin. I had loved that bike, but will readily admit that it was not very powerful nor smooth. By comparison the Suzuki's three cylinder two stroke was turbine smooth and quite powerful. The bike gathered speed much faster than my experience allowed me to understand.

Suddenly was a bridge. One of those low to the dry western river concrete things, This one had a right hand bend for which I was approaching at too high a speed. Know how they will tell you to never use brakes in a turn? I had to and I did. The machine wanted to stand up straight due to braking and I had to countersteer hard to keep it laid over and turning. Made it too. Proof that there is a God, and a learning experience in motorcycling. Not too proud to admit it.

[trippah]

1963 found me riding my superfast Honda S-90 on Boston's famed Route 128 when I suddenly could only see yellow our of my right eye. Then the yellow shifted, as the bee, trapped between my glasses and my eye, regained consciousness.  I aimed for the side of the highway and as I approached 10 mph form my previous 65, I lept from the Honda and rolled to a bruised stop pulling my glasses off my face and from under my helmet.  Surprisingly, the bee seemed reluctant to leave me -I think it decided it was easier than all that wing beating.  Several cars stopped to help, and the bee finally left me sore, bruised but unstung.

[normzone]

I've had bee(s) in my full face helmet twice. The first time, I got stung on the left side of my head, just in front of my ear.

The second time, their were two of them. They waited for me to stop, and I took my helmet off and they flew away. I wonder how they told the tale through interpretive dance when they got home.

[HardAspie]

We may need to obtain some Bee Motas!

I wonder how the bee accomplished its dance with sprained bee's knees.

[balvenie]

I wonder how the bee accomplished its dance with sprained bee's knees.

 

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Been there, been stung between the eyes and all of the above.  But one in the state of illinois, a synonym for the state of insanity, I was cruising about 70 on a two laner.   A flash of black from the right and a heavy impact to my head.  Good thing I have a 21 inch neck.
 A starling had been flying across the road and met me on the chin bar of my helmet.  His guts went across my face shield in a thick layer and I
 slowed to a stop on the shoulder by the braille system since I couldn't see a thing.  The front of my jacket was a mess of bird blood and the face shield was bird guts and feathers, the whole helmet was a mess.  It took a while to clean the mess enough to ride on to the the breakfast in De Kalb Where I was able to wash most of the mess away but the helmet still stunk.

[HardAspie]

Gross!

Anyone wanna hear how I hit a dog once?

[HardAspie]

Oh it is safe behind us.

We have already raked the leaves!

I was on my way to work, a few miles away. I was again using a bike as my sole transportation. This one was a 1980 CB 750F. I made a right hand turn on a suburban street with intent to make a left at the very next light. I accomplished this safely and accelerated into the left lane. The left lane was against a raised island wide enough for left turn lanes. As this was Southern California great pains had been taken to make it pretty. The island was paved in red brick and had planters open in the surface. Bushes has been planted long ago and had reached appreciable size.

About the time I was reaching 45 MPH and headed to 50 on this 45 MPH road I saw something behind a bush to my left on the island. It was the head of a largish medium sized dog peering out into traffic from behind a bush. Time slowed down. He was looking to walk in front of me. I was stagger left out of the centre oil patch of the lane and so near the dog. Would the dog walk?

Yes it did. Now I had to ponder, remember this is happening is collision time and so it seemed to take forever, should I try to bank right to gain space? No, I thought: The dog is walking that direction, and I did not want to hit the dog in a bank. A thought occurred to me. I had read an article on technique some months before. It said that when you simply will hit an object do not PLAN to fall! Imagine your path through and beyond the object and then ride it. So I did.

I held throttle at about 47 with no desire to either accelerate nor to cause any down at the front end. I held on tightly. I imagined my path right through the. . .

Bam Bam! Two distinct thuds of impact. The fork made a horrid groan and lost some oil through the air caps I had installed. The bars went lock to lock to lock and then settled. I was past the dog! Now  I thought I ought pull off to the side. I checked traffic and hit the right turn indicator. I used only the rear brake as I feared damage at the front. I pulled over safely.

The dog had been  nearly cut in half. The two impacts must have been front wheel and the right side case saver - bent back enough to show and have cracked chromium plate. The forks were obviously pointing off from the handlebars. There was dog on the front of the engine. I made certain the incident had been reported to police,  necessary after a dog strike. Then I rode cautiously with bars aimed gally wonkers to my dealer who dtraightened the forks and sent me off.

To work and then a nasty task of cleaning dog off the engine. The bike had just a hint of a wobbliness at 45 when headed downhill with trailing throttle thereafter. I think the dog was about 60 pounds  and consider that while I am sad for the dog,I did okay.

[Muzz]

suddenly here it came. A stone about the size of a golf ball. It headed generally my direction and yet bouncing around enough that there was not way to take evasive action. Then Bam! It hit me in the face. . .
Love full face, even if there is a chance of trapped wasps!

Before the days of full face helmets I got hit fair in the right eye socket by a stone kicked up by a car going the other way. I was doing about 65mph.  I can remember my head wanting to depart from my neck; woke up still upright, still riding at 65mph but in the gravel and completely on the wrong side of the road.  Had to pull in for gas a few miles down the road,  and the station attendant took one look at me and sort of freaked.  I decided to take a look in the mirror and his reaction became understandable.  took the skin off completely around my eye, and gave me a shiner you wouldn't believe.

I am a huge fan of full face helmets!

[HardAspie]

Oh my! I'm glad you are still here. That was a tad too close. 

Quote from Muzz

Before the days of full face helmets I got hit fair in the right eye socket by a stone kicked up by a car going the other way. I was doing about 65mph.  I can remember my head wanting to depart from my neck; woke up still upright, still riding at 65mph but in the gravel and completely on the wrong side of the road.  Had to pull in for gas a few miles down the road,  and the station attendant took one look at me and sort of freaked.  I decided to take a look in the mirror and his reaction became understandable.  took the skin off completely around my eye, and gave me a shiner you wouldn't believe.

I am a huge fan of full face helmets!


I love full face too!

[M0T0Geezer]

I posted this before, to the outrage of one hypersensitive type.  I hope you can read this true, personal Guzzi experience of mine without heart arresting shock or other life changing effect.

It was the day before Thanksgiving 2013, I was riding the little Breva 750 around my town.

While stopped at a traffic light, a flash of tiddy pink in the right mirror caught my attention. Looking over my right shoulder, I see an amazonic MILF approaching from a mere two feet away - on foot. As she bent down to read the scarlet Guzzi tank badge, her pink (and low cut) tank top barely contained a breathtaking presentation of cleavage.

I heard her ask me 'What is it?' The most I could manage to croak out was a pitiful 'It's Italian.' Just then the light turned green and my fantasy encounter was over. As I turned the corner, in the mirrors I spied her getting back in her pickup truck.

Your results may vary.

'Geezer

[rodekyll]

I have the same thing happen occasionally.  The difference is that the wimmins are either <8 or >80  There seems to be a fair gap in between.