Long, Slow Burn

My windshield still hasn’t shown up but some clients checks showed up in the mail. I need to deposit them into the bank.

Last time I rode to the bank, it was nerve wracking. I decided not to let fear keep me from doing the things that I need to do so I geared up. It was 50 degrees and partly cloudy at 1:30pm.

I rode out of the neighborhood and cut through on Lummus Road. A landscaping team was sodding a yard on the narrow street and had the one lane road blocked with their truck. There was just enough space to scoot through on the mud covered street. I took it slow.

Coming up on County Line Road, there was a small dog that wanted to attack my bike. The rule of thumb with motorcycles is that “If you can’t eat it in one sitting, don’t run over it.” This dog I could definitely eat in one sitting, but I pulled my slow down, then speed up trick which throws off dog’s tragectories. I didn’t need to kill the dog, which is nice.

Left turn onto Holbrook Campground Road, and left onto Campground Road. A black Honda Accord caught up with me and my 45mph speed. He passed me safely in a straight away and was fully in the other lane, which is nice.

I arrived at my bank and shifted it into neutral. All of the teller girls came over and looked at my bike. One of them grabbed the speaker and said “That’s a nice bike!” She wasn’t hitting on me, was she?!? Naw. It’s the bike.

Riding home always has more traffic for some reason. I was going between 45 and 50 but a truck and a line of cars still caught up with me. I was rounding an “S” curve in the road, with the truck on my tail, there was a boxer and some other small dog in the road, but in the other lane. I could certainly eat the smaller dog in a sitting, but not the boxer. The boxer was looking the other way at his friend and not in my direction.

I downshifted and flashed my break lights for the truck behind me to see that I was slowing down. I slowed down to about 25 and scooted by the boxer before he really moved. Another car was coming around the other direction and slowed quickly as he saw the dogs in his lane. Luckily the car didn’t swerve into my lane. I got by that car and shifted up back into 5th. Disaster averted.

A bit down the road, I checked my mirrors and the truck was gone. Must have turned onto a side road. I came up to the stop sign for my right hand turn with no cars behind me. The way was clear and I started to go and … stalled the engine. I fired it right back up but a car was coming in that direction. It went by and I successfully started and geared up. I came up to the four way stop but did a rolling stop (bad me!) and turned right onto County Line Road.

Successful return back home. 13.5 miles with much less white knuckling! Definitely at 40 mph, the front of the bike starts acting like a scoop and directs more wind into my check. When the heck is that windshield getting here?

No joy in mudville tonight.

The BikeBandit shipment arrived on a very rainy Tuesday. Work is pissing me off so I’m already in a bad mood.

I open the box and … it’s the wrong turn signal. It’s not the shape of my turn signal on my bike. This one is rounded while my broken one has more of a bullet shape. Grrr. Now I’ve got to send this stinking thing back. Postage, restocking fee. Maybe I’ll have Kim drop it off at the Post Office.

I should have bought the part from my local Suzuki dealership but I can’t ride over there without going above 45. I’m uncomfortable riding above 45 because I don’t have a windshield and the wind causes me major anxiety.

I’ve ordered a windshield off of Ebay. Perhaps I’ll get screwed on that deal too. We’ll see. It says that it comes with all of the hardware but I’m skeptical.

I wonder if the windshield will help me with my speed problem. If I don’t get comfortable above 45, riding a bike isn’t feasible and is useless. Perhaps I’m just a wimp. Thousands of riders do it every day and at double the speeds.

I need a nap.

I just won a Suzuki Windshield on EBay! Even though I’m technically oriented and a computer programmer, I haven’t really bought anything on Ebay.

$36 and in “Good” condition. We’ll see when it arrives and what condition it is in. More importantly, we’ll see how it mounts onto the motorcycle.

Hopefully I just saved myself over $200. If not, oh well, lesson learned.

CNN: Schwarzenegger, son hurt in motorcycle wreck

The article states that they were wearing a helmet … but with stitches to his lip, I wonder if he was wearing a skull cap or some other open-faced helmet. Even with a full faced helmet, you can cut your lip against the insides of the helmet.

Could you imagine what was going through this guy’s head? Backing into the street, not looking, and having the Govenor of California and the Terminator run into your car? Bad news.

I’ve been itching to get back to Machines In Motion, our local Suzuki dealership. Today they called me and let me know that the Owers Manual that I had ordered had come in. Sweet.

Kim and I drove over during a slow afternoon. Myra is very nice at MIM. We were asking about windshields and about turn signal stuff. (I need to replace mine because the housing cracked.)

I wish I had spent more money there. The stuff on the Internet is just so cheap, it’s hard to spend money in the store for parts that I (think) can mount my self. There’s always time to spend money in the repair shop for what I can’t do myself.

It’s 63 degrees here in Alpharetta and sunny. Kim practically shoved me out the door to go riding. I should be in a good mood but I’m not.

I warmed up the bike but not enough. The bike was still cold when I started out and there was some lurching involved as the motor was trying to decide whether to go or to stall. I was getting to the tennis courts and a pack of 11 year old boys were hanging out by the electrical box there. They didn’t seem to be holding rocks or sticks that could be thrown at a passing motorcyclist so I passed them by without incident.

Right hand at Howard and geared up. I took a right at a road where a neighborhood should (would) have been. I’ve been seeing people flying RC airplanes there and it might be a good place to launch water rockets from. I shifted down to first and glided down the hill. Drainage pipes, rip-wrap, broken glass, rusty wire, old water heater. Humanity, as a whole, is a filthy pig. I did a Y turn and powered it up the hill.

Right turn onto Howard again. I got it up to 45 and there is the wind against my chest again. Try to talk the inner Kevin to relax.

Left turn onto County Line road. A few twisty turns and I see a semi truck coming right at me in my lane. Right before I grab a full handful of brake, it moves back into his own lane. He was probably cursing motorcyclists for getting in his way. I kept going and came up to my left into Lummus Road. A blue hair was puttering up County Line so I had to come to a complete stop before my left.

Left onto Howard Road and I got it up to 45 again. I came up onto the mailman. I counted the mailboxes that he’d have to go through before he caught up with me at County Line and I decided to go around him. Just as I was passing him, he finished a box and started going. I hope I didn’t scare him as I buzzed around him.

Left on County Line. No semi trucks this time, just open road. Left onto Lummus. No blue hairs this time. I come through the neighborhood and come up on the part of the road where it’s single lane. A burgandy truck is coming through that section ahead of me. The truck speeds up and almost drives off the road to get through there before I reach that part.

If you’re the truck driver reading my blog, hey, I appreciate the effort but don’t hurt yourself over it. I promise I would have stopped if I needed to.

I’m tired and my hand is cramping from all of the white knuckling I did yesterday. I’m heading home. Right on Howard, left into neighborhood.

I come to our driveway and decide to glide it up onto the curb and then power it up the driveway. This is comparison to what I normally do which is stop at the bottom and then power walk it up. Success! Baby steps.

Mental note: power wash the driveway. We’ve got so much algae and mold on the driveway that it’d be slick when it gets wet. That’d be just like me to drop the bike when my foot slips on my own driveway algae. Boy, I’m in a mood.

I had a check to deposit from one of my clients so I decided that’s as good of an excuse as any to get some miles in. There is only one dangerous turn and the speeds are 45 mph there and back from Citizens Bank of Forsyth County.

I get my gear on and warm up the bike. I paddle ride the bike to the end of the driveway and see the my neighbors Joe and Linda were slowly driving up the road and narrowly miss running over my neighbors dog, Chip. Chip stayed with us over Christmas so he’s coming for some petting and he’s on the loose. Unfortunately my hands are full of 500 lbs of motorcycle so I yell for him to go home. Unfortunately, he thinks “Go home!” through a full faced helmet really means “run around in front of the motorcycle.”

I’m slowly starting up and Chip keeps running around in front of me. I’m hoping one of us doesn’t end up getting hurt. He runs off to one side and I roll on the throttle to about 20 mph thinking I’ve lost him. I look in my mirror and who is running behind me? Chip. I shift it to second and get up to 30 in the neighborhood and confirm that he’s not behind me. (I assume that he hasn’t hopped on the seat behind me.)

I take a right out of the neighborhood and head down Howard Rd and take a left onto Lummus hoping that a big truck isn’t coming through the blind curve. No truck, whew! I putter through their neighborhood at 25 and take a quick left on County Line Rd and get to the four way stop. No cars coming so I take my left as I see a mini van pull up to the stop in my mirrors. Mental note: work on cancelling the turn signals!

I get it up to about 45 and head down the road. I’m about to take the left at the Conoco and the way was clear. I had downshifted to 2nd just in case. I gear it up to 45 again and the wind is pushing against my chest. Crap, the mini van is following me but way back. People typically travel at 55 on this road so I had better keep my speed up. I get it up to 50 mph.

I’m white knuckling it down the road and slow at some of the more nasty curves. This is my first time on this road and I do not want to take a curve wide. Lots of on coming traffic. The mini van is closer but still being nice and hanging back. I’m coming up on the bank and flip on the turn signal and turn in. Gravel at the base of their entrance so I take it slow and cautious. I don’t want to be covering my breaks through that junk. Mental note: work on cancelling the turn signals.

I pull up to the drive through. I pry my tense fingers from the handle bars. I take off my gloves from my cold hands and get out my deposit slip and check. I fumble it into that little bar that holds it down in the drawer. The teller gets on the phone. Is she calling the police because someone on a motorcycle is trying to deposit a check? Shove paranoid thoughts to the back of my brain. “Thank you Mr. Cully” comes the voice from the box and I’m shoving the receipt into my pocket and zipping it up.

I go down the drive to the street and come to a full stop. I’m going to wait until the way is completely clear. .{car}.{car}.{car}. I think I’m going to wait until it’s completely clear. .{car}.{car}. I’m going to go when the way is clear. .{car}.{car}. The way is clear and I take a left. As I’m turning left, I see a bably blue Chrysler Town and Country coming onto the street. Gee, I hope that’s not Jennifer who was coming over to our house, and is now seeing my white knuckle riding for the next 7 miles. Just my luck! Relax Kevin! The wind isn’t so bad. Thousands of other motorcyclists have gone over 45 before and you can too. It’s not working. I’m still tense and I’m talking to myself. Read the rest of this entry »

I got out riding yesterday. It was a sunny day and around 50 degrees.

I was leaving our neighborhood and one of the trailer houses across the side street were burning off their grass. Nice. NOT! I decided that it wasn’t a threat to my safety so I turned right and rode through the smoke.

I got up to about 30 miles per hour and realized that I hadn’t fastened my chin strap on my helmet. If I was in an accident, the helmet may have popped off my melon. I had just passed a good stopping point too. I rode on and found a safe place to pull over and get it fastened up.

I rode though a neighborhood that has a private road. At one point it narrows to one lane that’s kinda beat up. Wouldn’t you know it, but I met a big truck on that part of the road and squeezed my front brakes a bit too hard and locked up the front tire. Not good. I quickly released it and regained control. The truck had come to a full stop and waved me by. Must practice not panicking.

I rode this loop one more time without major incident. I’m having a bit of a problem when downshifting into first that it is stopping at neutral. Perhaps I’m not being forceful enough. I’ve got to be more mindful of this because if I start driving in traffic, it sucks being in neutral and not being able to get it in first gear when the light turns green.
One of my goals today was to drive over to the Publix grocery store. It was going to rain on Monday (today) so I knew I wouldn’t get any riding in and I wanted to accomplish this goal. I came to a full stop at the four way stop and went straight onto Birmingham Rd. No problem. I came up to the right hand turn to 372 and there was a car waiting on me to turn right so it could turn left onto 372. Crap. I downshifted and made the turn easy enough and the car pulled in behind me. I then saw that the speed limit on 372 was 55. Crap again.

I didn’t do so good the day before in going above 50 mph so I turned right into the first neighborhood to let the car go past. Inside the neighborhood there was a dog barking at me but it didn’t chase me. Good. I looped back to the entrance and was going to take a right. All was clear from the left and when I looked to the right, there was a pack of motorcycles coming. I decided to wait on them to pass before turning right. Motorcycle wave! I turned right and moved up through the gears.

45 and I’m doing good. 50 and my knuckles are starting to turn white inside of my gloves. Wind pressure in the chest and the noise is building around my helmet. 55 and I’m starting to get that rising panicing feeling. I come over a rise and a car has just turned left onto 372 in front of me. I slow down gratefully while that car is gaining speed ahead of me. Another car has caught up with us and is behind me but not tailgating.

I turn on my turn signal and downshift and turn into the area behind Publix. I’ve made it! I practice a slow speed turn shifting my weight and turning the bars.

The way is clear to the left in turning back onto 372 and I start off from first gear and gain speed. A car appears behind me and I turn off on the next right to let the car go by. I don’t want a car behind me while I’m struggling at 55 mph while most people drive over 65 mph on this road.

I turn around on the side road. I find myself in neutral instead of first and I’m having trouble popping it into first. I roll the bike a little bit and I finally get it into first. I’m thinking I might have to have this looked at.

I get going and turn right onto 372 again. Back up to speed. 52 and I’m white knuckling it again. Motorcycles are coming the other way and they give me the “cool” wave and I give them the “barely above newbie but still panicing wave”. I make it back to Birmingham Hwy and find I’m in neutral again. More trouble getting it to first. I get it into first and get up to speed. I reach the four-way stop and then continue on through, cut through on Lummus Rd, back to Howard Rd and back into the neighborhood. No problems with neutral when in first.

I’ve got to see about getting a windshield. It’s not the speed or the instability of the bike. It’s the wind pressure on my chest and around my helmet.

Kim and I went yesterday to the Forsyth County DMV to get our motorcycle license. We have a very tiny little “M” on our license now. Whew. What a pain!

Here’s how it works:

• The DMV has a 30 minute guarantee! Cool!
• You can now take a number and be seated while you wait for your number to be called. No lines. Cool!
• The DMV has about 6 people to process your license change needs. Cool.
• The DMV really moves the people along and processes people really quickly. Cool.
• Every time you get a renewal, change, etc. the DMV takes a new picture. Ok.
• … drum roll and yes, this is in all caps for emphasis …
• THE DMV HAS ONLY ONE STINKIN PERSON TO TAKE YOUR MONEY, TAKE YOUR FINGERPRINTS, TAKE YOUR SIGNATURE, TAKE YOUR PICTURE, AND PRINT OUT YOUR NEW LICENSE!!! !!!! SUCKS !!!!
• AND WHILE YOU ARE WAITING FOR THIS LAST STEP, YOU MUST WAIT IN A HUDDLE BECAUSE THEY DON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEIR HIGH TECH NUMBER CALLING SYSTEM FOR THIS LAST STEP!!!
• WE WAITED ABOUT AN HOUR FOR THIS LAST STEP!!! I FELT REALLY SORRY FOR THE ELDERLY THAT HAD TO ENDURE THIS!!!

Un-freakin-believable. Only at the DMV. Government at its worst. Basically, they have a high tech system that is to no avail because they don’t take it to the last mile. I can’t believe that they make all of these people (young, healthy, elderly, and infirmed alike) stand in an area with just four seats available because they don’t understand what customer service means. Waiting for an hour is no big deal when people used to wait for two days to get their license, but at the same time, this isn’t the freakin USSR.

It wouldn’t take a pimply faced kid with a GED to figure out how to remedy this situation. Either (1) get a second computer, or (2) use your existing number calling system to allow your 70 year old citizens with arthritis and poor bladder control to sit down. Is that a mystery? Am I of extraordinary intelligence to think of this solution?!? I think not.

Granted, the DMV “employees” had quite a chuckle stating that it’s always this way on Tuesdays because they’re closed on Sunday and Monday. I’m glad that my discomfort can be of amusement to our government employees.

Kim and I just passed our MSF course at the Honda Training facility in Alpharetta, GA. What a blast and boy, was it challenging. We went from knowing next to nothing, to learning how to ride figure 8’s, swerving, and emergency stopping. This class is a *must* for those thinking of climbing onto a motorcycle.

Motorcycle Safety Program–Alpharetta, Georgia

Motorcycle riding is dangerous and requires extra skills, and extra attention than automobile driving. That being said, let me cherry pick some statistics from The Hurt Study, 1981:

The motorcycle riders involved in accidents are essentially without training; 92% were self-taught or learned from family or friends. Motorcycle rider training experience reduces accident involvement and is related to reduced injuries in the event of accidents.
Weather is not a factor in 98% of motorcycle accidents.
Conspicuity of the motorcycle is a critical factor in the multiple vehicle accidents, and accident involvement is significantly reduced by the use of motorcycle headlamps (on in daylight) and the wearing of high visibility yellow, orange or bright red jackets.
Almost half of the fatal accidents show alcohol involvement.
Motorcycle riders in these accidents were significantly without motorcycle license, without any license, or with license revoked.
The use of the safety helmet is the single critical factor in the prevention of reduction of head injury; the safety helmet which complies with FMVSS 218 is a significantly effective injury countermeasure.
Helmeted riders and passengers showed significantly lower head and neck injury for all types of injury, at all levels of injury severity.
… and more … take a look at the summary and read the whole report. Knowledge is power and the more knowledge I have, the better rider I will become.

Learning to ride a motorcycle safely is a journey, not a destination. I’ve only just begun to begin to ride. Kim and I should receive our documents in the mail in the next couple of days. We’ll then go to the DMV and plunk down some cash, take a vision test, and we get an “M” on our license.

The plan after that is to purchase a good quality used motorcycle and then do miles and miles around the neighborhood. Once we’re comfortable with the controls and our skill levels, we’ll leave the neighborhood and travel to a local park or parking lot to further work on our skills.

I can’t wait.