NAC: Assistance with motorcycle needed in SE Virginia

[Unka Bart]

I'm mostly in deep lurk mode these days, but I gotta chime in on this one.

First, I'm an ex-rider, not active anymore.  Still, I rode for 40 years
before I got tired of healing and I have a couple of tips worth passing on
that I haven't seen so far.  Sold my last Scoot in '94 after buying a
ragtop Porker.

Be very aware that the vast majority of car/motorcycle introductions (of
the painful/fatal variety) happen when an on-coming auto makes an
unsignaled left turn in front of a motorcyclist.  Assume that every driver
you see is an idiot and determined to give you a trip to the
hospital/morgue and you will not be far from wrong.

Be very aware that the center of the traffic lane at every stop sign/light
becomes soaked with oil that has dripped from countless automobiles waiting
there before you.  Want to learn how to bust your fanny and your scooter?
Accelerate rapidly from the center of the lane when the light changes.

Be equally aware that all pavement absorbs oil from the traffic passing
over it.  Rain will bring this to the surface.  The first hour following a
rain storm in a city is very dangerous for this reason.  Doubt this, see
advice above.

In the mountains or other areas that make earholin' fun, the inside of
tight curves tends to get a build-up of sand and loose gravel.  Guess what
happens to a motorcycle wheel when it encounters this when you are leaning
over through the turn...

Many fine, upstanding, genuinely friendly and otherwise fine citizens seem
to have a deep-seated homacidal hatred of motorcyclists.  Expect to learn
this for yourself, as you will without question.  I have had gray-haired,
saintly looking grandmothers drive up beside me, look over and make
eye-contact just as she cut the wheel hard over and ran me into a ditch.
Likewise, with my wife on the rear, I've had a van with a family in it, do
the same on the eastern shore approach to the Chesapeak bridge on the way
to Annapolis.  For the record, I've always dressed like someone for an
Apple Pie ad, so it wasn't as if they thought I (or my wife,  for that
matter) was an outlaw biker.

If you buy a british bike, be prepared to learn why the limeys drink warm
beer.  Also, have deep pockets and be prepared to regularly replace the
bits that vibrate off during each ride.  Things like Air-cleaners, etc.  As
an old BSA rider, my life brightened when I became an ex-BSA rider.
Neither my CB750, nor the Kawasaki Z1B that replaced it, ever had anything
lost to vibration and I've ridden both of them for many 8-10  hour days.
Rode the Honda coast to coast when I returned from SEA back in '71, and
rode the Z from Annapolis to San Angelo, TX in 2 1/2 days (1750 miles).
All of this was a comfortable cruise at about 85.

It's not a bad idea to always be on the lookout for a soft place to crash.
No kidding.  With one drive wheel and many possibilities for said wheel to
stop turning, opportunities to meet pavement at speed abound.

All of that said, there is no finer way to see the country than from the
saddle of a scooter.  A trip through the mountains on one is almost a
religious experience.  You'll love it.  Good luck.

Oh yeah, one parting thought.  I recall that in about '66 or '67, the AMA
(not the medicos) released a long term study done with insurance industry
backing.  They determined that nearly 97% (if memory serves) of all
fatalities and serious injuries ocurred to riders in their first year of
ridership.  Think about it and keep your attention on the job at hand.

yer kindly ol' Unka Bart