On Jun 8, 6:41*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:03:29 -0500, Ignoramus31161

wrote:
On 2011-06-08, Karl Townsend wrote:
Man, Gunner, its going to take deep pockets to get that old limey bike
going. Unless you got a hard on for that unit, I'd part it out on flea
bay and use the profit to buy something more recent/common.

I got nothing against this fine old machine. I just remember the
SEVERE DRAIN to my wallet redoing an old Triumph. And then I slid it
under a car that pulled out in front of me.

I personally have a severe dislike for motorcycles.

I love 'em! *But I no longer want to ride in today's traffic.
People no longer pay much attention to driving.

There is no such thing as a minor motorcycle road accident.

That's not quite true, Ig. *I had to dump my bike and ride it into the
lady who not only pulled out in front of me, she stopped when she saw
me dump it. Luckily, I was only doing 35mph and could climb on. And
luckily, I was only doing about 15-20 mph when I hit her with my back
and head. *Luckily, I had a helmet and thick jacket on. I got a bit of
jacket-spin road rash and a headache, but I was otherwise unharmed.

And I've seen people dump the bike in the ditch, hurdle the bars, and
run their way to a stop with no damage to themselves and little harm
to the bike when they avoided the idiot who didn't see them.

I've seen people slide to a stop in their riding leathers without too
much harm, too.

On the hurt end, a friend was riding a tricked out Kaw 100 dirt bike
on the freeway at about 90mph when the engine froze. *He now has an
ABS kneecap (or different plastic 30 years later.)

Another took a jump too high on an old bike and the shocks broke off
the frame. He lost a couple discs to that hard landing.

Another hit the freeway WFO on his Kaw Ninja and it took the front
half of his head off when he landed upside down.

Another lost his life a year after dumping his road racing bike in a
race. *He was a quadraplegic and unable to speak for most of that
time.

So, the damage varies.

--
Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a Congressman can.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *-- Mark Twain

I have a friend that on a clear dry spring day was riding down a
residential street at 25 MPH when a gal backed out of her driveway and
he ended up with brain damage. He was wearing a helmet and what
happened was he slid int the curb, the helmet protected his skull but
the brain sloshed inside the skull and damaged the brain. So for 15
years now his life has been one very long migraine headache.

There was a waitress at Denny's that had 2 kids. Her youngest was
retarded and a lot of work. Her daughter just before her 18th
birthday was on the back of a quad runner when it flipped. The
waitress and her car salesman husband had to file bankruptcy over the
over one million dollars in medical bills.

While s*%t happens, my observation is that a motorcycle makes it a
whole lot likelier to happen.

Roger Shoaf