I just finished writing a quick note to my brother. After proof-reading I figured you guys might enjoy it.
Working on an Air Force Base, I'm usually not concerned with locking my bike or anything. Today I didn't even bother shutting the ignition off.
Me on the phone to AAA...
"What do you mean I have to meet you at the visitor's center? If I could
meet you at the visitor's center I wouldn't need your fu<king help!"
Plan B:
I don't know if you ever tried to push start a bike this size, but it
sucks. I've never push started something with so much weight or torgue. I was worried that by the time it fired it would run off without me, or worse, grind my face into asphalt cookies. But hey, I'm good. After pushing it about 1/4 mile to find a slope (pretty tough around there), I was able to get it going. I even remembered to turn the ignition on before the second attempt.
Please, don't ask why I wasn't able to get it going on flat ground. Ever
tried to push your bike in gear with the clutch in? It's like Re-Run from
Good Times is helping push (with his tippy-toes while sitting on the damn
bike). Besides, I was right in front of the VA clinic. There was
some old biker dude (Harley Shirt) sitting on a bench waiting for the bus
and counting his green stamps. He didn't look like he could walk, let alone help push the damn bike. I decided to refrain from asking, and he decided to refrain from offering. I like how we got along that way. The last thing I wanted was to show him how well my bike was trained and that it could run right along side me like at the dog show (back-and-forth). I figured after a couple of attempts I might comment on his current transportation and I wanted to avoid that scene all together. I'd hate to show up in the local paper with a picture of me kicking the **** out of an old man waiting for a bus, or worse, the other way around. So I walked my dog down the road.
Anyway, after getting it started I hopped on and parked it on the side of
the road. I was pretty proud of myself when I remembered to leave it
running. I needed to get off and see what the hell those things were flying around in my eyeballs. At first I thought they were angels with Jesus closely following to take me home. You can imagine I was pretty bummed to find out otherwise. That meant I had to grin and bare it (Remind me later I want to research where that phrase originates. It sounds exciting!).
When I got back on and started riding down the road, people were looking at me funny. At first I thought I just looked cool (as usual), but I later realized I was still hyperventilating and sweating profusely. They were probably trying to get a closer look to see if I was doing the Fred
Flintstone thing, or maybe they wishfully thought I might have my hand on my crank. You see some of the darndest things in traffic.
Working on an Air Force Base, I'm usually not concerned with locking my bike or anything. Today I didn't even bother shutting the ignition off.
Me on the phone to AAA...
"What do you mean I have to meet you at the visitor's center? If I could
meet you at the visitor's center I wouldn't need your fu<king help!"
Plan B:
I don't know if you ever tried to push start a bike this size, but it
sucks. I've never push started something with so much weight or torgue. I was worried that by the time it fired it would run off without me, or worse, grind my face into asphalt cookies. But hey, I'm good. After pushing it about 1/4 mile to find a slope (pretty tough around there), I was able to get it going. I even remembered to turn the ignition on before the second attempt.
Please, don't ask why I wasn't able to get it going on flat ground. Ever
tried to push your bike in gear with the clutch in? It's like Re-Run from
Good Times is helping push (with his tippy-toes while sitting on the damn
bike). Besides, I was right in front of the VA clinic. There was
some old biker dude (Harley Shirt) sitting on a bench waiting for the bus
and counting his green stamps. He didn't look like he could walk, let alone help push the damn bike. I decided to refrain from asking, and he decided to refrain from offering. I like how we got along that way. The last thing I wanted was to show him how well my bike was trained and that it could run right along side me like at the dog show (back-and-forth). I figured after a couple of attempts I might comment on his current transportation and I wanted to avoid that scene all together. I'd hate to show up in the local paper with a picture of me kicking the **** out of an old man waiting for a bus, or worse, the other way around. So I walked my dog down the road.
Anyway, after getting it started I hopped on and parked it on the side of
the road. I was pretty proud of myself when I remembered to leave it
running. I needed to get off and see what the hell those things were flying around in my eyeballs. At first I thought they were angels with Jesus closely following to take me home. You can imagine I was pretty bummed to find out otherwise. That meant I had to grin and bare it (Remind me later I want to research where that phrase originates. It sounds exciting!).
When I got back on and started riding down the road, people were looking at me funny. At first I thought I just looked cool (as usual), but I later realized I was still hyperventilating and sweating profusely. They were probably trying to get a closer look to see if I was doing the Fred
Flintstone thing, or maybe they wishfully thought I might have my hand on my crank. You see some of the darndest things in traffic.