U
uncle_punk13
Guest
Even those of us who have been doing these contraptions for over a decade, and have logged in tens of thousands of miles, can have a momentary lapse in judgment. Complacency will hurt you.
I pulled out my 2004 Grubee "80", mounted on a 1963 Schwinn Speedster camelback, to fire it up and run about a bit. I had accidently left the petcock on after doing some adjustments 3 weeks ago, so the crankcase and carb. were flooded and there was a nice pool of fuel mix on the floor. I pulled it out, and jumped aboard- No helmet, no jacket, no gloves. I was just going to the end of the row of shops and back, no biggie right?
uh, yeah, riiiiiight...
So I'm peddalin' like a maniac to clear the engine, and the engine begins trying to start popping a bit, so as I'm reaching down to make sure the choke is fully open the s.o.b. roars to life, jumps forward, and as I'm off balance anyway, the bike and I begin careening wildly out of control. I scraped along the garage door on one of the shops until I hit the door frame, and the bike then goes down and sideways! I scraped along the ground a couple of feet, and come to a rest with my arms and legs tangled in the bike so I have to literally twist and contort to unwrap myself from the bike. My shoulder is severely bruised, and with nice raspberry rashes at the socket, and across my chest. I dislocated a rib and pulled some of those muscles in my chest/rib/back/neck. Nice raspberries on my knees and ankle. Nothing broken, just very bruised and sore the past two days- I still can't take a full breath from the muscle/rib thing. I'll be fine.
I am not whining for sympathy here, but rather I just wanted to reiterate my older postings about all the gear all the time, and that complacency and a false sense of security in these vehicles can have somewhat severe consequences.
On a humorous note, My fiance's son just had to ask me:
"Is THIS what happens when you turn 40?!? You start falling of your bike?!?" LOL !!! Smart Aleck teenagers Right?!? LOL!!!
Be safe and smart out there fellas!
I pulled out my 2004 Grubee "80", mounted on a 1963 Schwinn Speedster camelback, to fire it up and run about a bit. I had accidently left the petcock on after doing some adjustments 3 weeks ago, so the crankcase and carb. were flooded and there was a nice pool of fuel mix on the floor. I pulled it out, and jumped aboard- No helmet, no jacket, no gloves. I was just going to the end of the row of shops and back, no biggie right?
uh, yeah, riiiiiight...
So I'm peddalin' like a maniac to clear the engine, and the engine begins trying to start popping a bit, so as I'm reaching down to make sure the choke is fully open the s.o.b. roars to life, jumps forward, and as I'm off balance anyway, the bike and I begin careening wildly out of control. I scraped along the garage door on one of the shops until I hit the door frame, and the bike then goes down and sideways! I scraped along the ground a couple of feet, and come to a rest with my arms and legs tangled in the bike so I have to literally twist and contort to unwrap myself from the bike. My shoulder is severely bruised, and with nice raspberry rashes at the socket, and across my chest. I dislocated a rib and pulled some of those muscles in my chest/rib/back/neck. Nice raspberries on my knees and ankle. Nothing broken, just very bruised and sore the past two days- I still can't take a full breath from the muscle/rib thing. I'll be fine.
I am not whining for sympathy here, but rather I just wanted to reiterate my older postings about all the gear all the time, and that complacency and a false sense of security in these vehicles can have somewhat severe consequences.
On a humorous note, My fiance's son just had to ask me:
"Is THIS what happens when you turn 40?!? You start falling of your bike?!?" LOL !!! Smart Aleck teenagers Right?!? LOL!!!
Be safe and smart out there fellas!
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