- Joined
- Apr 11, 2005
- Messages
- 980
- Reaction score
- 3
- Location
- Richmond, TX
- First Name
- Steve
- Last Name
- Floyd
OK, since we all know by now that we had to trailer my bike home the very first time I have been to a TWT rally, I guess everyone wants to know the details. Being that Elaine and I converted to sport touring from the cruiser crowd only recently, we had no idea what to expect. We found out real fast as soon as we met up with Cruizintexas on Friday morning. Man, once we hit the twisties of OK and Ark, my life changed forever! Steve and Will were patient with me for a long time but finally decided it was time to get to camp and switched it in to another gear on our last leg. It was everything we could do to keep up! I was crossing yellow lines, crossing white lines, scraping center stands and God knows what else! But we made there alive and promptly went to our hotel to catch our breath.
The next morning, we got up, went to the Comfort Inn where everyone else was supposed to meet. Scott explained the day, we signed some papers, handed over our money and jumped on our bikes. To Elaine's shock and horror, Saturday ended up being just like Friday afternoon! Once again, we were crossing stuff that shouldn't be crossed, scraping stuff that ain't supposed to be scraped, and, Elaine swears that she was clinching her butt so hard to that seat that there still may be part of my seat up her [expletive removed]! Anyway, I had a blast but was frustrated because I felt my bike was weighted down too much with all the "extra mass" on the bike.
The next morning, Elaine was sore from the previous day's "spirited" ride through some of the most fantastic roads I have ever been on, so she decided to sit out Sunday's festivities. It was probably a good thing.....
After shedding my wife and my saddlebags, the GT was lighter than ever and I was determined to conquer the twisties that day with no excuses of extra mass. When we took off, I promptly took my place behind Scott, Kent, and Will and proceded into the great wild yonder doing everything I could to keeep up with the three ovbiously more skilled riders than myself. I kept up for a while but as time went on, I fell further and further behind while pushing ever harder on my beautiful mount to do more than my skill level would prevent. I kept telling myself, the bike will do whatever you need it to do, just ask her nicely. And then it happened.....
As I was driving ever faster and more franticly, I came to this curve at a high rate of speed and knew immediatley that I could not make this turn and had to come up plan B! I looked up and to my suprise, there at the curve was a park with a driveway and everything! All I had to do was drive straight and bring my trusty steed to a controlled stop! I immediately straightened my bike up, went straight, and "attempted" to skillfully maneuver the trusty GT around the concrete parking barriers and numerous trees. Well it didn't work. I hit the parking barrier and according to other riders behind me, my bike jumped up about four feet in the air and I went another foot beyond that that. I did manager to hold on to the handlebars and once I came in for a landing, managed to bring her to halt virtually unscathed having never dropped the machine on the ground. As the dust settled, I noticed that this was not a park at all, it was a cemetary! Well we looked over my bike and noticed the rim was bent and a little bit of oil was coming from somewhere. I decided the bike was ridable and rode down the road about 1 mile and realized oil was shooting out. Game over.
So now, after a pleasant afternoon riding aournd on the back of Scott's bike and rounding up the trailer to bring my injured bike and jilted pride to houston, I am taking it up to the dealer to see what the damages are. I will report later.
The moral of the story is, ride within your skill set.
See you all soon.
The next morning, we got up, went to the Comfort Inn where everyone else was supposed to meet. Scott explained the day, we signed some papers, handed over our money and jumped on our bikes. To Elaine's shock and horror, Saturday ended up being just like Friday afternoon! Once again, we were crossing stuff that shouldn't be crossed, scraping stuff that ain't supposed to be scraped, and, Elaine swears that she was clinching her butt so hard to that seat that there still may be part of my seat up her [expletive removed]! Anyway, I had a blast but was frustrated because I felt my bike was weighted down too much with all the "extra mass" on the bike.
The next morning, Elaine was sore from the previous day's "spirited" ride through some of the most fantastic roads I have ever been on, so she decided to sit out Sunday's festivities. It was probably a good thing.....
After shedding my wife and my saddlebags, the GT was lighter than ever and I was determined to conquer the twisties that day with no excuses of extra mass. When we took off, I promptly took my place behind Scott, Kent, and Will and proceded into the great wild yonder doing everything I could to keeep up with the three ovbiously more skilled riders than myself. I kept up for a while but as time went on, I fell further and further behind while pushing ever harder on my beautiful mount to do more than my skill level would prevent. I kept telling myself, the bike will do whatever you need it to do, just ask her nicely. And then it happened.....
As I was driving ever faster and more franticly, I came to this curve at a high rate of speed and knew immediatley that I could not make this turn and had to come up plan B! I looked up and to my suprise, there at the curve was a park with a driveway and everything! All I had to do was drive straight and bring my trusty steed to a controlled stop! I immediately straightened my bike up, went straight, and "attempted" to skillfully maneuver the trusty GT around the concrete parking barriers and numerous trees. Well it didn't work. I hit the parking barrier and according to other riders behind me, my bike jumped up about four feet in the air and I went another foot beyond that that. I did manager to hold on to the handlebars and once I came in for a landing, managed to bring her to halt virtually unscathed having never dropped the machine on the ground. As the dust settled, I noticed that this was not a park at all, it was a cemetary! Well we looked over my bike and noticed the rim was bent and a little bit of oil was coming from somewhere. I decided the bike was ridable and rode down the road about 1 mile and realized oil was shooting out. Game over.
So now, after a pleasant afternoon riding aournd on the back of Scott's bike and rounding up the trailer to bring my injured bike and jilted pride to houston, I am taking it up to the dealer to see what the damages are. I will report later.
The moral of the story is, ride within your skill set.
See you all soon.