Motorcycles –
And now, in Cleaning the Barn,
[Note how this holy Mission has now become Capitalized!]
appears the 1983 Honda Shadow motorcycle,
with water cooling, and drive-shaft,
but, unfortunately, no kick start!
[my previous generation – a very old vintage 60's 1-cyclinder Harley – had both].
The motorcycle has been sitting there,
in the dark with a bent fork,
for about 15 - 20 years,
since I drove it home after
going off the road at very high speed
landing over a hundred feet off into the forest.
Didn't see that sharp curve comming!
I remember sitting there, with the somewhat mangled bike,
looking, and looking, and looking,
and then standing, moving around, and looking and looking,
trying to find a straight shot from where I stood to the road.
And there was none –
At least 4 trees had to have jumped out of the way for me.
And I didn’t even have a sore knee this time ...
Which reminds of going flying off the old Harley –
I had ridden it up from Florida so had a pretty good feel for it.
The back drum brake worked pretty hard, so I was in the habit of moving
my heel to the break pedal and stomping a bit hard.
So that night, cruising at 50 mph in the left hand lane of a boulevard
[i.e., no left turns with, no lights and no stop signs]
on the edges of Cleveland's suburbia,
Enjoying the night and adjusting my left-side rear-view mirror to be extra safe,
I was surprised to look up and see a car stopped dead in front of me.
I had time only, before impact, to stomp with my right heel on the break.
And STOMP I must have!
For I flew off the bike,
flew over the car [just hitting the antennae]
and
flying to the left,
landing perfectly with a nice roll
on the grass meridian.
The person I hit had a car radio phone and called the police
telling them he had just killed a motorcycle rider.
Imagine my embarrassment when,
with all the cars and trucks with flashing lights,
all the ambulances and emergency personnel, and police,
I could only complain that my right knee was
the tiny bit sore.
The bike wasn’t so lucky ...
(By the way – I have a perfect driving record!).
I wonder if it will run again? [the ‘83 Shadow?].
I bought it when young and crazy –
Quit my job at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
where I had been working as an Engineer/Physicist,
leading an R&D project,
bringing my dog to work with me everyday,
and after a hassle from the Fermi Site Patrol about my dog,
which had 4 years squatting rights there by then,
I interviewed at I.U.,
along with my dog,
who wasn’t hassled,
and so quit my Job at Fermi,
and bought a new motorcycle on credit,
to drive down to Florida.
[Was that better than spending a week at the
Trappist Monastery when leaving I.U.?
Or riding my bicycle across the country
before joining Fermilab?]
All good transisitons, if I say so myself ...
But, perhaps I need to work on my Transitions a bit –
When I quit my last job in Michigan,
I was going to walk the Appalachian Trail with my wolf,
but then he got hit by a car
and I think I got depressed ...
I think it should start ...
– while it has an electric start,
it doesn’t have a computer –
So, add gas and run should be the story!
The electric start is optional –
I remember as a young kid riding the cycles of my older siblings’ freinds.
One was a new racing bike.
And I was too small to kick start it.
So I would run down the street with it,
get is going as fast as I could,
them jump on and pop the clutch.
I had never been before on such a powerful machine.
I got to the end of the street,
and turning left,
gave a good twist to the throttle,
and went straight ACROSS the street and up a hill
nicely missing the trees [my first practice at this missing-tree operation].
And I remember, later, stopping at a stop sign,
a police officer there crossing children from school,
and it stalls ...
And getting off, running, jumping on,
popping the clutch,
and getting back home before anyone caught me!
Yes, so keep the bike –
I’ve had a lot of fun with it!
Cruising the country roads at full throttle –
trying to find its absolute top speed –
Was it at high rev’s in 4th or 5th
rather than in over-drive?
Did it depend whether I was going into the wind?
I don’t even remember how many gears it has!
But I found the key in the bedroom!
Another project!
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