By-pass

I received news the other day that a moto-acquaitance was in a pretty bad accident, leaving him with a punctured lung, broken ribs, and cracked vertebrae.  He is a very knowledgeable and experienced rider and part of a club that places great emphasis on safety and smart riding.  His story is a reminder that bad things can happen to anyone very quickly.

While participating in a group ride he stopped to make a minor repair to the bike and for convenience sake put the bike on the center stand after having put down his side stand.  When he finished the repair he pulled the bike off the center stand and started it up; putting it into gear he took off down the road, having forgotten to retract his side stand.  When he leaned into a left hand curve the side stand hit the ground and did not retract but instead bounced the bike along, in his words, "like a pogo stick."  After a few bounces he high-sided and smashed into a sign post, bending the post and leveling the damage on himself described above.  Needless to say his friends were terrified; they immediately called the paramedics and he was air-liftd to a nearby hospital, where he is now recovering and  awaiting further surgery.

Most modern bikes have a built in safety feature with the side stand: the engine will cut off if the bike is kicked into gear with the stand is down.  This is to help ensure that the rider will not take off with the stand down resulting in the kind of accident described above.  ANY bike can have a problem with the side stand down, the degree of which is determined by the design of the side stand itself.   Based on many engineering factors relative to the size and shape of the bike, some side stands tend to face more forward and are therefore more difficult to retract, while others angle more towards the center.  But to avoid any potential problem, more and more manufacturers are including the cut off switch in the basic design of the side stand.

 

 

My friends bike had such a cut off switch but as is wont with anything electrical, he had been having some problems with the switch engaging inappropriately and so had simply by-passed it.  A long time rider, he was used to not having such a device and had never had any trouble remembering his side stand or if so, the stand had merely retracted upon impact with the pavement.

Until now.  Probably because of the design of the side stand (not inappropriate for this particular bike), the side stand did not retract on impact but instead remained extended, causing the pogo stick phenomenon described and resulting in a very bad crash.

All of us forced into making complicated decisions regarding many aspects of life.  Often we attempt to avoid a particular problem through "by passing" the root issue with what appears to be a simple solution.  While the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) approach can often be effective in certain circumstances, one must ask if the by pass really works in the long run or does it instead lend itself to potentially more disasterous consequences?  At work or in relationship, as in motorcycle mechanics, the simple solution may not always be the best solution, if by choosing simple we ignore the root of the problem.  If we treat the sympton without treating the problem we can often create a bigger problem for ourselves, even if unintentionally.

A Project Bike is always ... a Project Bike!

Last weekend I celebrated the completion of a three year project ... the conversion of a 1986 Harley Davidson Sportster into an Old Skool Chopper.  The original owner was a real gear-head and had hopped up the engine so it was a real get-and-go machine.  The subsequent owner, a young man with more testosterone than sense, thoroughly thrashed the body, but the engine was still a monster.  So by the time it came to me it was in need of a great deal of work and seemed to me to be a wonderful way to learn about Harleys.  And so I did ... more than I really wanted to learn! 

Over the years I did the work I could do, jobbed out other things that were beyond my abilities, until finally last week the finishing touches - forward controls and upsweep pipes - were added and the dream realized.  The weather over the past few days has been beautiful so I have been riding the H-D to work, enjoying the glow of a completed project.

Until Tuesday.  I was stopped at a light and when it turned green I twisted the throttle and the engine died.  Assuming that I had just stalled it (something that has occured more often than I would like to admit) I hit the starter, fired it up, twisted the throttle and got the same result.  It quickly dawned on me that something was blocking the fuel line, which has happened before.  I was purposely running the gas tank low, since I had put some Sea Foam in the tank to help clean the carbs and wanted to run it through.  Obviously there was something alien floating in the tank which was now blocking the flow of fuel.  Nuts.

Having experienced this sort of thing before in my life, I had a couple of coping strategies.  The first was simply to choke the engine, providing more input, which would allow me to get to a gas station, fill the tank, and free said alien to float away from the trap.  Although this had worked in the past, not this time.  So on to strategy #2 - shake the bike back and forth to see if the offending article could be dislodged.  I can only imagine what my fellow commuters thought, seeing me standing there shaking the bike back and forth.  Perhaps that somewhat psychotic looking behavior by a man dressed in black leather explains why there was no honking, in spite of the fact that I was holding up traffic.

Sadly for me, shaking did not work either so I dog-paddled the bike over to the side of the road.  I tried choking it again and shaking it some more, with the same result - nada.  Since I had no tools, nor would I have particularly wanted to dismantle the fuel line and tank by the side of the road, I fell back on the last remaining strategy and called my buddy Pat to bring his truck.  Luckily he was available and said he was on his way.

The day was glorious, so I took off my jacket and waited patiently in the sun.  I later realized it was good that I had no tools with me, as I probably would have thrown them at all my motorcycle "brothers" who whizzed past and just looked at me.  So much for The Code.

Pat arrived, we loaded the H-D (we are actually getting pretty good at loading this particular hunk of junk ... ) and took her back to my house, where she sits awaiting my attention.  Sigh.

The day was not lost, however.  As stated, it was a beautiful day, so I was not stranded in the rain.  I have three bikes in the garage, so I simply jumped on another and made my way to work (a bit late).  And I realized that in all the years and miles, this was only the second time in my life I had to be carried home ... the last time I was fifteen and given how I abused that first bike, it is a wonder that I ever made it home at all!  Given my averages I can expect my next lift home to occur when I am around 95 years old.  Cool - something to look forward to!

Weather or not ... to ride!

It is the time of year up here in the Great Northwest when the temperature rises (a bit) and the rain slackens (a bit).  Still not sunny and dry for more than a couple of days at a time, but at least less cold and less rainy than the winter months.  Therefore it is also the time of year when one sees many more motorcycles on the road, all shiney and clean and rarin' to go.  And thus it follows that it is the time of year when I scream out "Where have you all been for the past six months?"

Commuting daily on a motorcycle, regardless of temperature or moisture, allows me a certain self-righteousness.  There were only two days in the past twelve months when I begged my wife for her car rather than ride two wheels on icey roads; she graciously acceded after checking our financial situation and coming to the conclusion that I was still worth more alive than dead.  Heaven help me when the numbers suggest otherwise ... but I digress.

So whether the weather is good or bad, sunny or cloudy, cold or warm, I ride.  And hence my self-righteousness.  But I am quick to add that I understand why many folks choose not to ride in inclement weather as it can be quite uncomfortable without the proper gear and downright dangerous without the proper concentration.  We moved up here from Arizona and, needless to say, driving in the hilly, urban Northwest poses significant challenges not faced in the flat hinterlands of Rio Verde, AZ.  So, honestly, the first months of my daily commute were not without fear and trepidation.  I cursed the inclement weather, yelled at boneheads who cut in front of me, and often prayed that the light at the top of the hill up ahead would remain green, thus allowing me to avoid balancing a 750 pound machine at a peculiar cant.

Eighteen months later commuting is a great deal more fun.  I still yell at boneheads, but no longer curse the traffic signal engineers for failing to understand my needs or bemoan the fickle nature of the weather gods.  Rain or shine, warm weather or cold, I hit the road with a smile on my face.  It is amazing how an initial commitment, followed by determination and discipline over a long period of time, changes one's perspective ... which of course occurs after one's abilites have changed.  I now hit the road with an entirely different outlook, determined to enjoy the ride regardless of the weather.  And in some ways, the riding itself becomes better the more intense the weather!

Like last week, when I headed out to Pasco, WA for a conference.  I am still a newbie to the state of Washington, so I don't have a real handle on weather conditions relative to the time of the year; I still think like a mid-westerner, I guess, which means that to my way of thinking late April means warmish days and cool nights.

Wrong.  At just 3000 feet, tooling along through the Snoqualmie Pass, it was 36 degrees with thick snow laying on the ground on both sides of the road.  Dark and overcast, I was glad that I had risked being too warm rather than too cold and put on my medium weight gear and layered my clothing.  It was still quite chilly for 45 minutes though, and once over the pass I was delighted to see sunshine.  What I realized on the ride was that the previous  year-and-a-half of crummy weather riding provided me with far more skill and confidence, so I traveled with no fear, only concentration.  When I finally got to a bit of sunshine it dawned on me that while I was enjoyng the scenery far more, the ride was less intense.  Interesting ... the cold and crummy weather actually intensified the riding experience itself.  Remembering that cold can lead to poor decision making and knowing that trouble can occur very quickly on wet roads, I had given all my attention to riding.  No meandering thoughts, no contemplating higher meaning, just full throttle attention to the task at hand ... Mu-shin riding!

I can't say that I will now prefer cold riding to warm, but I will certainly have a new appreciation for what it can provide for me.  And I wonder how many other less than optimal circumstances actually provide me with an opportunity for increased awareness and consciousness?  Growth requires the dialectic of tension and release, of stress and relaxation, so while it is foolish to seek tension on purpose, it may likewise be foolish to seek to avoid it altogether.