A Bit of Eyebrow Surfing

Thanks for all the sympathy and good wishes. Monday I'm going to see the surgeon who did some work on my right shoulder several years ago (injury from my former career as a police officer). It's been getting worse every day...I'm sure I have a chunk of cartiledge broken off in the joint or something. My Tour Master jacket had a big hole worn through it on that shoulder.

No riding until that's fixed...I can barely manage to drive the car now as it is.

I think ABS would have saved my butt, but paying attention instead of daydreaming would have, too. And a bit of practise.

The two most coveted items on my list of upgrades are the ABS and exhaust system from the Roadster. I still like my '08 Classic better, but those two features from the Roadster are almost enough to make me swap out.

I'm also thinking real hard about going dark side.

Darkside is alot better IMHO.
Haven't slipped once since I changed over,
even in the drivin rain.
As far as swappin out the roadster exhaust goes,
been thinkin along similar lines myself.
I don't like the look of the big pipes with the cat in them.
They look alot bigger than the R3T model pipes to me.
So I bid on, an got a set of R3T pipes off ebay.
They haven't arrived yet, but when they do,
I think I'm gonna see what it takes to make em work.
I'll gut em for sure and just put a baffle in there.
Have to extend the crossover pipe as well.
Probably shorten em up some too.
Good luck on your healin and c'mon over to the darkside.
Much safer I think.

#1 In am glad that you are alive(as are you)
#2 The club that I belong to practise emergency stops every skill session we do (once a month) if not practised correctly it is real easy to forget
#3 Rear ending someone(that does not sound right) is usually always the rear enders blame.
#4 Any bits for sale from your bike
The Rocket does not like that rear brake getting slapped on as Hellfire said it might be the small contact patch or it might be the front to rear weight ratio but either way it does not like it. I have tried Metz and Avon and both are about the same press to hard you will skid.

Darkside is poor man's ABS. No lockups on the darkside in 14k miles. (probably just jinxed myself)

I have experienced the unexpected lockup on the R3.
I believe that a car tire on the rear is a huge safety measure on this motorcycle in spite of the additional rider input required for steering and manuevering. The skittishness that the stock setup is prone to upon hard or emergency braking can get one into bad trouble in a big hurry. Riding on the Darkside can be gotten used to very easily by any practiced rider, IMO! For me it is certainly worth the tradeoff, hands down.

The Whole Story

Okay, the whole story is now published in my article titled A Perfectly Executed High-Side.

Hope you guys get a kick out of it and maybe some will learn from my mistake and avoid doing the same thing.

Practice those quick stops!

Nice write-up. I could feel your pain...

The part about loved-ones doing crazy things to get to the hospital certainly hit home. Growing up, my grandmother would load up the stationwagon and take all the cousins up to her place in southern Oklahoma, turn us loose, and pray we didn't kill ourselves. Well, she must have missed a prayer one morning because my brother and cousin were out shooting frogs with pellet guns when my cousin didn't follow the rules. He loaded a pellet into the chamber and then started pumping up the air. Of course on the 3rd pump the rifle fired. The pellet struck my brother in his lower left back and lodged between his kidney and large intestine.

Being so far out in the country (Ft Towson, OK in late 60's), there wasn't a hospital nearby to handle a gunshot wound so he was transported all the way to Paris, Tx. My parents were contacted and Dad got behind the wheel of the family pickup with Mom in tow. Somewhere in the 40 miles from their house to Paris he threw a rod on that old Chevy. Good news was that the pellet was in a safe location so it was not removed and my brother carries it in his back to this day.

Glad to hear you're on the mend. Thanks for the great read.

Glad you made it through with minimal distress. I got the Rocket to stay away from cages. The larger patch on a darkside tends to pull more therefore keeping the rear where it is suppose to be unless front is fully engaged. I get by because I try to pay attention at all times and anticipate trouble. Mind scenarios ablaze with evasive contingencies that are practiced on a regular basis as to not create false confidence. My last encounter was due to bad road conditions at 75mph which resulted in bone breakage but no skin damage due to protective wear. I don't ride without it ever! I ordered my next Rocket from the hospital exactly the same.

Got my BB back - NOT happy

Well, the full story and photos on the repair job are here. I'm kicking myself for not taking her to Tony Lewis and Eurosport Cycle for the repairs, but with Les (Tony's chief mechanic) retiring I thought my insurance guy's recommendation was worth a try.

Another lesson learned.

You convinced me to go darkside today.