SeaCat
Hey, my Halo is smoking
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2003
- Posts
- 15,378
The bike has been on the cahrger fo the past several days and the weather was just about perfect. I grabbed my gear and cranked up the bike. As the engine warmed up I slipped into my gear. All set I disconnected the charger, climbed aboard and off I went.
My plan was south for a few mile on Dixie Highway, then East on Blue Heron then north up A1A. A nice short ride but one with some nice areas.
Unfortunately one of the areas I had to ride through is also known here in South Florida as a high crime area. (This one area has more shootings per year than all of Boston.) I was about half way through this area and riding in the right hand lane when I saw the nose of a car peeking out from between two other cars.
I had a truck beside me but no one behind me so I rolled off the throttle a bit to let the truck past. The truck had just cleared me when I saw the front tire of that car start moving. I didn't hesitate, I was close. I reacted the way I had been taught in my riding class and did a swerve. I pushed left then right and cleared the front end of the car by maybe a foot. All of this at 50 MPH.
I straightened out and shaking my head started to roll back on the throttle when I saw the lights come on in my mirrors. The damned idiot who had cut me off was a cop. I hit my signals and pulled into a parking lot with the cruiser right on my tail. I shut down the bike and pulled off my helmet even before the cop exited his vehicle. He came stomping up and demanded my license and registration which I handed over. I knew I was clean. While he ran my name and numbers a couple of other riders pulled into the lot. (Including a couple of off duty Motor Officers from the county.) Curious I suppose. From behind my shoulder he handed me my papers and asked if I knew why he had pulled me over. I turned on the seat of my bike so I could look at him, as well as note his name and badge number before answering. (I made sure he knew what I was looking at.) Then I replied that I knew why he had pulled me over, he wanted to appologise for nearly splatting me when he pulled out without looking. He just looked at me and headed back to his cruiser and left without saying a word.
I got the bike restarted, with some difficulty as the other riders came over and chatted with me for a couple of minutes. One of the motor officers told me he had seen my swerve and said it was one of the neatest moves he had seen in a long time of riding.
Off I went again. Back into the traffic on Dixie. Over into the left lane I go then East on Blue Heron. The Bridge over the Inter-Coastal here is a bit over a mile long. The view from it is incredible. I'm on the throttle all the way up the bridge then coast down the back side until near the bottom. Here I'm grabbing the brakes and slowing down. The speed limit goes from 45 on the bridge to 20 because of a nice hard left hand turn just past the end of the bridge. I cruise through here with no problems then back onto the throttle a bit to get up to the 30 MPH here.
Okay now this is nice. Beaches to my right and hotels and houses to the left. I motor on through here enjoying the views of the sandy beaches and the people inhabiting them. A bit further north I come into some long sweeping turns as I cruise past a huge state park.
Let me tell you, cruising into these long sweeping turns is a blast. I'm at one with my bike, it's going where I want it to go almost without thought. Up ahead there's some carrion in the left side of my lane, I ease the lean a bit and widen the turn a touch. There on the outside of this turn is some sand, I tighten my turn just a bit and I'm easily clear of the sand. My eyes are searching ahead of me, looking for problems even as I enjoy the ride and what is going on around me. I know this road, I have driven it often in my car.
The next set of turns are tight. The speed limit drops just before the turns. I have a triple "S" to deal with. Not a problem.
I come into the first turn wide and slow. (No doubt pissing off the tourist behind me.) I lean into the turn late so I can see through it and feel the bike cranking through. As soon as I can I straighten the bike up and go wide for the next turn. Again I hit it just right and accelerate through it and find myself set up just right for the last turn. I grab the brakes for a second to scrub off a bit of speed then once again I lean into the turn. I'm truly rolling on the throttle as I go through this turn because as soon as the road straightens I know it hits 45 MPH. When I hit the sign I'm pegged right at 45 and smiling inside my helmet. I'm loving this.
As I head home from here it's a slow and comfortable ride. Not a lot of traffic going my way. As I motor along I see a group of bikes coming my way. I know what they are heading into and smile. When they come close to me the leader drops his left hand in a wave, I do the same. I can't help feeling a rush as this group of nearly 20 bikes rumbles by with each rider dropping the wave.
When I get home have to really grab the brakes to get into my park. The speed limit on the road is 50 MPH and it's heavily trafficed. Not a problem. I flashed my lights to signal the person behind me I was going to be slowing down then grabbed the brakes and downshifting. I hit the turn in just right and powered through the turn. I'm feeling good. The ride has been for the most part a great one and the bike has handled great. (Although it had a hard time starting after the traffic stop.) I come up on my parking area. The neighbor who parks to the right of my car has decided to park nice and close, too close for me to ease the bike through so I have to come up the left side of my car. I do this and at the very end crank the bike to the left. Now I have to back the bike up while turning it to the right and getting it in front of my car. I've done this several times.
I'm backing the bike up when my left foot slips on somthing. I get it back in but not before the bike starts tipping. I can't stop the bike from going down, (It weighs almost 600 pounds,) but I can help guide it down. It comes down on the crash bars with it's back end barely supported by the sissy bar on top of the front bumper of my car. I shut down the bike and reach underneath to shut off the gas as I climb off faster than a scalded cat. Now I've seen how to do this. I grab the lower handle bar and the back of the bike. I tuck my ass into the seat and get my legs under me. Up goes the bike and I have it under control again. I drop the stand and park the bike where I want it.
Before I head in to drop my gear I try to start the bike again. No joy. (I kind of expected this.) I hooked it back up to the charger and headed in.
About six hours later I came back out to the bike. There was something I wanted to test. I disconnected the charger and hooked a Voltmeter to the battery. It's been long enough for the battery to charge up nicely. It's reading 12 volts as it should. Then I kicked the bike over and watched the battery voltage drop to nothing. I was kind of expecting this. My battery is bad and needs to be replaced.
All in all it was a great little ride. I learned a bit and had a lot of fun.
So how was your day?
Cat
My plan was south for a few mile on Dixie Highway, then East on Blue Heron then north up A1A. A nice short ride but one with some nice areas.
Unfortunately one of the areas I had to ride through is also known here in South Florida as a high crime area. (This one area has more shootings per year than all of Boston.) I was about half way through this area and riding in the right hand lane when I saw the nose of a car peeking out from between two other cars.
I had a truck beside me but no one behind me so I rolled off the throttle a bit to let the truck past. The truck had just cleared me when I saw the front tire of that car start moving. I didn't hesitate, I was close. I reacted the way I had been taught in my riding class and did a swerve. I pushed left then right and cleared the front end of the car by maybe a foot. All of this at 50 MPH.
I straightened out and shaking my head started to roll back on the throttle when I saw the lights come on in my mirrors. The damned idiot who had cut me off was a cop. I hit my signals and pulled into a parking lot with the cruiser right on my tail. I shut down the bike and pulled off my helmet even before the cop exited his vehicle. He came stomping up and demanded my license and registration which I handed over. I knew I was clean. While he ran my name and numbers a couple of other riders pulled into the lot. (Including a couple of off duty Motor Officers from the county.) Curious I suppose. From behind my shoulder he handed me my papers and asked if I knew why he had pulled me over. I turned on the seat of my bike so I could look at him, as well as note his name and badge number before answering. (I made sure he knew what I was looking at.) Then I replied that I knew why he had pulled me over, he wanted to appologise for nearly splatting me when he pulled out without looking. He just looked at me and headed back to his cruiser and left without saying a word.
I got the bike restarted, with some difficulty as the other riders came over and chatted with me for a couple of minutes. One of the motor officers told me he had seen my swerve and said it was one of the neatest moves he had seen in a long time of riding.
Off I went again. Back into the traffic on Dixie. Over into the left lane I go then East on Blue Heron. The Bridge over the Inter-Coastal here is a bit over a mile long. The view from it is incredible. I'm on the throttle all the way up the bridge then coast down the back side until near the bottom. Here I'm grabbing the brakes and slowing down. The speed limit goes from 45 on the bridge to 20 because of a nice hard left hand turn just past the end of the bridge. I cruise through here with no problems then back onto the throttle a bit to get up to the 30 MPH here.
Okay now this is nice. Beaches to my right and hotels and houses to the left. I motor on through here enjoying the views of the sandy beaches and the people inhabiting them. A bit further north I come into some long sweeping turns as I cruise past a huge state park.
Let me tell you, cruising into these long sweeping turns is a blast. I'm at one with my bike, it's going where I want it to go almost without thought. Up ahead there's some carrion in the left side of my lane, I ease the lean a bit and widen the turn a touch. There on the outside of this turn is some sand, I tighten my turn just a bit and I'm easily clear of the sand. My eyes are searching ahead of me, looking for problems even as I enjoy the ride and what is going on around me. I know this road, I have driven it often in my car.
The next set of turns are tight. The speed limit drops just before the turns. I have a triple "S" to deal with. Not a problem.
I come into the first turn wide and slow. (No doubt pissing off the tourist behind me.) I lean into the turn late so I can see through it and feel the bike cranking through. As soon as I can I straighten the bike up and go wide for the next turn. Again I hit it just right and accelerate through it and find myself set up just right for the last turn. I grab the brakes for a second to scrub off a bit of speed then once again I lean into the turn. I'm truly rolling on the throttle as I go through this turn because as soon as the road straightens I know it hits 45 MPH. When I hit the sign I'm pegged right at 45 and smiling inside my helmet. I'm loving this.
As I head home from here it's a slow and comfortable ride. Not a lot of traffic going my way. As I motor along I see a group of bikes coming my way. I know what they are heading into and smile. When they come close to me the leader drops his left hand in a wave, I do the same. I can't help feeling a rush as this group of nearly 20 bikes rumbles by with each rider dropping the wave.
When I get home have to really grab the brakes to get into my park. The speed limit on the road is 50 MPH and it's heavily trafficed. Not a problem. I flashed my lights to signal the person behind me I was going to be slowing down then grabbed the brakes and downshifting. I hit the turn in just right and powered through the turn. I'm feeling good. The ride has been for the most part a great one and the bike has handled great. (Although it had a hard time starting after the traffic stop.) I come up on my parking area. The neighbor who parks to the right of my car has decided to park nice and close, too close for me to ease the bike through so I have to come up the left side of my car. I do this and at the very end crank the bike to the left. Now I have to back the bike up while turning it to the right and getting it in front of my car. I've done this several times.
I'm backing the bike up when my left foot slips on somthing. I get it back in but not before the bike starts tipping. I can't stop the bike from going down, (It weighs almost 600 pounds,) but I can help guide it down. It comes down on the crash bars with it's back end barely supported by the sissy bar on top of the front bumper of my car. I shut down the bike and reach underneath to shut off the gas as I climb off faster than a scalded cat. Now I've seen how to do this. I grab the lower handle bar and the back of the bike. I tuck my ass into the seat and get my legs under me. Up goes the bike and I have it under control again. I drop the stand and park the bike where I want it.
Before I head in to drop my gear I try to start the bike again. No joy. (I kind of expected this.) I hooked it back up to the charger and headed in.
About six hours later I came back out to the bike. There was something I wanted to test. I disconnected the charger and hooked a Voltmeter to the battery. It's been long enough for the battery to charge up nicely. It's reading 12 volts as it should. Then I kicked the bike over and watched the battery voltage drop to nothing. I was kind of expecting this. My battery is bad and needs to be replaced.
All in all it was a great little ride. I learned a bit and had a lot of fun.
So how was your day?
Cat
