Modern Buddy

so i had just returned home from a 50mile or so trip to pick up a new air filter for the buddy... my roomate asked me to run to the store for her, as she was minus a couple of ingredients for the dinner she was cooking... 5 min ride to the store, no problem... at the store there was a young mentally handicapped guy in front of me in line with a giant glittery sombrero on, buying a bottle of teqila... hmmmmm... then on the way out two plainclothes security guys rushed past chasing down a shoplifter who was wearing a "i can fix anything, give me a roll of ductape" t-shirt... something was obviously awry, but i was oblivious... i rode home taking some nice twisty side streets with some elevation change, enjoying the unseasonably cool and windy weather... i rounded a corner and started up a small hill... as i came to the top of the hill [clipping along at about 35] i suddenly saw some sort of cable or wire stretched across the road no more than 6 feet in front of me... didn't see it till last second because of the rise and the sun setting off to my left... i immediately started braking, not locking up, but a good sqeeze... as i hit the unknown strand, i managed to grab it with my left hand, as it was slightly slack but about chest high... in that split second i: 1)thought to try to push it over my head 2)realized that i was "too far into it" to push it over 3)decided that my best bet was to get both hands back on the bar to brake hard 4)realized as i let go that the "strand" was on my neck 5)realizing that i did not know what it was, how tight it was, i.e. if it was going to slice my neck open or not, and 6)laid way into the front brake before my left hand got to the bar... i managed to get the wheel turned left enough that i went down, quick(lets just call that intentional, shall we)... scooter and i slid a couple feet with the top of my left foot and my left knee under the buddy... came to a stop, and kind of lurched(in a graceful way) off of the prone buddy... assess the situation in my confusion, and there is this nylon twine going from a tree on one side of the street to a tree on the other... so i pick up the scoot and push it to the side of the street (realizing that the rear brake lever is snapped in two inside the headset) and start trying to pull this twine off of the trees... after some resistance, it starts coming... and coming... and coming.... and i realize that it isn't attatched to the tree, it is kind of tangled up in it, and that it continues past that tree, over and through another tree, and over the house behind it... at this point i am pretty sure that the guy with the sombrero and the ductape-loving shoplifter must be playing some sort of cruel prank... and at this moment a police car comes around the corner... i flagged him down, and with his help we cut the line and figured out that someone had been flying, and lost, some sort of homeade kite at the park thats like 1/2 mile away, and that the twine was the kite string... and sure enough, the twine stretched over like 3 blocks, over the top of houses, trees, across a couple of streets...
final tally:
gashed up headlight ring(whatever)
left mirror intact but scratched to hell(whatever)
broken rear brake lever(damn dirty dave hooked me up with a bike
brake lever that he modified enough to work properly)
popped a couple of panels out of place
rashed up the top of my foot(lo-top sneeks trashed)
gnarly but couldabeenworse rash on my knee(favorite black jeans ripped
a little)
bout 3 inches of blistered rope burn on my neck

sooooooooo.... the moral of the story is:
really wierd shit happens sometimes...

That's just freakin' nuts. Good that you're okay and the Buddy isn't in worse shape. Guess that just goes to show that we need to be prepared for anything at any time... and that canvas high tops don't cut it in a slide. Whew.

(Re: Sombrero guy: Was this Saturday? Probably celebrating Cinco de Mayo...)

Oh Lou, that's bad. That happened to me when i was about 10 on a bicycle; though it had been done on purpose, tied off between 2 trees across a sidewalk. It sounds just the same of course i was going slower when i spied the rope, but i didn't have the stopping power. yuke.

I'm glad you're ok.

That's got to be the craziest spill I've ever heard of! Man sorry it happen to you but glad you're alright.

Glad you are alright. Also glad to hear the string wasn't there by evil intent but by accident. I just don't understand some people's idea of "fun" or "a joke"...like Louie mentioned about having that happen to him on a bicycle. Very sad that there are people out there like that.

Again, glad you are alright. Sounds like you did some pretty quick thinking there! Did you have full-coverage on your scooter? Hope you get her back together soon!

I just flashed back to "The Great Escape" where Steve McQueen did that to get a "German" motorcycle.

Hope everything works out.

ECS

Wow, man... Just wow.


Glad you're mostly okay.

xtetra wrote:Did you have full-coverage on your scooter? Hope you get her back together soon!

i will say this for the buddy... it is rather resilient... laid it down twice now with the only functional damage being the broken brake lever... the aluminum is pretty chintzy, probably going to go to bob's used cycles to scavenge something a little tougher to replace them both...

lou76 wrote:sooooooooo.... the moral of the story is:
really wierd shit happens sometimes...

Your story is way better than the one I've got that ends with that moral. I was riding with a couple of friends one evening a couple years back and had a passenger on board. I was riding down a hill and came to a stop at the sign. On the way down I rolled through a wet spot of beer that someone had thrown on the road. It was drying up and getting that slick sort of way it does when spilled and partially dried up. I then made a right turn and as I leaned the bike back upright I started losing grip at the rear wheel. While trying to catch that the front tire broke loose and I hit the ground and my passenger rolled over me. Aside from a few bruises (I had more than she), both of us were fine, though a bit sore. The really crappy part was that we had to ride another 40 miles to get back home.

Moral of the story: Even slightly strange shit can happen and mess up a good time.

Holy cow. Glad you're OK. Way to handle the situation.

Man, Isaac...that was a spectacular story! I'm gonna ask you to repeat it at SVR III! ...you ARE still going, aren't you?

--Keys

Anyone read hand-carved coffins by Truman Capote? (Not trying to show off any geeky vibes here, we read it in my english 300 class) A silimar event occurs, except worse with the intent by a crazy murderer. Tempts me to add a little forward facing sharpened hook on my windshield.

lou76 wrote:

xtetra wrote:Did you have full-coverage on your scooter? Hope you get her back together soon!

i will say this for the buddy... it is rather resilient... laid it down twice now with the only functional damage being the broken brake lever... the aluminum is pretty chintzy, probably going to go to bob's used cycles to scavenge something a little tougher to replace them both...

You may be better off with the easy-breaking aluminum ones. I would rather break the lever than damage the master cylinder. Big bucks! Some of the motorcross riders drill a small hole in the middle of their levers. This is to give it a weak spot to break at in the event of a crash. Then they will at least have some of the lever left to use.

This makes the 5th rider that I've heard of with a toe/foot injury in the past 5 years.

I read last year that the #1 injury sustained by scooter riders was foot/ankle, as opposed to hand/arm for motorcycle riders.

GO OUT AND BUY SOME PROPER FOOTWEAR!

Sneakers simply do not cut it. In fact, they basically open up into little convertibles allowing the road to grind off the top of your foot.

Go to www.sportsmansguide.com and type in "boot" they have literally hundreds of different boots in Mens and Womens sizes and all of them are better than riding in sneakers and best of all....they're cheap.

Remember Renae's foot the next time your about to ride your scooter...
[Photo changed to link by Admin. Want to see a pic of what can happen when you wear sneakers? Click here.]

xtetra wrote:like Louie mentioned about having that happen to him on a bicycle. Very sad that there are people out there like that.

!

Her. when i learn how i'll post pics of the real Louie.

Keys wrote:Man, Isaac...that was a spectacular story! I'm gonna ask you to repeat it at SVR III! ...you ARE still going, aren't you?

--Keys

most definitely... and breakfast will be served at my house (just up the road from ddd and sandy v's) in the AM on saturday before the ride, since sandy and dave "don't provide breakfast" :]

Holy cow! Methinks you had a pretty close call there, dude. Way to keep your cool and handle the situation. Hope you and your Buddy are good as new soon.

First, I was like OMG! that is a horror story and you better beat the kids that were playing that prank. But the kite string makes scense. Glad you aren't injured that badly.
Then I am reading, and OMG, that picture again! (me alomst losing it)Just about lost my zone bar, cause I was not expecting it. I remember reading that shortly after it happened, and I wear reinforced leather boots everyday!
Helmet, gloves and Jacket!
Glad you are okay!

I SO didn't need that picture right after my coffee!

Louie - sorry about that!

pocphil,

Thanks for the word on footwear. I wear a full face helmet, armored jacket, and gloves on my bike year round (as I will with my scooter) but I often have sneakers on. Guess I think so much about my face, arms and hands that I never really considered how easily sneakers would come apart.

One other safety bit I've adopted is to never have my cell phone or keys in my pants or jacket pockets. I'd never really thought about it until one day I had my celly in my jacket pocket and I bumped into a door jamb or something, it didn't hurt too bad but I thought "ya know....if this thing crunches into my ribs coming off the bike it ain't gonna feel good."

My keys might not break anything but I doubt they'd feel too good either.

Mind you, every single person here on South Beach rides with flip flops, bathing suits, dresses, no helmets etc. AAACK!

Great story. I too, was glad it wasn't intentional. Glad you're OK too. If you hadn't put your hand up, it might have been bad for you, and that is not the way to leave this life. Throat cut by a kite string.

Thanks for the footwear post too. For some reason, us scooterists as a whole take footwear much less seriously than we should. I rode my Metro in Crocs, but I rarely ride my FJR without motorcycle-specific boots. It's something about the spontanaity of scooting. If you're just running down the block for a pack of beer, you don't want to spend the time to gear up. When it is 90+° outside, flip-flops feel really nice.

Not making excuses, but it is a much tougher sell than for a motorcycle. On a motorcycle, one kind of accepts that in a crash, the bike may end up on top of one leg. On a scooter, one doesn't think it will end up that way. Lots of guys around here ride sportbikes in shorts, no shirt, sneakers, and sunglasses for head protection. They're just kind of accepting that they're a write-off in case of an accident.

If not for the horrible fringe, these look OK:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=344248

The thing about having proper footwear (stiff sole, over the ankle, thick leather) is that it is a pain to get on and off. With a zipper, it isn't so bad.

Here's a more modern, less clunky design:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/it ... division=1

Another one, even cheaper:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/it ... division=1

EAG19 wrote:Mind you, every single person here on South Beach rides with flip flops, bathing suits, dresses, no helmets etc. AAACK!

Just because they are stupid, that's no reason for you to be stupid, too.

AGATT.

ECS