So this month I’d like to talk about those mortifying moments that haunt your memories forever. You know, the ones that make you want to return to your fetal roots and crawl into a corner and cry. Examples of moto faux pas that could induce such a response includes, but is not limited to the following: dropping the bike, mis-shifting, stalling, crashing, getting pulled over or all of the above in front of a large group of people, or worse, large group of motorcyclists.
Let me begin by telling you a short story about the mother of all mortifying moments (for me at least). Flash back to September 11, 2001. Cal State Fullerton has just been evacuated after the World Trade Tours have been attacked. In panicked haste, I was among the borage of students who rushed out to the parking lot to flee campus. My 2000 Yamaha R6 was parked, or should I say stuffed, in between two other bikes. In a hurry to lift the R6’s massive weight off the kick stand, I pulled too much on the bars and the bike began to tip over to the right and into the Suzuki Katana parked next to me. In essence, I managed to drop two bikes in less than two seconds…in front of what felt like the entire world. It didn’t matter that someone rushed to my aid and helped me pick up both bikes. I just wanted to run away and pretend that neither bike had anything to do with me.
I relived this horrid memory recently when I dropped a demo bike at So Cal Motorcycles. No, it wasn’t because I didn’t know what I was doing. It was because I was trying to pull off the same ten foot U-turn I always do, on a bike that didn’t quite have the same turning radius as the bike I’d been riding previously. I dropped the bike in front of everyone and immediately wanted to crawl into a dark hole. It was a stupid move that was much deserved because I was fooling around when I shouldn’t have.
So what’s the moral of these embarrassing moments? We all have our bad days, and I’m sure it’s tempting to let loose a string of curse words that would put Howard Stern to shame, but as long as you learn something from it, whatever happened is a worthwhile mistake. For example, after dropping my R6, I learned that I needed to pull my bike away from the curb so it wouldn’t take so much force to lift it upright. And as far as the demo, I learned to give myself adjustment time to new bikes before trying more technical maneuvers. See how this works?
And just remember, no matter how much riding experience you have, no one is completely exempt from good ole Murphy’s law. But if you’re one of those with a seemingly “Dali Lama” mojo (several years riding, but no incidents), try to at least hug your buddies every once in a while so your good luck will rub off on them! Happy New Year!
