SEBSPEED Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Took a short trip this weekend on a guilt-tripped whim. A wheeler dealer friend of mine is a long time Harley rider but has had a hankering for a "crotch rocket" for some time now. He recently (last Wednesday) traded a headache car for a 1993 CBR900RR in decent running condition. On Friday night he texted me saying that he had 2 tickets to see Billy Idol at the House of Blues in Atlantic City and he wanted to go on the bike and would I go with him? Free beer/show/dinner/hotel he offered... I didn't want to go but ended up getting guilt tripped into going by his wife. 4 hours of highway one way does not appeal to me! Not really an Idol fan either but spur of the moment bike trips are always exciting. Right? Did a quick inspection of the bike for him on Friday and replaced rear brake pads. Also tested the traction of the rear tire Weather turned out to be pretty nice by 2pm Saturday which made the highway almost bearable. I have never been to a casino or Atlantic City before so riding up to the city was pretty neat, seeing all the big money buildings and all. The hotel turned out to be EXTREMELY sketchy... legitimate prostitutes and drug dealers all around... but we were not able to cancel the room so we paid to park in the garage of the Taj Mahal and hoped for the best. Thank you Mr.Trump for the special parking! $20/night for both bikes was cheap peace of mind! Parked right under one of the security cameras and in view of several others. From there we had a little time to kill so we headed over to the boardwalk to get some food and beer. The show was much better than I expected! No offense but this guy rocks for his age! 57 and energizing a room like that, I can see why people like him. Too much alcohol was consumed, but, we weren't mugged or molested on the way back to the hotel. Seemed like a great little adventure story as we made our way back up the GSP out of NJ. Weather was great as we got back into NY, but the story turns a bit sour here. Shortly after we passed through the first toll plaza heading north on the Thruway (I-87 for you non-NY'ers...), we were moving along in medium traffic at about 75-80 in the left lane. Cars in front, to the right, and behind. Out of the corner of my eye, I see 2 deer galloping towards me from the median, they seemed to be looking right at me as I squeezed off a handful of front brake and hoofing at the rear... car in front realized they would miss them and got back on the gas, at that point I thought for sure I would t-bone the lead deer and go sailing over the bars. Next moment they had slowed a tad and I thought for sure the lead deer would hit me in the side and send me into the right lane under a car... in the next few split seconds I looked down at the deer now right next to my bike, pawing away to turn to my rear as I continued forcible pressure on the brakes - down from 80 to about 20-15 by now - I swear I hear its hooves scratching the asphalt! Unfortunately it turns out that was more likely the initial crunch of the front end of a newly acquired 900RR coming into contact with my right saddlebag. Being green to biasing the front brakes vs the rear surely played a role, a bit of brain lag from the previous night's festivities may have been a factor too. Thankfully he was able to work his way as far right as he could to avoid hitting me dead on in the rear. Whatever the case, both of us had a really lucky day. We both remained upright and were not run over by traffic, thank God. We both rolled safely to opposite shoulders. My right saddlebag is toast and I had to collect my bookbag of overnight supplies and a pair of shoes from the highway. I was able to recover all but the case itself, had nowhere to put it so I hung it on a post in the median. The CBR plastic and headlight didn't fare to well, but was mechanically sound so I did a bit of McGuyvering and got us rolling back home. Theme for the trip? "Adventures suck when you're having them"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 If anyone has a single right saddle bag for sale in any color please send me a pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 Dam the bad luck or good luck, you could have been easily killed or injured with the recent events so I guess lucky man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 2thdr Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 Dang Seb, have you had three bad things yet? I hope so. I can relate though...recent VFR crash, and then tornado night I about sunk my 2012 Focus. Glad you stayed upright and didn't get run over...muli-lane highways are scary when things go wrong... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayarearider Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Bummer, but it could have been much worse.. Deer Suc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rice Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 Seb, Glad to hear that you and your friend are OK. Sucks to lose the case though. Speaking of losing cases, I too had a mishap during my ride on Sunday. Met up with the local group of riders and was at the back of the pack, when we came up on a little bridge at a good clip, which caused the bike to jump and sail through the air just enough to make the jump fun. What was not quite as much fun was a tap on the back upon landing. I looked in the mirror and saw my top case go rolling into the roadside brush. The box was scratched up but otherwise fine and I didn't lose any of its contents, since it didn't open. I circled back, reattached it and all was good, except that I didn't manage to to reconnect with the group... That wasn't a big deal and I ended up discovering some new roads and had a great ride at the end. There must have been something in the air yesterday conspiring against motorcycle luggage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 Gotta stay positive so I'm calling it good luck. That was #3 for me within about a one month period. Think I'm going to put away the helmets and gear for a little while and just catch up on projects and family time. Not that I wasn't doing that already, but it seems 2013 is not a good riding year for me. Also on a positive for him, he was considering a naked conversion. Now he has no choice... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 Scheisse!!!! Good thing he was on that Fireblade, his Harley would have rolled right over ypu.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthshake Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Damn Seb, I don't blame you for being a little gun shy of late. But, as pilots say, any landing you walk away from is a good one. legitimate prostitutes and drug dealers all around... Does this mean they showed you their union cards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 Some thing were flashed. I wouldn't call them cards. Type of union to be determined... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer YoshiHNS Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 Glad you made it out alright. At least now you can imitate Dutchy until you find a second bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer midlifeVFR Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 Glad to hear that you avoided a disaster. All things considered, I'd call it good luck also. Enjoy a little down time and let me know when you have a home (or SHOP) improvement project started so I can return some favors ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 Let me look around and see if I have got a extra bag. I remember having an extra bag or two. I will pm you when I find them .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 PM sent !!!! YEAH 3000 POST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 Glad you made it out alright. At least now you can imitate Dutchy until you find a second bag. Ouch, no. That one hour lopsided ride was enough to tweak my back. Glad to hear that you avoided a disaster. All things considered, I'd call it good luck also. Enjoy a little down time and let me know when you have a home (or SHOP) improvement project started so I can return some favors ! Deck is finally kicking off this week. If you have any friends that will give me a swinging deal on a 12x36 slab, I could use one to expand the garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 Now to tear down the CBR... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrAustin Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 WTF! Yup, gotta look at the bright side. You rode away and adopted another project... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspanglish Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 You should buy a lottery ticket today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 He is undecided on buying ebay chinese plastics or going naked... naked is quicker & easier, and I can make it look good. He is open to it but I think he prefers the "stylin crotch rocket look" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer midlifeVFR Posted June 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 10, 2013 Glad to hear that you avoided a disaster. All things considered, I'd call it good luck also. Enjoy a little down time and let me knowwhen you have a home (or SHOP) improvement project started so I can return some favors ! Deck is finally kicking off this week. If you have any friends that will give me a swinging deal on a 12x36 slab, I could use one to expand the garage.just provide some unskilled labor and beer.............we can handle 7 yards of concrete. Materials will run about $800 for the floor. Are you doing the deck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 Glad to hear that you avoided a disaster. All things considered, I'd call it good luck also. Enjoy a little down time and let me know when you have a home (or SHOP) improvement project started so I can return some favors ! Deck is finally kicking off this week. If you have any friends that will give me a swinging deal on a 12x36 slab, I could use one to expand the garage. just provide some unskilled labor and beer.............we can handle 7 yards of concrete. Materials will run about $800 for the floor. Are you doing the deck? Yes, a friend and I are doing the deck. Having the post holes excavated and DIY'ing the rest. Going to move the rest of this convo to a pm, thanks Buddy just stopped by and he is going naked for sure. I have enough parts to make it happen faster than ordering plastic from China. He's got a Softail, now this CBR, and has talked numerous times about a Ducati Monster. If this fairy tale has a happy ending, the Harley will get parked, he will buy a Duc and sell me the CBR cheap to help with his down payment... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 I'm pretty surprised no one made any Billy Idol comments... I thought the guy was dead! lol Seb,Glad to hear that you and your friend are OK.Sucks to lose the case though.Speaking of losing cases, I too had a mishap during my ride on Sunday.Met up with the local group of riders and was at the back of the pack, when we came up on a little bridge at a good clip, which caused the bike to jump and sail through the air just enough to make the jump fun. What was not quite as much fun was a tap on the back upon landing.I looked in the mirror and saw my top case go rolling into the roadside brush.The box was scratched up but otherwise fine and I didn't lose any of its contents, since it didn't open. I circled back, reattached it and all was good, except that I didn't manage to to reconnect with the group...That wasn't a big deal and I ended up discovering some new roads and had a great ride at the end.There must have been something in the air yesterday conspiring against motorcycle luggage Sorry I missed your post earlier. Glad you made out alright and kept your stuff. Sounds like it may have detoured you from a more "eventful" fate later in the day at that pace. (sounds good to say at least, right?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Did Billy sing the Rebel Yell tune? Does he still have the sneer? He had some good stuff, back in the day. You kind of hijacked your own thought from the start on that, Seb. Good that you both were able to ride away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 Did Billy sing the Rebel Yell tune? Does he still have the sneer? He had some good stuff, back in the day. You kind of hijacked your own thought from the start on that, Seb. Good that you both were able to ride away. The place went absolutely ape sh!t when they did rebel yell. Looks like he laid off the heavy sneer in his old age lol. They all seemed to be happy and having a grand ole time up there. The guitarist did a short Zeppelin medley which was cool and they also played L.A. Woman, did a nice job on it. They played a solid 2+ hr show and encored with White Wedding.And thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmythecop Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Billy Idol is an avid motorcyclist. He must have sent you some good JuJu in his set. The good thing is that you have run out of stuff to happen to you !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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