CrashTestDanny
Registered
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2005
- Messages
- 549
- Reaction score
- 51
Today I asked Cap to change my username from danf to CrashTestDanny.
This name is not a prediction of my motorcycling future, but rather a reflection of my past and hopefully an opportunity to spare my friends among the motorcycling community (that would include all of you) from some of the pains that I have experienced.
Recently, my friends on the ST owners' site responded with kind words, encouragement, and good advice when I asked "Am I mentally fit to continue riding?". That advice, the resolve I found from dropping the Steed at the top of BusaWhipped's driveway, and just riding comfortably at the dragon have given me a new outlook on my riding career.
As the new name might suggest, I have crashed. Many times, even. I have crashed street and dirt bikes as well as ATVs and cars. Low-sides, high-sides, head-on attacks into the grilles of the metal monsters, ground-loops from over-zealous attempts to wheelie over-powered and under-weight bikes - I have crashed in just about every way you can crash. And I have found that all of these crashes have several common features:
a - they damage motorcycles
b - they damage riders
c - they damage egos
d - they SUCK!
That's right, folks, crashes SUCK! Don't bother checking it out yourself. I've already done all the research you need - you won't find a better way to crash - they all SUCK! Now, I do hope that you all appreciate the sacrifices that I have made in performing all of this research for you. You can best demonstrate that appreciation by simply applying this advice: Do not crash!
Those who met me at the bash may remember that I was discussing my fear of left turns. Ken Wheeler down at the gap helped me out with that and he didn't even know it. We were in there talking about dyno-tuning of a busa - which is way cool to watch - and I noticed the back of his T-shirt:
What do you call someone with no fear?
an ambulance
[/Quote]
What this says to me is that my fear is keeping me from riding beyond my limits. Not only that, but my fears convinced me to maintain an extra margin of safety for a particularly challenging and dangerous road. As a result, when I came around a blind left-hand turn to find a (BIG White Gold Wing | Big Blue Harley | REALLY BIG pickup truck) going the wrong way in my lane, I had plenty of time to make sure that none of them ruined my day. Had I been doing the whole 11 miles in 12 minutes trying to keep up with BusaWhipped, the outcome might have been much worse. So thanks to Wheeler's shirt and your comments, I have learned to be more comfortable with my fear. I know I can make double the posted speed or better around tight corners, but I also know there's good reasons to take it a bit easier than that.
Finally, what's a fat kid riding a barco-lounger (ST-1300) doing hanging around hayabusa.org? Well, Dennis (that's what I call BusaWhipped) is my best friend and as such, he dragged me to the dragon with him for the busa bash. After hanging around with all you guys for a few days, I discovered that you're a fantastic bunch of folks and I like hanging around with y'all. So now you're stuck with me, though I don't think I can handle a busa so you'll just have to tolerate me riding my barco-lounger.
Anyhow, that's all for now folks, but remember; if you have any curiosity about crashes, check with me rather than going off gathering data for yourselves. Chances are I can answer all your questions and save you the expense and pain of duplicating all that effort.
Keep the shiny side up!
This name is not a prediction of my motorcycling future, but rather a reflection of my past and hopefully an opportunity to spare my friends among the motorcycling community (that would include all of you) from some of the pains that I have experienced.
Recently, my friends on the ST owners' site responded with kind words, encouragement, and good advice when I asked "Am I mentally fit to continue riding?". That advice, the resolve I found from dropping the Steed at the top of BusaWhipped's driveway, and just riding comfortably at the dragon have given me a new outlook on my riding career.
As the new name might suggest, I have crashed. Many times, even. I have crashed street and dirt bikes as well as ATVs and cars. Low-sides, high-sides, head-on attacks into the grilles of the metal monsters, ground-loops from over-zealous attempts to wheelie over-powered and under-weight bikes - I have crashed in just about every way you can crash. And I have found that all of these crashes have several common features:
a - they damage motorcycles
b - they damage riders
c - they damage egos
d - they SUCK!
That's right, folks, crashes SUCK! Don't bother checking it out yourself. I've already done all the research you need - you won't find a better way to crash - they all SUCK! Now, I do hope that you all appreciate the sacrifices that I have made in performing all of this research for you. You can best demonstrate that appreciation by simply applying this advice: Do not crash!
Those who met me at the bash may remember that I was discussing my fear of left turns. Ken Wheeler down at the gap helped me out with that and he didn't even know it. We were in there talking about dyno-tuning of a busa - which is way cool to watch - and I noticed the back of his T-shirt:
What do you call someone with no fear?
an ambulance
[/Quote]
What this says to me is that my fear is keeping me from riding beyond my limits. Not only that, but my fears convinced me to maintain an extra margin of safety for a particularly challenging and dangerous road. As a result, when I came around a blind left-hand turn to find a (BIG White Gold Wing | Big Blue Harley | REALLY BIG pickup truck) going the wrong way in my lane, I had plenty of time to make sure that none of them ruined my day. Had I been doing the whole 11 miles in 12 minutes trying to keep up with BusaWhipped, the outcome might have been much worse. So thanks to Wheeler's shirt and your comments, I have learned to be more comfortable with my fear. I know I can make double the posted speed or better around tight corners, but I also know there's good reasons to take it a bit easier than that.
Finally, what's a fat kid riding a barco-lounger (ST-1300) doing hanging around hayabusa.org? Well, Dennis (that's what I call BusaWhipped) is my best friend and as such, he dragged me to the dragon with him for the busa bash. After hanging around with all you guys for a few days, I discovered that you're a fantastic bunch of folks and I like hanging around with y'all. So now you're stuck with me, though I don't think I can handle a busa so you'll just have to tolerate me riding my barco-lounger.
Anyhow, that's all for now folks, but remember; if you have any curiosity about crashes, check with me rather than going off gathering data for yourselves. Chances are I can answer all your questions and save you the expense and pain of duplicating all that effort.
Keep the shiny side up!
