The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
General Category => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: SCJJR65 on November 14, 2010, 11:33:55 AM
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Well, it took some time, but exactly one week short of six months since "my unfortunate accident" back in May, I awkwardly swung my bad knee over a bike and went for a ride yesterday. I had been anticipating this day with a strange combination of teenage excitement and an uneasy fear that I might not be physically able to do it. But I was bound and determined to give it a try.
Saturday morning, bright and early, Pattimarie and I drove from our house in Greenville, SC to Winston-Salem, NC to see our good friend (and R65 owner) Steve Lehman. The plan was to have a nice lunch together and then see if I could sit comfortably on (ironically) my old '84 R65, "Britta". I was pretty nervous as Steve parked the bike in his back yard and motioned me to hop on.
I slowly lifted my right leg up, bad knee and all, and managed to ease it over the Russell saddle Steve had put on my old bike. I was a little worried that the new seat might be taller than the stock one and I would have trouble balancing the bike, but I found I was able to support the bike OK. While I sat on Britta and shifted the bike from side to side, Steve got his 2000 Moto-Guzzi California Jackal ready and donned his helmet. Britta fired up easily and settled into her soft idle. I had placed my right boot up on the footpeg, which I wondered if this would cause my knee to begin aching soon, from the angle my knee was placed. Steve smiled and nodded, and put his Guzzi in gear and slowly edged out of the backyard through the gate. I felt the "clunk" of first gear and let out the clutch and lurched forward suddenly (but didn't stall it out, at least) and aimed for the gate. I glided down Steve's rather steep driveway and into the street, and pulled up beside Steve, who said, "Everything OK?" I gave him a thumb's up, and replied, "Yeah, let's go!"
We rode around his neighborhood for a few minutes to let me get back into the swing of shifting and braking at stop signs. We then started out of town for a ride in the country. I had an ear to ear grin on my face that would not go away. I was actually riding again.
I won't bore you with the details of our all too brief ride, a 30 mile ride to Lexington (the BBQ capital of the world, according to Steve), where we parked the bikes and walked around town to give my knee a rest. After about a half hour we saddled up again and rode back to "the big city" again, and stopped at the local Honda dealer and spent an hour looking at various bikes before heading back to his house again. All in all, we spent about three hours out and rode about 60 miles total. To most folks, this would be just another afternoon's tooling around. But to me, it meant I can still do what I have enjoyed since 1971. Ride!! ;)
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That is great, John! It's great that your nearby good friend bought your R65!
Let me know if I can help you resizing your images!
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You did eat some BBQ, right?
Congrats on the outing and the proper knee action. And to Steve, a big thank you from all of us who have followed John's trials and tribulations. Good on ya both... as our Aussie mates would say.
Monte
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Yes, it was great to see the triumphant return of SCJJ to the world of motorcycling! He said climbing aboard again was as natural as riding a bike; you never forget how. I'd really expected him to need a break every 15-20 minutes or so, and set us a course mostly thru some sweepers in the countryside to avoid a lot of shift and breaking action, but he did great, with no discomfort at all. In fact, he said his leg actually felt better than usual from the workout he got using it to jockey The Britster around. There were no real issues with his left hand on the clutch either, beyond a little stiffness later.
So, now with new tires and shocks, a fresh tune, and a few other goodies to brighten the old gal up, we need to figure out a way to get Britta returned to her former (and rightful) owner I'm sure we'll manage to work out something. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
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Oh man, is this the news I have been waiting for!!!!! [smiley=clap.gif]You got back on the horse John!!! You weren't nervous??? Doesn't sound like it too much anyway! I felt like my boots were nailed to the driveway and when I let out the clutch it was after a long delay of deep breathing and saying to myself.."get me outta here!" I would've taken any excuse to get off and go inside! Doesn't take long though to get comfortable once underway eh?
Soooo....what did Pattimarie do while you two were riding? Seems a big blank in the story here!
Oh and if you get Britta back you will be with your guardian angel again! [smiley=engel017.gif] That's been proven!
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" Back in the saddle again"....where a friend is a friend!!! [smiley=nopity.gif] I'm looking for a music emoticon here!!!!This little fiddler is suppose to be happy and mean it's a TUNE! You gotta be a Roy Rogers fan! OR just an old kid! Just imagine the fiddler to be smiling would ya?!
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YAY for John!!!!!!!!
I am so happy to hear the good news!
YAY for Steve!!!!!!
Thanks for helping John get back in the saddle, I am sure that your efforts are tremendously appreciated!
A ride to a BBQ place is always a good thing, in my book!
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Good job!
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good to see.
I'm sure your enjoyment was tenfold the look on your face.
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Thanks, folks! Really appreciate the kind words! I wouldn't have been able to pull it off if it had not been for Steve. Hell, I didn't know anyone around me who would have been willing to let me get on their bike for a test run. It really helped that the bike I was able to ride was one that I was "intimately familiar with." I think that was the main reason I didn't feel any real sense of fear when I took off. That, and having a good friend like Steve to ride with, in case I experienced any discomfort or problems with controlling the bike, made for a calming and trouble-free ride!
Now all I have to do is figure out how to get Britta down here to SC and somehow pay Steve! ::)
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Oh, and Sue..... since you asked what Pattimarie did while Steve and I were out on my "get reacquainted" ride, she said she took a nice nap on Steve's sofa in his house! Everybody wins! ;D
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(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fp210%2Fcabcgec%2Fmotorcyclesmiley.gif&hash=ad3001cf12f2697e88dbcff1fb55c7833cb590e9) [size=18]Yeehaw!! Way to go, John!![/size]
[size=14][ch9834][ch9835] Back in the saddle again... [ch9835][ch9834] [/size] (https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fp210%2Fcabcgec%2F004.gif&hash=10eb03659a4b41afdf91c0ee381b7aa692949ae4) That's me on my horn [smiley=beatnik.gif]
(Something like that Sue? ;) )
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That's the one Aïda!!!! Where ya getting those perfect emoticons? I need to know before I get mis-interpreted!!!
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Good to hear your back riding again. I guess you've been thinking about safety and will have something of a learning curve.
I know I have and I have a very minor injury by comparison which is has kept me off the bike for 3 weeks so far. I ripped my right hand thumb nail clean out and split open the end of the thumb needing a few stitches. Surprising what you can't do without a functional thumb. Can't even press the starter button. I have ridden a couple of times but have very poor control of the throttle and front brake. It just isn't safe.
I've got withdrawl symptoms already and my only consolation is that it's been raining mostly of late.
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John, glad the shakedown run was a success! [smiley=bmw_smiley.gif] Time to start lookin' for another Airhead! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
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Where ya getting those perfect emoticons?
Sue - I do a search in photobucket for whatever I need. Then I save them to my photobucket account so I don't lose them. You're welcome to link to any I have there...
http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p210/cabcgec/
Time to start lookin' for another Airhead!
Justin - I think he's already found it, right Steve? It's a good start I think. BTW, John. Last time I was at Capitol BMW in Raleigh, they had a cream R1200C (http://www.capitolbmw.com/pre_owned_detail.asp?sid=06054651X11K16K2010J4I48I19JPMQ1874R0&veh=1767128) on the floor...
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Time to start lookin' for another Airhead!
Justin - I think he's already found it, right Steve? It's a good start I think. BTW, John. Last time I was at Capitol BMW in Raleigh, they had a cream R1200C (http://www.capitolbmw.com/pre_owned_detail.asp?sid=06054651X11K16K2010J4I48I19JPMQ1874R0&veh=1767128) on the floor...[/quote]
Yea, I hope to help the brother get "back in the saddle" for good when he's ready to roll again.
And I think maybe there've been enough R1200Cs in the picture! ;) 8-)