I rode Ashley's Daytona to our Greenwood store this chilly March morning. 32 degrees. It was the only mode of transportation available to me, and I was having fun. Yeah, I could have taken the bus, but why would I do that when I've got 110 horse power sitting in the garage wanting to go for a gallop?
On I65 just south of the city the tachometer caught my eye. It was bouncing up and down like a seismograph registering The Big One on the Richter scale! It's not difficult to notice the tach on the little Daytona because my head is angled like a bullet speeding to its target. Ok, that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but it is a sport bike and the riding position is, well, sporty.
So, the tach is bouncing up and down, and I figured that was not good. When the needle rested itself in the down position and didn't budge, I thought to myself, "Hmmm. This bike is going to die."
Fortunately for me I was born with a level head, and when things get a little questionable, I tend not to panic. I checked my mirrors, moved to the right lane as I downshifted and pulled off into the emergency lane. I made one little mistake when I shifted down to 3rd with the RPMs up a little to high and locked up the rear wheel, but a little sliding around in the back end encouraged me to stop trying to be cute, pull the clutch in and coast to a stop.
All in all it was an important learning experience without anything bad having to happen. I figure the more times I experience the feeling of a tire losing traction, the more I'll learn how to control both the bike and my reaction! And, I'm very, very fortunate to have a good friend, who has a truck and is competent. The absolute worst thing that I could imagine happening (other than hurting myself) is to have some idiot with a tow truck mess up my husband's bike. (I think hurting myself would be worse, but I'm not too sure about that).
And, I feel much worse for Ashley that his bike has an electrical problem than I do for myself for having to stand on the side of I65 for an hour. But, hey, I guess that's all just part of adventures in motorcycling!
