My Story!

Zeb

some other guy
Compare that with CRAZ88, who has a suspended license, lives with his dad who pays his bills, and basically has the exact opposite attitude:
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323490

I took the MSF course and got my first motorcycle in high school. It's been a while since then. I have some friends like Kevin, and know some guys who ended up dead who had 'tudes like CRAZ88. It's just anecdotal evidence, but still...
 
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squid vicious

nomnomnomnom
Compare that with CRAZ88, who has a suspended license, lives with his dad who pays his bills, and basically has the exact opposite attitude:
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323490

I took the MSF course and got my first motorcycle in high school. It's been a while since then. I have some friends like Kevin, and know some guys who ended up dead who had 'tudes like CRAZ88. It's just anecdotal evidence, but still...

Given the size of the year-round riding community in CA, 1Rider has the potential to be very successful finding people with the right attitude but wrong information.

For guys/gals like craz88, i guess you just wish them well and carry on.
 

Jimbo007

Tugboat Trash
You're lucky and you know it. That's a win, win. I didn't know anything about motorcycles for at least the first year I rode because I was the only person I knew who rode at the time. You've got a great resource here, and I wish I'd found it as early as you did.

Good luck out there.
 

frostybeast

Training Wheel Hero
A few weeks ago I was rear-ended by a driver on my bike. The car hit me, which sandwiched me between the car in front of me. After I was down, the car, swerved into the next lane and gunned it down the road. I left my bike down and sprinted after the driver. I caught her at the next intersection at the red light. I went in front of her car and told her to let me in. :mad
We drove back to the accident scene and we exchanged insurance info. She was a 19 year old girl. After some discussion with her company, AAA, we worked out about a total of $8000 to fix my bike, and for pain and suffering. The damage was mostly cosmetic, along with my rear wheel and swingarm. Instead of taking it to the shop to be fixed, Tim wanted to help me out and teach me how to fix up a bike at the same time.
I bought some parts used, some from the shop, and we began working on the bike when all the parts arrived. I learned a lot about my cbr, and I definitely have more confidence on working on my bike by myself in the future.
I would like the thank Tim for helping me out once again, and thanks to Rick (280Squaggler) and Mel (meldog21) for also helping put the bike back together. I would have never been able to do so myself. :thumbup
 

UDRider

FLCL?
A few weeks ago I was rear-ended by a driver on my bike. The car hit me, which sandwiched me between the car in front of me. After I was down, the car, swerved into the next lane and gunned it down the road. I left my bike down and sprinted after the driver. I caught her at the next intersection at the red light. I went in front of her car and told her to let me in. :mad
We drove back to the accident scene and we exchanged insurance info. She was a 19 year old girl. After some discussion with her company, AAA, we worked out about a total of $8000 to fix my bike, and for pain and suffering. The damage was mostly cosmetic, along with my rear wheel and swingarm. Instead of taking it to the shop to be fixed, Tim wanted to help me out and teach me how to fix up a bike at the same time.
I bought some parts used, some from the shop, and we began working on the bike when all the parts arrived. I learned a lot about my cbr, and I definitely have more confidence on working on my bike by myself in the future.
I would like the thank Tim for helping me out once again, and thanks to Rick (280Squaggler) and Mel (meldog21) for also helping put the bike back together. I would have never been able to do so myself. :thumbup

I would have called the police and pressed charges. What she did was hit and run!
 

frostybeast

Training Wheel Hero
I did call the police... but I didn't think of reporting her for hit and run at the time, because she seemed scared shitless and said she "was just flipping a u-turn".
now that I think about it, I regret not reporting her.
 

Flying Pig

Still learning to ride
A few weeks ago I was rear-ended by a driver on my bike. The car hit me, which sandwiched me between the car in front of me. After I was down, the car, swerved into the next lane and gunned it down the road. I left my bike down and sprinted after the driver. I caught her at the next intersection at the red light. I went in front of her car and told her to let me in. :mad
We drove back to the accident scene and we exchanged insurance info. She was a 19 year old girl. After some discussion with her company, AAA, we worked out about a total of $8000 to fix my bike, and for pain and suffering. The damage was mostly cosmetic, along with my rear wheel and swingarm. Instead of taking it to the shop to be fixed, Tim wanted to help me out and teach me how to fix up a bike at the same time.
I bought some parts used, some from the shop, and we began working on the bike when all the parts arrived. I learned a lot about my cbr, and I definitely have more confidence on working on my bike by myself in the future.
I would like the thank Tim for helping me out once again, and thanks to Rick (280Squaggler) and Mel (meldog21) for also helping put the bike back together. I would have never been able to do so myself. :thumbup

Hmm. I didn't realize you had to run after the gal who hit you. You must be a fast runner! :thumbup

We still need to go riding sometime :ride

But I'm glad to hear that you got help to get your bike all fixed up. :)
I'm secretly envious.
 

Enchanter

Ghost in The Machine
Staff member
I'm glad to see that you and your motorcycle are back on the road. You are doing a great job trying to learn the skills related to riding and maintaining your motorcycle(s).

Kevin's Honda has been at my place while he waited for the parts to come in. When we started the final day of assembly, I knew that it would take Kevin and I far too long to get it all back together. At 7:15pm meldog21 called me for an unrelated issue, and I asked him to come over and help us. He was there in less than 20min. By about 8pm I knew that we needed another expert on the case and I called 280squaggler. He dropped what he was doing and headed right over. We finished the job just after midnight.

Mel and Ricky are great friends and it is not unusual for them to go above and beyond the call to help others. They have both helped me in the past, and I consider myself lucky to be their friend.
 

moto-rama

Well-known member
Thanks for sharing your experience....

"My Story" began before Moby Dick was a minnow, so the fact that I am alive and still riding after 43 years is testimony to the mysterious power of dumb luck.

I wish all you many miles and smiles.
 

Cali_RSV

Pasta Burner
It looks as if it was "noob fate" that you left your ignition on because if you didn't ask for help you would have probably just rode off that day without getting to meet the one who guided you down the right path. It's crazy how things sorta work sometimes :)
 

budman

General Menace
Staff member
What’s up guys, I would like to share my story about how I got into the wonderful world of motorcycling. During my junior year in high school when I first got my license I chose to buy an r6 over a car because I thought it looked sweet and saved some gas. I worked hard saving up all my money, bought it and took it home and gave my parents a little surprise. I even brought it out to my school’s car show to pose with it. :laughing

One day, Enchanter, Budman, Volcomism, and others set up a 1Rider booth at my high school (Monta Vista) car show, and this is where it all started. I didn’t even bother to go over to their booth for the duration of the show, as I was too busy showing off my bike. :teeth Only near the end did Anthony (Volcanism) come and talk to me a bit about my r6. Here's the thread to the car show: http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287461

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When the show ended, I found my bike would not start, because me, not knowing anything, left the ignition on for the entire hour. Enchanter was cleaning and loading up his kidnapper van, so my friends went over and asked him to help me with starting my bike, but that was not the only thing he helped me with. He also taught me basic motorcycle safety. I rode around in a t-shirt with dirt biking gloves and an old XL helmet (I’m a size small). I thought wearing this amount of gear was normal. He came over and started my bike up by running beside it and bump-starting it. At that time I did not think it was even possible to do something like that. I thought to myself, “What a nice guy for helping me out,” and I was about to go my way but Enchanter wasn’t done.

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Being the nice guy he is, Tim (Enchanter) wasn’t about to let a 17-year-old ride off on a 600 without any guidance. He began to inspect my bike, and listed off the problems that it had. He told me to pull out my phone, and enter his number, and said, “If you want to be smart and live longer, you will call me.” He told my friends to remind me to call him. He said he would tell all my teachers to remind me to call him. At first, I didn’t believe him and didn’t think much about it. I thought MAYBE I’d call him someday. I thanked him for starting up my bike and my friends and I left. They laughed at me for being such an idiot (leaving ignition on) and told me I should probably call Tim if I wanted to get some help and advice.

The very next week I was sitting in my history class, and my teacher came up to me. “So Kevin, have you called Tim yet?” :wtf
WTF? I was so surprised that he actually told all my teachers. After this I realized maybe calling him was a good idea. I called him up and he set up a time to come to my house because he wanted to talk to my parents about me riding a motorcycle at my age.
When he came, he got my mother’s opinion on me riding, and spoke with her about what I had to do to become more aware of my safety. (Gear, MSF class, etc.) In that same week, my biology teacher, Mrs. Frazier, called my mother, telling her the same things Tim did. I was shocked.

After all of this, we took my r6 to his house and we went over it thoroughly, from head to toe, checking for problems and fixing any small issues with it. It also gave me a chance to learn the various parts of a motorcycle, and how it worked. I left my bike at his place for “further repairs.” I later learned Tim had every intention of keeping it at his place because he didn’t want me riding until I took MSF and developed some skill.

I took the MSF course through Mountain View Los Altos Adult School, and it was a very good experience. I learned proper riding techniques and how to be smart about riding on the street. Really, it was one of the best 150 bucks I ever spent! :thumbup
After I got my M1, I bought complete protective gear (head to toe) from Santa Clara Cycle and I began to ride more and more, and met up with Tim several more times so he could teach me how to work on my r6 to ensure it was safe to ride.

From then on my r6 became my commuter, riding to school and work. I began to feel a lot more comfortable on it, but I crashed for the first time. I was going through a turn, and I thought I was going too fast. My bike could have made the turn, but my brain told me otherwise. I slammed both brakes and they locked up, causing me to slide out of control. I went into a tree sideways at 5 mph. Luckily for me, my protective gear left me unscratched. The r6 only suffered cosmetic damage on the fairings. From this incident, I learned not to panic and just ride it out.:ride

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Another time I was in a parking lot hanging out, and my friend leaned too hard on the left side of the bike, and caused it to tip over hard. I was sitting on it, so I went down with the bike. It went down against the curb, so the muffler had an enormous dent; my right rearset was bent inwards,, and my front brake lever had snapped off. The fairings were also scratched more. :mad At least she paid for it!

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After all of the abuse my r6 went through in the short four months, I decided to just sell it and buy another bike, as I had some more money saved up. I ended up buying a white 2008 Honda CBR600RR. I continued to commute everyday on the street, and within a couple months I wanted to hit the twisties. I looked up Group Rides on BARF, and I chose to ride with Rene and his Sunday Mellow Group Rides. With the practice I had from my seven months of riding, I went through the twists and turns with a fair amount of ease. Going downhill was still challenging for me, as my body always wanted to put all the weight on the handlebars.

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I try to go to as many group rides as I can, as it is a good time to relax and enjoy the scenery and meet other riders, while continuing to practice my developing riding skills. I am anticipating the weather to warm up so I can continue riding. :ride

Thanks for reading!!

Good to see you yesterday Kevin!..

Basically a one year anniversary of when we found 1Rider that took the time to really learn and understand the ride with the help of one great guy....Tim!

We were back at Monta Vista High yesterday and Kevin joined us as a great example of doing it right.. nice gear.. nice bike and a comfort level about the ride because of his efforts to make that so.

Turns out several others classmates took the CMSP class as well and were happy to see the guy that trained them.. Tim!

:cool stuff

So we chatted with lots of guys and girls about the sport.
some said they would never ride .. its crazy!! ... "Not really, but we do need you to look out for us.. it is easy for us to get hurt if you make a mistake driving"

Others wanted info and took brochures on how to get their license.. :thumbup

Again.. many put on the drunk goggles and walked the line... :laughing everywhere..

Just a great day!!

Thanks Kevin, Tim and Ricky for coming out..:thumbup

1Rider at a time!

:smoking
 
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