Motorcycle Views

Wild Motorcycle Tales

Here's a great story from Greg. Got your own story? Send it to me.

Old Harley / New Harley

Being fairly new to riding, I knee jerked and bought myself an '02 Harley XL1200 Custom. Well, my father has a '76 Harley Sporty that he enjoys. You know the ones made by AMF? Shifter was on the right, brake on the left? Well, we were riding up to Brasstown Bald in North GA from Griffin to spend the night. I'll never forget that trip!

About halfway up there, I allowed my concentration to drift while navigating stop and go traffic. I look up just in time to slam on my rear brake and skidded up to an inch from a Dodge Van's rear bumper. Dad pulls up next to me and I shouted to him, "It's OK, I did that on purpose!" He looked surprised, but I swear he was utterly convinced that I did it on purpose!

Along we rode, and we had a repeat. This time it was a Ford pickup (I was getting tired) and I told him, "My brakes felt spongy and I was just checking them out. They are fine!"

Well, we stopped ahead and he decided he wanted to ride my bike to see if it was OK, not knowing that I wasn't used to his shifter being on the "wrong side." I never even thought about it!

Took me two seconds to figure it out and we continued on. I still was making the mistake of trying to shift with the british styled controls (right side) and braking on the left footpedal.

I once again did my stopping trick, (almost hitting a Camaro) only THIS time because I wasn't used to his bike.

He looked over at me and said, "I KNOW my brakes are good. Stop showing off!"

I never said a word! -- Greg

More Wild Motorcycle Tales

More about motorcycles

Walter's Books:

Click Picture for Walter F. Kern's Kindle, Paperback, and Audible Books