Motorcycle Views

Wild Motorcycle Tales

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

Be Prepared

My first bike was a Kawasaki GPz 550 and it was one of the greatest bikes for a beginner.

Originally, I found a great deal on another bike and even left a security deposit on it but I had to get a friend to pick up the bike with me (no license yet). When we returned the owner apologized and said his buddy had cash and had beaten me to the house by 45 minutes. God was watching over me that day. The bike was a 1987 Yamaha FJ1200.

So I learned to ride my dependable GPz and commuted almost every weekend between Fort Ord, CA and San Mateo, CA -- about 100 miles. This was in 1990 and I used to pull off the road and take my helmet off because it was required on base but didn't look cool.

On this one Friday afternoon, I was running late to get to my girlfriend's house so I didn't have time to stop and I was flying up Hwy 156 between Hwy 1 and Hwy 101.

There is a spot in Hollister where the two lanes merge into one and I decided to speed up to get ahead of these slow cars.

As I looked over my shoulder to leer at the cars fading in the distance, I returned my attention to the road ahead and saw a gray van. Within seconds I noticed I was catching up to the van much faster than I should be.

Then it hit me -- not the van -- the realization that the van is stopped but without brake lights.

I hit my brakes and scanned my options. There was gravel on the right and open lane on the left with no on-coming traffic. With the rear tire locked, I glided my slide to the left side of the van and just as I think that I pulled off this save, the van makes a left turn.

I didn't drop the bike but lost the right side panel, dented the tank where my knee was pinned between it and the van's fender, and put my helmet through the glass window above the rear tire.

I learned a lot from that experience, first and foremost, every biker has to expect that he/she will have an accident. It's the smart ones that don't put themselves in positions that increase those odds. If I were on that FJ who knows what would have happened. -- Richard

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