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Shinigami · 06-15-2008, 01:13 AM

Your English is great, especially compared to most Americans' Finnish (except in the UP of Michigan, where it seems there are more Finns than in Finland!)

Well, if anyone here needed convincing here is a quick story from my group ride today- went out with three Ducati Monsters, an R6, and one Gixxer liter bike, covering about 250 miles of some of the best twisties Utah has to offer. All but one of these guys is way faster than me, but I kept up well enough on my new CBR600RR.

The Gixxer rider happens to be a co-worker, but with my travel schedule and time away from the office I never met the guy before today. Great rider, extremely fast and very smooth.

He wore all the gear except gloves.

Over lunch we were discussing gloves, I was explaining why I had switched to my less than completely comfortable but supportive Taichi gloves over a new set of Lee Parks Deersports I was trying, halfway through the ride.

...and he happened to mention that he doesn't like riding with gloves at all.

This guy is a master machinist in my company, I joked about how the guy with the most need for healthy hands is the one who doesn't wear gloves. He tells me his plan is to simply tuck and roll if needed. I mentioned that instinct would act way before he could think about what to do...

I bet you can see what's coming...

Sure enough, 6 hours into the ride on the way back, while leading his squadron of three bikes (I was in the trailing squadron of 3) he comes into a curve in a canyon that has dropped a LOT of bikes recently and lowsides his Gixxer- hard. Goes sliding face-first over several yards of asphalt and gravel.

Helmet saves his face. Jacket saves his forearms and chest (both items gave their lives in performance of duty- zipper tab gone on jacket, holes in forearms and chest, helmet and visor took some grinding). Knee banged up but not too bad.

Hands looked like hamburger. Bloody, rare, and no doubt, very painful hamburger. Palm skin gone on 30% of one hand, back of the other cut up as well. No broken fingers but pain and swelling.

I gave him my first-aid kit which I always keep in the backpack, doused it with topical Benzocaine, Neosporin and cleaned them up as best he could.

Other than beating himself up for stupidity and mourning the once-pristine Gixxer, he handled it all pretty well.

But, I am sure that was an uncomfortable ride home...

Then there's the story of how a pickup truck full of ...immigrants... stopped and tried to make off with my bright red Arai Corsair which I had one of the guys place on the road edge 50 yards ahead of the curve as a warning to other bikers... I will save that story for another time.

But I had a real brief moment there when my mind was occupied by the thought of the H&K P7 in the quick-deploy pouch in my backpack rig...

06-15-2008, 01:13 AM	#32 (permalink)
Shinigami Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Last Online: 10-12-2009 01:52 AM My Ride: 03VFR800FI, 08CBR600RR View my Photo Gallery Posts: 87 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 4 Posts	Your English is great, especially compared to most Americans' Finnish (except in the UP of Michigan, where it seems there are more Finns than in Finland!) Well, if anyone here needed convincing here is a quick story from my group ride today- went out with three Ducati Monsters, an R6, and one Gixxer liter bike, covering about 250 miles of some of the best twisties Utah has to offer. All but one of these guys is way faster than me, but I kept up well enough on my new CBR600RR. The Gixxer rider happens to be a co-worker, but with my travel schedule and time away from the office I never met the guy before today. Great rider, extremely fast and very smooth. He wore all the gear except gloves. Over lunch we were discussing gloves, I was explaining why I had switched to my less than completely comfortable but supportive Taichi gloves over a new set of Lee Parks Deersports I was trying, halfway through the ride. ...and he happened to mention that he doesn't like riding with gloves at all. This guy is a master machinist in my company, I joked about how the guy with the most need for healthy hands is the one who doesn't wear gloves. He tells me his plan is to simply tuck and roll if needed. I mentioned that instinct would act way before he could think about what to do... I bet you can see what's coming... Sure enough, 6 hours into the ride on the way back, while leading his squadron of three bikes (I was in the trailing squadron of 3) he comes into a curve in a canyon that has dropped a LOT of bikes recently and lowsides his Gixxer- hard. Goes sliding face-first over several yards of asphalt and gravel. Helmet saves his face. Jacket saves his forearms and chest (both items gave their lives in performance of duty- zipper tab gone on jacket, holes in forearms and chest, helmet and visor took some grinding). Knee banged up but not too bad. Hands looked like hamburger. Bloody, rare, and no doubt, very painful hamburger. Palm skin gone on 30% of one hand, back of the other cut up as well. No broken fingers but pain and swelling. I gave him my first-aid kit which I always keep in the backpack, doused it with topical Benzocaine, Neosporin and cleaned them up as best he could. Other than beating himself up for stupidity and mourning the once-pristine Gixxer, he handled it all pretty well. But, I am sure that was an uncomfortable ride home... Then there's the story of how a pickup truck full of ...immigrants... stopped and tried to make off with my bright red Arai Corsair which I had one of the guys place on the road edge 50 yards ahead of the curve as a warning to other bikers... I will save that story for another time. But I had a real brief moment there when my mind was occupied by the thought of the H&K P7 in the quick-deploy pouch in my backpack rig...