So I rode to Bike Nite recently and I get caught behind an 18-wheeler traveling along at around 35-40 MPH.
It was one of those huge construction dump-truck 18-wheelers and it didn't have any mudflaps behind the rear tires (which is illegal in Pennsylvania).
As I'm riding behind him, even with a full-face helmet on I could hear a noise coming from the truck. Then I noticed that he had a BRICK stuck between the dually tires on the right-rear. Every time the brick comes around it makes a noise hitting the pavement.
So I move over the extreme left away from his right-rear. As soon as I got to the left, he hits a bump and the brick comes flying out right past my head at a pretty good rate of speed. It missed hitting the face of my face shield by about two feet. So I LITERALLY dodged a "bullet" with that one!!!
Next, still a bit shaken-up about the near death experience, I pull into BikeNite.
I see an opening to park between two of my friend's bikes but I have to turn the bike sharply to the right to get in there.
I'm moving maybe 1-2 MPH with the bike in 1st and the front wheel turned to the right all the way to the lock.
That's when I made the mistake of tapping the front brake!
The bike instantly wants to fall over to the right. I caught it at about a 45 degree angle. My left foot is off the ground, the bike is still in 1st gear, my left hand is holding in the clutch and my right leg and foot is holding the bike from going completely down. I was totally stuck in that position. If I took my hand away from the left grip the clutch would come out and I can't get the bike out of gear with my left foot because of the angle I'm at. If I let the clutch out, the bike would zoom into the other bikes.
After being in that position for a bit, I finally remember the kill switch and kill the engine, but I'm still stuck there. With a full tank of fuel, it simply too heavy to get upright again.
FINALLY and quite embarrassingly, someone sees that I'm in trouble and they come over and push me back upright. I lost a good bit of coolant being slanted over that far. But, the good part is that I didn't let the bike touch the ground even though I probably couldn't hold it that way for another 2-3 minutes before my leg would have given out.
It was one of those huge construction dump-truck 18-wheelers and it didn't have any mudflaps behind the rear tires (which is illegal in Pennsylvania).
As I'm riding behind him, even with a full-face helmet on I could hear a noise coming from the truck. Then I noticed that he had a BRICK stuck between the dually tires on the right-rear. Every time the brick comes around it makes a noise hitting the pavement.
So I move over the extreme left away from his right-rear. As soon as I got to the left, he hits a bump and the brick comes flying out right past my head at a pretty good rate of speed. It missed hitting the face of my face shield by about two feet. So I LITERALLY dodged a "bullet" with that one!!!
Next, still a bit shaken-up about the near death experience, I pull into BikeNite.
I see an opening to park between two of my friend's bikes but I have to turn the bike sharply to the right to get in there.
I'm moving maybe 1-2 MPH with the bike in 1st and the front wheel turned to the right all the way to the lock.
That's when I made the mistake of tapping the front brake!
The bike instantly wants to fall over to the right. I caught it at about a 45 degree angle. My left foot is off the ground, the bike is still in 1st gear, my left hand is holding in the clutch and my right leg and foot is holding the bike from going completely down. I was totally stuck in that position. If I took my hand away from the left grip the clutch would come out and I can't get the bike out of gear with my left foot because of the angle I'm at. If I let the clutch out, the bike would zoom into the other bikes.
After being in that position for a bit, I finally remember the kill switch and kill the engine, but I'm still stuck there. With a full tank of fuel, it simply too heavy to get upright again.
FINALLY and quite embarrassingly, someone sees that I'm in trouble and they come over and push me back upright. I lost a good bit of coolant being slanted over that far. But, the good part is that I didn't let the bike touch the ground even though I probably couldn't hold it that way for another 2-3 minutes before my leg would have given out.
