- This topic has 5 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 8 months ago by owlie.
Meeting Squids
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July 27, 2009 at 10:12 am #3203SafetyFirstParticipant
The following story is true. I swear, I can’t make stuff this nuts up.
Went out for a ride earlier tonight after work. No close calls or tails of whoa, but I did do something new. I was riding by the Walmart along the main lighted drag (my favorite place to be riding at night) and noticed a sports bike turning into the WalMart driveway going the other way. I was more focused on the road than the bike, but I took notice when he waved as turning into the parking lot of the “many” quarters car wash in front. I figured that I wasn’t about to turn around for just a wave, but if he was still there when I hit the end of the main drag and turned around to go back up, I’d stop and see what’s up.
I ride up, and he’s there. We talk. He has a CBR600F3. First thing I noticed is the drop damage on the front fairing by the windscreen. Get to talking, I tell him how I just started riding and how good the 250 is for learning on. He tells me that 600cc makes good starter bikes too. Really? Who knew having 3-4 times the HP of my bike would come in handy for low speed skills and having a heavier bike would be easier to control on the road. Anyway. I went along with it, and tried to ignore that, but the Squid-o-meter was starting to move.
He tells me along the conversation:
1) He got passed by a girl on the interstate earlier in the night, and to show her up, he rode going 100. Uh, hey what fun… 6 points for reckless op due to the speed if caught.
2) He dropped it in a curve in the twisties. He told me he locked up the front, then put on the rear brake in a curve. OK, now that sounds exactly everything they said not to do in BRC, but OK. Then telling me he knew he was going to drop, and had to decide on where to drop on. He picked gravel as opposed to a ditch or a street sign. I figured that if I ever had enough time to decide how to drop, that meant there was still time enough to unlock the front (preferably by also not adding to the problem by locking up the rear in the process) to do a mad attempt to lean and stick with it. Call me nuts, but I refuse to take a drop as an acceptable finishline. I’m sticking with the road and the bike no matter what, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.
3) He had a pretty nice helmet, same make/model as mine. He said he doesn’t wear it as much as he should. Huh? That’s a comfy helmet, what’s the reason not to?
4) He gave me a story of a friend of his totally dropping a Kawi 636 racing a sports car on the main drag, mysteriously where the road curves (which is still quite easy at any speed near the speed limit.) Him and his bike ended up crossing the at least three lanes, two of them moving the opposite direction, over the curb, and into someone’s yard. But he beat the car, so I guess that’s all that mattered, right?Just then, a bunch of guys on sports bikes roll by. He honks his horn and waves them over. They turn around and show up. He says they are a bunch of crazy guys. I would find out for myself. I think remember passing them on the main drag before… that was the time I saw one of them pulling a massive stoppie at the light.
Guy on bike one rolls up and does such a massive front brake stop, he came within feet of hitting the guy I was talking to. I was shocked to see something that nuts. Then I looked at his bike. It was a sportsbike, but was missing the entire section of the headlamp assembly, mirrors and windscreen. His light was street-fighter’d on with what looked like a nylon zip-tie. He asks me if my bike’s a 250. I nod, still shocked from what I’m looking at. “You a beginner?” I nod again. Someone in the group pipes up “you’ll wish that you had a 600.” I shrug it off. Whatever.
A guy gets off his bike, looked kept in nice shape, no drop damage I could tell. He circles around my bike, checking it out. We make a bit of small-talk about the bike. At least there is someone somewhat cool in the group, I figure.
The guy on the street-fighter keeps saying he wants to go to the “batcave” and ride on the bike path. I honestly was thinking the only bike path he could be talking about is a paved bike path in a park downtown by the river. I don’t think that’s allowed! And I don’t know WTF the “BatCave” was, but I was guessing that either drinking or smoking of green things was going to go on there, and I just cannot do that and ride. Not hating on either, just not with a bike ride to follow.
They take off like bat’s out of hell. I tell them I’m calling it a night, see ya later. It took literally less than one second to figure out these guys are not worth riding with, and I’m a pretty easy to get along with guy.
I’m at a loss of words for my feelings on this encounter. I honestly didn’t think squids that extreme existed.
July 27, 2009 at 3:22 pm #20986MunchParticipantSo…..did you take the green pill or the red one?
LOL…they are out there for sure.July 27, 2009 at 5:31 pm #20988VitricParticipantI’m surprised they didn’t start mocking your bike.
July 27, 2009 at 9:42 pm #20994zeppelinfromledParticipantJust one point is that you shouldn’t assume that drop damage means they’re a squid. Plenty of people lay their bikes down while being relatively responsible. It sounds like some of these guys were pretty squidly, but just saying that damage doesn’t necessarily mean that.
July 27, 2009 at 11:49 pm #20999AmorylParticipantfrom everything I read, there doesn’t seem to be anything implying the drop damage being what caused the squidlysenses to start tingling. if nothing else it seemed to confirm them after other evidence was brought before the judge.
July 28, 2009 at 1:59 am #21003owlieParticipantSometimes it is hard to not join the crowd, even when you know better. I’m glad that you were able to make the right decision for yourself.
In the end, that is all that counts.
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