With the sun shining down on use and hardly any rain clouds in sight all summer people are coming out in droves to enjoy their summer vacations. Everyone who lives in this area that is separated from the rest of the state by two large man made lakes knows that if the weather is nice two out of every three vehicles you pass will be a motorcycle, and the lakes are packed with boats.

I may be all about motorcycles, but I love to grab a few nice days out on the lake as well. I’m just as adamant about getting the proper Boating Education as I am about taking a Motorcycle Safety Course. I haven’t had an opportunity to spend much time on the lake this year, but in a way I’m sort of thankful for that. I’ve heard of too many accidents occurring this year involving boats, and we’re only half way through the summer.

Just last weekend I saw what happens when a jetski collides with a boat. What’s left of the jetski is sitting behind the dealership in ruins. The boat operator was arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol. The jetski was sitting still in the water, and the boat operator ran right over it. Thankfully the jetski operator abandoned the jetski as he saw the boat approaching.

Knowing how I feel about taking the proper safety precautions, I think the following commercial says it all.

Please consider looking into courses about boat safety in your area if you plan on being on the water at all. You never know when it could save your life. You may click the banner below for more information.

It’s a fact that more people are looking for ways to save money on gas. A lot of people are turning to motorcycles. All of us who ride know we can go just as far on a $12 in a bike than $60 or more in a car. More people turning to motorcycles for transportation also means crashes involving motorcycles are on the rise.

The video below is from Arkansas, but I still think it’s beneficial to everyone looking to purchase a motorcycle to combat gas prices. They give some important tips for staying safe while riding.

I know now that our motorcycle is out of commission for the next couple of months we’re really feeling the pinch. I’ve had to cut out a lot of extras to be able to afford the extra gas in our Blazer. Before if I needed to run out to get something like an HDMI switch we’d take the bike and throw it under the seat or in the backpack. Now I have to hold off on single item purchases and make a trip to the store when I need a bunch of things. I just can’t afford to run out in the Blazer for every little thing.

Pennsylvania repealed their helmet laws requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets. Now there are conflicting studies, one saying deaths are down, the other say deaths are up. Which one do you believe? I personally lean more towards Pitt’s study for the simple fact that they compared death rates for just head injuries. The DMV’s study takes into account all motorcycle related deaths regardless of whether or not it was a head injury.

South Carolina’s law is that helmets are mandatory for all riders/passengers under the age of 21. I personally advocate mandatory helmet laws. Every time I hear of a motorcycle related death in our area the first question I ask is “Was it a head injury?”. My second question is always whether or not the rider was wearing a helmet.

People do me a favor. Wear a helmet!

Today has definitely been a long day, and hubby is more glad than ever that he took that trip to Deal’s Gap yesterday. He got to enjoy the bike, and he got to enjoy having his suspension setup properly for exactly 1 day.

Tonight our friend borrowed the bike. His Jeep’s broke down, and he needed wheels so he could go see his daughter. He is one of the two people I would actually let ride the bike. In fact, he rode it home from the dealership the day Hubby bought it because Hubby hadn’t gotten his permit yet.

Well he did a big no no. On his way home he decided to show out a little. He went up the road in his subdivision way too fast, and he ended up having to slam on the brakes. When he did, the rear end slid on him, and he high sided the bike. Hubby was sitting at his house waiting for him and watched everything. He watched the bike high side, flip, and land on the side of the road.

Thankfully, our friend is ok. It pisses me off that he wrecked, not because it trashed our bike, but because he’s an experienced rider who knew better than to fly through there. He was being careless, and now our bike is trashed. He’s got road rash on his arms and stomach. He wasn’t wearing his jacket even though I preach to everyone to wear their gear no matter what. You never know what’s going to happen! This is just common proof of that. Luckily a quick checkup at the ER and he was on his way home. Hubby loaded up the bike, and I took the video of the damage since my camera doesn’t take great night shots.

The insurance company could total the bike out, it’s that damaged. They’re giving us options though. We only have liability insurance, so we can go ahead and total it out and owe the rest of the payoff or we’ve got option 2. We were already considering doing a r6 rear end conversion. You’ll hear us talk about it some in the video footage below. If I can get the bike shop to submit a statement saying the sub frame is bent, but won’t be a factor since it won’t be used in the conversion, the insurance company won’t total it out. Of course our other options is to get a 600r sub frame, but I totally love the look of the r6 conversion. It makes it look so nice, plus it would be something custom for me.

Anywho, since it was dark out when he got the bike back to the house I did a little video with the Handycam on night mode. It’s not that great of a video, so I’ll get photos tomorrow in the daylight. For now though, you can check out what damage you can see on the video. It’s pretty extensive.

The videos from yesterdays trip along with whatever photos taken by the photographers up there will be the last ones of the bike in it’s original YZF 600r stock shape.

Nick is paying for the damage. We all agreed it’s cheaper to do the conversion than it is to pay it off. We still owe way too much.