Pennsylvania repealed their helmet laws requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets.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.

I know we all like to ride our bikes, but have you ever gone on a trip on your bike only to get stuck in weather that is impossible to ride in? A lot of people say they’d ride no matter what, but there have been times when we had no choice but to pull over. I’m not riding through a horrible storm full of hail and lightning. These days I won’t ride through heavy rain unless I absolutely have to.

If you’re on a trip in nothing but your bike, but you’ve got to have a way to get around you can always car rental companies like Advantage that offer specials and discounts on a regular basis. Just check their website for details.

Why is it so hard to get me a bike right now?

I originally put a deposit down on a 2008 Ninja 250r at the local dealership. While they had my deposit in hand they sold my bike out from under me. The dealership tried to bullshit me and tell me they would have another black one in by the end of the month, and I didn’t need to worry. I know that dealership is full of shit, so I demanded my deposit back. If they didn’t come through on their end, I sure as hell wasn’t purchasing from them.

The finance manager spoke with Hubby and assured me he would have me another one ordered and delivered by May 16, and my deposit wouldn’t be required on this one because the screw up with the first one was on their end.

It’s bullshit.

I called two other dealerships today to do some snooping. Both dealerships told me they have 1 2008 Ninja 250r coming in, but they can’t order anymore. All orders are on hold, and dealerships can only receive them as they are shipped. They do have a green one coming in, but they have deposits down already on a blue one, red one, and a green one. If I put a deposit down on a black one I’ll be the first to receive it, but it could be the end of the summer before I get one. The good news is the GA dealership well sell it to me for $400 less because I don’t have to pay sales tax or shipping fees in that state.

The GA dealership does have one coming in this month, but it’s a green one. He’s going to call me back, so I might just settle for the green one since I’ll eventually have it painted anyway. UGH. I hate Kawasaki green though!

Ugh. I’d have better luck dropping my $1500 on all new kick ass faucets for my house, but I’m just not the type of person to do that. I want to drop my cash on toys!

As a child I remember watching my dad’s best friend ride around on his cool motorcycle. I grew up seeing him riding around on a Harley wearing nothing but a pair of old boots, beat up jeans, leather vest, bandanna, and a pocket watch sticking out of his vest pocket. I thought he looked super cool and mean even though I knew he was a big teddy bear on the inside.

The one question I always asked him was “What if you fall off without a shirt on? The road will hurt you.” He’d always pat me on my head and tell me “Niffer, don’t you worry about me.  I’m too hard headed to get hurt.” Yes, he called me “Niffer”, but that’s another story for another day.

I’m sure he didn’t expect me to grow up to be a motorcycle enthusiast, but here I am. We’ve ridden with him a few times, but last year I told him I wouldn’t go on a ride with him anymore unless he wore a helmet. He laughed and told me he was too old for one. I shook my head and told him I wouldn’t ride with him then because I wouldn’t be a witness to his own stupidity.  The man might be able to say he’s never had a serious wreck in his life, but that doesn’t give him the right to say one will never happen.
I haven’t seen him in months, but I received a phone call today that shocked and delighted me at the same time. He called to ask me to do a very big favor for him, and he explained that he felt it was important that I was the person to do this favor for him for an important reason. He wants me to go with him to find a motorcycle jacket, helmet, and proper riding boots. My heart jumped for joy when I heard him say that.

Why has he had a change of heart? His young nephew was killed 2 weeks ago on his motorcycle when a car pulled out in front of him. He wasn’t wearing any protective gear at all…not even a helmet.

It goes to show sometimes it does take a life altering experience or the loss of a life to change someone’s mind, and as sad as the situation is, I keep thinking to myself it happened for a reason. For my entire 26 years and longer this man has never once worn a helmet, and now he has decided he won’t ride again until he has one.

I promised first thing Saturday morning we’ll take a trip to the local dealership to pick out his helmet, jacket, boots, and hopefully I’ll convince him to grab a decent pair of gloves that aren’t cut off at the knuckles.