1500 Miles in 4 Days R3T

Look out, Kelly. Now you're going to incur the wrath of the I Was an MSF Instructor in 1943 and You MUST Wear Your Helmet" crowd!

You've been warned.

(I hope you learned your lesson.)
 
We lost a 30yr BLET union brother from work last saturday, Killed on his bike by a drunken ***** on his way to the shore to visit his sister. He just got back to work after having his hip broken by a gang-banger running from the cops that smashed him while riding home on his bike. It took almost as long to fix the bike as his hip. He wore his helmet every day, didn't speed, rode with traffic and obeyed all traffic laws. He even went so far as to wear safety yellow at night.
I'm one of those ass-holes that ALWAYS speeds, removed the reflectors and turn signals from my bike, occasionally wheelies in traffic and seldom wears a helmet. My only defense is that I never inconvienece other drivers or cut people off and have been doing it for a very long time. Comments have made it back to me at work that people would have expected ME to be killed on a bike, but never in a million years would Jack Kelly since he was such a cautious person.
My response to this school of though is that I strongly believe that bikes should travel faster than traffic so that nothing sneaks up on you from behind or side. Keep your head on a swivel and trust no-one. And rule #1 .... if you didn't grow up on one .... don't start now.
Seems like most of the people I've known that died on bikes were either new to them, too young for the power or so safety consious that traffic passed them rather than them passing traffic.
It's still a **** shame, but what can you do ..... nothin's fair.
 
A Lost Brother, Riding in Traffic

I offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Jack Kelly. The choice to ride a bike should not be taken lightly for the simple reason we die quite often when we come in contact with 4 wheeled vehicles.

I agree 100% with Hellfire. If you don't move faster than traffic, you are at a much higher risk. The real problem is that you need to be an intuitive rider to safely move ahead of traffic. It demands a much higher degree of movement between vehicles and lanes. This is going to be a hot subject and deserves some real discussion. I look forward to everyone's comments.

Once again, I am so sorry we had to lose another rider as well as a great person. It really sucks.
 
Roll on power was the bottom line reason for buying the last three bikes I have owned. There are so many tools and fools out there that we are forced to share the road with, it is a matter of self preservation to have the power on hand to remove yourself from dangerous situations and careless, ignorant or dumb people.

The corallary to the "no replacement for displacement" argument is that with having the power on tap comes the necessity for responsibility and restraint with one's own right wrist action. Most of us like to do the occasional "low flying", however it's important to choose your spots wisely in order to minimize the risks to both yourself and others. That begs the use of good judgement (when to hold 'em vs. when to show 'em) and knowing both the conditions you are riding in as well as the limits of your riding skills given those conditions.

Ample lines of sight, knowledge of the road and traffic conditions on your chosen path, choosing to ride where there's paucity of company on the roadway with you, who you may be riding with and a knowledge of their riding skills/idiosyncrancies and a thorough understanding of both the mechanical condition and performance characteristics of your bike are some of the more important things to be familiar with before you choose to play on two wheels upon public raods.

One of the biggest kicks that I get from riding my Rock is that when I have a nervous, dumb or otherwise bad driver in front or to the side of me that want to get away from I will do what I can to make it known (where possible) that I want to pass them. More times than not, by the time they look in their side or rearview mirrors, I have already left them in my mirrors!

N.B. Watching other drivers and riders in their own mirrors is a critical skill all would be wise to learn. Oftimes the intent of another vehicle's operator is first expressed or hinted at by their eyes and head motion(s).
 
Also have the head stock bearings checked. The head stock retaining nuts on my Rocket were totally loose and spinning freely when I had a similar wobble and checked them. That was at about 12,000 miles.. I cleaned and re-greased the bearings while I was there and torqued the retaining nuts down and have not had a wobble problem since and I'm at 53,000 miles now..