My story
07-30-2004, 09:03 PM
#1
Biker
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: south carolina
Posts: 113
My story
since ive been gone so long, i figured id post this for the ones who dont know me and for you who do, its a little long..sorry.
Last summer, i did alot of riding. I mainly did all the riding on my yammy or my honda nighthawk.
Most rides, I rode proudly alongside my husband. Never once did I ever try and race his harley flh stroked at 108ci which we built together piece by piece. I was proud, to finally have gotten off the back of 16 years of riding passenger.
I had dreamed since riding passenger, that one day i would own my own harley and ride solo. My dream bike ....a 78 electraglide, oh, i would take just about any other year, but i wanted a 78. I wanted to build it from ground up. Then one day in late april, i had a chance to buy a 71 sportster, in baskets. I could build this bike, and i could ride this bike, till i got my dream bike......even better...I'd be riding a HARLEY.
So after little thinking, i bought the sportie. I spent many nights till 2 and 3am putting this bike together, id get up at 7am and be at work at 8 where i worked as case manager with the mentally handicap of 10 years.
Id come home about 530, prepare supper for my family and go back out to the garage with my husband.
Weekends, i worked non stop, piece by piece, even in my dreams of sleep, i was turning bolts.
My goal was to have it ready for bike week at Myrtle Beach. But i didnt have it ready.
I had promised myself i wouldnt ride anything but the harley to bike week. since it wasnt ready, I rode on the back with my husband through the rain, through storms, but when it started to hail, we pulled over till it passed and started back out again. All through bike week, i rode as passenger, when i'd see a lady on her own bike, especially a harley, i would think to myself ''thatll be me next year".
I dont know what it was, but i felt i had to ride my own harley at bike week, just the feeling, the sense of mind, the andrenaline of riding my own around a whole crowd of bikers, but i still had the next year or better yet, id ride mine in October to the mountains of NC.
Through the late hours of partying, drunk off my *** on several occassions, and being with the greatest people in the world, it was time to return home, to get back to work, my daughters, and my bike! After many long hours till wee hours of the morn, she was finally finished. When i first started her, the rumble, the vibration, i didnt have the thrill or the sensation that i thought i would have, maybe if I rode it, i would. But another promise to myself was i would also not ride until she was painted. So for a few more nights, i did some sanding, i bondoed, i sanded more, i wet sand, until she was ready. That Saturday I went to a friends body shop. He let me in the room where he stored the paint and let me have at it. I wanted something different, something nobody had, something I would enjoy. When i painted my yamaha, i mixed a few colors making it a dusty rose sorta color. But with the sportie, I didnt really want a pink bike, or rose colored. Finally I measured my paint....a very dark dark dark green, almost black. I added just a tad of green pearl and then I went to spraying. As I was spraying, the saying of driving a green bike is bad luck, kept going thorugh my mind. As many times as this went through my mind, i would tell myself it was just superstition and I was not superstious. I then sprayed clear, mixed with a hint of gold pearl, I then cleared the 2nd and 3rd time.
I was satisified. I loved the color. The next evening, i put the tank and fenders on. She was complete. It was time to ride. I had to get used to the shifter being on the right side, but she rode good, really good. My harley, my very own harley!
A few weeks passed of me riding, I finally told my husband, she just isnt what I imagined, i didnt get a thrill like I thought i would, i didnt feel the great sensation of the vibration between my legs that i dreamed off.
I really had no love. maybe a little, but not much at all. Some rides i would take my yammy or my honda.
One day a few of us decided to ride out to the lake, my husband insisted I ride my sportie. He was a little upset that i put in so much hard work and didnt like it like we had expected. After some arguing, I told him to drive my bike and Id drive his, a 67flh rigid, keep in mind that its stroked 108 inches. He was scared Id kill myself but i insisted i wouldnt. He told me not to open it full throttle and to only crack the throttle a little.
DAMN he was actually going to let me ride his.
The power I felt was undescribable, it was unreal! when i got to the lake, i was hooting and hollering, and
said "thats what I want, thats the power, thats the thrill, i dont want that little brat anymore" pointing to the sportster. From then on out she got the name "the brat".
For a few more days he let me get my thrills by us switching bikes, sometimes it was really funny seeing the looks on faces when he was on a little bike and I on a much bigger one.
I rode his bike one Sunday afternoon while my kids were at thier grandmas, we rode for about 300 miles, i had goosebumps all over, this was the greatest thrill. That day was also the last day I ever rode what we call "the beast".
June 9 of 2003, we decided on a quick ride with some friends after riding most of the afternoon we decided to head back to my house out in the country, I was riding "the brat". When we got closer to my house and turned on one of the back roads, after i made my turn i was gearing up, something went wrong, im not sure what happened except i was going in excess of 50mph or so and i couldnt gear down nor slow down. I panicked and I panicked bad. a nice curve was approaching, and so was a car, i was terrified, i didnt know what to do, in my moment of panic i had no idea what to do. I thought if i hit the car, i die, if i hit and jump the ditch i will look like evel knivel and break my neck and possibly die, in that moment death was all i could think of. I got as close to the edge of the road as i could and i laid the brat down at about 50mph. My knee crushed into the asphalt. The next thing i remember was the brat being pulled off of me and people telling me not to move. my leg was in excrusiating pain.
The ambulance came and i was rushed to the hospital. I later under went over 4 hours of surgery.
I had totally crushed my right knee, nothing was left, they picked out little pieces of bone, i lost all the cartlidge, i crushed my tibia bone, and i broke my fibia bone, the fibia splitting into a V. I broke the lower part of my femur. I ripped the muscles, and i tore and ripped all the ligaments and tendons all the way to my ankle. I have metal plates, screws, pins and rods for a leg and knee.
I went through extensive physical therapy and was told I would only regain about 70 to 75 percent of my leg.
I lost my job of 10 years with the mentally handicap, there was no way a physically handicap person could work with the mentally hadicap.
My children of 9 and 11 learned to clean and cook. My husband became, nurse, father, mother, cook, taxi cab driver..you name it.
I became so depressed for so long, then one day, i just kinda snapped out of my depression, I was lucky to be alive, i was lucky to be able to walk.
In the meantime, ive learned to appreciate the finer things in life, each and every moment, because you never know when it will be taken away from you.
But, I never lost my love for bikes. I work as bike shop manager at my husbands shop. I help repair bikes and whatever else needs to be done.
I even do a little painting on the side.
I sold the brat a few days after i got home from the hospital, i sold the nighthawk, but i still have my old yammy and my 69 triumph that still sits in baskets, with a few parts missing that i will never sale.
I still dream of a 78flh, even if i cant ride it, i can put her together and admire her. Ive also been thinking of a servi car. I can build a 3 wheeler with just about anything but i want a hd servi car. ive learned 3 things out of
this.......to not take for granted the smaller finer things of life, not to paint a bike green and to not settle for anything less than what you really dream of.
I have not given up on riding, I WILL ride again one day , the love of motorcycles is in blood and when i do decide to ride again, you bet it will be what i really really wanna ride!
RIDE SAFE
Kelly
Last summer, i did alot of riding. I mainly did all the riding on my yammy or my honda nighthawk.
Most rides, I rode proudly alongside my husband. Never once did I ever try and race his harley flh stroked at 108ci which we built together piece by piece. I was proud, to finally have gotten off the back of 16 years of riding passenger.
I had dreamed since riding passenger, that one day i would own my own harley and ride solo. My dream bike ....a 78 electraglide, oh, i would take just about any other year, but i wanted a 78. I wanted to build it from ground up. Then one day in late april, i had a chance to buy a 71 sportster, in baskets. I could build this bike, and i could ride this bike, till i got my dream bike......even better...I'd be riding a HARLEY.
So after little thinking, i bought the sportie. I spent many nights till 2 and 3am putting this bike together, id get up at 7am and be at work at 8 where i worked as case manager with the mentally handicap of 10 years.
Id come home about 530, prepare supper for my family and go back out to the garage with my husband.
Weekends, i worked non stop, piece by piece, even in my dreams of sleep, i was turning bolts.
My goal was to have it ready for bike week at Myrtle Beach. But i didnt have it ready.
I had promised myself i wouldnt ride anything but the harley to bike week. since it wasnt ready, I rode on the back with my husband through the rain, through storms, but when it started to hail, we pulled over till it passed and started back out again. All through bike week, i rode as passenger, when i'd see a lady on her own bike, especially a harley, i would think to myself ''thatll be me next year".
I dont know what it was, but i felt i had to ride my own harley at bike week, just the feeling, the sense of mind, the andrenaline of riding my own around a whole crowd of bikers, but i still had the next year or better yet, id ride mine in October to the mountains of NC.
Through the late hours of partying, drunk off my *** on several occassions, and being with the greatest people in the world, it was time to return home, to get back to work, my daughters, and my bike! After many long hours till wee hours of the morn, she was finally finished. When i first started her, the rumble, the vibration, i didnt have the thrill or the sensation that i thought i would have, maybe if I rode it, i would. But another promise to myself was i would also not ride until she was painted. So for a few more nights, i did some sanding, i bondoed, i sanded more, i wet sand, until she was ready. That Saturday I went to a friends body shop. He let me in the room where he stored the paint and let me have at it. I wanted something different, something nobody had, something I would enjoy. When i painted my yamaha, i mixed a few colors making it a dusty rose sorta color. But with the sportie, I didnt really want a pink bike, or rose colored. Finally I measured my paint....a very dark dark dark green, almost black. I added just a tad of green pearl and then I went to spraying. As I was spraying, the saying of driving a green bike is bad luck, kept going thorugh my mind. As many times as this went through my mind, i would tell myself it was just superstition and I was not superstious. I then sprayed clear, mixed with a hint of gold pearl, I then cleared the 2nd and 3rd time.
I was satisified. I loved the color. The next evening, i put the tank and fenders on. She was complete. It was time to ride. I had to get used to the shifter being on the right side, but she rode good, really good. My harley, my very own harley!
A few weeks passed of me riding, I finally told my husband, she just isnt what I imagined, i didnt get a thrill like I thought i would, i didnt feel the great sensation of the vibration between my legs that i dreamed off.
I really had no love. maybe a little, but not much at all. Some rides i would take my yammy or my honda.
One day a few of us decided to ride out to the lake, my husband insisted I ride my sportie. He was a little upset that i put in so much hard work and didnt like it like we had expected. After some arguing, I told him to drive my bike and Id drive his, a 67flh rigid, keep in mind that its stroked 108 inches. He was scared Id kill myself but i insisted i wouldnt. He told me not to open it full throttle and to only crack the throttle a little.
DAMN he was actually going to let me ride his.
The power I felt was undescribable, it was unreal! when i got to the lake, i was hooting and hollering, and
said "thats what I want, thats the power, thats the thrill, i dont want that little brat anymore" pointing to the sportster. From then on out she got the name "the brat".
For a few more days he let me get my thrills by us switching bikes, sometimes it was really funny seeing the looks on faces when he was on a little bike and I on a much bigger one.
I rode his bike one Sunday afternoon while my kids were at thier grandmas, we rode for about 300 miles, i had goosebumps all over, this was the greatest thrill. That day was also the last day I ever rode what we call "the beast".
June 9 of 2003, we decided on a quick ride with some friends after riding most of the afternoon we decided to head back to my house out in the country, I was riding "the brat". When we got closer to my house and turned on one of the back roads, after i made my turn i was gearing up, something went wrong, im not sure what happened except i was going in excess of 50mph or so and i couldnt gear down nor slow down. I panicked and I panicked bad. a nice curve was approaching, and so was a car, i was terrified, i didnt know what to do, in my moment of panic i had no idea what to do. I thought if i hit the car, i die, if i hit and jump the ditch i will look like evel knivel and break my neck and possibly die, in that moment death was all i could think of. I got as close to the edge of the road as i could and i laid the brat down at about 50mph. My knee crushed into the asphalt. The next thing i remember was the brat being pulled off of me and people telling me not to move. my leg was in excrusiating pain.
The ambulance came and i was rushed to the hospital. I later under went over 4 hours of surgery.
I had totally crushed my right knee, nothing was left, they picked out little pieces of bone, i lost all the cartlidge, i crushed my tibia bone, and i broke my fibia bone, the fibia splitting into a V. I broke the lower part of my femur. I ripped the muscles, and i tore and ripped all the ligaments and tendons all the way to my ankle. I have metal plates, screws, pins and rods for a leg and knee.
I went through extensive physical therapy and was told I would only regain about 70 to 75 percent of my leg.
I lost my job of 10 years with the mentally handicap, there was no way a physically handicap person could work with the mentally hadicap.
My children of 9 and 11 learned to clean and cook. My husband became, nurse, father, mother, cook, taxi cab driver..you name it.
I became so depressed for so long, then one day, i just kinda snapped out of my depression, I was lucky to be alive, i was lucky to be able to walk.
In the meantime, ive learned to appreciate the finer things in life, each and every moment, because you never know when it will be taken away from you.
But, I never lost my love for bikes. I work as bike shop manager at my husbands shop. I help repair bikes and whatever else needs to be done.
I even do a little painting on the side.
I sold the brat a few days after i got home from the hospital, i sold the nighthawk, but i still have my old yammy and my 69 triumph that still sits in baskets, with a few parts missing that i will never sale.
I still dream of a 78flh, even if i cant ride it, i can put her together and admire her. Ive also been thinking of a servi car. I can build a 3 wheeler with just about anything but i want a hd servi car. ive learned 3 things out of
this.......to not take for granted the smaller finer things of life, not to paint a bike green and to not settle for anything less than what you really dream of.
I have not given up on riding, I WILL ride again one day , the love of motorcycles is in blood and when i do decide to ride again, you bet it will be what i really really wanna ride!
RIDE SAFE
Kelly
07-31-2004, 03:26 AM
#2
kik-kik=ka-chug/ka-chug
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Binghamton,NY
Posts: 278
Excellent life story, glad you could describe it all, the way you did,
an exellent read.
Thanks for sharing this very unique story.
an if your really looking for a servi car
read my post about the unicar
https://bikerforums.org/forums/showthread.php?t=980
this guy has 3 wheel HD's
a sportster trike
45 engines,cases/tranny/indian parts/ a whole barn full of stuff I can't even identify.
so for older stuff this guy has tons,,,,,,,,
and talks about servi car
not even sure what one is,
but he may have one or maybe even more.
pm me with any pertant info .
an exellent read.
Thanks for sharing this very unique story.
an if your really looking for a servi car
read my post about the unicar
https://bikerforums.org/forums/showthread.php?t=980
this guy has 3 wheel HD's
a sportster trike
45 engines,cases/tranny/indian parts/ a whole barn full of stuff I can't even identify.
so for older stuff this guy has tons,,,,,,,,
and talks about servi car
not even sure what one is,
but he may have one or maybe even more.
pm me with any pertant info .
07-31-2004, 11:02 AM
#3
Biker
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: south carolina
Posts: 113
Tom,
The servi cars were mainly used from the 30s to the 70s by meter maids with the police department They were orginally geared for low speed use, maxuim speed being normally 60mph or so. The engine was a 45 flathead with only 45ci. with side valves. The design of the engine remained virtually almost unchanged on all the W series. The tranny designed for 3 up and 1 reverse. Many of the servi cars were desinged with a left hand throttle. it had a chain driven car type back axle.
I believe it was in 1964 (dont quote on year), but somwhere around there, 63 or 64 that the electric start was designed, they used the first electric start on the servi car as an experiment. when it was proven to work, the following year they were placed on the electra glide bikes.
I like the servi car for the low speed. Since i may never hold a bike up again, and when i get the courage to get on one again, it may have to be a 3wheeler, low speed, cause i definetly will not be into speed anymore.
you can customize a 3 wheeler with virtually anything, alot of volkswagon engines are used.
Im not saying i will ever buy a servi car..i just want one. The value of those bikes are way over my head!
Ive yet to even see one in real life! a real one i mean!
A few years ago, i had the chance to buy one for $1000, without a motor and tranny. I rode to NC, the man on the phone said, 1st come 1st serve. By the time i found the mans house and gotten there 5 hours after phone call.....yes it was gone. I wasnt that upset cause at that time i only wanted one because i liked them, not for the fact that i might actually ride one.
Im really into the old antique bikes, i think they are awesome. Dont get me wrong, i also love alot of the bikes today, but as some people like antique cars, and i dont...i like antique bikes, i like the way how each and every harley change throughout the years. its amazing.
As far as the uni car you are speaking of, im not sure what that is, maybe its something he or someone else had built on their own.
Kelly
The servi cars were mainly used from the 30s to the 70s by meter maids with the police department They were orginally geared for low speed use, maxuim speed being normally 60mph or so. The engine was a 45 flathead with only 45ci. with side valves. The design of the engine remained virtually almost unchanged on all the W series. The tranny designed for 3 up and 1 reverse. Many of the servi cars were desinged with a left hand throttle. it had a chain driven car type back axle.
I believe it was in 1964 (dont quote on year), but somwhere around there, 63 or 64 that the electric start was designed, they used the first electric start on the servi car as an experiment. when it was proven to work, the following year they were placed on the electra glide bikes.
I like the servi car for the low speed. Since i may never hold a bike up again, and when i get the courage to get on one again, it may have to be a 3wheeler, low speed, cause i definetly will not be into speed anymore.
you can customize a 3 wheeler with virtually anything, alot of volkswagon engines are used.
Im not saying i will ever buy a servi car..i just want one. The value of those bikes are way over my head!
Ive yet to even see one in real life! a real one i mean!
A few years ago, i had the chance to buy one for $1000, without a motor and tranny. I rode to NC, the man on the phone said, 1st come 1st serve. By the time i found the mans house and gotten there 5 hours after phone call.....yes it was gone. I wasnt that upset cause at that time i only wanted one because i liked them, not for the fact that i might actually ride one.
Im really into the old antique bikes, i think they are awesome. Dont get me wrong, i also love alot of the bikes today, but as some people like antique cars, and i dont...i like antique bikes, i like the way how each and every harley change throughout the years. its amazing.
As far as the uni car you are speaking of, im not sure what that is, maybe its something he or someone else had built on their own.
Kelly
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