Happy New Year to me.

[RBMann]

Just before midnight, I came out from work to find my S laying on its side with the center stand still deployed. Either a car knocked it over, unlikely, or some peanut brain thought it would be funny. Sort like cow tipping in the city. To add insult to injury, I had a hernia repair two weeks ago and could not pick the bike up. To balance the unknown idiot, an understanding passerby help me get it upright again.

There are times in life where I could pinch someone's head off, like an insect. I know, I just need to let it go. A little touch up on the saddle bags and I have been thinking of painting the valve covers anyway, so no big deal. It is just not the way I like to end my day.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Happy New Year to all.

[Droptarotter]

RBMann;
Happy New Year............maybe you can just think of this as the worst part of the year is over............things will get better from now on.

Spring is on it's way and the days are getting longer.
Cheers

[NakedRider]

Sorry to hear about that.

[Bob Hancock]

Trying to find something positive.....suppose you had a K bike. 75 lbs heavier that falls over FLAT and nothing but real expensive plastic to land on. One of the good things about our boxers is they lay over gracefully.

Vandalism is really an imponderable though, innit?

[sgoodwin]

Just kill everybody who looks at you wrong, always makes me feel better!

[SeabeckS]

That sucks big time! Sort of know how you feel, some a$$4olle in 1999 "keyed" our new F-150 in a parking lot in Kent. Makes you SO PO'd! So many idiots, and absolutely no chance of catching them...

Very sorry and hope the damage to the S isn't substantial.

Hopefully karma will catch up with them and this will be the last of your bad luck.

GRRRR!

Bill J

[Guest24]

Richard, on the bright side, aren't you glad that you hadn't already painted the valve covers and lids. Maybe the office Christmas party drunk may be to blame.

[RBMann]

Yeah SeabeckS, that sucks too. I have had two cars keyed and I know who did one of them. It was an employee but he was leaving at 6:00 AM the next day, for Marine boot camp. I always figured with his attitude some one else would be giving he a butte kicking for me and soon.

I am just going to use this as a motivational tool to get the valve covers done. Not really the damage that bothers me as much as the senselessness of the act.

[lightfighter]

couple years ago, some kids in an act of 'random vandalism' busted out a window on a guys car while he was in it, dropping his girlfriend off at her parents house....

she called 911 while he chased them down and basically rammed them off the road. everyone felt pretty good about it.

i hope that helps.

[Trex]

Which is worse? The unknown or the known? When someone else does it and slinks off into the good night or when you are a thing guilty and summoned by yourself?

Not long after I got my R1100S, I had it on the centerstand in the garage. It escapes me now why I did the following, but I moved my car into the garage for some reason, only needing to nose it in a bit behind the bike. I mis-judged how close the front of the car was to the rear of the bike and ever so gently bumped the bike. Just kissed it.

We have all had those slo-mo moments, haven't we? At first I thought that I was safe, that the bike was still steady on the centerstand. Then I sat in the car spell bound as the bike moved forward, up and off the stand and it rolled straight, up-right.

The point of contact had the car positioned in the garage so that I could not open the door because of the garage door opening (yeah, that's another one I should have thought about first). I suppose I should have reversed quickly, jumped out of the car and tried to save the bike. Instead, I just could not take my eyes off what was unfolding.

Nice and slow and easy the bike stayed upright and rolled forward a bit until it didn't. A slow fall, a gentle, graceful fall to the right ended with the sound of a quick, short thud. The deed was done. The bike was down. No bits and pieces flying, no echoing of boom and doom in my ears, it was over. The cylinder guard did it's job and I lost a mirror. Beyond that, not a nick nor a mar.

The public, in general, thinks that motorcyclists do stupid things on their bikes. A true motorcyclist knows that we do stupid things off our bikes, too.

Happy New Year. Your dues for the year were paid early and in full. Enjoy the rest of 2010.

[shreddr]

i bought a demo 88' K75S from the local dealer back in 90' I didn't even ride it, I just went in and plunked down my cash, and prepared to take it away in my pickup because I didn't even have my MC license yet. They rolled it around front and put it up on the center stand. I stood to the left of it and pushed it off the stand to take it up my ramp, and as soon as I did I realized it was a lot heavier than I thought it was, and it was leaning towards the right. I pulled with all my might and struggled for seconds before I got it in balance. I almost dropped a nut in the process. I thought I was gonna dump the bike before I even got it off the lot, that would have really sucked.

from that point on I always straddled the bike before rolling off the centerstand, good lesson...

[John Lyon]

Originally Posted by RBMann

To balance the unknown idiot, an understanding passerby help me get it upright again.

This is the part to dwell on. My Guzzi Le Mans got knocked over by someone parking outside a restaurant I was in. A passerby saw it, flagged down a cop, who got the guy and then came into the restaurant to tell me about it.

Overall the whole incident made me feel good.

[cageyar]

Originally Posted by John Lyon

Overall the whole incident made me feel good.

In the East, that doesn't make us feel good at all.
What would make me feel good and provide a source of pleasure, is to apply to the piece of crap that knocked the bike over: Pain, supplied in copious
quanitiies. That's what a piece of crap like this needs, sufficient pain applied liberally throughout his entire body so that the next time he get's the notion to f**k with somebody's bike, he'll stop and move on.
His head will be sticking out his a** and his b*lls will be in his mouth.
That would make me feel good, given the circumstances.
When I park my R12S at the hotel in Indy, I leave this note on the tank:
" Please do not move or roll this bike from it's spot. I'm watching and I will kill you. Thank you". My mother always said, say please and thank you.

[John Lyon]

Politeness is somewhat lacking these days - a very nice note, I would say. Actually, I was only able to maintain my serene perspective because nothing was scratched or broken other than the brake lever (thankfully not the clutch, as I was 50 miles from home!)

[cageyar]

I'll leave politeness for dinner party small talk and West Coast sensibilities.
You knock my bike over, bring a weapon-you'll need it.

[GotRoad?]

Originally Posted by cageyar

I'll leave politeness for dinner party small talk and West Coast sensibilities.
You knock my bike over, bring a weapon-you'll need it.

While I acknowledge the sentiment, I have to laugh at the bluster & puffed up chest attitude.

[Bigred455]

Originally Posted by GotRoad?

While I acknowledge the sentiment, I have to laugh at the bluster & puffed up chest attitude.

ditto!

John, I completely agree with your sentinment. The negative act that was the over shadowed by the positive that accompanied it. In a way helping renew faith that not all people are asses I imagine.

[BumbleBeemer36]

Right after I moved out of my parent's house and down to Scottsdale, AZ I (and 20 other patrons) experienced an ice delivery truck backing into my R100. I had parked in the slashed (walkway or half-parking space) area - or so I thought. I saw it unfolding before there was contact and grabbed the bars just as it would have fallen off the side stand. I walked with it another few feet 'til the guy stopped. I put it back on the side stand and walked up to the drivers door to find no one. I heard him jump out the passenger side and start unloading his cargo. I yelled "hey you just hit my bike!" He goes "no I didn't" and then starts pulling the I don't speak any English routine. Next thing I knew he made like the burger joint's name and was In-N-Out.

I didn't press charges or pursue it. In Scottsdale I could imagine the cop showing up and laughing about a dent in a POS like that and how I was wasting his time. In addition, I wasn't sure I was supposed to have parked there and since I just came from a church gathering, I was feeling real forgiving.

Let's just say since then I've been extremely careful where and how I park any bike.

Sorry to hear about this Rick. I've been thinking of painting my valve covers too. Ya going with silver? I've been tempted to go black like my '82.

[flatbutt]

That definitly stinks RW. Sorry to hear of this.It's bad when a stranger goes after and hurts our bikes. Worst I've had was a dooshbag member of another BMW site beat me for money on parts he never sent.

[AZ-Twin]

Rick,

That blows, but on the bright side, if you had seen the guy, you would be in jail now, so best you did not catch him.