HELL'S LITTLE ANGELS

so, i have my bike. and i like it. but there have been a few mishaps already. first, i ran out of gas riding to spanish fork. but as soon as i figured it out i remembered that my bike has a reserve tank; so i only spent a few minutes on the side of the highway.

also, my bike gets about 45 mpg.

later in the week i got a call from the honda dealer letting me know that my license plate came in (yup, i only need/get one). on my way back i rode down center street at 15 mph and hit a screw with my rear tire. im not sure how my front tire missed it, but the outcome would have been the same. karma seems to be holding a grudge. so i had the dealer fix it for me (i know, you are probably thinking "you of all people should know how to change a tire." well, it is a little more complicated on a motorcycle than on a car. you have brakes and shocks and stuff on both sides of the tire. and you cant just prop it up with a jack and expect it to stay still.) they finished it the next day with barely enough time for me to pick it up before they closed.

one thing that any biker can tell you about is the "biker salute." it is pretty simple. whenever you ride past another motorcyclist you make a sloppy peace sign with your left hand. most people will keep their hand on the handle bar, but some will let go and drop their hand to the side to do it. but never, ever do it to someone on a scooter. (in fact you probably shouldnt even mention this to them. i think it is a pretty sore subject. bikers have only recently started accepting bullet bikes (aka crotch rockets). the biker community just isnt ready to accept scooters. i guess they figure once they let scooters in, they have to start letting in riding lawn mowers too. then what? weed whackers? trollies? buggies? minivans?)

well, i tell you this because as i rode through mapleton one day a motorcycle cop rode past me and made the sign. i quickly returned the gesture.

ok, fine. my stories kinda suck so far. nothing incredible has happened yet (although i did ride the alpine loop this weekend. it was just dandy). and i hate leaving a blog without writing something interesting if i can help it. so here is a story of my dad's biker days.

when my dad graduated high school he had a honda 160cc. for those of you who dont know what that means, it is small. very small. scooter small. mine is a 750cc. so, naturally he decided to go on a cross country bike trip with his best friend. his friend's bike was the same size. somewhere in the mid-west they were riding down the highway just minding their own business when they nearly get run off the road by a guy in a convertable sports car (i guess they had those back then). soon after this happened, a pack of hell's angels sped past them and caught up the to sports car. they surrounded the car and started kicking it and spitting at the driver. terrified for his life, the driver picked up speed and left them in the dust.

my dad caught up with the biker gang at a gas station and thanked them and asked them why they did it. one of them said, "we bikers got to stick together."