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Pirate Fis
Chris, I don't mean murder or anything. I mean just some stupid teenage thing that they would arrest you at that moment but wouldn't bother pursuing you.
Answer
Every once in a while you have to get lucky. But it's getting harder and harder everyday.
There have been several times that I've gotten back to my house before the cops could get there and then it was just a matter of not answering the door, pretending not to be home, and so on. But the ONE time that was really cool, in my opinion, was when this "goody-two-shoes" woman in a Lexus thought that I was driving too fast, 70 in a 65. So she got behind me and started flashing her lights and stuff. Which made me speed up to get out of her way but when I pulled to the right lane to let her by she dropped in behind me and kept it up. I looked WAY back in the rear view and saw a tiny red light in the distance behind me. So I punched it and took the next exit. It was a tight twisty road that I had driven on all my life and used to race on it in my younger years so I was pretty much at home. I was doing well at staying ahead but she was doing better than expected so I realized that I was going to have to "lose her" one way or another. So as I skidded around the next turn I saw a driveway to the right. I jammed on the brakes and went up the driveway and looked for a place to duck in where I wouldn't be seen from the road. She raced by so I dropped back to the road and went in the opposite direction at a normal, legal speed, in case the cops were backing her up. I saw no one so I took a turn that took me in a totally different direction than what I was when she first started chasing me and I ended up in another town and I took a side road home and stayed away from the freeway. I had no further problems and never heard about it again. That time I was in a car.
The times when I was on my motorcycle I would go up the same street that was a dead end, whenever I picked up a tail.
There was this ONE driveway that had a path that went thru a hedge and if you angled to the LEFT as you passed thru the hedge you would come out on a side street that was just behind my house. (If you went just to the right you would hit a 4x4 post ... not good). From there I would race to the house and open the gate and put the bike in the yard, out of sight. After a while the cops got smart and they stopped following me up the dead end street but would take the road that wrapped around to my house and try to get there before me, but they were always late. But they did get really close a couple of times. I barely got the gate closed when I heard the skid marks out front. My mom would ask what all the noise was about and I told her that some friends were trying to beat me to the house but I won. Fortunately she never looked outside to see who was there. Whew! And the cops were good sports about it and never made a big deal of it, which they could have if they wanted. It got to be a game but I eventually stopped doing it so that they would not have to go to the "next level".
I also took an off ramp once and hid out under an overpass. When the cops went by with lights and sirens on the freeway, I pulled back out and went the opposite direction.
And one time on my motorcycle I ducked into a side street and removed my jacket and put my helmet on the back of the seat (no helmet law back then) and rode home in the cold. The cop was running lights and siren and passed me going the opposite way but never recognized me because my shirt was a different color than my jacket and I had no helmet like I did before. (I got lucky).
But, to keep the police happy, I MUST state that nowadays you should NEVER do this. Just pull over and take your lumps and tell the truth. I have had the police let me go just because I told them the truth.
Fortunately I NOW live in an area where everyone drives 90 - 100 mph on the freeway and the cops really don't care. In town the speed limits are usually around 50 - 60 on most major streets and everyone drives at 70 - 80. The police are cool about it because everyone's doing it and the police have a lot of stuff to do and don't have time to worry about trying to get everyone to slow down. Amazingly we have very few accidents caused by speeding, and those are usually the snowbirds and out-of-towners who can't handle the fast pace. When I first moved here I was amazed that everyone was "racing around" b/c the average age here is 77, believe it or not.
Should i be intimidated to ride a Harley?
Wyatt
Im 17 and really wanna get a motorcycle in the next few years. I didn't grow up with a dad so i missed out on a lot of the "man" stuff like motorcycles and cars. I have never rode a motorcycle in my life and i know nothing about them and am totally spooked about riding the first time. Is it tough? What do i need to know before trying? should i take a first time rider course? Thanks!
Answer
I read somewhere, a few years ago, that more than half of all buyers of new Harleys were either total newbies or else coming back to riding after 20-30 years (raising a family no doubt). And at the time I wondered why total noobs would want such a dauntingly big, heavy bike.
Well then a friend of mine (a woman who rides) wanted to buy one, and she began asking me questions about them. I've been riding a long time but I had never ridden a Harley. So I suggested we rent one for a day and split the cost, and take turns switching between the Harley and her bike. I have to say I was just shocked at how easy the Harley was to ride, how easy to manage and 'well mannered' it was. This was a Heritage Softail, maybe the biggest bike Harley's ever made, a 700 lb beast.
Harleys are 'cruisers'. Cruisers have a lower center of gravity, and a lower seat, so they feel much lighter than they are. Now ALL motorcycles feel pretty light once you get up to about 10 mph. On the road, weight means stability. But big bikes are a little scary when you're holding them up at a stoplight, or parking them on a slight hill. The Harley was even easy to hold up and park.
Ten minutes on this bike taught me all about cruisers. They are not good-handling, high-performance, they are stable and easy to ride. They support a relaxed, laid-back riding style, which is a lot safer than 'pushing the envelope' on a crazy sportbike. They are comfortable and relaxing to ride. The Softail would make a great touring bike, at 85 mph it's like sitting in a flying easy chair and watching the scenery go by. And I say that not exactly being a Harley fan, or a cruiser fan.
BUT I would seriously not recommend you get one to learn to ride on. You're likely to be hard on your first bike. You will almost certainly drop it once or twice (at least), nothing serious, just losing your balance in a parking lot, stuff like that. And you will almost certainly abuse the clutch. Even a halfway decent USED Harley is like $10k.
I would recommend you start on a Japanese cruiser, a used one. Honda Shadow, Kawasaki Vulcan, Yamaha Star, Suzuki C50 or Boulevard. Something between 5 and10 years old, old enough to be depreciated but new enough that you can still get parts. Maybe with a few dings and bruises already so you won't feel so bad when you drop it. 750cc is a good size to start with for a cruiser, it feels light, its easy to park, but it will still cruise on the freeway all day without the wind blowing it around. Maybe $3000. If you buy carefully, you can sell this 'old beater' a year later for about what you paid for it. And -then- if you want a Harley go get one, and it will be the same but bigger and nicer.
You don't need professional training to ride a motorcycle. You learn by yourself, by riding. The MSF course (Motorcycle Safety Foundation, in the US, in other English-speaking countries they have something similar) only teaches you some very important safety habits to keep you safe while you learn on your own. It's probably a good idea. They supply the bike, you just show up, so a lot of people do it who are just considering getting a bike and want to see what it's like and if they can even do it.
If you've never ridden a bicycle, i would start on a bicycle, just to learn about balancing and steering. If you can drive a manual-shift car, learning a motorcycle will be easier because you understand how a clutch and gearshift work. But the controls are different, you clutch with your hand and shift with your foot, so you need to develop new 'muscle memories'.
Also leave room in your budget for a helmet, jacket, and gloves, at a minimum. The gloves and jacket are about abrasion resistance when you skid on the ground.
If you know anyone who rides, pepper him with questions. Bikers love to talk (and write) about motorcycling. It really is just as much fun as it looks. 8^)
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