heathervescent

Lane splitting the Big Rigs

It's the Bay Area, 2003, I'm riding my second bike, a Honda Nighthawk, 750 ccs on 880, 280, across the Bay Bridge. I was trying to kill myself. My life meant nothing to me. I was at the edge. I had been pushed to the edge. 

A particularily rough commute. A very slow merge, car commuters, big rigs, and me, a suicidal lane splitter. I had years of lane splitting, but I always respected the big rigs, gave them room, dared not engage with them. Not that day. I zipped at reckless speeds between the hulking, slow moving transporters, one on each side, sometimes just one between the long line of cars.

The thrill I got, a tiny fly, weaving in the space between, could be smashed at any time. I still respected those big rigs, but I was a different animal. I was fast, nimble, efficient on a different scale. I used the space those big rigs couldn't. Audacious. Zoom, zoom.

This memory recently asserted itself. And while I haven't lane split on a motorycle in many years, I still identify with that past self. I'm still metaphorically lane splitting the big rigs.

An Older Lover

I've always dreamed of my classic car. Old style - been around the block and still purring. Well, I got my wish come true today when a 1973 Moto Guzzi Eldorado pulled into my driveway. It's not in pristine state - but it's running well and looks fine for being 35!

I'm looking forward to outfitting myself in brand new gear and being back out in the environment.

RIP Craig Hightower

I just found out that one of my influential motorcycle heros was killed last week. Craig Hightower was killed in Oakland commuting to work.

Craig ran the awesome site: Backroads Boogie. 

I've always said riding a motorcycle is like dancing.  Toss in a twisty road or ten and you really start to boogie!  Thus the Backroads Boogie is primarily about me riding motorcycles around the wonderful paved and not so paved roads of the world.

His mother writes

Dear Friends of Craig,
Your kind and wonderful words about our very special son are much appreciated. He was our only child, so that makes it even harder to lose him. While we cry and reminisce, Max and I feel fortunate that we had such a wonderful son and very special human being with us for 46 years, short as that time has been. He told us many times, that life wasn’t worth living if it wasn’t on the edge. It is ironic, that he did so many things that were on the edge, and that his life ended in this way…going to work, doing what he always did on a Tuesday morning.
There will be no funeral, but we want to celebrate his life in some way. Perhaps in October we can have a gathering for friends and relatives. We will ask his friends to help us organize it and to announce the gathering when it occurs.
Sincerely,
Irene and Max Hightower

Craig taught me all my basic motorcycle maintenance - complete with a great smile, lots of energy and all the tools and know-how I would ever need. He opened his garage to me. He was one of the friendliest guys I have ever met. Down to earth, heart of gold, a true friend with no strings attached. I haven't been involved with Motogirlies for a long time - and I've since sold my bike here in LA - so I'm a far cry from the motochick I used to be - but craig was always a star in my book. I've always remembered your stories of motorcycling to awesome hot springs - death valley and twisties up in Marin - especially on the way to Tomales Bakery.

xx Craig. I'll burn some rubber on the road for you, and breathe deep the open crisp air of adventure.

Lady Knight Loaded Up

Goodbye. We had some seriously good times together.

Gone in 6 hours

It's been a sad state for Lady Night (my nighthawk 750) the past year. I honestly haven't spent much time with her. Then I brought her over to Sam's place and thought I'd get to sprucing her up and then start riding again. But that never happened. I just looked at her every time I went outside and felt bad that I wasn't paying her any attention.

Then my plan was to clean her up and sell her. Hell, I wasn't getting any use out of her, so someone else should. So I finally decided I would post it to Craigslist. First attempt was foiled due to my system crashes. A few days later I was like, I am finally going to do this so I can check it off my GTD project list. Honestly, I just wanted the project closed. The recurring reminder took up valuable head space that I could be using for something else.

So I posted it yesterday and then promptly left the house for an appointment. Several hours later, when I returned to my computer the messages were pouring in. Wow, I really didn't expect to get such a response. I had plans for the night, and so pushed off everyone until tomorrow (today). But one guy wanted to drive up and look at it, even though I wasn't here. I was like, OK. Fine.

I got a late start to the evening and was walking out just as he was arriving. And after conversing and talking about the bike, he bought it, then and there. Just like that.

It was gone in 6 hours. And had been on my project list for more than a year. It just goes to show me, that with a little effort, a project that has been put off for a year, can be completed in a relative instant.

motivations

My best friend can harass me for months and I do nothing, yet the boyfriend makes one comment yesterday and I am provoked to act. Lady Knight has lain sleeping below my bedroom for months. From the first day she came to the future back in February. Until today.

I charged her dead battery and choked life out of her pipes. She coughed and sputtered and yet came alive. I gassed her up, filled her tires and then we kissed the wind. I accelerated stupidly. I leaned through the turns. Left foot remembering the clutch shift like a familiar kiss. Long, sweet, with just enough friction. My rubber on the pavement. Boots, tires. Leather twisting open the throttle.

I'm glad to have her back.

reasons to wear a full face helmet

A friend's brother had a devastating motorcycle accident last week. I post her words here to remind us all to wear a full face helmet. And for those of you who are not motorcyclists, please watch out for us. Most of our accidents happen because you don't see us.

Since my brother Colin's motorcycle accident, I have become an outspoken advocate for full-face helmets. At the time of his crash, he was wearing a helmet that looks like a WWII German motorcycle helmet replica. 

Though it looked cool (to him), the consequences were devastating.  He broke EVERY bone in his face.  This included shattering both cheek (zygomatic) bones, breaking the occipital bones, shattering his nasal bone, fracturing his hard palate (I think this is the maxilla bone) and the frontal bone (part of skull above the eyes).  He broke his jaw (mandible) in two places (the front and on the right side where it attaches to the skull).  The mandible pierced the protective sac around the brain.  As well, he burst a blood vessel in his head and has a hematoma under the skull near his right temple.

Officer Rand of the Seattle Police Department returned the helmet to my brother at the hospital.  It didn't have a scratch on it.  Well, not until I took a chain saw to it....haha.

- Sarah

died following his dream

Simon Milward and his Millennium Ride ended March 4th.

"On 1.1.2000 I left Western Europe to ride my handmade motorcycle around the world on a humanitarian mission. To date I have ridden 194,000km through 58 countries in Europe, the Middle East, South and East Asia, Australia, the Americas and Africa. Uganda is in the middle of Africa, I am heading West and North to Morocco from November 2004, from where I’ll cross to Spain, visit all of Europe and a part of the Middle East before arriving back to the UK around October 2005."

my next bike

along with everything else I am doing, I've decided I need a new bike and set my eye on the Honda 919. What do ya'll think of it?

Here's a picture of the baby:

heated grips and firefly in the jungle

It's been freezing down here in the LA area. The north wind has set in to clear things up and cause a ruddiness to my cheeks. It's getting dark earlier as well, which bring the temperature down. Who would have thought I would be screaming for heated grips on my commute - but yesterday I was.

It didn't matter that the views were fantastic. It didn't matter that I was mixing up my routine by taking what I hoped was the 280 of the Valley (it wasn't). It didn't matter that I was finally going to be able to see the inside of a house I fell in love with. Nope. "It was my freaking freezing fingers.", "These aren't three season gloves!" and explicatives. I took the cold out by riding faster and lane splitting more.

That typed, it was a gorgeous drive up to Moorpark through Simi Valley, along the San Gabriels as the sky streaked blue and pink, then shot onto the 5, industrial wasteland. At one moment, I felt completely and utterly insignificant. The sky was black and the hills alternately a-twinkle of lights and darkness. I saw streams of red and white. I saw myself reflected in the yellow glow from my side lights. The yellow of my helmet. I was about to get onto the 110 from the 5 S. I saw myself as a tiny light, a mere motorcycle in the maws of the LA freeway system. I was not scared. I was so insignificant. Insignificant to those SUVs, those big rig trucks I so love to lane split, insignificant even to the sedans. I was a mere single light, a firefly in the jungle.

Motorcycle Madness

I've been spending a lot of time with Lady Knight recently. Mototravelogue is coming up, but as a preview, check out these photos and movies from my recent adventures. Heather's Motogirlies Cabin Run Photos. Paula's Cabin Run Photos. Jurij took these movies of motorcycling in the Santa Monica mountains. This one (Shannon, Wendy and I at the Rock Shop) and this one (motorcycle's eye view - I'm three up from the camera man) are the best.

heading a north

I'm about to load up, lube the chain and and mount. Lady Knight and I are heading north to meet up with burners, motogirlies and a special friend. It's a lot to pack into a short jaunt, but it's what I'm doing. I'm excited to get my custom leather suit started by Helmut at Helimot's in San Jose.

Well, gotta load on up. Type at ya later.