Suzy totaled

[dorkburger]

One doesnt need to take a hiatus from riding to lose skill / confidence. I've been riding continuously for 20 plus years, but the last 10 have seen drastically reduced seat time.

About 3 years ago I noticed that I was a mess while cornering, even at moderate speeds.
I called myself out on it, and made a thread about ( it was in OT and since deleted) it here and got some great advice.
I ended up doing a lot of low speed turning practice in various traffic free locations.

Seems that as a result of my nerves i was tensing up and not letting the bike do, or telling the bike what it needed to do.
It was a real eye opener.

 

[Guest]

Constructive self-criticism is good.

My first 500 miles or so, I was tensing up, a lot. It didn't help that my 1997 crash was caused by very heavy traffic + 1 idiot, and ABQ traffic often being very heavy, with lots of idiots.

 

[1_v8_merc]

Learn to trust that feeling, it's saved my ass more times than I can count. I can't explain it, but it's just a Thought or alarm that goes off in my head....something around this corner isn't right, even though I can't See or Hear anything. Sure enough, there's someone broken down in the middle of the road, or a deer standing there. I've learned to open my senses, trust my instinct and most importantly...run quick scenarios threw your head as you ride, and keep your eyes moving and Mind Moving, because whatever Can go wrong, Will! Everything is out there to Kill your ass, so be aware.

 

[wind jammer]

Twisted

Twisted

Well finally feel better afte 3 weeks of physical therapy. I started pulling Suzy apart, removed remains of the windjammer. Then pulled the front wheel which was a fight because the front axle bolt was twisted like a pretzel and had to be cut in half. Triple tree seems to be good but found a complete set of forks with a triple tree and axle bolt. Pulled exhaust as it is destroyed. I have found a good used set with 2 center and left side pipe so looking for good right side. I thought the frame was salvageable but the steering has a 9 degree twist in it and left side of frame is about half in shorter than right side. So I will be sending a message to gsrick about his frame. Anybody else have a clean frame with a clear title and a right side exhaust. As much as I would like to keep my frame I don't have a grand to put into it. I have a limited budget as I am on disability and still waiting for bills for FR ride to ER and the bill from Shands for ER visit. I think it will take several months to gather parts and put her back together. Thanks all for the kind words.