A Chain of Unfortunate Coincidence
My poor Kawasaki W650, tied down to the ambulance on its way to Bestline Powersports for surgery. Many thanks to my friend Dave for driving the bus.
How awful it is to be saddled with an aging man as a riding partner. A guy who can strike a blow to the motorcycle twice in a week. The first a careless drop onto the driveway. And now something worse and more expensive to fix. It’s obvious that there are a few lessons to be learned.
The day started at 6 AM so there was time to ready myself and the motorcycle for a long ride to breakfast. I was trying to speed things up before departure by multitasking. I was never good at it, worse now, but still I forge ahead and start all the plates spinning. It’s never good to feel rushed by the clock. Decision making becomes muddy and choices questionable.
I push the bike out to the driveway and then get the dogs breakfast. Everything is beginning to hum. I attach the battery operated air pump to the front tire and then move it to the back while I rush inside to put on my riding boots. I pull the choke on the bike and start it up, letting it warm while I put on my Merlin jacket. Back inside to make sure the dogs have water and the windows and doors are closed and locked. Back to the bike, push the choke in and listen to the engine purr. Pull the front door shut, put on my helmet and gloves and am ready to go. I’ll be on time. Barely. But I have beaten the clock.
I’m thrilled at the ride to come as I back the bike towards the street. And suddenly I feel a pressure. “Is the chain jammed?” I think. And suddenly it’s free. Strange but I’m late as I continue backing up. I’m not sure what came first, the recognition in my brain of what I did or the lump in the pit of my stomach.
Do you know what I did???
A $200 Opportunity for Personal Growth
If you thought I backed up with the inflator still attached you we right. A bike weighing nearly 450 pounds has some power in a fight between a tire valve and the bike. It didn’t take much to rip the valve right out of the tube and immediately end any hopes of riding the W650. I was going to be late now meeting Paul so I pushed the bike back into the garage and rolled out the Himalayan. Not the best pairing with a Harley but I don’t think Paul would mind.
Honestly, this little unfortunate incident had me kicking myself for the first 25 miles. How could I be so careless? The lesson is clear now. I can’t multitask without risking missing something. Normally when I check the tires I just check the tires, add air, and stay focused on that task until it is complete. Just last week I put a roll in the oven to heat for a few minutes. Instead of just waiting I went out to give the dogs water. An hour later I remembered the roll which was now a hard, black rock in the oven.
My lesson is to do one thing at a time. Stay in the moment and the task at hand. And to reinforce the lesson I had to inconvenience a friend to get the bike to the shop, hope they have a new tube, and pay $181 for the fix. The additional $19 paid for a UBER to pick up the motorcycle.
The Illusion of Control
Trying to control everything to get what I want more often leads to frustration and anger than it does to serenity and peace. My expectations of how a day should go are ok to have but not if I keep them in a vice grip. Life changes constantly and I need to as well. There is an illusion that I can control things but reality rears its head over and over again reminding me that I don’t. Seems there are lessons remaining for me to learn.
After I picked up the W650 I rode to breakfast alone. Satisfied that everything was ok, that I’m ok, and that whatever happens is ok as well. I may not always like the way a day turns, but there’s no profit in fighting reality in order to control it. There are so many metaphors for surrendering to the flow of life. Rivers, reeds bending in the wind, might oaks swaying in a storm. I need to remain flexible so when I make a boneheaded move I don’t allow it to destroy the day or my peace of mind.
A friend often suggests to me that problem that can be solved with money isn’t really a problem. I’ve been chewing on that.
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Which is why I check air pressures the day before I go anywhere. Haste makes fool of us all.
I will follow your lead and check the tires the day before a ride. No need to rush or multi-task!
Steve, Sorry that the W650 gave you so much trouble that day. Had you let me know that the bike was ready to pick up, I would have gladly given you a ride.
That trailer is not nearly as easy to load as it was 30 years ago, so modifications are in progress. The suspension has been shortened by 3 inches, and the rail will soon be attached flat to the frame. The tail end of the rail has been cut so an 8 foot aluminum ramp can be attached to load the bike. Should you ever need it again, us old guys won’t find it so difficult to load.
I bothered you enough with getting the trailer and hauling my misdeed to the shop. I appreciate the ride offer though.
It’s surprising how heavy things are beginning to feel. No way could I load the bike by myself. The two of us struggled to push it up that steep incline. I’m just glad we were able to load the bike without it falling over before we strapped it down.
Hopefully there won’t be any trailering needs in the near future but it is nice to know I can call you when there is!
Steve, I always read your reflections on the road with a quiet ache and a smile of recognition. There’s a rare beauty in how you face the passage of time on two wheels, but I wanted to offer a perspective that might give you some comfort:
Please don’t feel that choosing a lighter machine is a sign of time catching up with you, or any kind of concession to age. I am 43 years old, and when I chose my ride, lightness and agility were intentional decisions. Not because of any current physical limitation, but as a conscious choice for both my present and my future. I want riding to remain a simple, effortless act of pure freedom—free from the tyranny of weight, free from unnecessary strain when maneuvering in a garage or through traffic, and without the machine ever getting between me and the landscape.
Lightness isn’t a surrender; it’s a form of wisdom we choose. Seeing you continue out on the road with such elegance and sharp observation only confirms that I made the right choice for my own journey.
Warm regards from Portugal.
Thank you Daniel for your description of lightness as it relates to riding a scooter or motorcycle. I agree completely with the idea that my downsizing is a conscious choice based on my needs today. I want to be free of the tyranny of a heavy machine. The fact that a machine feels heavier may be a result of me getting older but my decision to change and adapt are made to maintain the freedom I feel while riding.
“Lightness isn’t a surrender; it’s a form of wisdom we choose.”
That’s a clear, simple statement but a challenge to embrace at times in the noise of our minds. I pray I continue to be wise enough to make choices that enhance my life on the road and don’t just leave me grudgingly resentful that I’m getting old.
Thanks again for the reminders.
Steve, I am now struggling with some of the same issues you are in regard to not only multitasking, but I find if my mind drifts just a bit from the task at hand, I will screw something up. This applies to everything I am doing now, be it cooking, cleaning, housework, yard work, vehicles, errands, etc. It even happens when I just leave the house for the day. Did I bring my keys? Wallet? Wife?
So now, as I walk out the door, I should probably look down to be sure I actually put my pants on.
It didn’t used to be this way for me. Yes, things are always changing. Not necessarily for the better.
I spent most of my life with a strong memory. I didn’t need to write things down or strain to recall a list of things in my head. It was always just right there as I needed. I’ve never been good with names though but would never forget a face. I see that strength fading a bit, particularly when I see someone out of context.
So I now make more lists so I don’t forget the tasks I have to embrace in a day. It’s too easy to forget the simplest things. I’ll go to the store for milk and return home with everything but the milk. It can be a little maddening. And most of the time it’s because I’m juggling too many things in my head, or trying to.
Yes, it never used to be this way. But now it is. I have to adapt. There have been a lot of reasons over the years why I have continued to blog about my rides and such. One of them now is that writing is great exercise for my mind. Who knows, he may improve my memory at the same time…
Yup. That’s the way it goes now. Just yesterday I ruined a perfectly good pot of coffee by getting distracted by the line of cars behind a school bus, thinking they were all parked along the curb and wondering why. By the time I remembered I hadn’t released the valve to drip the coffee out, it was too late! Glitches in the brain synapses become all too common. God, I love that Kawasaki! Glad it wasn’t too badly injured – both times!
Isn’t it amazing how something seemingly important just vanishes from the mind.
The W650 is in great shape. I’ll have some time soon to sit down with the chrome polish and a diaper and make it even prettier.
Yep, I too have learned, the hard way as usual, to do only one task at a time moving on only when it is complete.
This was Dom
Hopefully I fixed things.
Yeah, seems like that’s the new way.