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I'm not really into preaching to people but an experience today made me face a few things that I tend to avoid thinking about.
My dad and I went out for a ride today. The theme was "Holy shit it's cold" we started it was about 29 degrees and it dropped a bit on the way. Anyways on the way home there is a bar we stop at. We sat, thawed, and talked for a while (long enough for the tires to get cold again). When we were leaving, I was following the right turn out of the lot and BAM he went down in an instant, sparks flew and he slid into opposite lane. I gotta tell you this was one of the most terrifying moments of my life, to see a family member, a loved one fall like that. Luckily traffic stopped (and then people started driving around, assholes) I park my bike and run over to him. He is ok, thank goodness. I help him pick up his R1 and we sit on the side of the road for a few minutes, minimal damage to bike, the passenger peg was broken hence the sparks, but the frame slider saved the day again. The front upper fairing is cracked bad but he just so happens to have a spare lying around, lucky. I think maybe he gave too much gas on frozen tires, the back just came out from underneath. We rode home very slowly.
Moral of the story? In the past, What has kept me from speeding and acting like a dumbfuck (too much) on my motorcycle has been the possibility of destroying little Timmy and Suzy in some minivan along with the possibility of hurting myself and my bike. Today the anguish i would inflict on my family has taken the 2nd seat. Just make sure you consider the consequences of your actions.