Text 5740, 46 rader
Skriven 2010-03-08 16:00:20 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
   Kommentar till text 5718 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
Ärende: Motorcycles (was: Ordering things from the USA)
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Michiel van der Vlist wrote to Joe Delahaye on Monday March 08 2010 at 09:53:

JD>> My earliest recollection of a motorcycle is around 1948 I think.
JD>> Cobblestone road and rain. The speed must have been a little fast as
JD>> he slid. He was alive but bleeding from his ears.

Before I was born, my mother and my dad were driving on a highway near Wichita
Falls and came on a motorcycle accident. The police asked them to take the
injured rider to the hospital in W¡chita Falls, maybe 30-40 miles away. They
put him on the rear seat of the car and from what my mother told me, he
bloodied up things pretty badly.

At any rate, that was the reason I had a terrible time convincing my mother to
allow me to buy a motorized two-wheeler when I was a teenager and wanted one
something terrible. She just couldn't forget that bloody rider and saw me in
her mind's eye bleeding in a ditch at the side of the road.

In the end, I went out and bought a real junker ("Whizzer") for $20 and brought
it home (it wouldn't run before I'd completely overhauled it) without asking
anyone beforehand. I finally managed to convince my mother I'd be careful and
so on, but it was an uphill job.

I might note that it was by no means usual for people to wear motorcycle
helmets in those days (early to mid 1950s), and was certainly not legally
required. I never wore one in the States - but I also never rode anything but
what you'd call a "moped" here in Europe either, never a real motorcycle.

Cheers, Bob

P.S. I might add that I've had exactly two motorcycle accidents in my life. In
one case, it was winter and the streets were icy. I got on the cycle, started
out - and a few minutes later suddenly found myself sitting on the pavement
with the cycle 100 meters further on, the motor still running. I never found
out what exactly happened, and amazingly enough nothing hurt, but I was very
cautious after that.

The second time was in Heldelberg, where there were tram rails in the streets
and I had to cross them obliquely after a rainfall at night. Naturally the bike
slipped, I went over on the side and although I didn't break anything, I
thought my ankle was broken - it certainly did hurt. After a while, I got back
on the bike and went home very slowly and cautiously. After that, I never
trusted tram lines in streets again, and always made sure to cross them at
right angles and preferably only in dry weather.

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