Young GIs, Cash and Fast Motorcycles

[Hellgate]

At drill last month as I was gearing up on Sunday afternoon I was talking to a young Sergeant E5 who was gearing up to ride home. He had a new Honda CBR600, the one with the flat black paint. I asked him how he liked it. He said it was his first bike and only had 300 miles on it. Next to it was a new R6 with a bit of raod rash on the fairing. He said that bike belong to a friend of his and she had never ridden on the interstate so he rode with her to drill. I was thinking to myself that this was an accident waiting to happen. Fast forward one month. After first formation I hear on of the Platoon Sergeant say, "Hey roadrash, how ya doin'?" Right there I knew it had to be the SGT I met the month prior. So I asked him if he went down. Sheepishly he says, "Yeah..." What happened? He said as they were riding home last month his friend signaled that she needed fuel. He signals to exit. As they are exiting the highway he doesn't slow dwon enough, realizes he can't make the turn, decides to "hop" the curb and ride it out on the grass. He makes it to the grass okay, see a bar-ditch with a drainage colvert. He decides to low side and then proceeds to go ass over tea kettle. The body work is shot and he ended up tearing the legiments in his right ankle. 4 weeks later he is still limping around and could just get a boot over his foot today. I just rolled my eyes. Granted he would have done the same thing on a mo-ped, but is amazes me that a brand new rider with enough cash can buy a race bike.

Land of the free and home of the brave...with freedom comes the impled task of responsibility.

Oh well....I'm just glad he wasn't hurt worse.

[Nelly]

Lucky guy,

You must pay your SGT very well indeed. Is he going to fix it and carry on?

[reiobard]

good to know there are people like you protecting our country that take the time to prepare and think things through.

[grommit]

At least both he and she are okish.

A bike is not like a car, it is easy to drive a car fast but a bike needs experience and work to understand it. Riding with somebody is also another skill to be learnt.

[Hellgate]

Originally Posted by perryn

Lucky guy,

You must pay your SGT very well indeed. Is he going to fix it and carry on?

Well he had been in Iraq for 15 months with nothing to spend his money on so he bought the bike when he got back. He a really nice kid I just hope that he takes the time to learn to ride safely.

There was a story in the Killeen local paper about the retail booms that occur when a unit returns from deployment. Many of the kids will have $20k to $40K saved up and blow all their money once they get back.

I had one Soldier who came home with $53,000 in his bank account, he saved every penny. Now he is using his monye to go to school. Needless to say he is very smart about it.

He is going to get the bike repaired, the problem they are having is getting the special body work to make the repairs.

[wrightme43]

Ask him if he would be interested in practicing with you. More experinced riders would be well served to mentor to newer riders. Tell him about the books and drills to become a more able rider. I am very lucky to of met experinced riders on the internet when I was first learning to ride that took the time to point out how I could improve.
Tell him the story of the bags.
One is full of luck, one is empty called experince.
Fill up the experince bag, before you empty the luck bag.
IF he agrees to practice with you, you will benifit more from it than he does.
Just my thoughts on the matter.
Steve

[Hellgate]

Originally Posted by wrightme43

Ask him if he would be interested in practicing with you. More experinced riders would be well served to mentor to newer riders. Tell him about the books and drills to become a more able rider. I am very lucky to of met experinced riders on the internet when I was first learning to ride that took the time to point out how I could improve.
Tell him the story of the bags.
One is full of luck, one is empty called experince.
Fill up the experince bag, before you empty the luck bag.
IF he agrees to practice with you, you will benifit more from it than he does.
Just my thoughts on the matter.
Steve

Steve - Great idea! Thank you. He probably won't get the bike back for another month or two, however he lives about 75 miles away. I'll at least get him a book tonight for some reading as he heals.

[Hellgate]

Originally Posted by wrightme43

Ask him if he would be interested in practicing with you. More experinced riders would be well served to mentor to newer riders. Tell him about the books and drills to become a more able rider. I am very lucky to of met experinced riders on the internet when I was first learning to ride that took the time to point out how I could improve.
Tell him the story of the bags.
One is full of luck, one is empty called experince.
Fill up the experince bag, before you empty the luck bag.
IF he agrees to practice with you, you will benifit more from it than he does.
Just my thoughts on the matter.
Steve

I gave my NCO a book called, "Ride Hard, Ride Safe". It covers the basics and finished with sport riding. It looks very good, lots of detail and photos. He was very grateful and had a chance to look at it a bit this drill. I told him we could go ridding and I'd be glad to help coach him. Hopefully we can get a few rides in.

[madmanmaigret]

One team, one fight, Top! keep that guy up on the rubber side so my brother medics don't have to spend their time fixin him up!

[armystrong]

Good post. I'm not a young soldier anymore (I'm an older one), but I've seen this scenario play out again and again. When I got back from Iraq I had the strong urge to buy a bike and just jump on it. I didnt. I took the safety course and eased my way into riding. I'm enjoying it so far and I continue to warn the younger soldiers in my unit to take things slow. A buddy of mine is urging me onto the highway...but I'm taking it at my own pace. Thanks for posting.