Posted by J.D. on December 16, 2002 at 17:52:02:
Well, I busted my cherry yesterday. I laid the bike down for the first time. It was nothing spectacular - just got a little hamfisted when I was starting a turn and put too much power to the rear wheel. I laid it down low-side and sorta slid for a few feet. My feelings, in order of occurrence, were:
1) I'm laying on the ground
2) Holy SH*T!
3) I need to get up.
4) Ouch. Knee hurts.
5) This sucks.
6) No dangling limbs and no blood.
7) This sucks.
8) Is bike ok?
Fortunately (FORTUNATELY!) the left rider peg seems to have borne almost all of the damage. It's bent at about a 45 degree angle. Only other noticeable damage is a scratch on the fairing. Pretty lucky I guess.
At any rate, even though I can still operate the bike, I want to get a new peg - and I've been seeing all the different options that are out there. I understand what stock pegs are. I understand what forward controls are (these make me understand what it must be like for a women taking a gyno exam in those stirrups).
Can someone explain to me what "highway bars" are? Are they different from forward controls? Where are they positioned relative to our stock pegs and forward controls?
thanks,
-- J.D.
ps: For those of you who've taken the MSF Basic Rider Course recently, you'll find the circumstances of my wipeout kind of ironic. I went over to the parking lot where I had taken the class to practice my low-speed maneuvering in The Box - and I did it! multiple times! I did the pseudo-figure-8 without going outside the lines or putting my feet down! and I was so pleased with myself that i promptly f**d up leaving the parking lot!