Subject: High speed run (first Guzzi story)
Author: David Washburn
Date: Feb 9, 2005, 3:18 PM
Post ID: 1718363407
My first bike was a '72 Eldo bought sight unseen from Curtis Harper. I
picked it up at the Finger Lakes Rally and rode it home with the red
haired rocker chick running chase in my Dad's Fleetwood Brougham. My
bike license was brand new but I figured some easy highway miles would
be a good way to get some practice on two wheels.
My trip from the rally site was uneventful and I reached Rt. 17 South
and really began enjoying my ride. Rt. 17 is a National Scenic road
with two lanes in each direction. It is a river road with gentle bends
and lovely views. After twenty minutes or so I developed an interest in
the Veglia speedometer that topped out at 160 MPH. With a clear road
ahead I took a quick look back at the RHRC and she made a shooing motion
that seemed to indicate "Go for it!"
I slowly rolled on the throttle and the big bike gained momentum in a
slow rumble totally unlike the buzzy Japanese twins I learned to ride
on. The scenery began to rush by as I shifted up. I leaned into the
wind which howled past my borrowed helmet and took a quick look at the
Veglia -- 85mph!!!
I peeked into the mirror to see how far back my chase vehicle was and
saw the Fleetwood keeping pace nicely. I looked at the gauges again and
saw 90 mph.
At that point a heard the howling of a Police siren and a State Trooper
charged past me like I was tied to a tree. I expected him to pull me
over for numerous breaches of the peace but the big Crown Vic just
disappeared into the distance without slowing. I was scared witless and
headed to the next scenic overlook to pull myself together.
The RHRC popped out of the car while I pulled off my helmet and asked if
the bike was running O.K. I told her that the cop had scared me and
asked her how fast we were going according to the Caddy's speedo. She
said that I had gotten it up to 55 before the cop went by and that
before that I had been going around 45 and she was thinking of putting
the flashers on so the Caddy didn't get rear-ended.
We figured out that the MPH speedo was really a KPH speedo and I would
have to do an indicated 120 if we were going to get to NYC before dark.
It's not how fast you are going, it's how fast you think you are going.
DW