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Humility and Patience
Okay, so it's not everyday that you get to learn a lesson in humility and patience, but boy did I get one yesterday.
So I ride the bike into work, since I'm planning on driving it up to the dealer to have them put new tires on, and take a look at some engine noises. Come out at closing time, and find that I've left the keys in the bike, and the battery is deader than JFK.
Just as I'm noticing this, one of my co-workers walks by and says "Happy Biking". I smile and nod. After verify that the bike is in fact DEAD, I quickly run him down.
"Excuse me, could you give me a jump?" Sure he says. I take off the seat, and we quickly get the bike working. I give it a minute or two to warm up, and then head off. Just outside the parking lot, it dies!
AAArrrgghhh!!! Anyway, I turn it around, and start pushing it back. Just as I'm coming up the driveway, I see my one of my teammates on his way out. He and I had just had a little tiff because he's always trying to pick my brains, even for the smallest of things. I REALLY don't want to ask him for help, but I'm in a tight spot, so I say "Can you give me a jump?" "No, don't have any cables" was his only reply.
Darn! I swallowed my pride, and still didn't get anything. I finished pushing the bike up the driveway, parked it. A couple more people come out, and I approach them in turn.
Now to really get a good picture of this, you have to understand a few things. First, I just started the job, and I've only been there a few months, so nobody really knows me. Second, I'm in full biker regalia, biker boots, black jeans, black mesh jacket, and a full face helmet (under one arm). I DO have a red polo shirt on, but that's under the jacket. Third, the place I work is a VERY conservative company where most of the employees have been there for 20-30 years, and are about to retire. So, I'm not surprised that I get blown off a couple of times.
Third guy who comes out gives me the same answer, "Sorry, no cables". I'm about to let him go too when he says "How close do you live?" Well, I'm about 10 minutes from work, so he offers to drive me home to get some cables. We do this, while I spend most of the trip sucking up, explaining I'm NOT a big bad biker, I just play one on the weekends, and learning a bit about him. We get the cables, jump the bike, I shake his hand, thank him profusely, and he takes off.
I leave it running for about 5 minutes this time, and then just as I'm taking off the choke, it dies again! (Like I said, engine needs some work) Anyway, I shout "Sh!t" at the top of my lungs, and start looking around for somebody else to beg a jump from. Luckily for me, he must have kept an eye on me or something, because he turns around, and offers to give me a second jump.
I gladly accept, and we jump the bike again. I look at him and say "I'm really being taught patience today", to which he smiles and nods, a really nice guy. "I'm going to wait about 10 minutes this time". Once again, I shake his hand, thank him, and he leaves. I wait about 5-6 minutes, back the bike out, cut the choke, and it dies again! AAAGHHHH!!!!! Unfortunately, he didn't come back, and the parking lot was getting empty.
About a minute or two later a couple of really nicely dress suits come out. I'm desperate, so I approach these guys. At first they declined, but when they learned I had the cables, agreed. We hook the bike up to their rental car, and about 5 secs later get a huge short as the handles of the jumper cables cross!
Thinking quickly they cut the engine. By this time the jumper cables are in bad shape. They've lost a lot of insulation on the handles, they're hot as hell, and they're severly bent on side that arced. Never the less we wire it up again, and this time jump the bike with no problems.
Once again, I wait about 10 minutes before attempting to use the bike. This time I DON'T kill the choke until the bike is in motion, and after that I had sure to hold the throttle a little bit more open than normal. I go out the other entrance to make sure I don't have to stop.
Everything's going well, and the entrance to the highway is in sight when what happens? The bike dies again! Sweet mother of Jesus! I'm just about to give up, when I remember some old biker lore about push starts. Just before it runs out of speed, I switch to second gear, and ease out the clutch...... it starts!
I finally make it to the highway, and drive for about 30 minutes to the garage where my friend is patiently waiting to take me home again. Boy, what an ordeal! Sure glad it's over, hopefully the garage will be able to fix the engine problems while they're replacing the tires.
Things learned:
1) Not everybody's afraid of bikers
2) Some people can be very very nice
3) Always carry jumper cables (have these in the car, not for the bike yet. Hey, it's only been a couple of months, I'm still working on it.)
4) Be patient when warming up the engine
5) The push start really works!
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Originally Posted by herk
