My Memorial Weekend ride

[6doublefive321]

Well, I just got back from my Memorial Weekend ride. I put over 600 miles on the SM this weekend. I rode from North Atlanta to NM Tennessee and back, with lots of riding in between.

The good: the SM was surprisingly agreeable for the 200+ mile trek to my destination. The seat leaves a little to be desired, but that is easily fixed. The bike did great on the freeway at freeway speeds, and of course tore up the twisties when I got to hit them.

The bad: I did some riding with a less experienced buddy who owns a 600 Shadow. I led on the first stint, which contained a mountain climb, with several 1st gear switchbacks. I was much faster than my buddy, and wound up having to wait on him a couple of times.

The second stint, which travelled down the same mountain on another side, my buddy led. Well, less than 5 miles into it, he took a blind right hander, panicked, locked up the back brake, and then proceeded to travel down a 30 foot ravine. I was scared shitless, but held on, and parked my bike in a ditch and went to assist. Luckily, my friend only received some sore joints and lots of scratches. His bike fared ok also. The tank flew off and the windshield broke to pieces, but we got the tank back on and the bike fired. Since my buddy had a bum shoulder, it was now my task to get the 500 pound bike back up a 30 foot slope. After about an hour and a near heart attack, the bike was back on the road. Pics below. I think my buddy was riding over his head after our first stint, so I feel guilty for riding so fast. At the end of the day, however, all was well and it was definitely an adventure.

The curve



The result