Not to jump on ship, but I have an interesting story myself.
Back in 2004 when I purchased my first bike, yamaha FZR-600. My boy, who was a cousin of my closest friend, took me way out past bmore to pick it up. The same evening, i was so excited I told him to stop a mile from my house (Forbes Blvd @ MLK Jr. Hwy) so I could ride it home. Well just as we're getting it off the truck, it starts to rain. Mind you it's probably 40 degrees out...so being the smart and sensible guy I am, i ask him to help me get it back on the truck. This fool tells me NO, it's only a mile or less....ride it home and he'll be behind me.
I can't describe how scared I was, but I made it home safely. That was my first experience riding in the cold and rain, which happen to be my first time on a motorcycle (prior dirtbike riding). He woud pick me and the bike up on the weekends, take me up to PG Community College to practice in the parking lot. The first time I went down was in my neighborhood, and RIGHT after it happend........he screamed at me (tough love) and told me to pick up my bike.....all by my damn self!!!
Well not too long after, probably a few months, my buddy gets an RC-51 because he just HAD to ride with me. Probably around May, I get a call that he's getting up with some of his "Gunnrun" crew. At the time I happen to be riding with some guys I just met and he didnt like riding with folks he was unfamiliar with. So I agreed to meet him at our normal spot at 7pm. Well 7pm rolls around...no show, no call. 8pm rolls around....no call, no show. At about 8:15 I decide its getting late and i gotta get ready for work the next day.
So skip ahead to the next day, i get a phone call from by best friends mom looking for my boy (with bike). She said she gotta call from his uncle that he was in a bad motorcycle accident in largo and was pronounced dead at Bmore Shock Trauma. I explained to her that I had not seen or heard from him since the day before, nor was I able to reach him that day. I promised her that after work I would swing past his boys house and investigate.....in hind sight i see that she was in denial about the death because she called me and asked if I had talked to him. She knew that 90% of the time we were together riding.
Well after work i had over to largo, i was actually on my bike at the time and was a COMPLETE WRECK!!!!! The ride from work in Springfield, VA to largo was the worst i had ever had!!! So i get to the house, and the guys were not there, but the father answers the door. I didnt want to bring any uneccesary drama to their household so I leave a message with the father to ask one of them to call me. Well as I'm gearing back up (yes, as a newbie i actually wore gear!!!) the father comes out the house over to me, and tells me to "Be careful, because we had an accident around here lastnight. One of my sons friends". So I ask if he knew the name, I almost didnt want to hear his response......unfortunately it was my friend.
My best friend had actually went MIA when he heard the news. So not only did I have to tell HIS mom that her nephew had died, I also had to tell her that I have been unable to reach her son. He had just turned his phone off.
To make a long story short, after the accident his ENTIRE family was concerned about me still riding. I was close to his family like my own, and they were genuinely concerned about me. Sad thing is, I couldn't figure out an easy way to tell them that I would CONTINUE to ride, because I know HE would want that. After he passed, i rode SOLO. I would ride from Lanham to Brandywine, MD to ride all by myself. That's where he would take me when we were out riding.......he always told me, "you gotta learn to lean".
I think about that first time I crashed in my neighborhood, and he told me to GO GET MY BIKE!!! He then asked me WHAT I DID to cause the wreck. I was lucky enough to learn something from that crash. It's called RIDER ERROR.
The day my boy died, he was riding out of his mix. Motorcycles + high speed + alcohol + exhaustion = BAD......point blank period.
If it's my day it's my day, but there are things that are avoidable.
Everyday, month, year that I RIDE and become a BETTER rider, I know he's up there rooting for me.
When people ask me....."how do you ride those croch rockets". I tell 'em.....
I don't fear my motorcycle.......I FEAR MYSELF!!!!