nath981

+1.....I often ponder the same thing. Here's an example of the dumbass **** we pulled.

circa 1967, 3am...... a friend hospitalized after he wrecked his bike, rang the nurse buzzer on us when we pushed him, still in his bed, along with his attached IV bottle on wheels, out into the hall. Three of us, sufficiently drunked and drugged, rode to the hospitial, after last call of course, aboard my cafe'd 62 Norton with a very specific mission in mind.......... to bust our fallen buddy out of the hospital. One on the tank, me with arms around him on the controls, and the other hangin off the back for five miles. Now there's a well thought out plan for ya, haha.

I drug my shoulder along the hospital wall just to stay upright enroute to his room, and then we all scattered leaving him, his rolling bed and IV bottle in the hall when this panicked nurse came running down the hall screamin at us.

The next thing i remember was when the security guard woke me...... passed out on the sidewalk next to my Norton waitin for the other perpetrators to find their way back. He asked if i had seen anyone running around? "no" and he left. haha

Them there was the good ole days, as long as you're still here to remember I guess and typical of some of our other intoxified escapades. How do you survive this kind of stupid **** I don't know.

twist

+1 it got to be very annoying. cops knew my bike and would pull me over every time I rode through town.

Falling down at stop lights because I was topped off and would forget to deploy the feet.

I shiver at the thought today.

smokinjoe73

Twist, I assume "topped off" is code for "drunk"?

7moore7

**** you two, I feel ill at ease if I don't brush my teeth... Couldn't even imagine riding in the condition where you forget to put your feet down...

nath981

Not putting your feet down is easy to do and a common error when you're barely able to walk let alone ride. Happened alot. One night we were leaving State College(PSU) after last call, friend next to me, first week on a bike, brand new Ducati, wheelied across the street veering to the right, froze up, and went right into an enclosed stairway goin up to the second floor. Talk about sobering up quick.

Scraped him up, got the bike running, and took off on the hour ride home. Foggy as hell in this one section and i was nodding off, that is until my head came within a foot of a deer's head. He was standing on the berm where i was riding. Wide awake now for the second time and to this day i can still see that head and it still scares me.

what's really bad was these altered states' rides were frequent enough that i could write a book because most of the riding we did was interwined with partying. It was a marriage of sorts. Never a helmet, a glove or any other protective apparrel, only sunglasses, alcohol, drugs and smoke. It was just the norm for the 60 and 70s ,esp for the crazy bastards i hung with.

nath981

Well I'm not quite that strict , but def a smart policy not to ride impaired. I prefer not to party and ride also, because ridings enough of a rush in itself.....but occasionaly it occurs and i try to keep it short and sedate. At least now i always have my gear anyway. We must be getting old huh. Ha

Three times I can think of that ended badly when I was badgered into taking someone for a ride impaired. The others we were just flat lucky cause like I said earlier, common to party and ride in the day. Think you would have learned after the first crash. Noooooo....Fortunately no one injured badly, road rash and minor scrapes. Just think how stupid that sounds though, a drunk cajoling another drunk to take him for a ride.......excellent example of dumb and dumber.

Yes indeed. One of my daughter's friends, wee hours of a summer morning, plenty of beer, whiskey and other unmentionables. This persistent bastard kept after me just long enough for me to concede. Fired up my recently purchased leftover '88' 1000 Hurricane and within five minutes we were sliding thru a large grassy yard on a sharp left hander that appeared a little too quickly. No brakes, just leaned too far and low-sided. Didn't know nothing about cold tires back then if that would have helped any i don't know. haha.

Anyway, narrowly missed the telephone pole at the edge of the road and that adrenalized us up rather quickly......I mean right now we were sober. Amazing for those of us who have experienced this phenomenon. Quite diff results here though: he was now apologetic, scared and wanted to go home; I was pissed that he made me crash my new bike. **** home......gathered the bike up and took him for a ride he never forgot. Now I'm sure he will never make that mistake again. Me, I'm trying and doing ok so far. ha

smokinjoe73

It seems there is a common gene that pushes us to do risky then stupid things. Like if you are willing to ride you are also willing to pary down. You are a rebel right?

I spent my 20s & 30s as a NYC club guy (working in bars & clubs) and somehow making it home on 2 wheels.

Not willing to embelish the stories since its really nothing to bo proud of. Only being very skilled and coordinated and God's hand kept me alive til now.

If you look back on all those crazy things that we "went through", you usually find that if you remove drinking, none of any of it would've happened. (most dont do drugs without a drink first).

So sadly, they all turn into derelect wastoid stories that then have a bike in them. Not remembering how you woke up where you did is really the story of a drunk.

I know this sound harsh but try to picture the stories without substance abuse and they kind of arent there.

Just a view from the other side.

twist

I'm not sure of what angel was looking out for me but I am grateful. These days I am very strict with riding, I won't even go across town without boots, gloves, jacket and helmet. No rider without boots that cover the ankles and gloves. Even in the heat. I cannot fathom riding in shorts, sling shot and flip flops. What are these guys thinking? Darwinism, oh....wait.....

twist

+1 not very proud of the things I did then. I was a different person then. I do not recommend trying to live through it.

8541Hawk

That's 84 but you need to get over to Mt Ham -Mines for some real fun....

nath981

maybe you're right joe, but i wouldn't know for sure cause I only lived my life. Seems like you're religious and that's okay, but too much catholicism turned me into a doubter, an agnostic, albeit one with seemingly higher moral standards than most pseudo-christians i know who go to church on sundays to save their own asses, while they screw over people all week long. They must think god is stupid huh, or maybe that he can only see them when they come to his house. What i'm saying is that alcohol and drugs aren't the problem many perceive them to be and can have positives as well.

My sister died of cancer at 8, when i was 9, and I was then the only child, and basically raised in the bar my parents both worked in 80+ hrs a week, and me too later. At 12, I was working several hrs a day everyday at the bar, and was the only kid i knew that worked that many hours a week. My parents weren't alcoholics, but my grandfather and 3 uncles who also had bars in town did have that problem.

I never had an addiction issue with drugs or alcohol despite the fact that I've done most everything that came down the pike and with significant frequency, incl crank and heroin. Between this and concussions, I have obviously killed alot of brain cells. And by the way, that's my excuse for being a dumbass. haha ...Our four kids were also exposed from an early age as well and none of them have an addiction problem and can drink socially with no negatives.

What i did learn from watching people transition from sober to various states of anibriation is that it changes everyone, some for the better and others for the worse, and everything in between. Like I'm a pretty friendly drunk, except for corn whiskey which rather consistently brings out the crazy indian in me.

Another thing I learned through the heavy exposure to drinkers is that only a small percentage of people have addictive predispositions, and these extend well beyond alcohol or drugs. So alcohol and drugs are not a problem for me and are not a problem for most people as well. It's like guns aren't the problem, more the person than the weapon and no matter what laws or taboos, addictive types will most always get what they need to feed their supposed needs. Little understanding of self coupled with no discipline doesn't help this minority much either. that said, there is i believe a genetic component to be acknowledged here as well.

I'm not defending drinking or other forms of inducing altered states, but they can be catalysts for learning more about self, a seemingly lost endeavor today, and they are also a nice way to kick back and relax once in a while. And I know that knowledge of self is not a given for all drinkers and druggies because I've seen little or no such benefits in the majority of those within my sphere of experience.