Ashaman
XS650 Enthusiast
Cross posted from Facebook, hence the local details.
I was out riding the ol' motorbike yesterday and was on Parker Road about to turn into the Stroh Ranch King Soopers to get some gas. I was keeping the revs up while waiting at the light, because the bike has been dying at lights occasionally, but when the light went green it died anyway. I was the lead vehicle so I walked the bike over to the median and let everyone behind me go by. One of the vehicles that went through the light was a Harley Davidson Sportster, looked pretty stock but for ape hangers; didn't think anything of it. Got the bike started again and back into the turn lane, and this time all went well and I got into the gas station at Kings. Lo and behold, the fellow on the Harley was at the pump across the way from mine, and he walked up as soon as I pulled in. Pretty standard issue Harley rider - Harley t-shirt, do-rag, sunglasses, black jeans, no gear to speak of.
Him: "Run out of gas back there?"
Me: "No, I've just been fighting this thing for a little while; it has a tendency to die sometimes at lights and it just did it again, I guess."
Him: Yeah, these *bends over to look at Yamaha badge under headlight* Yamahas are known for that; both carbs need to be tuned just perfectly or it'll die just like that."
Me (having just figured out that this guy is a tad ignorant): "Yeah, I guess; like any carbs, they need to be tuned right for sure. I'm sure I'll get it dialed in eventually".
Him (leaning in conspiratorially): "Should've bought American".
He winks and walks back to his bike.
Me (still in a friendly tone, half in jest): "Man, half that bike wasn't even made in America!"
He ignored me and kept walking, so I shrugged it off and went about fueling my bike. He finished up, fired up his ride and powerwalked it slowly out from under the gas station canopy, then a car pulled in and blocked my view. I didn't hear him take off, but was still doing my thing and thought nothing of it. When I finished fueling and geared up, there was a car in front of me and a car at the Harley guy's old pump, so I went between them to get out. Not 20 feet from where he had refueled, our friend had his bike shut down and parked on the sidestand, and was talking on the phone while walking around the bike. I do believe he had just sustained a mechanical failure of some type, as he blatantly turned his back when I rode slowly by. I have to admit that I did rev my motor at him as I passed, just once, just enough to say, "Should've bought Japanese".
Lesson learned? Don't be a shit talker, especially out of the blue, and especially when your machine is potentially seconds away from being just as much of a pile as the next guy's.
I was out riding the ol' motorbike yesterday and was on Parker Road about to turn into the Stroh Ranch King Soopers to get some gas. I was keeping the revs up while waiting at the light, because the bike has been dying at lights occasionally, but when the light went green it died anyway. I was the lead vehicle so I walked the bike over to the median and let everyone behind me go by. One of the vehicles that went through the light was a Harley Davidson Sportster, looked pretty stock but for ape hangers; didn't think anything of it. Got the bike started again and back into the turn lane, and this time all went well and I got into the gas station at Kings. Lo and behold, the fellow on the Harley was at the pump across the way from mine, and he walked up as soon as I pulled in. Pretty standard issue Harley rider - Harley t-shirt, do-rag, sunglasses, black jeans, no gear to speak of.
Him: "Run out of gas back there?"
Me: "No, I've just been fighting this thing for a little while; it has a tendency to die sometimes at lights and it just did it again, I guess."
Him: Yeah, these *bends over to look at Yamaha badge under headlight* Yamahas are known for that; both carbs need to be tuned just perfectly or it'll die just like that."
Me (having just figured out that this guy is a tad ignorant): "Yeah, I guess; like any carbs, they need to be tuned right for sure. I'm sure I'll get it dialed in eventually".
Him (leaning in conspiratorially): "Should've bought American".
He winks and walks back to his bike.
Me (still in a friendly tone, half in jest): "Man, half that bike wasn't even made in America!"
He ignored me and kept walking, so I shrugged it off and went about fueling my bike. He finished up, fired up his ride and powerwalked it slowly out from under the gas station canopy, then a car pulled in and blocked my view. I didn't hear him take off, but was still doing my thing and thought nothing of it. When I finished fueling and geared up, there was a car in front of me and a car at the Harley guy's old pump, so I went between them to get out. Not 20 feet from where he had refueled, our friend had his bike shut down and parked on the sidestand, and was talking on the phone while walking around the bike. I do believe he had just sustained a mechanical failure of some type, as he blatantly turned his back when I rode slowly by. I have to admit that I did rev my motor at him as I passed, just once, just enough to say, "Should've bought Japanese".
Lesson learned? Don't be a shit talker, especially out of the blue, and especially when your machine is potentially seconds away from being just as much of a pile as the next guy's.
