Are you ready? Don’t judge me just laugh! All weekend I was working to get things done so I could go for a motorcycle ride. I usually ride the weekend hubby works. Saturday it rained and was cold so I cleaned, did laundry, shopped, and when hubs got home we went to church. On Sunday a I had a few more things to do before heading out on this very sunny day!
Don’t judge me just laugh!
Gear on and out to the garage. Pulled the Nighthawk out and tried to start. Almost turns over, then nothing. WHAT?!! Okay, try again. Same. Again. Same. Total bummer. I tweeted my dilemma. My friend @fun4veda called it – put it on the battery charger! The only problem, I have no clue how to do that.
Hubby came home from work grabbed the key and went out to the garage. Guess what he found out? {This is the part where you don’t judge me.} I had the choke closed not open! {Please don’t hurt yourself laughing at me.} Yes. You read that right. I had the choke closed – I thought it was open!! OMG.
I don’t know what I was thinking! I pushed the choke up which really closed it and was the reason why the bike wouldn’t start. Yikes! I can’t believe I missed my ride today because I confused which way the choke was suppose to go. Bet I won’t do that again. What a newbie.
Hubby was really kind about my stupidity. No snide remarks. And he took the time to show me how to use the charger just in case.
Well there you have it. I missed my motorcycle ride because I forgot which way to open the choke! It’s been a long winter. Don’t judge me just laugh!
Ladies, whether you are looking to start riding solo, a casual motorcyclist, a seasoned rider, or enjoying riding pillion you are all welcome to join in the Helmet or Heels community. I would love to share your story of motorcycling no matter where you are on the journey. It will inspire other women along the way.
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22 Responses
funny post lol 😛
It’s all in the perspective, maybe you were meant to miss this ride for a reason and good fortune was looking out for you. I am sure other people have made the same mistake. Good thing that came out of it is that you learned how to hook up the battery charger.
PS when I first started scootering in January this year I only had my scooter for a day or two and my hub had flicked the kill switch & I didn’t realize it and couldn’t start it. (Probably was a good thing in the end because I was nowhere near ready to ride.). *scooterdiva1 on twitter.
Dar – thanks for sharing your story! So many things to remember!
Oh No! I bet you slapped yourself for that. Don’t worry, everyone has a similar story. Mine usually involves the kill switch and an attempted restart in front of lots of people.
Good to know about the battery charger, though. You never know when that will come in handy.
Richard – thanks for stopping by and sharing your story! Glad to know I’m not the only one with one of “those” stories!
Not as bad as the time I left the key on auxiliary for more than an hour while in a shop and my hubby had to push start my Shadow. We actually drew a crowd!
I’m finding out I’m in good company! Thanks for sharing.
🙂 Glad it wasn’t anything serious 🙂
Also glad to see some “kill switch” stories here … not that it EVER happened to me LOL
RoadsideWonders – you too have a story?!
{whistles}
I never turn my kill switch off so it’s always perplexing when it happens 😆
Glad I’m not the only one who makes silly mistakes! Good for you for being able to laugh it off. 🙂 And YAY for a hubby who helped you figure it out withOUT teasing you! Points for him! 😉 Hope you get to ride soon!
Definite kudos to hubby!
It’s a good thing that we seasoned riders have never done anything like that before. All you people are such rookies. 😉
A friend a mine once told me to never accidentally leave the fuel knob on reserve though. It appears that when you’re out of gas in the reserve tank, you’re pretty much hosed. At least that’s what I hear.
Todd McCann
https://twitter.com/ToddMcCann
http://abouttruckingjobs.wordpress.com
Doh! Don’t you hate it when it is something so easy.
At least it wasn’t that the kill switch was on – that is my classic “damn the bike won’t start” face palm move.
I believe I have been fairly warned now on the kill switch! LOL
Too bad you missed your ride because of a simple thing. Do you still have your motorcycle owners manual? it’s a good thing to read in the spring after a long time off the bike to re-familiarize yourself with the bike.
looking forward to reading about your first ride of 2011.
Great idea but we bought the bike used so we don’t have one. Maybe with all the rain we’re having I need to go shop for the owners manual!
I’m sure you could smell gas, that’s the first indication of flooding the engine when the choke is completely closed 😉 Of course it won’t start, gas without oxygen won’t start 🙂 I have a story for you 🙂
I was doing about 90mph on I80 west of Salt Lake City when I decided to pull the camera out of the tank bank. The problem is I can’t activate and take pictures with the gloves on, so I reach over with the left hand to the right hand, which is on the throttle and start pulling the glove out. Without noticing I flip the kill switch, the bike goes silent and I’m left wondering what just broke on the bike 🙂 Now I’m coasting at 90mph, 15 seconds later I realize what I did and flip the switch on, well, it sounded like I just fired a canon out the back, I’m sure I scared the people I was passing. My bike is carburetor fed and the carbs kept feeding gas as I coasted, when I flipped the switch on and it fired up, it ignited the unburned gas all the way out the exhaust, boom, it scared the crap out of me 🙂
Embarrassing but true story 🙂
Thanks for the heads up about the kill switch!! Oh my!!
my problem was with new bikes and there side stand safety switches left me stranded and confused more than once .