Riding Brotherhood

Shyeah, right. My previous rant may have been directed toward the Harley crowd, but by no means am I singling them out. The past week's recap: first it was the cars (the one that tried sharing my lane a week ago... oblivious bay-utch). Then the Street Vibrations mecca and rolling speed bumps. When I left work today, I noticed a small Japanese sportbike parked very close to mine, to the left. I recognize it as also the one that parked very close to my right, months ago. Back then, I was barely able to squeeze out of the parking space and my right saddlebag was left with a slight mar when parts connected. BTW, this is street parking with our rear wheels to the curb.

Well, after getting home I noticed that the lower part of my left saddlebag had black smears on the aluminum lid. Along with an oh-so-slight depression in the thin aluminum skin. I have no doubt as to what had happened. The sportbike had an aftermarket exhaust canister made of polished aluminum, with a black endcap. Evidently, the idiot rider backed the tip of the exhaust canister into my bag while squeezing into the parking space. Since this bike was practically a toy at only 250cc displacement, I'm guessing the rider may be a novice. An idiot nevertheless.

Some polishing compound and elbow grease got rid of the black smears, but there wasn't anything I can do about the slight depressions in the aluminum. So much for the motorcycling brotherhood (but I will still credit fellow riders for choosing two wheels over four... barely, for now).

The urban adventures never cease ::sigh::.

Parking Ticket

I fought the law and I won!

That's actually the title of a song by an old punk rock group, the Dead Kennedys. I just received a letter in the mail informing me that a parking ticket I had incurred about two months ago had been dismissed. It wasn't my first challenge to a traffic citation.

Years ago I had a court date challenging a CHP officer's claim that I was driving my car while wearing headphones (in CA, headphones can only cover one ear, not both). It was 11:00p at night, the convertible top of my Alfa Romeo was up, meaning the 8-yr old plastic rear windshield was not the clearest thing to look through, and black 'phones on black hair did not provide much detail. The case was dismissed, the clincher being my cross-examination of the officer asking whether he was able to see both my ears. As it was, in a brightly lit courtroom, noone was able to see either ear since they were draped by my long hair. He admitted the conditions did not allow him to accurately discern any detail to conclude that either ear was covered.

Two years later, a Sacramento Police officer cited me likewise, but the case was dismissed when the officer failed to appear, notifying in advance that he was unable to recall much of the details of the incident.

And now this $35 parking citation. This is a motorcycle parking area delineated by corner brackets painted in the asphalt and fits around 4 to 6 bikes. There is a 2-1/2 section of curb on one end that had once been painted red and quite faded by age; it was within the corner bracket marked in the road. Ambiguous to say the least.

Well, I'm glad the verdict came in and I can now rest easy. It wasn't the $35, but just a matter of principle.

2 Wheel Spoiled

My first week of work at our new office is about done (well, it'd be a 4-day work week since we had Columbus Day for a holiday off). This is downtown, and unlike our previous location where we had the pleasure of a parking lot on the leased premises, we are left on our own to find parking. Or try public transit, carpooling, bicycling, walking or hitch-hiking.

Fortunately for me there are two nearby locations where a half car-lengthed section of street parking is designated as "motorcycle only" parking. Gratis... and you know I love to ride every chance I get. However, Friday's forecast is for rain on and off, and not certain of when the "on" intervals will occur will possibly have me looking into catching light rail instead. Ditto for the next work week. Otherwise the downtown parking fees average somewhere around $15 for the day.

Public transit seems to be a way of life for many commuters, and although I am approaching this with a bit of apprehension, maybe I will find that it ain't that bad. For those foul weather days of course... guess you could say that I'm two-wheel spoiled.