Warning-Graphic Picture of my Stupidity

[Grayfox54]

Yep, we all goof from time to time. It just makes us human. 

After a lifetime of turning wrenches for a living, on both arms, everything from the elbows down is just a mottled patchwork of scar tissue.  

[Chucktshoes]

4 hours ago, Erik88 said:

When we met 12 years ago she said that she would never tell me what I could or couldn't do except for the issue of having a motorcycle. She asked that I never get one because she had two uncles get killed on bikes through no fault of their own. I never had any interest until recently so it wasn't an issue. 

So she has every right to be angry at me since I had swore I would never get one. She's pretty awesome so I'm trying to decide next steps. 

 

 

I went through something similar. The answer is probably one you don’t want to hear. 
 

I don’t subscribe to that “happy wife, happy life” BS. Marriage is cooperative endeavor, but everyone has their hard lines that you can’t cross. I almost guarantee this is one for her.
 

Don’t get the bike. Go decide on something else to get into because she is never going to accept it. You’d probably have better luck getting her to acceptance for a girlfriend than a motorcycle. 
 

Seriously, make a choice to desire something other than the bike. It will be a much better course of action. 

[Trekbike]

7 hours ago, Erik88 said:

When we met 12 years ago she said that she would never tell me what I could or couldn't do except for the issue of having a motorcycle. She asked that I never get one because she had two uncles get killed on bikes through no fault of their own. I never had any interest until recently so it wasn't an issue. 

So she has every right to be angry at me since I had swore I would never get one. She's pretty awesome so I'm trying to decide next steps. 

 

 

Understood.   I have a similar story to a point.   I grew up with dirt bikes but had gotten out of riding for a number of years.  Before we married, we had planned to get street bike.    One of her good friends got killed on a street bike so that was the end of that idea to this day after 33 years.     She had no issues with dirt bikes so we both ended up with dirt bikes for a number of years.    Currently bike-less due to other hobbies now, etc.    

[Grayfox54]

I went thru the motorcycle phase years ago. I've owned three of 'em. Never wrecked one, but boy have I had some serious close calls.  I'm talking butt cheeks with a death grip on the seat!   But then driving in Memphis is dangerous enough with 4 wheels. On two wheels its life or death every day. Got tired of playing that game. Took every bit of the enjoyment out of it. Sold my last one about 30 years ago and have never had the desire to buy another. 

[Defender]

On 3/18/2022 at 11:10 PM, Grayfox54 said:

I went thru the motorcycle phase years ago. I've owned three of 'em. Never wrecked one, but boy have I had some serious close calls.  I'm talking butt cheeks with a death grip on the seat!   But then driving in Memphis is dangerous enough with 4 wheels. On two wheels its life or death every day. Got tired of playing that game. Took every bit of the enjoyment out of it. Sold my last one about 30 years ago and have never had the desire to buy another. 

I had never been on any kind of motorcycle in my life when i had the opportunity to buy a Honda Goldwing when i was in Germany.  BIIIG motorcycle, lol.  I picked it up one night at the base bowling alley and the guy asked me if i knew how the gears worked.  i lied and said yeah, but refresh my memory.  He did and away I went.  I managed to get out of the parking lot and was on my way.  Got off base and onto the autobahn and it was fun, but scary, first time on a motorcycle!  Got home and got it parked.  The Germans and American military required us to complete an American Motorcycle Safety Foundation  (I think that's who it was) safety course before they would add motorcycles to your license.  They offered a beginners, intermediate and advance course throughout  the year,  the next course was the advanced in 2 weeks and the beginners wasn't offered for several months, so I signed up for the beginners and rode the bike to work and back illegally for those two weeks.  It was about 30 miles of a combination of autobahn and back roads to my apt in a German village. Reported to the safety course and it was conducted by a pair of very experienced riders sanction by that foundation.  If I remember right it consisted of a morning of classes followed by a written test and then an afternoon of negotiating a course outlined by traffic cones.  Turns out I had the biggest bike there.  Some of the more experienced riders had borrowed smaller bikes for the course as it was very difficult. Even the instructor asked me, are you going to do the course on THAT bike, lol.  Off I go when it was my turn.  It was way harder than I thought, as they made you go very slow which made it harder to keep your balance and it was an automatic fail if you put your foot down.  I made it to the end, but it was obvious that I was not very good at it.  I wasn't sure if I passed or not, but he called my name and when I went up there he gave me my certificate and said well, you passed, I'm not sure how but you need to be careful out there! I rode for 3 more years all over Europe, mostly without any issues.  The bike was a great cruiser on the autobahn.  I could safely do well over 100 on a good day.  The backroads were another story.  Almost lost control a few times coming over a mountain near home.  I was stupider then,  lol.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Defender

[peejman]

On 3/18/2022 at 2:38 PM, Erik88 said:

When we met 12 years ago she said that she would never tell me what I could or couldn't do except for the issue of having a motorcycle. She asked that I never get one because she had two uncles get killed on bikes through no fault of their own. I never had any interest until recently so it wasn't an issue. 

So she has every right to be angry at me since I had swore I would never get one. She's pretty awesome so I'm trying to decide next steps. 

 

 

You might first try just an off-road only dirt bike in that case. Windrock and Royal Blue aren't that far away. Ease in and see how she takes that. 

When I finished school and got my first job, a wise man told me to make sure I got a bike before I got married (i was engaged), and then never go bikeless.  If I wanted something different, get it first, then sell what I had. That's worked out pretty well. 

[Darrell]

On 3/18/2022 at 12:01 PM, Erik88 said:

Smart move. My wife is furious that I want to buy a motorcycle but I've not found a way to hide it from her.

Keep it at my house. Be sure to leave the key in case I need to move it around.

I've had my wife for 43 years, and have owned one or more bikes continuously for 48 years. She knows that bikes are part of who I am, and luckily for me, she enjoys riding with me on nice days. I've had a few close calls, but then I've had close calls in the Marine Corps, in cars, out in the woods, and walking across the street. No one gets out alive, you may as well have fun while you're here.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Darrell

[Darrell]

On 3/17/2022 at 3:11 PM, Defender said:

I've cut myself 3 times in my life. 

Just three? I must be at around 30!  I had a model airplane come after me one day and slice two fingers down to the bone several times. I thought a had a picture, but can't find it now. It was pretty ugly, though.

[Defender]

13 hours ago, Darrell said:

Just three? I must be at around 30!  I had a model airplane come after me one day and slice two fingers down to the bone several times. I thought a had a picture, but can't find it now. It was pretty ugly, though.

Well, 3 times thst required stitches, 4 counting the time a car fell on my hand, lol.  Yeah, I’ve been pretty lucky, as I sure haven’t been smart!

[Specializedjon]

Remember when we used to be able to throw spears at each other as a "game" (lawn dart).....the good'ol days.  Not sure why those went away  lots of good lawn dart stories.  My brother and I would get bored with the rings and start throwing at each others feet.  If you moved, you were a wus and lost.  I was a wus and my brother "won". 

[Defender]

24 minutes ago, Specializedjon said:

Remember when we used to be able to throw spears at each other as a "game" (lawn dart).....the good'ol days.  Not sure why those went away  lots of good lawn dart stories.  My brother and I would get bored with the rings and start throwing at each others feet.  If you moved, you were a wus and lost.  I was a wus and my brother "won". 

Yeah, remember play chicken mumbly-peg?

[xtriggerman]

There's only one way I carry a pocket knife these days. The German Linder rides in the everyday black sheath and the bigger Gerber International is my work in the woods / sawmill carry. I'm old school with lock backs. Back when I worked at Schrade in the 70's, lock backs were popular. They still are with me. Both of those knives have the thinnest of blade configurations for an easy razor edge to maintain. Its hard to find thin blade lock backs in the style I like.  I was thinking of selling my BMW GS650 but the wife talked me out of it! When we first met in 1986, I had a bright metalic orange Honda 750 four. Back then she only weighed 109 lbs so the ol inline 4 banger didnt stagger too much with her on there when it was time to hear it howl its "lets get lost" song. It had hard boxes on it so packing a pic nic way up in the mountains was a no brainer. It was only 10 years earlier my older brother got killed on a bike when he hit a dump truck head on at night while passing another car. The dump truck was driving with no light on. Despite our backs not handling much more than an hour in the saddle at a time, Yeah, I'll keep the beemer.

[JD_Shellnut]

On 4/11/2022 at 2:06 PM, Specializedjon said:

Remember when we used to be able to throw spears at each other as a "game" (lawn dart).....the good'ol days

Hadn’t heard that term in an age! Do you reckon Darwin had anything to do with the creation of this ‘game’? Sure went a long ways toward demonstrating the “Survival of the Fittest” paradigm, from what I remember.    

A little girl down the road from me when I was a kid got to wear one as a hat; very much so against her will, as y’all might guess. It penetrated the skull and must’ve nestled itself into a section of her brain that controlled her speech because thereafter she had a very pronounced (no pun intended, but enjoyed all the same) speech impediment, but was fine otherwise.

Those things were literally missiles in the hands of unsupervised children, and an accident waiting to happen. Was there even an actual “game”? All we ever did was see which of us boys could throw it the highest.

[bdykd0]

Worst cut I ever got was when I was 9 years old hoeing weeds with my uncle .  I reached down to clear away some debris and my uncle accidentally got too close and caught my fingers just about the middle knuckle with his hoe .  They were still attached but barely hanging ..  he wrapped my hand as tight as he could in his t shirt and we took off running for the house .  He beat me to the chicken yard gate  but I beat him to the house .  Grandmother cleaned my fingers as best as she could with running water, wrapped each finger with an oily wick from several coal oil /kerosene lamps .  They stayed wrapped that way for 2 days .  Then new clean bandages and Vicks vapor rub .  Never made into town to see a doctor.  They healed fine and I was able to bend and use them normally by the end of summer.  .   I'm 63 now and the scars are still visible .

[CMDRStormBorn]

Okay so all of my automatic knives will now be carried in a belt worn knife pouch & I will no longer even look under my mower decks without heavy leather gloves.  Thanks for the nightmares guys! -And I’m a retired ER nurse! So disturbing…

[Darrell]

I've lately had a hankering for an automatic knife. What's a good starter? Not too much money, but still a good quality knife? 

[Defender]

14 hours ago, Darrell said:

I've lately had a hankering for an automatic knife. What's a good starter? Not too much money, but still a good quality knife? 

I stopped carrying an auto knife for a while after that, but now I am again. This time, though, it’s one with a safety, so that lessens the chances of an accidents, opening.

[Moped]

17 hours ago, Darrell said:

I've lately had a hankering for an automatic knife. What's a good starter? Not too much money, but still a good quality knife? 

Probably not a popular choice around these parts, but I have a Boker Kalashnikov Tanto. It was one of the cheapest ones out there, when they legalize autos to carry here in Tennessee. I wanted to see what it was all about, so I bought one for $45 at SMKW. AUS8 Steel, I believe.  I still carry it.  Not a bad knife at all, and I've had zero issues with it. It has a safety, you have to push, in order to open the blade.

This one is D2 steel, but still around the same price.

Boker Auto Kalashnikov Tanto Black D2 | SMKW

[Darrell]

20 hours ago, Moped said:

Probably not a popular choice around these parts, but I have a Boker Kalashnikov Tanto

Thanks for the recommendation. I'd actually been looking at the Boker Kalashnikov, and so I ordered one this morning. I chose a different blade, though. I do have a tendency to slice myself with new knives, though, so I better be careful. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Darrell

[Moped]

1 hour ago, Darrell said:

Thanks for the recommendation. I'd actually been looking at the Boker Kalashnikov, and so I ordered one this morning. I chose a different blade, though. I do have a tendency to slice myself with new knives, though, so I better be careful. 

Congrats!  I think it's an entry level knife and a good one to see if an auto is for you. I never moved on to anything else, though I have been eyeing trying an OTF auto. And while I'd love to have a Microtech or a Benchmade, that's just not going to happen. So I will be looking at $100 and below for one.

[Moped]

On 2/20/2023 at 9:36 AM, Darrell said:

Thanks for the recommendation. I'd actually been looking at the Boker Kalashnikov, and so I ordered one this morning. I chose a different blade, though. I do have a tendency to slice myself with new knives, though, so I better be careful. 

Did your Boker come in?

[Darrell]

2 hours ago, Moped said:

Did your Boker come in?

yes, and I've been carrying it for the past couple of weeks. It's a lot lighter than most of my knives, but it seems to be solid and is what I expected.

 

[Moped]

On 3/7/2023 at 2:45 PM, Darrell said:

yes, and I've been carrying it for the past couple of weeks. It's a lot lighter than most of my knives, but it seems to be solid and is what I expected.

 

My blade is black and the finish is starting wear off. I like your blade much better.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Moped

[hipower]

For what it's worth... I've owned, and still have several Boker Kalishnakov knives. I find them to be very good knives, especially for me. I don't carry/need 200$ plus knives to pocket carry. My 35 buck Boker satisifies me. I have 2 autos and find myself playing with them frequently. Blade snaps and locks in a most satisfactory manner. I've stayed away from the colored blades. Just not my taste, but to each his own.

Ok...now you've gotten me wanting to get another one!!

[MagDropBenny]

On 3/17/2022 at 3:11 PM, Defender said:

After seeing many pictures of people who cut them by accident and me thinking, well, how stupid can you get, I finally did the same.  I've cut myself 3 times in my life.  First when My dad gave me a small pocket knife when I was about 5, despite my mom's objections.  I went out side to play with it and, yep, but my palm within the first hour, lol.  I probably needed stitches then but staunched the flow of blood with leaves and finally was able to hide the wound when i went inside.  Still have that scar 60+ years later.  Second time was the knife slipped paring an apple when I was about 21.  Took a couple stitches I think.  Yesterday, I was returning form a long drive back from Florida in a very uncomfortable rental car. I had my Benchmade Adamas Auto (sharpened to razor sharpness by Willis68) in a knife pocket in the left leg of my cargo pants.  The knife opened unbeknown to me and was poking out of as hole it made in the fabric.  i sat down on the porch steps to rest a second while I was unloading the car.  Ran my hands down both legs and my palm immediately started bleeding.  It looked bad but I hate doing the ER thing so I debated with my wife on whether I should go or self treat.  She won that debate so off I go to the ER.  The 12 stitches they put in showed she was correct.   These pictures show the result.  All I can say is what a dumbass!

Ouch