Motorcycle Wreck
I have been told many times that there are two categories of motorcycle riders, those that have laid it down, and those that haven’t yet! Well, I am now a member of those that have. On May19th I was in Arkansas visiting Danny, my boyfriend. I was on my way from Russellville back to his house on a skinny back road. I have run this road several time when I have been up there and it has some very nice curves to hang in to on the bike. But luckily on this day I was taking it easy. I had just gotten my Harley out of the shop and had a new triple tree and it was steering a bit different than what I was use to. So I was having to get use to it again. I was only n 3rd gear when I started into the curve. Good thing, because the county had laid tar and covered it with gravel. As soon as I hit the loose gravel the back of the bike started getting squirrely on me. I tried to get it under control, but nothing I did worked. I steered it toward the grass should on the other side of the road in hopes that I could keep it up that way. The back tire kept trying to go on down into the ditch. I steered it into the ditch thinking that if I guided it there I might have a chance of keeping it up. No such luck! There had been a lot of rain in the area and the ground was soft. I went down and slid about 75 feet on the right side of the bike.
After I crawled from under the bike, I checked myself to anything broken or bleeding and called the shop. Shelby’s Custom Cycles is where I had a 50,000 mile service done and the new triple tree put on. I knew they would help me get it out of the ditch and look it over. Robert answered the phone. I told him what had happened and where I was. He jumped in his car and came right down. He looked the bike over and said that he could ride it out of the ditch. I told him go right ahead because I was not going to do it. My right knee and hip were already hurting and I was still shaking a little. We called the Sheriff and they arrived a few minuets later. A couple of guys had stopped to check on me before Robert got there and they mentioned that there was no warning sign coming from that direction. So I walk back to check it out. There was a sing, but this is what it looked like…..
The officer that showed up was very pissed when he saw the sign and called the county judge. I don’t know what he said to the judge, but he he told me that the judge said he would be out that afternoon to take a look at things. After the usual questions and answers the officer left and Robert hopped on the bike and rode it to the shop. Once there, and calmed down, I could see the damage a little better.
I called my insurance company, State Farm. They said they would have someone get int touch with me. Shelby said to not worry about it, he would have my bike back to me “better than it was” by time I was to head home. It took till the following Monday to get an adjuster out to the shop. They started tearing the bike down before she left and had everything that needed to be painted down to Russellville to the pain shop that afternoon. Shelby explained that I had a PGR mission on the following Monday and he wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss it. They brought paint chips by Danny’s house that evening so I could pick the colors. They told me to just relax, the bike would be fine, I would get home in time for the mission and my big 6 week bike trip with my Dad, brother and nephew.
Friday morning Shelby called me about noon and told me that they got the paint back that morning and would have the bike ready for me around 1600. At 1600 he called again and said it would be another hour. At 1645 his wife showed up to pick me up. I was excited. State Farm had totaled my bike and I had bought it back. Shelby asked me how much he had to work with on the pain and other thing that the bike needed and for “bling.” I told him and he said that I could not see the bike till it was ready to pick up. He said he wasn’t to surprise me with the paint job and everything else.
The bike was sitting out front when we pulled up. If not for the fact that I had picked the colors and know the stickers on my windshield, I would not have known it was my Harley. I was very pleased with how it looked. Shelby had chromed out the motor, put the brake mod in my back break lights and the paint looked great!
To say that I was surprised and pleased with how it came out is a BIG understatement! Shelby, Robert and the paint shop did a great job is a very short time. I was treated like family the whole time. Let me tell ya’ll this, I will take my bike back there any time that I need something done that I can’t do myself.
If you find yourself up in northwest Arkansas on hwy 7 north of Russellville, go about 10 miles north of Dover and stop in and say hi to Shelby and Robert. Tell them Cindy sent ya!
Tags: custom paint, Dover, Harley, motorcycle wreck, Motorcycles, Shebly's Custom Motorcycles
