08-26-2026, 05:21 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-26-2026, 05:23 PM by Gone in 60.)
Interesting day filled with reflection about fragility of life. Breaking in the new bike, she rides remarkably well for almost 60k. My midnight temporary wiring jumped the power for the lights, phone charger and navigation screen to the lighter socket wires just to get them functioning till I can do a nicer job.
Might have been a tad much of a draw. Everything works but if I kick the lights from solid to strobe, it shuts all of my tentatively wired accessories off. I’m sure once I swap the headlights over to LED bulbs, I’ll buy back just enough amperage to satisfy the CAN Bus and keep everything running.
All of our medical samples drop off at the same laboratory in Van Nuys, and the other side of the 405 from the drop off approach was shut down to one lane with a fleet of fire trucks and emergency vehicles blocking the rest.
Getting back on the freeway for return would plant one of our guys right in the thick of the shutdown traffic, so I texted our dispatcher to let anyone else riding know about it.
I got a message back that it was a fatal motorcycle crash, black cruiser. That was not easy to hear. Just had to pass the scene again on a second run. While waiting for the second pickup I scanned local news about the crash. Witnesses said it wasn’t clear how he crashed, but if he didn’t hit a car, I have a suspicion that it might have been a buckled part of pavement in the left-hand car pool lane right where the crash occurred.
This is a gently curving area of freeway where a rider would probably be going over 70 mph. There’s a four-foot section of patched pavement that drops about a foot near the edge of the the freeway. As I approach it, I’m standing on the pegs to let the bike drop and let my legs be my shock absorbers. This exact spot is a very familiar one with local riders. A guy on a cruiser with short suspension travel, who might not be familiar with that spot would be caught off guard and probably very startled. This is all conjecture but I’ve always thought of how dangerous that thing is to riders.
Had some time between deliveries and could make a pass by the museum along the way. So, I dropped in to sign a condolence card for the family of my fellow docent who passed over the weekend. His family shared that he went in his sleep after enjoying a day of fishing, so hopefully his last thoughts were happy ones.
Walking back to my bike in the museum garage, guess what I saw? I’ve never seen this CB before, so I have to think it was ridden by a museum guest.
Might have been a tad much of a draw. Everything works but if I kick the lights from solid to strobe, it shuts all of my tentatively wired accessories off. I’m sure once I swap the headlights over to LED bulbs, I’ll buy back just enough amperage to satisfy the CAN Bus and keep everything running.
All of our medical samples drop off at the same laboratory in Van Nuys, and the other side of the 405 from the drop off approach was shut down to one lane with a fleet of fire trucks and emergency vehicles blocking the rest.
Getting back on the freeway for return would plant one of our guys right in the thick of the shutdown traffic, so I texted our dispatcher to let anyone else riding know about it.
I got a message back that it was a fatal motorcycle crash, black cruiser. That was not easy to hear. Just had to pass the scene again on a second run. While waiting for the second pickup I scanned local news about the crash. Witnesses said it wasn’t clear how he crashed, but if he didn’t hit a car, I have a suspicion that it might have been a buckled part of pavement in the left-hand car pool lane right where the crash occurred.
This is a gently curving area of freeway where a rider would probably be going over 70 mph. There’s a four-foot section of patched pavement that drops about a foot near the edge of the the freeway. As I approach it, I’m standing on the pegs to let the bike drop and let my legs be my shock absorbers. This exact spot is a very familiar one with local riders. A guy on a cruiser with short suspension travel, who might not be familiar with that spot would be caught off guard and probably very startled. This is all conjecture but I’ve always thought of how dangerous that thing is to riders.
Had some time between deliveries and could make a pass by the museum along the way. So, I dropped in to sign a condolence card for the family of my fellow docent who passed over the weekend. His family shared that he went in his sleep after enjoying a day of fishing, so hopefully his last thoughts were happy ones.
Walking back to my bike in the museum garage, guess what I saw? I’ve never seen this CB before, so I have to think it was ridden by a museum guest.
You know what? I actually would like a pickle.