The Crittenden Automotive Library

Watch for motorcycles

Watch for motorcycles

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
March 17, 2009

Now is the time to start watching for motorcycles. An early Spring has already brought them out, and some have already forgotten (or never learned) safe riding skills.

This guy tailgated me today from Crystal Lake to Culver's on US 14. Several times I thought he was going to pass, but oncoming traffic kept him behind me.

He was more than a little impatient with my plodding along at 50MPH. Just west of MCC he was weaving in the lane from centerline to shoulder line for several hundred yards. He went around me as the roadway widened to four lanes near Culver's and, as luck would have it, he caught a red light at Culver's.

When the light turned green, he took off. I thought I might see a real, genuine wheelie, but the front tire came off the ground only a little bit. Had he been 15 years younger, he probably would have popped a good wheelie. He really cranked it, and I estimated his speed at 70-75MPH, but then he caught another red light by Farm & Fleet.

When that light changed, he just rode off west at a safe clip to IL 47, where he "almost" stopped for the red light before turning north on 47.

The bike? A Kawasaki Ninja, Illinois motorcycle plate BW 6638. Let's hope he lives to enjoy riding all summer.

All right, I'll admit it. I was just jealous that he was on his bike, and I wasn't out on mine!