The Crittenden Automotive Library

Future organ donor - BU 3641

Future organ donor - BU 3641

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
July 21, 2011

My attention to this motorcycle was attracted this morning by its noise. Not the rumble of a Harley, but the whining of a high-RPM engine coming up behind me while I was stopped on Route 47 by McDonald's. The motorcycle followed behind me as I passed the bp station, and then I could hear it accelerating. (To enlarge the image, click on it; then click on the Back button on your browser to come back here.)

Looking in the rearview mirror, I saw him come up close behind me, look back over his left shoulder for what I thought was too long (had I had to brake, he would have smashed right into the back of my bug), and then he swerved sharply into the inside lane and cranked it. Only to have to immediately slow down.

The rider turned right at McConnell Road, and I figured he worked at the bike shop there, so I continued straight, turned around on Wanda Lane and headed back north to finish errands.

And there, at the red light on McConnell Road, was the same bike, waiting to turn left. I was able to turn there and get this picture, along with the motorcycle license plate, BU 3641. I think the operator might be camera-shy; he didn't seem to like having his picture taken. Oh, yes, and there was that gesture with his left hand that I didn't get a picture of.

Most of the way north on 47 he didn't speed. He caught a red light at Country Club Road but, instead of waiting for a green light, he made a right and then immediately made a U-turn to the westbound, right-turn lane, slowed and turned right back onto Route 47. Once he got north of Country Club Road, he really cranked it to pass traffic in the through lane before reaching the lane-merge just north of Jewel-Osco. I guessed his speed 45-50MPH through that congested area, although I was well behind him and stopped by the red light. He turned right on Irving and went out of sight toward McHenry Avenue.

He'll probably buy the farm one of these days, and then his friends will say, "But he was a careful rider." Not!