3 Bikes in 1 Year

I was told by someone that I loved that the real me didn't show up until I got my first motorcycle. It was a 2002 Honda Shadow 750. It felt like a big bike but it was really small and didn't have a lot of power. In the beginning of March 2012, my cousins and I traveled up to Massachusetts from South Carolina to get my bike. We traveled in my cousins 2000 something Crown Victoria, lovingly called Vicky, with Bara - Josh's wife, Anthony and myself. We were team driving so the trip would be quick and one person wouldn't be spent by the time we got up there. In Mass we had a blast. Visiting family, laughing, joking, drinking and all the rest.

My 2002 Honda Shadow 750

Have you ever had that feeling like something is missing from your life? A piece of the puzzle that you know is missing but you can't put your finger on it. That's the feeling that plagued me for years after I got out of the Air Force, a feeling of emptiness inside me that couldn't be filled by anything that was currently in my life. Then I mounted my Honda 750 and part of the emptiness was filled.  I say part of the emptiness because there still seemed to be something missing. I found that this feeling was filled a bit more by riding together with my cousins. There is nothing like riding together and sharing the road, wind and rain. It's hard to describe. When we got back to SC I lost that feeling again until I met up with the Warrior Brotherhood MC. The first two guys I met were Priest and Strap. Priest was a tall, physically intimidating looking individual while Strap was a short, fast talking, physically fit individual. Strap was to be my sponsor if I made it past being a hang around. I was impressed with how these guys conducted themselves in public, they didn't act out or were disrespectful in anyway. They answered my questions or told me that I would learn about what was asked as I hang around. The one thing they did do was give me shit about my bike.
Now don't get me wrong, I loved my little Honda 750. The reason I got it was because I didn't want to drop a ton of money on a motorcycle if I didn't know how much I like the life. It turns out that the life was another part of the puzzle. Back in the military you get a sense of brotherhood. You trust the guy next to you and the guy next to him. If shit goes down, you got each others back. That feeling went away when I left. Such a dark void that can hold many demons.
So back to the Honda. I kept that bike for three months and put over 6k miles on it. I mean I was a riding fool! My cousin Tony and I made custom items for the bike and even went to far as to install rear turn signals. One day I needed an inline fuel filter in an attempt to increase fuel mileage. Oddly enough, I ended up at Thunder Tower, a local Harley Davidson dealership looking for the part. The parts guy laughed and said they would never have a Honda part at a Harley dealership but recommended that I get an inline fuel filter from an auto parts store, which I did. While I was at Thunder Tower I saw all the HD's and I instantly fell in love with the 2008 Sportster Nightster. So in late June I decided to see how much I could get for trading in the Honda. All the guys in the WBMC told me not to get a Sportster cause I'm a big guy and I would look ridiculous on it. They were right, but I didn't care, I wanted the Nightster. To give you an idea, I'm about 6' tall 270 lbs so I'm big for a Sportster Nightster.

My 2008 Sportster Nightster

I remember showing up at Priests house with my Nightster, feeling all proud and shit. He looked at me, then at the bike, then at me and said "Great, you got a Harley, but it's a chick bike!" I remember thinking, damn I can't win!

I put 12k miles on that Nightster in 6 months If you notice in the picture I have a Sundowner seat, that thing saved my ass, it was so comfortable! I rode everywhere on that thing, even when to Deals Gap and rode the Tail of the Dragon.
Then on September 22nd 2012 I was hit by a deer riding with my club on I-26. My son and I were on the bike in the back of the column when the deer jumped out of the woods and entered the highway. It was around 10:50 in the morning, so seeing a deer in the road was a bit odd. Later we all came to the conclusion that the deer was spooked by a hunter and decided to run to the highway instead of taking a bullet and becoming kibble.
Picture if you will a column of 5 bikes, 2 in the front, 2 in the middle, I'm in the back being the only prospect on this trip. My club president was caging it behind me because he had a broken left foot from PT. The deer comes flying out of the woods on the right side of the highway and darts into traffic. It ends up cutting in between the first set of bikes and the middle set. Splitting the middle two bikes cutting into the slow lane, getting clipped by a Porsche and t-boning me and my kid. I kept the bike up for another 50 yards or so, slowing the bike down to about 15/20 mph until finally dumping the bike due to all the pain in my leg. When the deer hit the bike it got hooked on the frame and was flung into the sissy bar with all the velocity that 60+ mph could put out, snapping it's back and sending it flying through the air friz-bee style. I ended up suffering a broken fourth metatarsal and a chipped femur. My son didn't get hurt at all, he was rattled, but not hurt.
What follows are images of the accident:

Like I said earlier, I was riding with my club and I'm happy to say that. These guys stepped up and helped me and my son. I remember Priest riding back to the accident, parking his bike and jumping over me and my son yelling at some motorist to, "FUCKING CALL 911!!", then calmly asking me what he could do to help me. Tank ended up taking my knife and cutting my pants off to examine my right leg. Tank is a combat medic and has had extensive real world knowledge of trauma so I knew I was in good hands. Brutus, with his broken foot, jumped out of his car which was parked behind me in the highway and scooped up my son, getting him to his car. After my son and I were loaded into the ambulance a SC State Trooper questioned me about the accident. I told him what had happened and my story was confirmed with all the other witnesses. Then he asked me a question, he asked "Do you need to make arrangements for your bike or do you trust these guys?" (referring to my MC Brothers) I told him that I trusted those guys with my life, they can handle the bike, and they did. I was told that Priest pushed my little Nightster up the off ramp and to a gas station waiting for Dirt Cook to arrive with his pick up truck. They all loaded my bike on to the truck, got it to Dirt Cooks house and unloaded it. Later that week Strap went to pick up my bike from Dirt Cooks house in Spartinburg, SC and drove it to Thunder Tower near Elgin, SC.
It took me about three weeks to get back on a bike. I had to make sure I could ride and hold my self up when I was stopped at a light or in traffic. Some may say that I'm a fast healer, other say that I'm obsessed with riding and didn't care about my body I just wanted to be back on two wheels again. Both are right. I do heal fast, don't know why but I do and I am obsessed with riding. I ride when others wouldn't even consider it an option. Heavy rain, fog, dark, cold doesn't matter, I ride.
It took Thunder Tower about 6 weeks to complete the repairs on my scooter, in the mean time Strap lent me his 2007 Sportster Nightster to ride while I was waiting.
The insurance estimate was around $6100 to fix everything back to the way it was when I bought it. My insurance adjuster got the estimate down to $3784 which didn't total my bike, thank God. When I got the Sporty back I was happy but noticed a wobble in the front tire. Brought it back to get the wheel trued, which fixed the issue. I rode the Nightster for another 2 months before I suddenly traded it in for my 2010 Dyna Super Glide.

I must say that I am extremely happy with this bike but I will be changing a few things. One: the handle bars suck. My cousins Tony and Josh have made the drag bars for this bike, I just need to get them powder coated. Two: the pipes, I cannot stand the stock pipes on this beast. Makes it sound like a motorboat! And three: I need a six pack rack! My bitch pad cannot be occupied by my bag!

Well that's it for now, I will keep this going for a bit...