Posted on 07/19/2004 9:01:53 AM PDT by BluegrassScholar
Town of Waukesha - Motorcyclist Daniel Buckel was within 10 feet when he saw the potential disaster stretched across a dark and foggy rural road just ahead.
Disbelief turned to fear, then anger, as Buckel's 2-year-old motorcycle hit a barrier of kitchen-variety plastic wrap that was wound thickly from traffic pole to traffic pole on opposite sides of Guthrie Road, south of Highway I.
The clear plastic trap, which was 3 to 4 feet above the two-lane road south of Waukesha, sent both Buckel and his passenger, girlfriend Theresa Brzykcy, into a bloody slide across the asphalt.
"It's appalling, and it's really frightening," Brzykcy said. "What was their intention? This should make people more aware that pranks like that are not as harmless as they seem.
"They had done a pretty thorough job. It was wrapped around pretty thickly," she recalled.
The malicious prank has Waukesha County sheriff's investigators concerned because other capers involving plastic wrap occurred in the town last year, although none was as serious as the motorcycle crash early Tuesday, Sheriff's Detective Steve Pederson said Friday.
Investigators were planning to canvass homes near the crash site this weekend, looking for information that will lead to a break in the case.
"When something like this happens someone always brags about it," Pederson said. "If anyone has heard anything about this or any other incident involving (plastic) wrap, contact us.
"Maybe someone had seen this happen or removed (plastic) wrap from other areas," he said. "We'd like to know about it."
Last year, a number of parked cars were found bound in plastic wrap to prevent drivers from getting inside the vehicles, Pederson said. Plastic wrap bonds together, giving it strength and making it difficult to remove.
Pederson said investigators were unaware of other incidents of wrap being stretched across a road.
The couple's injuries sent both to Waukesha Memorial Hospital. Buckel, 22, of the Town of Waukesha, required 15 stitches to close a deep gash above his right eye and also broke a finger. Brzykcy, 19, of Brookfield, got a deep cut and bruise to her right cheek along with other scrapes and bruises. The motorcycle was a total loss, Buckel said.
The 1 a.m. ride was supposed to be a short one meant to relax the couple, who have known each other for more than a year. He had just left his bartending job, and she was waiting for him at his family home. Earlier she had taken his mother to a medical appointment.
Buckel said he was driving 5 mph under the 45 mph speed limit because the motorcycle headlight had shone on deer along the road and there was a slight haze from ground fog in the low-lying area.
"I didn't see it," Brzykcy said of the barrier. "He braked so hard I figured it was a deer. My first hit was on him, which totally saved me. Then, I landed on my head (on the road). Everything went white and yellow and red, and I blacked out for a while. I woke up on my back, laying in a driveway."
Buckel, fueled by anger and concern for Brzykcy, fought off his own pain and called 911 on his cell phone, he said. Among the first emergency personnel to arrive was Beckel's best friend, Scott Sommers, a member of the Town of Waukesha Fire Department.
"I ran over to my girlfriend and looked around to see if the pranksters were still around," Buckel said. "I didn't see anyone. When my friend arrived, it made things a lot easier to cope with."
FWIW, my take on this is not common amongst my motorcycling enthusiast acquaintances up here, either. Most people agree, in theory, that loud pipes (whether on a cruiser, sport bike or whatever) are an annoyance to much of the public and hurt our public image (if it can get any worse). And they don't like being annoyed by the racket when they're sitting in their backyards, or being woken up early in the mornin, either. I've made a personal decision to make my actions consistent with what I say, rather than letting my personal enjoyment overrule what I believe.
But hey, none of it's all that big a deal. Loud bikes are just one of many noisy annoyances of mdoern life. I'd still give you the high sign if you were passing the other way on the road, whatever you're riding or however loud it is, or stop and give you a hand if you needed it. I love bikes, and anyone else who also does is OK with me, even if their tastes differ.
I don't think Harley owners think of performance when they open up their pipes. I think it is about ticking others off.
Florida doesn't bother. Loud pipes is the only violation they go after and it doesn't take long to find, write up and move on.
All other code violations here, usually wind up with a warning or order to repair with minimal fine, so the incentive to "search for violations" isn't there.
Scraping bikers up off the pavement and receiving OT pay for the funeral escort is a much bigger business.
Riding in South Florida means knowing the next biker funeral of a friend is only a few weeks away, always.
"I was visiting the 'Old Town' section of town one weekend and the noise from the harleys was actually painful."
When I've gone down to the Friday the 13th gathering (which happens, strangely enough, every Friday the 13th) in Port Dover, Ontario, I've sometimes ended up leaving my earplugs in while walking around town. We can debate loud pipes, but completely unmuffled straight pipes just sound like crap IMO, and are way too loud. Children covering their ears when they go by loud.
"Riding in South Florida means knowing the next biker funeral of a friend is only a few weeks away, always."
That doesn't sound like too much fun to me. Of course, watching my best biking buddy die from cancer at 42 wasn't any fun, either.
Some of them don't. The guys that slap on drag pipes and don't bother rejetting are obviously just looking for noise, as they've probably lost power at most rpms.
You made me laugh with the 'WOT from every stop' part. I know some of those guys and they ride many different kinds of bikes and yes, some of them drive those annoying 'tuner' cars. No, I'm not in that category I was just a little bent out of shape when I first read some of the comments earlier in the thread hence my 'I'll ride my bike whenever I want with loud pipes' rant. I keep the throttle down around public parks, livestock and other peoples neighborhoods but I sure do love the sound when I open it up on the highway.
Nope, we call it paying the tax. Harley's are crippled off the showroom floor, and I mean crippled. Often times you can get a 20%-25% boost in horsepower by paying the tax, ie, high-flow airbox, high-flow pipes, and rejetting the carburator to accomodate both.
Actually I prefer the term WFO! Wide F@##in' Open.
I always thought that noise was just an inherent timing chain noise because of the twin cams.
Hall of engines link all the way back to knuckleheads
http://www.harley-davidson.com/EX/KNO/H101/en/hallofengines.asp?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US&WebLogicSession=A9Wg2ZXAKyv3xIy2tiErXvzoLZZQtT6l46sIjhOJ6C452wN7qe23!-1636602063!181237813!7005!8005
Nope, you're hearing several chains in an 88B, and it creates kind of a harmony. It's a different sound than your typical primary chain running through the bath.
Engine harmonics!!! 2nd only to heat as an engine killer!
I started using the synthetic HD oil, 3 oil changes back and noticed the top end noise increased, so I think I'm going back to fossil oils this coming oil change. Too many distinct sounds to choose from, makes me crazy!! :-)
Posted by -YYZ-:
"...WOT..."
Whack on the throttle? War on Terror? I'm just trying to figure out the WOT acronym in your posts!
I had a friend who had a Yoshimura system on his Honda CBR 600F3 that sounded cool, somewhat throaty, but would get pretty loud if you consistently rode to his right. It became mandatory for preservation of your hearing to ride in front of him or to his left...even while wearing earplugs and a full-face helmet. I always wished he selected a Vance & Hines SS2R so I could hear that exhaust.
Needless to say, I don't think anyone ever considered cellophane wrap to end his riding days...
~ Blue Jays ~
OK, I got it now...
Sorry. That'd be Wide Open Throttle. Sometimes also referred to WFO, as someone already mentioned.
Then there's the one guy I know with a Kawi ZRX1100 with cams, pod filters, and a Muzzy megaphone exhaust with race baffle. At higher rpm and WOT it'll literally pretty near blow your eardrums out.
Or another guy I rode with who had Suzuki TL1000 (high compression, 10.5:1, 10,500 rpm redline 90 degree v-twin), the original home for the type of engine in my bike, with gutted Yosh slip-on cans. Sounded a lot like a Nascar racer, both in the character of the sound and the volume. Sweet, but brutally loud.
Oh cry me a river. Lol. I have a Sportster with forged pistons. I gotcher top end noise. I need loud pipes just to cover up the piston clatter.
Not apt to pop a front tire, it's the spinning of the powered tire against a static saw blade that cuts into the tread. This would happen if the bike is essentially motionless with respect to the ground, a much less dangerous situation than boinging! off a saran wrap barrier.
I gave Capriole a significantly safer alternative, in the hopes that if he/she actually does do something the consequences won't include someone getting killed or worse.
Although I do confess that the thought of a biker who made "children and hikers jump into the bushes to avoid being hit" having to push his bike back past them gives me some pleasure...
I followed one of those for several miles last Saturday on a group ride. Horrible sound, every time she let off the throttle. Other than that, it was a great ride... 48 chicks on a 100+ mile ride around Mt. Rainier... no boys allowed!
I wonder if the "He jes needed killin' " defense could come into play here.
Watch your 6...
Why? (I have a guess)
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