I owned a Honda S-70, a CB-160 and a BMW R-60 sequentially. None of them were new and I liked them very much, though the S-70 had only a max speed of 68, and that with me leaning forward as far as I could. The R-60 rode like a dream. I really would have liked to have had a new one, but I couldn’t afford the old one.

However, what I really wanted was a Triumph 650. I don’t know what the model was, but they were all just so iconic. My cousin had one and he let me ride it. I just fell in love with it, that is, if such a thing was possible.

It was probably good I couldn’t afford one. I just might have killed myself. All of my 2 year motorcycle riding days were very conservative. I was very careful and never had an accident going more than two miles an hour.

Now I know, you absolutely have to know how I had that a two mile an hour accident. It wasn’t hard, really. I did come through it with not so much as a scratch. Oddly, though I was going slow, the accident happened so fast.

You see I was approaching an intersection and I was in the left turn lane. The light was red so I was slowing to a stop. There was a car in front of me and one a short distance behind me. I had almost come to a stop when I hit a fresh oil patch.

In case you don’t know already, motor cycles actually are very stable despite only having two wheels. I am not an expert on the subject, but I have heard experts say so. They all say the that the two wheelers are more stable than cars. Even so, they do have one problem. If the wheels lose their footing, the vehicle can slide out from under you. Oddly, this is more probable at lower speeds.

I can definitely attest to much of that from experience. I had learned to avoid lose sand and oil slicks early in my two wheeler days, on bicycles. Nonetheless. I did not notice this particular oil spot and the motorcycle was lying on it’s side faster than I realized it. Oddly, I was still standing. I had managed to get my feet under before the bike went down.

Still, how embarrassing. For that little instant in time, it was as if the whole world was looking at me. Actually, it was more like a tenth of the world. The other nine tenths missed the little show.

It is a good thing I was not going sixty when I hit that oil spot. I could have gotten badly hurt and I would not have been standing after it was over. Oil is likely one of the worst hazards for those of us on two wheels. There are two ways to avoid them. First, keep your eye peeled for signs of them. Second, stay away from the center of the lane. When cars leak, that is where the oil lands.

Well, I guess I can add one more to it. Be particularly careful in or near intersections. Stopped and slow moving cars have more time to leave more oil behind.

As a side note, an R-60, if I remember right, is just about 450 lbs. It took about all I had to get my bike upright again. It sort of made me wish I had that Honda CB-160 again.