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| Low to the ground, so good for a short person (Melanie was 5'3"), and smooth riding on the highway, but really heavy. |
For a while, Melanie's only transportation was a Honda 350 motorcycle. One day, when she was looking for a job, she stopped by the Texas Employment Commission office to see if they had anything interesting listed and parked it on the sidewalk by the front door.
Problem was, there was some kind of battery problem that she hadn't gotten around to doing anything about that made the electronic ignition erratic. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. If it wasn't working, the bike could still be kickstarted, but Melanie wasn't strong enough to hold the bike upright and kickstart it with one leg. She had figured out, though, that if it was on the centerstand it was stable enough that she could stand on the pegs, jump down onto the kickstart lever and . . . vroooom!
When she came out of TEC, ignition wasn't working, bike was on the side stand - because she also wasn't strong enough to get it up on the centerstand. What to do?
Aha, luck! Walking down the street toward her was a young man with a motorcycle helmet in his hand. Since he clearly knew his way around a motorcycle, Melanie asked him if he'd mind helping her get it up on the centerstand. He did.
She did her "stand on the pegs and jump onto the kickstarter" routine. As she sat on the bike (now running nicely) putting on her helmet, thanking the guy for his help, getting ready to ride off, he asked, "Why didn't you just ask me to start it for you?"
Her reply:
"I have *some* pride."
