Cary was in the market for a new motorcycle, so we went motorcycle shopping. He's a big guy so he wanted a big motorcycle. We looked at a air-cooled CR-500, but it was a little too ratty for him. Then he came across an ‘86 KX 500. It was beautiful, low mileage and clean. So he bought it, and got it at a good price. Sunday at 116th, our riding area, was the day of the first test ride. We all had our bikes running and gear on except Cary. He had his gear on but couldn't get the KX started. He hadn’t learned the starting drill yet. You know, how a bike has a certain sequence which you have to follow to get it started. Kick, kick, kick, he was about to have a stroke. Finally out of desperation, he decided to tow start it. I though that was a bad idea, but it’s his bike. We hooked up a hundred feet of half inch nylon rope, behind his three quarter ton, monster tired, Chevrolet pickup truck. I didn't think it was a good idea, did I say that already, and stayed clear. John volunteered to drive the truck. It didn’t seem safe so I asked my son Douglas to ride in the cab of the truck, so he could tell John what was going on. They start going around the track, which is full of potholes and whoops, but they're not going fast enough. When Cary would let out the clutch the rear tire just skidded. So I waved John to go faster. With the big tires and stiff suspension the truck was bouncing pretty heavily. Cary lets out the clutch, the bike starts, it races forward and winds up about 25 feet of rope around the front wheel and brake disk, which stops the bike. Douglas tells John to stop, but he keeps on going. When the truck got to the end of the slack in the rope, it yanked Cary off the bike and on to the ground like a rag doll. John keeps going. Douglas is still telling him to stop. Cary jumps up and runs after them yelling, stop, stop, stop or I’ll kill you. John continues to drag bike halfway around the track before stopping. Cary is furious to say the least. I try to get his attention focused on the motorcycle, so he doesn't go after John and kill him. We had a hard time untangling the nylon rope from around the front wheel, but we finally get it off. Amazingly nothing on the bike is damaged. We get the bike started and go ride.
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