After riding the Indian Foothills Parkway and headed around the park to Cherokee for dinner, I pulled the three of us over. I had a bug in my helmet and something bothering one eye. It was a great snake of a road but heavy with traffic and slow going. We stopped buy the fast-moving stream that this road ran parallel to. This was a small turnout big enough for about three cars. We lined the bikes up and all dismounted, took off the helmets and jackets.
Here's a pic of what was just ahead of my bike. This is a rock-lined road that is about 6 feet down and steep. Large rocks and big steps! Sort of hard to navigate if you wanted to go to the clear rushing water below.
View attachment 16842
You can see in this shot, my bike, Joe's SV650 right behind my wife and my bike, then her bike. See her blue helmet there on the mirror?
View attachment 16843
Well, she said she was having issues with the front end. Seems the tire was having a shimmy problem at certain speeds. So I went back to look at it. I got to her bike and grabbed the bars to straighten the wheel. I am standing on the street side of her bike. Imagine my shock and horror and I see her helmet tip. You know how everything seems to go in slow motion when you you know it's going to end up BAD!?!? Well, I watched for what seemed like MINUTES and her helmet slid off the mirror.... then hit the tar. I reached but knew there wasn't a chance... It bounced up once, then flipped, hit again and did the WORST possible football bounce, directly toward the raging water. I started around the bike yelling NO! NO! NO!!! Too late! It bounced down the embankment off two rocks and did a BEAUTIFUL swan dive into the raging water! OMFG!!! I couldn't believe this! My feet took over where my mind was numb and lost. The helmet itself is an inexpensive Icon we bought for her. But, attached to that helmet was her Scala Rider Q2 headset, still flashing it's pretty bluetooth-blue light and asking to be chatted with. I took to the road and within split seconds, bounded down the rocks, somehow not falling and breaking my extremities. a few yards down was a rock jutting out of the water, sort of an upside down V in shape. Without even a thought, I jumped out and landed on it like a saddled horse. I was in the water up to my knees, riding boots and overpants on. I looked upstream and there was the helmet, floating and twisting, headed my way. There was a smaller rock in front of it and the helmet tapped it. It could have gone either way but I think Lady Luck gave me my one shot! It tapped the rock again and went street side and headed right toward the front of the rock I was straddling. I layed forward and snagged it on the way by. After pulling it toward me, I saw that one of her gloves was in it and fell out. I swept my other arm around and snatched it out of the water too!
:Flash: This photo is my exhausted fat arse with my two prizes, caught in a crystal clear TN stream in the Smokey Mtns. No rod, no reel, no bait, just my bare hands!
View attachment 16844
Yes, the helmet was water logged. The Scala was submerged. I poured water out of the helmet as soon as I had reeled it in. I put them in my lap and pulled the Scala off, still flashing blue. I wiped it with my shirt before getting off the rock and it remained running. They are water resistant but not supposed to be submerged but that was the counter weight that turned the helmet and the keel that stayed in the water.
Here is my testiment to Scala.... the unit did not take any water in. The only way water can get in is via the rubber plug for the charger but as the manual states, I was diligent in making sure it was closed securely that morning. Now the speakers and mic? Oh yeah... SOAKED! I pulled my new Dragon Tee out of my tail bag, and changed into it. I used my Tee after wringing out as best I could her helmet to press dry the liner and pads in the helmet. I gently pressed out the speakers and mic. After about 20 minutes of pressing and drying, it was far from dry. I have to say, she was a great sport about it though. Because the day was rather hot, it was like air conditioning for her head. Thankfully it was ALSO as clear a stream as I've seen with the freshest of water. She put on the helmet and we snapped the Scala back onto the mount. I put on my helmet and we turned them on. IT WORKED! IT FREAKIN' WORKED! I could hear her crystal clear! She said I was a little muted, understandable with the wet speakers....
As the rest of the trip worn on, the speakers dried out and she and I had zero issues communicating all the way back to the Two Wheel Inn.
I ONLY wish she's caught all this on video cause I am sure it would have gotten $10k if not the whole $100k on AFHV.
Thanks for reading folks and I hope you got a good laugh out of this! :thumbup:
Here's a pic of what was just ahead of my bike. This is a rock-lined road that is about 6 feet down and steep. Large rocks and big steps! Sort of hard to navigate if you wanted to go to the clear rushing water below.
View attachment 16842
You can see in this shot, my bike, Joe's SV650 right behind my wife and my bike, then her bike. See her blue helmet there on the mirror?
View attachment 16843
Well, she said she was having issues with the front end. Seems the tire was having a shimmy problem at certain speeds. So I went back to look at it. I got to her bike and grabbed the bars to straighten the wheel. I am standing on the street side of her bike. Imagine my shock and horror and I see her helmet tip. You know how everything seems to go in slow motion when you you know it's going to end up BAD!?!? Well, I watched for what seemed like MINUTES and her helmet slid off the mirror.... then hit the tar. I reached but knew there wasn't a chance... It bounced up once, then flipped, hit again and did the WORST possible football bounce, directly toward the raging water. I started around the bike yelling NO! NO! NO!!! Too late! It bounced down the embankment off two rocks and did a BEAUTIFUL swan dive into the raging water! OMFG!!! I couldn't believe this! My feet took over where my mind was numb and lost. The helmet itself is an inexpensive Icon we bought for her. But, attached to that helmet was her Scala Rider Q2 headset, still flashing it's pretty bluetooth-blue light and asking to be chatted with. I took to the road and within split seconds, bounded down the rocks, somehow not falling and breaking my extremities. a few yards down was a rock jutting out of the water, sort of an upside down V in shape. Without even a thought, I jumped out and landed on it like a saddled horse. I was in the water up to my knees, riding boots and overpants on. I looked upstream and there was the helmet, floating and twisting, headed my way. There was a smaller rock in front of it and the helmet tapped it. It could have gone either way but I think Lady Luck gave me my one shot! It tapped the rock again and went street side and headed right toward the front of the rock I was straddling. I layed forward and snagged it on the way by. After pulling it toward me, I saw that one of her gloves was in it and fell out. I swept my other arm around and snatched it out of the water too!
:Flash: This photo is my exhausted fat arse with my two prizes, caught in a crystal clear TN stream in the Smokey Mtns. No rod, no reel, no bait, just my bare hands! View attachment 16844
Yes, the helmet was water logged. The Scala was submerged. I poured water out of the helmet as soon as I had reeled it in. I put them in my lap and pulled the Scala off, still flashing blue. I wiped it with my shirt before getting off the rock and it remained running. They are water resistant but not supposed to be submerged but that was the counter weight that turned the helmet and the keel that stayed in the water.
Here is my testiment to Scala.... the unit did not take any water in. The only way water can get in is via the rubber plug for the charger but as the manual states, I was diligent in making sure it was closed securely that morning. Now the speakers and mic? Oh yeah... SOAKED! I pulled my new Dragon Tee out of my tail bag, and changed into it. I used my Tee after wringing out as best I could her helmet to press dry the liner and pads in the helmet. I gently pressed out the speakers and mic. After about 20 minutes of pressing and drying, it was far from dry. I have to say, she was a great sport about it though. Because the day was rather hot, it was like air conditioning for her head. Thankfully it was ALSO as clear a stream as I've seen with the freshest of water. She put on the helmet and we snapped the Scala back onto the mount. I put on my helmet and we turned them on. IT WORKED! IT FREAKIN' WORKED! I could hear her crystal clear! She said I was a little muted, understandable with the wet speakers....
As the rest of the trip worn on, the speakers dried out and she and I had zero issues communicating all the way back to the Two Wheel Inn.
I ONLY wish she's caught all this on video cause I am sure it would have gotten $10k if not the whole $100k on AFHV.
Thanks for reading folks and I hope you got a good laugh out of this! :thumbup:
Last edited:
