My Slingshot!

I rode a motorcycle for about 20 years, and probably would still be riding if not for an accident back in 2016. I was on my way to work (Systems Plus) and had to stop for gas. Pulled off the highway, aware that there was a pickup truck towing another pickup truck coming up the access ramp that runs parallel to the highway. I stopped at the exit, nothing coming, I pulled out, and was knocked off my bike by the truck. Apparently he did not want to lose his momentum by stopping at the stop sign, so he just plowed into the intersection without even slowing down. I flew about 3 feet, landed hard on my left foot, bounced, and slammed into the ground hard. Ended up with a broken ankle and a trashed ST-1100. I was pretty bummed, as I really liked that bike and had put a lot of mods on it. Turns out the mods were worth more than the bike, and it could not be repaired, so insurance totaled it and cut me a check. I used that to buy a ST-1300, but was never able to ride it. The accident screwed up my hip, plus I was never able to shake the PTSD. The accident ended up going to a lawyer, who managed to get about a $60k settlement out of the other guy’s insurance. I got about $45k after the lawyer took his share. I ended up selling the ST-1300 and used part of the accident settlement to buy a 2019 Slingshot SLR.

Let me tell you, this thing is COOL. Once you get past the idea that you’re sitting about 6” off the ground, it’s a lot of fun to drive. It’s a stick shift, which I had to get used to. I taught myself to drive a stick 34 years ago when I worked for a radio installation place (it was embarrassing not being able to pull vehicles into the bay because they were manual) but I never drove one as my own vehicle. Closest I came was a motorcycle, which isn’t quite the same but from that I was able to adapt to a Slingshot. I have driven my wife’s old RAV4 a few times (usually because we were on the way home really late after a long day and she was too tired to drive) but it was mostly highway driving. As of the 2020 model you can get one that has a “sort of” automatic transmission - by “sort of” I mean it’s a manual but the computer controls the shifting. Meh, if it’s going to be a manual I might as well do the shifting myself. It’s very forgiving, although I admit I have chirped the tire a few times starting from an incline. Also, there is no roof - plan on getting wet if you decide to buy one. You can get roof kits for it, but they are more intended to keep the sun off you. They won’t keep you dry if you get caught in a sudden unforecasted downpour. Yeah, it’s happened to me a few times. Not fun. Nothing like raindrops large enough to change the station on your touchscreen radio. But, if I wanted to be dry and sporty I would have invested in a Miata. BTW, I don’t fit in a Miata.