It’s one thing to dump your bike by the side of the road in some loose gravel. Another entirely to dump it over in a parking lot full of riders because, well, you just weren’t paying attention. But it is a true horror indeed to dump someone else’s bike in front of a television audience.
A teevee reporter in North Carolina, Stephanie Berzinski, has found herself in the unenviable position of having dumped a gleaming new Harley-Davidson during a segment she was taping to – and this is just cruel – promote motorcycle safety.
In case you were wondering, Berzinski is no squid. She’s a fully-licensed motorcyclist and was tooling around a parking lot for WXII-TV’s 5 p.m. broadcast when the horror took hold and got her the kind of attention no rider wants. It went down like this: Berzinski tried to stop the bike as she approached the camera but it all went wrong when she forgot to put the kickstand down. She tipped the Harley over with the engine still running, but she did of course have a crew member close by to offer her some help righting the ship.
“Okay, so it really isn’t as easy as it looks,” Berzinski said. “That bike is a lot heavier than the one I was using in the motorcycle safety course. I apologize.…That was not supposed to happen.”
Berzinski took to her Facebook account to offer this mea culpa.
“Dear Everyone: Thank you for your thoughts and concerns! But I am A-Okay! 🙂 Maybe a bruised ego…lol but other than that totally fine. I have to laugh this one off. Yes, I am forever embarrassed and yes I was totally mad at myself, but hey-that’s live TV for you. Mistakes happen. Obviously. Either way I still passed and have my motorcycle endorsement. I think I’m gonna start off with a Vespa. P.S. the motorcycle is fine too. If it’s one thing I CAN do it’s gracefully fall.”
Stephanie, you are not the first, and you sure won’t be the last, to dump a bike. And it was no big deal anyway, it was just a Sporty, and laying on it’s side somewhere is what a Sportsters was made to do.
I’m heading out right now to give you a hug from a fellow rider – as soon as I can get my leg out from under my bike and stand it back up…
http://youtu.be/hxN1s6w5cvA[flv:http://www.barhopperchallenge.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Reporter+lays+down+new+Harley+on+live+TV.flv 550 360]