I’d just finished shopping at the WeHo Pavilions, and was bub-bub-bubbering out of the parking lot on the Yamaha, the rear carrying case and saddlebags all loaded down with groceries. Just as I was pulling out a roll of Bounty paper towels escaped and hit the pavement. Puff…I heard the impact sound through my helmet. So I wheeled around and went back to retrieve it. Just as I was approaching a brilliant idea came into my head — “Hey, I could reach down and snag it without stopping, just like that guy in The Wild Bunch snagged those saddlebags during the shootout.”

Brilliant as in not, I meant. I slowed down a bit, leaned over and reached for the towels…and the bike tipped over and crashed. I hit the pavement and rolled over a couple of times.

I wasn’t hurt in the least, but it was mortifying. Three or four good samaritans ran over and helped me right the bike. Thank you, much obliged, appreciate it. I’m accepting 80% of the blame, but 20% of the blame goes to Sam Peckinpah for planting the idea in the first place. I really wanted to be cool like that Wild Bunch guy. I might have done it if the bike wasn’t loaded down. An extra 10 or 12 pounds of groceries made a crucial difference.

The Wild Bunch saddlebag snag happens at the 18-second mark: