Sunday was perfect. Blue sky, 58, no wind, dry as a bone. So I get one block during warm-up on the NX and brake and THE FRONT BRAKE LOCKS UP. I'm trying to U-turn and it ain't happening, so I try and go right. The thing ain't moving well. Something's stuck. Give it more gas. Jerking. Clutch, rev, pop clutch, front wheel hops, power catches, I'm up in the air on one wheel. Came down violently. Wheel hopping. Brake will NOT LET GO. Brake lever now impossible to move, caliper is glued to the disc. Bike is stuck in the middle of the road. I managed to get her to the side. Father finally walks up (I was supposed to come back down the street to talk before I left for the ride).

We have four options. 1) Wheelie it all the way back to the house. 2) Go get a roller board (used by my Army brother for working underneath cars) to put under the front wheel and walk it home. 3) Carry it home (ughhh). 4) Attempt to ride it on two wheels, using torque to overcome the brake.

I didn't think I could wheelie it the whole way home, and the landings on that locked up wheel would be horrible. So my father hopped on and actually was able to get the thing moving straight. The engine bogged in second gear though. So we got to the intersection (I was running behind) and it just didn't want to turn at all. We had to physically pick it up and turn it. Then about 30 more feet on the busy street and we killed the engine. Then we carried it the rest of the way. It's only 260 pounds, luckily.

Later in the day, the caliper let go, but the brake was still impossible to squeeze. So, back to the shop again. May need a whole caliper/piston rebuild. Probably needs new brake cable and a pad. I hope it doesn't need a new disc, cuz that'll be expensive.

This is not an everyday occurence on a motorcycle. Some on the Cycle World Forums have offered opinions, but we're still scratching our heads about it. He's never seen or heard of this happening in 40+ years of riding.

I'm cursed. I finally get a nice day to ride on the weekend and only get to ride for a few seconds. I'm so looking forward to the day I bring home my bike. While we were at Circuit City, a guy rode up to the door (you're allowed to park on the sidewalk) on a nice little Ninja 500, so I chatted for a bit about it and sat on it. It's a nice little machine. It'll hammer most any car on the road up to 70 mph, it'll go 125, it gets 65 mpg, it's narrow, the seat is comfy, it looks great, and it's not very heavy.