In the late 1970's my Dad worked hard and we played hard too. He had a rail dune buggy that had won the Baja 1000 race. We had multiple motorcycles and he had some 3 wheeled vehicles that had 70 HP Kohler motors on them. We went riding/driving every weekend.
The 3 wheelers weren't really made for off road use. I've never seen anything like them before or since but they were very fast! They had a bucket seat and you sat in front of the big motor. On pavement, if you didn't spin the tires, they would easily beat our motorcycles. Dad loved those vehicles!
We were out at Miller Springs (just below the Belton Dam) and Dad was on his 3 wheeler and I was following him around on my motorcycle. He decided to take off at a high rate of speed and go flying across a wide open area. The grass was tall so you couldn't see obstacles that you came upon until it was too late. We had been punishing his 3 wheeler climbing hills and riding over rocky areas. So we're zooming across this prairie at about 50 mph and I'm right on his tail. Suddenly I can only see a dust cloud in front of me and nail the brakes. The wind carries away some of the dust and I see Dad is upside down still strapped into the 3 wheeler. I ran over to help him and find that he's OK. I got him unstrapped and he climbed out from under the beast, his helmet was scratched almost all the way through. I asked what happened and he had no idea, there was nothing around that he could have hit to make him wreck. Upon further inspection, the 3 wheeler frame had broken and it had fell and planted into the ground catapulting him upside down and sliding through dirt and gravel. If he had not been wearing a helmet..it would have scratched the top of his head completely off.
After seeing that crash, I never even drove the dune buggy without a helmet. It pays to wear safety equipment! More riding/racing stories to come...