A Total Shock...

Been just over a week since I dropped my bike. Have not had the urge to even talk about it till now.

Was out with the Ozbikers forum last Sunday the 23rd January and somehow I just missed a corner - not speeding, not riding hard, just plain missed the turn. The front tyre touched the soft mud on the side of the road just outside of Chillingham in northern NSW and down she went. Thankfully I ended up missing both the armco and the post that the bike hit, so no damage to me other than pride.

The bike however was a different story - scratched pretty much all down the right hand side with a hole in the clutch cover. One of the other guys picked the bike up, dusted her off and checked that all was ok and I actually jumped back on it for a few kilometers until I realised that it was leaking oil!! We pulled over futher up the track and then realised that it needed towing.

Kind of puts things back into perspective - it happened so quickly and so easily that I reckon I was in shock for a while after. It really doesn't take a lot for things to turn bad.

So now the King is sitting in the shop waiting to be fixed.........

Mud everywhere!!

Snap...

Looking a little worse for wear

Hole in the clutch cover

Thanks to my mate Chris and his lovely lady Donna for the pics and all their assistance at the scene - really appreciate your help guys!

An Old Favourite!

I got out on Sunday morning for a ride with the mob from the Ozbikers forum into northern NSW - all up 11 bikes of various sorts left from Yatala at 8am and took advantage of some great riding weather. It was fantastic to see a lot of other riders out on the road doing the same thing.

Our route took us out to Canungra, Caligraba Road and then along the Numinbah where we re-grouped at Chillingham - this is one of my favourite stretches of bitumen, especially those sweepers alongside the Hinze Dam. As I was new to riding with these guys, I took it relatively easy on the way out, but even so, we were hooking along - most of these guys ride sporties/performance bikes and like to have a go when they can. This was just what I and the B-King needed!

The road surface was in pretty good condition considering what our weather has been like - there were a few potholes but most of those were off the riding line. We did have to make one water crossing on the way into Chillingham, but it was only a couple of inches deep and posed no problems. After a brief stop in Chillinghsm to re-group, we continued on to Murwillumbah and then followed the Old Pacific Hwy over the Burringbar Range.

The road over the Burringbar Range is another favourite of mine - great surface and lots of corners which can really test your riding skills. It is fast and testing and the bike responded to my every demand. This was where I could really get a feel for my new B-King, and I did so - I carved a track up and over and then back - I was on rails. Perhaps the best two features on the bike that I really came to appreciate were the grip from the tyres and the power of the brakes - I was able to really fling the bike around with no doubt that if I needed to slow or stop in a hurry, I could do so. To me this bike is far superior to the GSX1400 in those two areas as well as on take-off - although it is around the same weight, it feels so much lighter when on the gas. You are also in a far more aggressive stance when seated on it with very little between you and the road ahead. Anyway, we rode it a couple of times and then headed back to Murwillumbah for fuel.

After re-fuelling the group headed back towards Canungra for lunch. A couple of us followed Ozzy's lead leaving Murwillumbah but he eventually flagged us past. Up and over the border and back into the Numinbah Valley - this is when the fun began!! I chased a fella in the group on his Busa all the way back to Canungra and gee we had fun in those Hinze sweepers. He would slowly pull away from me on the straights but I would then reel him in on the corners - a real game of cat & mouse!! This continued onto Caligraba Road where he and then I overshot a corner onto the other side of the road. Nothing major and nothing coming the other way, but proves that I was too busy watching him instead of the road. Lesson learnt!

I rode into Canungra with the biggest of grins on my face, having had a fantastic time getting to know my new bike a little better and cannot wait to get out again with these guys.

Re-grouping at Chillingham

Stokers Siding at the bottom of the Burringbar

Sensory Overload

This is simply amazing - it takes you as close as you could possibly get to a real riding experience via video. Jared Barnes slays the tail of the Dragon on his R6!!

Enjoy it - I did......a number of times!!!