Still Waiting...

Over 4 weeks now, and still waiting for parts! I want my bike back!

Progress On The B-King

Well 2 weeks have passed since my little off and I have finally sorted everything with the insurance company. Work should start on the fix this Monday - still reckon I will be waiting at least another 2 weeks till she is back on the road, mainly due to parts.

I have been commuting on a mates ER6N - was really nice of him to offer me his bike. It is great for city traffic but am hanging for a little more get-up-and-go!!

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!

Cindy's Ankle

Been a while hasn’t it!! I have been riding a bit, just nothing that I have found exciting enough to write about. The daily commute and a few short stints on the odd weekend have been the extent of my riding since getting my license back. That changed a little over the weekend.

I recently changed jobs – at my previous job I worked with Cindy, a lady whom owns a Triumph Daytona 675. She really didn’t seem to ride it that much and I was always on at her about coming out for a day on the road. After much harassment on my part, we finally arranged to do so last Saturday.

I was up early and headed cross-town to Cindy’s place at Springfield. The morning was overcast but the forecast was for a warm sunny day. I got there in just over 45 minutes and shared a coffee with her before heading off for a trip up to Tamborine and Eagle Heights for lunch. Always find it refreshing riding up in the mountains on a warm day.

We took the road from Springfield to the Mt Lindsay Hwy at a steady pace, allowing Cindy to find her feet again. Was a bit slow, but didn't really worry me that much. Onto the highway and then turning off not too far down to head towards Tamborine. Was great to get away from the traffic. The roads were good, the day was nice - not much more you could ask for. We reached the Logan to Tamborine strip and picked the pace up a little, finally pulling up for a break out the front of the Bearded Dragon. I let Cindy know that I would probably take off a bit from here but meet her at the top again.

If you haven't ridden it lately, the road up the mountain is currently being resurfaced. Up to about the half way mark the black stuff is new and smooth as, but then reverts back to the original crap that used to cover this climb all the way from the bottom - filled potholes and really bad camber in a lot of spots have long been it's weakness. It will be a fantastic bit of road once they finish the resurfacing and you pick your times to ride it. Traffic was quite heavy when we rode it so I was forced to use all of the road, but gees, the new bit is good.

I reached the top, pulled up and waited for a short while until Cindy was in my mirrors again. We then continued through Tamborine Village and pulled into the Eagle Heights pub for a few drinks. After a couple of hours we headed off again, this time heading towards the St Bernards pub to check out that huge dog!! We stopped at the info centre so Cindy could grab a few brochures about accomodation up on top of the mountain. Once done we mounted up and were about to hit the road when Cindy dropped her Daytona!

We had parked the bikes on a bit of a hill and as she was just about to take off she went to put her foot down but picked the wrong side. She overbalanaced and the bike went down, trapping her right leg underneath. I got off mine and lifted the bike off her but she was in pain, serious pain. An older couple who witnessed the fall rang an ambulance and stayed with us until it arrived - we sat and waited, watching a lot of other bikes just ride on past. I was pissed off that no other biker pulled up to see if all was ok - I would have for sure. Anyway, the ambos arrived and had a look at what had happened. They decided to cut her boot off and man, I was amazed at how swollen her ankle had become. She had obviously broken it after taking the full weight of her bike as it fell.

The ambos carted Cindy off to Logan Hospital and I found a place to store her bike. I then headed down (whoa, it was a great ride down!!!) to see how things turned out. On arriving at the hospital I was amazed to see how big her ankle had become. I didn't stay too long as she had a friend with her, but rang her later on and she confirmed that it was smashed. She is still in hospital and has already had one operation, with another on the cards once the swelling goes down.

Her bike was not damaged too much with just a couple of scratches on the fairing. Her ankle actually saved the bike, however, it bore the full weight. I felt so bad afterwards, but I do understand I wasn't responsible for what happened. It is just such a pity that we parked on that hill. Fortunately it was a zero speed accident and she will recover eventually, although with some inconvenience.

Take it easy out there people - something this simple can be very painful and very inconvenient.

Under (re)construction!!

Whoops!

I dropped the GSX for the fist time yesterday morning and I felt like such a knob!

I rode down to the bottom of my street and went to stop at a tee intersection as I made my way to work. There was a truck removing a large waste bin from one of the houses further along the street I was about to turn into, and it caught my attention. As I came to a stop I think I put my foot down a little late - I had been distracted by trying to work out how I was going to get around the truck. Next thing, I was fighting to keep the bike upright but it had gone too far. I managed to get my right leg out from under the bike just before it hit the bitumen! Ouch!

I quickly picked it up (wow, it was easier than I thought) and then noticed that both the truck driver and the guy from the house had watched it all happen! Double ouch!! The guy walked across the street and asked if I was alright - I told him that I was fine, quickly got back on the bike and rode off. I pulled up around the next corner to check the damage - just a few small scratches on the bike and a very dented ego for the rider!

Commando

Bloody hell!! Check out what this guy went through.

Agro Drivers

What is it with Brisbane drivers - why are a lot of them so bloody agro? I was happily making my way into work this morning, a bit later than usual, so the traffic was heavier than what I normally ride in. I made my way to the Wynnum & Manly Rd intersection and filtered through the traffic almost to the front, sitting behind a guy at the front in a blue Falcon. The lights turn green and we roll off - just as the Falcon enters the intersection a 4WD turns into our lane from Belmont Rd. This is when it got interesting.

The guy driving the Falcon sped up and sat right behind the 4WD sitting on his horn and flashing his hazard lights, as if he had been cut off. In my opinion, the 4WD had enough room and time to slot into the traffic without causing any issue, but Mr Agro in the Falcon thought otherwise! He continued to sit right behind him, and may have even nudged him, he was that close. I watched this from about 20 metres behind the Falcon, dropping back to avoid anything that may have happened. As we rounded the slight bend I could see a fully laden truck that was parked out the front of the Tingalpa Hotel delivering steel, so I moved into the middle lane. You could just see that something was going to happen - the 4WD was able to move out of the blocked lane and in front of another vehicle just before the parked truck. But Mr Agro wasn't so lucky. He slammed into the back of the truck doing about 70kmh.

As he hit the truck the back of his car became airborne and swung around, partly blocking my lane. Glass and plastic were spat into my path and for a second I thought I was heading straight into his rear passenger side door. I immediately hit the picks, but in doing so locked it up on a piece of the Falcons plastic. I released my brakes and safely made it around, pulling over in front of the truck. I quickly got off the GSX and ran back to see if he was ok, cause it was an almighty hit. He seemed fine, although very lucky that he wasn't injured. I only stayed on the scene long enough to make sure he was alright, and once I spoke with him I left. I didn't want to hang around because the whole thing was his own fault. Had he just let the 4WD go and stayed calm, it probably wouldn't have happened.

I got to work and am still a little shaken up as I type - another near miss, phew! I could have really made use of a helmetcam this morning.

Wednesday Heartstarter

Phew!!!!! Just got into work and my heart is till pounding away. About 20 minutes ago I was happily riding along Wynnum Rd passing through Morningside when it happened - a young guy driving a beat up old Magna decides to drive out of a shop carpark on the side of the road and directly into my path.

I saw him coming but thought he would pull up as nearly all do - uh uh. He just drove straight into my path, leaving me no time at all to brake. I prepared myself for the inevitable whilst swerving in an attempt to avoid him. Luckily I pulled right hard enough to miss the front of his car by about 6 inches and the median strip by about 12, whilst managing to stay upright. There was no other traffic around me, so fortunately I had an out! I just caught the look on his face as I passed and he looked surprised, as if he didn't know what I was doing there. I immediately slowed up and waited for him to pull alongside - the driver was just a kid. He immediately apologised to me whilst I "politely" informed him to take a little longer and look next time.

You know the worst thing about this - he didn't even bother to look for oncoming traffic - just drove straight out and almost put me out. Oh well....I'm still here!! Lesson learnt => always expect the unexpected.

What the........?

I noticed a link to the following story from Seattle in the USA on the GSX forum and just had to post it here. This is unbelievable.....what kind of idiot would do this???

My wife and I were driving home last night, after spending the weekend on Lopez Island with some friends. After getting off the freeway, we were approaching the light at 175th and Meridian, when I see a guy on a motorcycle coming down the hill (eastbound on 175th) with a fullsize van barrelling down behind him. Before I could even think about what was about to happen, it happened. The van went right through him and sent the motorcylist off the bike and rolling to the ground.

The van continues right down without even braking the hill without losing momentum and takes a left (northbound) onto Meridian Ave. I look up the hill and see the rider getup and run out of the street, with a dozen cars stopped around him. "Holy fucking shit" - My wife and I cannot really believe what we are seeing. Seeing that the guy was apparently okay (not dead, at least) and that there were several people around, I take off after the van. My wife immediately gets on the phone with 911.

After 20 blocks and one red light, the guy finally pulls over . . . R6 still planted in grill.


A big truck pulls in front of him, another behind, and I pull up on his left. A couple of tough looking dudes come out of the truck and start yelling at the guy . . . I notice that they are both armed with pistols. They reach in and pull the keys and continue to yell at the guy. At this point, I'm feeling very weird about putting my wife and I right next to a confilct involving guns. I then notice that they have badges on necklaces as they drag the driver out of the van by his hair. Red and blue lights arrive on the scene.



After giving the po po a statement and our contact info, we drove back to the scene of the accident and saw the paramedics putting the stretcher into the ambulance. The guy had been wearing a leather jacket, helmet, & jeans. From what I could see of his legs, there wasn't really any road rash. They had him on a board with a neck brace, which I'm guessing is standard procedure, so hopefully he will come away from all of this okay.

The whole thing was really disturbing for both my wife and I. I thought about it in terms of how I viewed this "as a motorcyclist" and realized that it mattered very little. Of course I can relate a bit more in terms of my own fears (and the fears my wife must have about me riding), but really, it was about witnessing such a foul excuse for a human being. It could have been a cyclist, a pedestrian in a crosswalk, or even another cager forced to swerve into a tree. This guy was on a mission and had absolutely no regard for anybody he was injuring or endangering. Had I never put a leg over a bike, I don't think my reaction would be any different.

The fact that there were undercover cops on the scene seems like a hell of a coincidence. I'm thinking that they may have already been following the guy for something else. We overheard them saying "we couldn't pull him over", which is obvious given their lack of lights and siren. Did they mean before or after the crash?

Original post from the Underground Terrorist Motorcycle Cult is here.

Dodging Traffic - Not!

For those of you that were not aware, our little road warrior, Dodge, had a bit of an off on Sunday evening. He was heading in towards the city with Eddie and one of Eddie's mates when a car decided to turn across in front of him at a set of lights on Main Street at Wooloongabba. From what Dodge told me, there was a car turning right from his side and a car heading in the opposite direction also wanting to turn right. Because the driver could not see the traffic heading towards her, she just decided to gun it through the orange light assuming there was no traffic, but unfortunately collected Dodge.

He hit the front left fender of the car and luckily flew onto the bonnet and then onto the road - could have so easily been straight into the pillar a second later. He had absolutely no skin off - considering he didn't have a jacket on, I would say he is very lucky. When he did hit the ground on the other side, he damaged his left knee and his back. He told me that he felt like he could not breath for "ages" - he struggled for air and finally was able to take in very small amounts. A few people assisted him at the scene and he was taken the short distance by ambulance to the PA Hospital.

Anyway, he ended up with a fractured vertabra and a shattered knee - he was in a fair bit of pain when I saw him and is going in for a knee reco this morning, Tuesday. I am going to see him tonight to see how his knee turned out and will provide updates.

Our thoughts are with ya, mate.

Australia Day Short Long Weekend

With Friday being Australia Day and also a public holiday, we had planned to ride down the Oxley Hwy for the long weekend, staying at Uralla on Friday night and Bowraville on Saturday night before returning to Brisbane on the Sunday. We didn't even make it to Uralla.

To cut a long story short, both Kat and I came off the bike on the road to Armidale. It was a hot, steamy afternoon and had just started to rain quite heavy - we were navigating a fairly twistie section and on a down hill right hander my front tyre managed to find a bit of diesel on the road. Did a bit of a front wheel fishtail and down she went.

On coming off we slid along the wet and greasy road for a short distance before hitting some really soft leaf litter on the side of the road - this saved any serious injury. Luckily we stopped before hitting the power pole that was fast approaching. Steve and Denita were riding behind us and saw it all happen while Grizz and his son were a little further back. They pulled up and made sure we were ok and then picked the bike up. We got up and brushed ourselves off - Kat complained of a sore leg - the only other injuries were just some really bad bruises on her legs and gravel in her hand. Think the bruising was from where I landed on her (poor girl!). I ended up with a bruise on my hip - nothing more. Luckily we had just previously stopped to put on jackets and I put my fingerless gloves on. This move saved a lot of skin.

The bike however didn't fare quite as well. On hitting the road it appears that the bike slid for a distance loosing one of the bags and then the front wheel hit a culvert on the side of the road. The impact twisted and bent the front forks, cracked the front fender, dented the tank and bent/scratched numerous other items. After making sure we were ok, I jumped back on the bike and tried to start it - it fired but would not kick over.

Whilst on the corner we watched a number of vehicles slip and slide as they negotiated the bend. A sports bike managed to slide on the approach to the corner as well, but he was able to control the slide. He pulled up to catch his breath and see if we were ok and then took off again. Grizz suggested we move away from the corner and find somewhere a more suitable to check the bike so he took his son down to a grassed area and came back to get Kat - I rolled down the hill but had a hell of a time trying to steer. We mucked around for a while trying to start the bike but it appeared hopeless. Steve needed to get air into his slowly leaking tyre so he and Denita took off for air, to try and find Dodge and someone to tow my bike.

Dodge returned about 20 minutes later with a couple of local guys in utes. We were able to use the side of the tray on one of them as a ramp and got my bike up and secured. The guy driving the ute was Jim, a very casual sort of bloke, and he worked at the Dorrigo school as a groundsman. He suggested we go to Dorrigo for the night, which was about 20 minutes away, and then try to arrange transport from there. We agreed and took off, driving for about 5 minutes to an old fuel stop on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and stopped for a drink. We let the others know and they decided to come with us.

Jim drove Kat, Denita (Steve's tyre was still a bit dodgy) and I to Dorrigo while the others followed on their bikes. We pulled into the Dorrigo Hotel and pulled the bike from the ute. I made sure I got Jim a carton of stubbies to thank him for his help. He really went out of his way for us and we really needed and appreciated it. We checked in, getting hold of the last room - a 10 bed dorm room, the last one they had, and then headed down to the dining room for some food. After eating we had a few "quiet" drinks in the front bar and then out on the balcony upstairs!! It was decided that the best plan of action was to drive down the range to Coffs Harbour in the morning and hire a ute for the bike.

The next morning I got a lift down to Coffs from an older couple who had also stayed at the Hotel. The road down was slow and twisty but was truely spectacular - views out to the coast with a couple of waterfalls along side the well maintained and appropriately named Waterfall Way. The road was also fringed by rainforest which made it even more spectacular. As you can tell, I had never been out this way before, but can say I will definitely be coming back. Anyway, I was dropped off and picked up the ute.

I followed the same road back up the range to Dorrigo reaching the Hotel about an hour and a half after leaving. The others had already headed off back to Brisbane so there was just Kat waiting. We now had to load the bike onto the back of the hire ute. I managed to get hold of a ramp and we got some help from another group of bikers that had pulled up for a drink at the pub. They helped push it up and then secured it - another group of really decent guys. I offered them a drink but they refused saying that is what riding is all about. Top blokes.

We left Dorrigo about midday and headed back down the range and onto the Pacific Hwy heading home. We got back to Kat's place in Kingscliff at about 6pm to pick her car up and then headed up to my place.

I will now be without a bike, or any form of transport for a number of weeks - at least we walked away from it relatively injury free.

Friday morning - Australia Day - and ready to go..

With the crew at the Kyogle Pub on the way

Roadside stop

It was hot - finding some shade was hard!

On the Armidale Rd where we put on our jackets shortly before our accident

On the back of the ute bound for home

Dented tank

Cracked fender

Plenty of paint off

Pipes

Scratching on left side crankcase cover

A not so happy Kat at the doctors getting her hand cleaned

Doesn't look that bad but she was in a fair bit of pain - WEAR YA BLOODY GLOVES

The Roadrash Queen...

Here is something to read and think about as we head towards the warmer months. I know that I often ride in just tee shirt and jeans, but after reading this article it has made me think twice. One gutsy chicky......cute too!!

Eating Road

Last Tuesday night I experienced what all of us hope to avoid - hitting the bitumen for the first time.

The day before I had finally received forward controls from a guy in the US for Snappa's VTX. After seeing them fitted to Angry's bike and then sitting on it, I decided that I would also like a set and so I told Snappa that if he no longer wanted them I would be more than happy to take em of his hands. We agreed that I would fit them and see if I liked them.

Got home from work on Tuesday and removed the floorboards from the bike and then fitted the forward controls - took me about an hour and was really simple. I did a couple of other minor things on the bike that needed to be done and then had something to eat. After that I decided to take it for a test ride to make sure all was ok - last thing I needed was for anything to happen in the traffic on the way to work.

I decided to ride around the school which is about a five minute ride and then call it a night - it was getting late. Coming up to the last corner before heading home I was going a little faster than I usually would when coming up to a corner - mistake 1. I applied the front brakes and then went for the rear brakes. The brake pedal on the forward controls was set further down than what I was used to with the floorboards and when I couldn't feel the rears working I pushed a little harder on the pedal - mistake 2. Instead of coming on as expected the brakes grabbed and as I had a new rear tyre, the arse end of the bike just slid out from under me. I came down on the left side and slid along the road for a bit, stopping just before entering a tee intersection. I immediately jumped up and ran over to the bike which had slid across the tee intersection and stopped at the top of a household driveway - a metre or two further and it would have slid down the short driveway and into the garage door of the house. I righted the bike, had a quick look then started it and rode home.

On arriving home I put the bike in the garage and went inside to sit down - it was then that I realised what had happened. I was in a little bit of pain, but all I could think of was the damage to the bike. I immediately rang Kat and as she lives about an hour from my place she rang one of my daughters who stil live with their mother around the corner from my place. My ex-wife and eldest daughter arrived about 20 minutes later and decided to take me up to the hospital to get checked out.

I was very lucky. The only really deep cut which was on my calf required just 3 stitches - this was from the left side peg and you can still see the impression of the end of it on my calf!! As I was wearing an open face helmet, jeans and no gloves I lost a bit of skin off my hands and face and also lost a bit from my knees. My left shoulder which took most of the force when I hit the ground was sore but no skin missing. I also lost skin on my elbow even though I had my leather jacket on. A bit sore and hard to move around for a couple of days but fortunately nothing broken.

The bike suffered a lot less than I thought it would. A few scratches down the left side - luckily not the pipe side. The front fender lost a bit of paint but the tip protected it from serious damage. The peg on the forward controls scraped a bit and it was bent inwards but I was able to straighten it up. My left mirror and crankcase cover suffered a bit - some deep scratches in both but I should be able to hide them. The swingarm area was also scraped pretty heavily but luckily this is only painted and I will be able to buy some chrome covers for it. The pillion peg - new ones just fitted - also suffered some scratches as well as being bent a little to the rear. I don't want to go on and list everything, but I really am very fortunate that the major damage isn't that bad.

The one single lesson learnt from this?? If I ever modify anything to do with either steering or braking I will always make sure I test it or familiarise myself with it on a straight bit of road at low speed.

Damage to bike - luckily not too bad

Some of the damage to me - again very lucky