Spring is finally starting to show here in the desert South-West. Warming up, and the wind is dying down. Looking forward to getting "Lola" out there. I want to convert her taillight to LED before the season starts. I have a bunch of LED 1157's in my lighting drawer in the garage. Just need to find a minute to get to it. Enjoy the season everyone. ...J.D.
Helmut is on call for work today, so I went out by myself for a lovely ride - set out early when it was still pretty chilly to try and beat the worst of the holiday traffic and barely saw any for the first hour or two - and then the whole world seemed to come out onto the roads .I had a lovely time - first stop was the Honey Cafe in Bronllys, then the Owl's nest in Llandovery and finally Abergavenny bus station. I am also exceptionally thankful that I fitted a radiator guard to the Street Triple as I hit a pheasant that suddenly flew out of a hedge when I was going quite fast headed home…I stopped and had to pick a lot of pheasant feathers and general gore out of the guard and mudguard and thankfully the only damage seems to be a very slight crack in some mudguard plastic. The bike then STANK when I was sat in traffic in town and I got a few looks at the petrol station removing more gore from the bike. I wondered why people were looking at me when I went to pay and when I got home noticed my left leg also had a good amount of former - pheasant on it .All in all I feel like I got off very lightly, it was a very big bird!!
No more Sesame Street then? Wonder when ITV will do the reruns in tribute? Sorry I couldn't resist letting my warped humour out. So has the heart-rate come down and the lingering sense of guilt subsided? That would have been pretty scary, but good that you still had to ride home; after an incident its always good to get back in the saddle to rediscover that 99% of the time all is good and you can ride safely. I'm guessing a quick glass of wine and a comforting hug from @Helmut Visor will be in order when he gets home. If it isn't the day-trippers its the wildlife. Stay safe
I thought about Sesame Street when I wrote that . Heart rate came down pretty quickly, I pretty much got it head - on and lower down on the bike, so it was a big thump, but nothing unbalancing. The guilt is still there - those birds are suicidal .
Two very nice bikes you’ve got there @darkman. I take it you rode one at a time, or are your riding powers even greater than your technical wizardry.
Yikes! That must have been quite unnerving when you hit that pheasant, @Mrs Visor. And then quite gross when you were cleaning it off your bike and later your leg. I'm glad that your bike wasn't any more damaged than it was and especially that the collision didn't cause something worse. Otherwise it looks like it was a beautiful day for a ride. Nice to see so many bikes out! Thanks for sharing the photos.
Need to have a proper clean of the radiator guard today and my trousers are hanging on the line this morning drying having been put straight into the washing machine .
Bloody hell, that could have been MUCH more serious, Mrs V. Glad you came out of okay, if a little smelly.
I have just spent some time cleaning bits of pheasant off my Striple’s radiator guard with plenty of patience and a soft, short - bristled brush and cooked bits of pheasant off the headers. Had a very through look at the bike and my assessment of one tiny crack yesterday being the only harm done seems to be correct, fingers crossed .
Changed the brake fluid and bled the brakes (Speed Triple RS). Checked the bike over as MOT due soon and the horn decided to remain silent. One of 4 things, switch, wiring, relay or horn itself. Turned out to be the horn but managed to fix it by turning the small tone adjuster screw and it came back to life.
Went for a lovely ride up to the H cafe near Oxford for breakfast and then to OnyerBike near Bicester for tea and bread and butter pudding. Nice bloke at Onyerbike let me ride his rather smart Monkey bike around the car park, never ridden one in my 62 years and it was really good fun. Saw what appeared to be a little squad of "community speed officers" or some such. Little group of Blakeys if ever I saw one, any sympathy I might have had went once I saw their quasi police jackets and tabards and the officious buzz of excitement a motorcycle instilled in them, but I always stick to 30 in 30 zones.
Glad you are ok. Some years ago I hit a deer on a motorway at motorway speed resulting in one dead deer, my pillion wife with a broken ankle and broken toe and a mangled radiator. Miraculously the bike didn't go down.