Mar 21 2006
Down She Goes
Once again my bike is off the roads. Yesterday whilst heading home I came off my bike whilst going round a corner. It been dry in Guernsey for a while now but at lunch time yesterday there was a very light drizzle… just enough to put a fine slippery film of water on the road.
On the previous corner my back wheel had slipped slightly but on the fateful corner the back end just lost it. As the bike span out the back end slammed into the wall beside me and went sliding off down the road. I on the other hand slid along the road and I either bounced off the wall or a gate post… not sure which.
In my dazed state I did a quick check of body parts: head, neck, back, legs, torso, arms. Luckily there didn’t seem to be any internal parts sticking out. I thought about getting up but decided that I quite liked where I was lying. Fortunately there hadn’t been a car right behind me at the time, and there were people around that warned other cars, so I was in danger of being run over. They also called for an ambulance and a nurse who was passing by check me for broken bones, etc.
When the ambulance arrived they checked me over and gave me a thumbs up, I guess someone was looking out for me. The police also attended to ensure that everything was alright traffic wise and to move my bike. Obviously he had to do the usual routine and question me about my riding and what happened. I also had my first every breath test the result of which, as was to be expected, was that I hadn’t been drinking.
The bike itself is in a bit of a mess. The rear light cluster that hit the wall is smashed up as is the seat surround/fairings. The engine casing on the left side is all scratched up, the bars have been pushed back and there is a dent and chipped away paint where the bars hit the tank, the clutch lever has snapped off and the left indicator is broken off. The belly pan has got some paint scratched off by that is fixable.
After my last accident in Norway I decided to upgrade my insurance policy to fully comp, so hopefully that will cover all the repairs.. assuming they don’t decided that the bike is a write-off!
I have taken some pictures this morning but they are on my sisters camera and I don’t have a cable to connect it to my work computer, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow before I can upload those.
Unlucky dude… at least you are ok though!! We were having a conversation about bikes at work today and were discussing how cars are safer because you cant fall off… might be worth considering!!
Your not the first to remind me of the safety advantages of cars. However, I’m not about to give up my bike. Although now that I’m moving closer to work I’ll be using the bandit a lot less and therfore greatly reducing the chances of another accident.
But never say never!
I’ve been told by several people that I made it into the local paper, although I am not named in the article.
Unfortunately it wasn’t a serious enough emergence for it to get a photograph. I guess next time I’ll have to throw myself through a car windscreen or something
I’ve uploaded the pictures from my crash. You can view them here: http://www.gringod.com/photos/tags/newroad