SPman
30th September 2006, 23:00
Well, after thinking that I was up to watching out for the pesky hoppers, my luck ran out last night!
Took the bike into work yesterday, but was a bit late getting away and, what with it being a long weekend and all,I dallied a bit too long in the village ( well, you need something to drink of an evening)
Result - I was heading for home through the bush right on dusk.- Roo time!
Now , I know the dangers - a lot of locals just don't ride at night, but, Ive done it before and been OK with all roo encounters up til now. Taking it easy - 60-70 k max, but ........little barstard bounced out from the shrubbery about 10m in front of the bike..the second bounce was straight under the front wheel! - didn't have time to say fuck! I always carry 2 fingers on the brake through there but my fingers had barely begun to clench when I was slam-dunked onto the pavement, then I seemed to be sliding on my face for the next 2 hrs over the next 20 m.
Ive always been a bit wary of the sliding damage potential, of the local quartz chip seal and, yep, its as bad as I feared!
So - the net damage - my pristine ZX9 looking decidedly worse for wear down one side - it pulled the oil filler plug and dumped half the oil over the road.. It was rideable, however.
Me - one fucked helmet, leathers scarred - a few abrasion holes, and lots of abrasion through the leather - even shredded the shoulder of my shirt!
But holy bejesus Im sore - the doc doesnt think Ive got any broken ribs,even though I can hardly move today and I may have damaged the AC joint in my right shoulder - we'll see. Overall, I was pretty lucky.
Once again - Ive been getting a few funny looks over here, wearing full leathers and all the gear, but I hate to think what would have happened,had I been wearing anything less!
So - thats buggered the October social calendar......
Took the bike into work yesterday, but was a bit late getting away and, what with it being a long weekend and all,I dallied a bit too long in the village ( well, you need something to drink of an evening)
Result - I was heading for home through the bush right on dusk.- Roo time!
Now , I know the dangers - a lot of locals just don't ride at night, but, Ive done it before and been OK with all roo encounters up til now. Taking it easy - 60-70 k max, but ........little barstard bounced out from the shrubbery about 10m in front of the bike..the second bounce was straight under the front wheel! - didn't have time to say fuck! I always carry 2 fingers on the brake through there but my fingers had barely begun to clench when I was slam-dunked onto the pavement, then I seemed to be sliding on my face for the next 2 hrs over the next 20 m.
Ive always been a bit wary of the sliding damage potential, of the local quartz chip seal and, yep, its as bad as I feared!
So - the net damage - my pristine ZX9 looking decidedly worse for wear down one side - it pulled the oil filler plug and dumped half the oil over the road.. It was rideable, however.
Me - one fucked helmet, leathers scarred - a few abrasion holes, and lots of abrasion through the leather - even shredded the shoulder of my shirt!
But holy bejesus Im sore - the doc doesnt think Ive got any broken ribs,even though I can hardly move today and I may have damaged the AC joint in my right shoulder - we'll see. Overall, I was pretty lucky.
Once again - Ive been getting a few funny looks over here, wearing full leathers and all the gear, but I hate to think what would have happened,had I been wearing anything less!
So - thats buggered the October social calendar......