Just been mulling over events during my all to infrequent riding of years gone by of things that have departed from their rightfull place on my two wheelers over the years. Around 1980, just out of Taupo, my mates pack I'd borrowed decided to depart from the rear portion of the seat of my newly aquired CJ250. Never knew of such things as bungies so the pack was tied down with rope. On it's transfer from Blenhiem to Auckland via the Wairapa and Hawke's Bay, decided it had had enough, wanted a rest and lept off. With one end of the rope still attached and the pack dragging behind I managed to pull over, accessed the damage, resecure the damn thing and carry on to my merry way. If the rope still hadn't been attached to the bike I'm sure I would've gotten to Hamilton before realising I'd lost the pack.
I had a small Oxy/Aceteline (sp) set come adrift once. It was sandwiched between me and a mate on a 50 stepthrough.
My younger brother was riding his RD400 with a group from Stratford to Napier, some years back. They were in the groove, when a bike in front of him had a pack fall off the carrier. He had nowhere to go but over it. After a wild ride, he managed to keep his bike upright. it was a very sobering experience. He used to be pretty "gung ho" up till then, but he lost his nerve for a spell, after that experience.
I'd just bought my old BMW R90/6 back in early '86, and only had it a few weeks. It was quite rough, but we'd given it a quick going-over and it seemed almost fit enough to do a trip down to Wellington so that we could watch the Nissan-Mobil street race. We had gotten as far as Mangakino with the bike running well, but as we headed around the western side of Lake Taupo the engine suddenly get really, really loud. I stopped, and quickly realised that the left muffler had exited stage left. The lovely Mrs H and I spent a fruitless ten minutes scouring the shrubbery before a passing car stopped a short distance up the road and pointed to "something shiny" in the long grass . . . The rest of the trip to Wellington was comparatively uneventful, but the return trip became a test of endurance as the clutch mechanism broke, requiring clutchless gearchanges; a dud tank of gas left the bike dropping one cylinder intermittently; and the final blow was the alternator rotor dying, resulting in a weak battery and requiring a clutchless push start. It got us home, but refused to go a metre further!
I had gone on a trip up to Herekino (near Kaitaia) to see family on my CB 400n when on the way back through Boardwood, one of he bungy cords used to tie my pack to the bike broke and my pack took a trip across the road and into the ditch. I was just lookng in my mirrors when it happened, otherwise i would have got home minus my pack. More recently, i was crusing down the motoway heading to work when one of the plastic clips holding my bag to my cx 400 broke, feeling behind me, i could not feel my bag. When i got to work, i found my bag hanging on by one clip and sitting on my exhaust pipe with a few holes in it. Lost a few tools that day
first ride on a bike in 20 years...,missus on the back...coming back to Auckland along east tamaki.........car with trailer full of wood goes by......30m ahead it hits a bump and a nice half metre long piece of 4 x 2 falls off...does a nice bounce end on end and goes straight for my head...i duck.......wood misses the missus by mm.....she blissfully unaware.............actully...20 odd years ago....come home from overseas with missus....she on back of goldwing....riding down motorway....car in front...loaded with helmits!!!......trailer breaks....whole motorway covered in helmits...directly in front of us....goldwing cruises through.....missus never notices.............leaving missus place in mt eden...very wet raining night.....riding down towards st lukes....some clown left shopping trolley on road......hit it on the goldwing doing 60k..........broke finger and toe....bike never even wobbled.........
1989 Ducati 750 which is the worst handling bike I have ever ridden to date Down the main straight at Ruapuna on lap 2 and notice a muffler on the side of the track, thinking to myself lucky it's not in the middle and I wonder what bike that fell off I pulled in after that lap to park the bike up for the weekend and then noticed I had a muffler missing My front brake caliper on the MHR was still attached by the brake line so I don't count that
1989 Ducati 750 which is the worst handling bike I have ever ridden to date
Talking of things falling off, this happened to a mate of mine in Aussie. Following a big truck, there was a rock stuck between the twin tyres of the truck and when they got to the right speed centrifugal force overcame friction and it fired out and sconed him dead centre in the forehead (open face helmets in them days). He dropped poleaxed onto the tank and his quick thinking girlfriend leaned over him, held him on the bike and held the bars until the bike rolled to a stop. He was out for ages. Still has a star-shaped scar in the centre of his forehead. Still rides (a Beemer) and so does the (now ex) girlfriend (a Suzi GS).
LOL!!...and scary at the same time............riding towards picton...early morning....full sun.....came around a bend/hill....sun took up the entire sky....couldn't see a thing......felt shingle....and knew that i had been riding along a steep ravine....with a short bit of gravel bewteen the road and wire fence..and then a very long drop..........dropped the bike..............slid to a halt against the fence.....
behind a car going over bond st bridge with a cane book case on it roof with 2 bungies holding it on!!!!!!! was a windy day ........get in the middle of the bridge and a gust of wind blows it off infront of me missed it then I saw it getting blowen over the bridge onto the motorway.......... i presumme they never saw that again
Quite serious Voltaire, the bike had several major crashes over the years before I rode it and i don't think it had ever been repaired properly, weaved like a drunken sailor even in a straight line The engine was awesome but I could lap faster on my bucket, I actually remember racing the current owner when I was on a Ducati 400 a couple of years beforehand and beating him Oh yeah, I've fallen off a few times does that count
Falling off is part of the "experiance" isn't it . On the way to the cold kiwi following a a mates Suzi GT750 on my first CX. About 5kms from the 7 cross gate entry point his chain decides its been punished enough and snakes past me. We pull over, retrieved the chain and I hand him a new master link I just happen to have in my pocket. Of course I didn't have any use for it.
Oh yeah, I've fallen off a few times does that count sounds like the start of another thread... My new job takes me past two of the places I came off.... Most of my car and bike accidents have been less than 10 from home....
that true...i was hit head on down khyber pass rd....made a mess...nice and close to the hospital though........
