This morning, on the intersection of Henderson Valley and Smythe Roads, I managed to drop the RF.
For those playing at home, this is the intersection where Henderson High School and the Mobil station are situated.
Anyhoo, I line up the mighty RF in the left lane, behind a few cars. Immediately in front of me is a mid-90s Jap import Nissan Pulsar in the usual gunmetal grey colour that these come in.
Light goes green for straight ahead traffic and we start moving off. When Mrs Pulsar gets to the intersection proper, she decides that she, despite no previous indication, wants to go down Smythe road (as it turns out, into the Mobil station). Because there is a red arrow, Mrs Pulsar can't go, so she stomps on the picks at the same time she flicks on the indicator. Goodness know why she decided not to indicate earlier (if I had to guess, I'd say she was composing Haikus in her head)
Now, the dashing hero of the story (my good self) doesn't agree with this decision. I immediately decide that perhaps stopping myself may be a capital idea and proceed to do so.
However, given the rain, and the fact that we are in an intersection, the road proves to be more slippery than Winston Peters coated in oil (part of his morning routine, as I understand). While braking, I try to aim for the gap between the stopped pulsar in front of me and the traffic in the right-hand lane (thanks RRRS), however, Mr Pirelli's finest eventually stop me short of turning a small sedan into a small hatchback.
This, however, presents another problem. Suzuki's RF900, while a superb bike in many situations (though I say so myself) has the weight of a small supertanker (especially with a husky gentleman on the back of it) and overbalances. Because of the slippery nature of the road (see Winston Peters reference above) I can't hold it and it unceremoniously falls the hell over onto it's left side.
After (and while) unleashing a string of profanities which would make a longshoreman blush, I hit the kill switch and lift the bike back on the side stand. While I'm doing this, a passing pedestrian comes over and asks if I'm OK, therby prematurely ending my tirade of cursing to answer that I'm fine. Having not actually hit the pavement, my only bruising is to my ego.
Grand total of damage:
One (1) left-hand mirror (the mirror bit is currently in my pack, the stalk remains)
One (1) left-hand indicator
One (1) clutch lever
Several (lots) of scratches on the lovely red paint of the fairing
So lessons learnt (the worst bit is that it's lessons that I already know):
(1) Cagers are unpredictable
(1)(a) Bad weather makes cagers worse
(1)(b) Intersections have the same effect
(2) The road surface around intersections is often slippery
(2)(b) Following distances should be increased in this situtation
(3) Escape routes are good, Mmmk
(4) Riding to work with one mirror is a pain in the arse.
(5) The price of biking is eternal vigilance. Switch off for a second and the bastard will bite you. Aiming for the gap was good, but braking hard put the bike on an angle, overbalancing it when it did stop. I should have either braked as hard as I did or gone for the gap. Doing both was a mistake.
I've been cursing my n00b mistake for a couple of hours already. Having slowed down and replayed the occasion several times in my mind, I'm not sure what more I could have done. My mistake was putting myself in the situation in the first place.
So, that was my Monday morning. Does anybody know what mirrors will fit an RF900? And if so, does anyone have some cheap ones they want to sell me?
Originally Posted by rachprice
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