Another Biking Life

[chickenstrip]

So, I'm back out in Germany, bikeless. For the best part of two years now, I'm without a bike. Then Yamaha decides to wake me up again, by introducing the FZR1000 EXUP. So I'm drooling over pics of this in a bike magazine; sod it, I've GOT to have one!

By the time my finances are organised, it's 1990, and they now look like this:

https://i.postimg.cc/fLMMV5v6/original.jpg

I bought it in the UK whilst on leave, going back to my favourite dealer again - this time, it's tax free for export to Germany, and it'll be going on German plates. So a nice big chunk off the list price.
But while at home, there it is sitting in the lock up, gleaming quietly.
How could anyone have a machine like that, just sat there, and just wait? Not me mister!

So ol numpty here grabs the first no. plate he finds lying around. Well, it'll only be once, who's gonna know?

It was all going so well until I turned in to Ongar High Street at the roundabout. And what peels in behind me? Yup, bleedin cop car - oh shit! So ok, no worries, just ride nice and normal and it'll be fine. I'm thinking, if I get to the roundabout at the other end, even if they're still on my tail, I can lose them easily.

But I didn't get to the other end did I? Cos they pulled me half way along the High Street. See, here's a brand new EXUP, and what plate is on it? A reg, 1983!

"Well, we saw the new tyre. Ok, he could've had a new tyre put on. Then we saw the new exhaust. Well' I suppose he might've put a new exhaust on. Then we thought, no, fk it, that's a brand new bike - pull him!"

So I spent the next couple of hours in a cell in Ongar nick, while they checked with the dealer that the bike wasn't stolen, but was indeed mine.

And so to court. Result? No insurance, 6 points and a fine. Fraudulent use of no. plate, £50 fine. And that was it. It helped that I made a bit of a thing about having to return to duty in Germany ASAP, and otherwise made no excuses for myself, just saying "sorry your honour, couldn't resist". Which was true enough!

I remember wheeling it into one of the squadron hangars one lunchtime (got bollocked for that too- chief said, oh I thought you meant you wanted to work on your bicycle) once I'd got it out there to remove the rubber dams in the carb rubbers (carb to block side) which is how they were restricted, and then itching for the working day to end so I could get out on it. When the time came, I rushed back to the barrack block, threw my working uniform on the bed, donned jacket etc and off I went. Turned on to an empty straight, lined it up and whacked the throttle open, and the front wheel came up so fast that the fuel tank thumped me in the stomach - that's more like it!

Over the next few months, try as I might, I could not find this bike's limits. All I asked of it, it did without feeling even slightly flustered. In Germany, a mate on one of the Harrier squadrons had a GSXR1100, and we used to hack it down to the Moehnesee on Sundays, for the regular bike meet there - fantastic place for it!
All the Germans had matching lids and leathers, even their pillions, unlike in the UK where most still wore black leather jackets and jeans. So it was off to Hein Gericke in Bielefeld to get my first and only set of full leathers.

Hein Gericke weren't established in the UK yet, and I found the German shop really good. The guys there knew their stuff and were really helpful. And there was a discount chit you could get from the RAF, or was it the NAAFI? Can't remember how it worked, but that was another thing I got nice n cheap

The other main thing that I recall from having the bike in Germany was a trip I did to Le Mans. I must've set out at about 8 in the morning from Gutersloh, just a forces slug (sleeping bag) strapped to the pillion seat, that was it.
I remember taking a wrong turn and ending up heading south, wondering why I was starting to see so many Luxembourg plates - oops, fuel getting low too, and it's nothing but endless fkn trees as far as the eye can see; only place I've seen a petrol station is on the opposite carriageway. So I took the chance of waiting til it was quiet and doing an illegal U turn.
Then I got lost in all the towns I came to - Liege, Rouen etc. Finally hooked up with some other Brits at Alencon, to make the circuuit for about 8 in the evening. And there was nowhere still open to get food, having not eaten all day. But some guys had some of those really strong beers, carlsberg Export or some such. Not a good idea. The morning hangover was something I hope never to experience again, what with waking up in a dew soaked sleeping bag, which I'd just unfurled next to the bike in the camping field. Freeezing cold and awake at about 5am, my first mission was to find someone with some headache tablets, then scrounge a nice hot coffee.

I ran in to a mate just as I was about to set off home at the end of the racing. He was on a ZXR750H. So we headed off together. Not far from the circuit, we got pulled by the gendarmes for speeding. As I recall, we weren't that much over the speed limit, but they busted us anyway, fined us on the spot. Of course my mate claims he's barely got enough money to pay for his petrol home, so ol muggins here has to pay both fines
I swear they were just pulling any bike on a Brit plate, as I saw loads of French, German etc plated bikes caning it past and they just ignored them. Another Brit comes along going a bit rapid - pulled!
I was so tired on the way back to Gutersloh, I was halucinating police sirens, but got back in one piece thankfully.

Then, in July of 1991, I was posted back to the UK, and things were about to take a very nasty turn indeed.

[chickenstrip]

I'd just been watching bike racing on the telly, and that had put me in the mood. I remember pulling on leathers and lid, and talking to my brother about something before leaving the house. And that was the last memory before.

I knew I was headed for "The Lane", but other than that, I don't think I had any particular plans. It was one of those days that you only seem to get in September; fine and warm, but not sweltering. The sun shining in a clear blue sky, the roads bone dry.

The bike was probably the best handling thing I'd ever had. It was also the fastest, certainly from a top end point of view. I had once actually seen 180 on the clock - I don't know how accurate those clocks were, but it seemed enough at the time. I remember the bike had been steady as a rock at that speed too. I cannot think of anything at all where I could find it wanting. Maybe a better rider than me could've criticised it for something, but not me. And so if I could get a clear run today, this might turn in to the perfect "lap".

Mostly since I'd been back from Germany, I'd used it to commute along the North Circular or the hateful M25 to my new posting at RAF Stanmore in Middlesex, and for fun rides, pretty locally on the whole, on the weekends. I didn't like using it for the commute. I just felt I ought to be using something smaller, and actually had paid for a GPZ305, which I thought would make neat work of the A406 to and from work. I also used the bike to ride from the RAF base to the Marconi buildings where I actually worked. About 2 miles each way, it just didn't seem worth waking the EXUP up for that.

My insurance had recently come up for renewal on the Yam, and probably due to sheer laziness I just went into the AA shop at Stanmore. I don't think it was particularly expensive - leastways, I signed up for a year with them, so I guess the quote had been ok.
But here's the thing. Almost as an afterthought, the woman at the desk asked me if I wanted to add personal accident cover to the policy. I almost said no, but then, on a whim, asked how much extra it was. Again, my memory could be faulty, but she said something like 25 quid. Well, might as well, what harm can it do? I'd never added anything like that to bike cover before. Very peculiar.

And a mate of mine had invited me to join him on a trip to Circuit Paul Ricard for the Bol D'Or in just a couple of weeks time. He used to go every year, but my visit to Le Mans from northern Germany was the only proper run I'd ever done on the continent, apart from visiting my brother - who was based at RAF Bruggen down near Roermond for a while when I was also still out there - and the blasts me and my mate did to the Moehnesee. I was really looking forward to that - had the leave booked, and had a wad of French currency ready to go.

But I never got to ride the 305, and I never went to the Bol D'Or. Once again, I never even made it to the far end of The Lane.

[Hoffy]

Epic read so far. MOAR PLZ !
____________________
Plagued by 1980s Suzuki 2 strokes !

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[chickenstrip]

Do me a favour would you? Just nip down Gravel Lane and get me a few bits and bobs? Here's a shopping list:

One punctured lung.
One collapsed lung.
8 or 9 broken ribs.
One smashed shoulder joint, humerus etc.
One smashed elbow.
One torn liver.
One torn spleen.
One torn small intestine.
One femur with spiral fracture.
A knee with ligament and tendon damage.
One tibia with dent.
One sliced-open lower leg.

You can pop back by air ambulance, save some time.

The details that follow I have pieced together from what was said later by the police, friends and family. I remember not one thing about the accident.

I had indeed gone for that "ultimate lap" of The Lane. Apparently, I took my brain out first and (maybe) left it in a safe place
At some point, the bike left the ground. This gives me a sneaking suspicion of exactly where on The Lane it happened, but I'm not entirely sure. Then the bike had come down and gone under an oncoming Mini Metro. The car had finished up on it's roof. I have no idea what injuries the car driver may have suffered. The feelings of guilt persist to this day.

I seem to remember being told by someone that the closing speed at the point of collision was 120mph. Others have said it was more like 150. I have no idea who is right. It makes little difference. Chances are, more than 50% of that speed was down to me.

I was never prosecuted for anything. I presume the case for insurance claims was pursued and finalised while I was still in hospital. I have no knowledge of the details.

Morphine does funny things to you. My first recollection is of struggling to breathe. A constriction in my throat. Coughing and coughing to try and get rid of whatever it was. It turned out they had put a tube down my throat rather than cut a normal tracheotomy, because I already had a full-thickness burn scar there, and they were concerned it wouldn't heal properly after if they cut it. They knew they could remove the breathing tube when I actually coughed the damn thing up - lungs must be strong enough now!


I remember vaguely becoming conscious again in ITU. I heard the steady hum of machines, saw soft lighting and black and yellow radiation warning signs. I remember thinking, "so a nuclear war must have kicked off, hope this place is safe"

I remember watching a nurse remove the stitches from the scar where they had cut my leg to put the plate in. I remember thinking, quite placidly, "interesting, that's a lot of blood, is it supposed to be doing that?" She had apparently taken them out too early, and I also remember a doctor giving her a bollocking for it right there in front of me. But I didn't mind

I remember directing traffic in a car park lit by the glow of orange sodium lamps at night. I couldn't understand these idiot car drivers. Couldn't they see that Ferraris were supposed to park over THERE, NOT with the Porsches? (I was actually, of course, in a hospital bed - my parents were at my bedside, and I was indeed trying to direct traffic )

These morphine induced hallucinations and recollections are as clear to me now as if they happened yesterday.

In the orthopaedic surgeon's words, my left shoulder was "obliterated". The top of the humerus was replaced with a prosthesis. There was very little left to reattach the muscle to in the area, so the shoulder joint eventually fused.
They removed my spleen, and the liver and intestinal damage healed itself (as far as I know).
I still have a foot-long plate bolted to my right femur. They took the pins out of my elbow while I was still in hospital - they did it early, as the wires were protruding through the skin which wouldn't then heal around them. I lost some of the range of movement in my left elbow.

When I later got to see what was left of the bike, I was amazed. Yes, of course the fairing was smashed to smithereens, the clocks, headlamp and brackets destroyed, the front wheel badly buckled, and both forks snapped clean in two. But from the headstock back, not a scratch. I could find no evidence around the headstock itself that the frame had sustained any damage at all. Fuel tank and tail unit unmarked. How?!!!!

I've definitely slowed down my riding a bit since then. I'm always thinking "what if...." before I totally commit to that corner, or before I crack that throttle wide open. But I can't get bikes out of my blood, and so the tale does not end here.

[drzsta]

Nice write ups, know what was
RAF Bruggen well. Used to live in Elmpt and went to cheshire school on camp
Good times.

[chickenstrip]

[chickenstrip]

[stevo as b4]

I imagine the skinny tyres, flexy chassis and basic suspension and brakes compared to a modern 600cc sportsbike, is what makes most RG500's interesting and thrilling to ride today however!

I can't see it feeling very exciting in a 2014 chassis, even if it was nearly as light as the original?

[chickenstrip]

Well, I think that's really all the most interesting stuff dealt with. I got a discharge from the RAF on medical grounds about a year after the accident. The personal accident policy paid out, and I got a lump sum from the RAF as well as a small Armed Forces pension.

I didn't find work for 6 years after that. But I used some of the money to buy another H2 (US B model in gold, bog stock), a Z1 and a Z650. This before I even knew if I'd be able to ride again! The H2 had a gearbox issue - it wouldn't change gear at all. So I stripped it to find cracks and distortion in the c/cases around the rear engine mounts. A mate of mine who was a competent welder tried his best, but had to admit defeat cos the heat just caused further distortion and cracking elsewhere - the ally of the cases was paper thin, and perhaps age had something to do with it too. So I threw it together again and flogged it.

The Z1 was ok, but I only rode it a few times - bit like a tractor after the other bikes I'd had, and I didn't click with it, so flogged that too. The Z650 however, I found I really liked. It was a B model, another US import, painted black. That eventually got sold to a mate, who tarted it up to his own tastes.

https://i.postimg.cc/HWJfhcS2/Lo-Fo-Ride-Out4-May2014007-zpsa1906f06.jpg

Snapped this one at Boxhill last weekend only because it's the same colours as my one was.

Then I saw a job for a parts person advertised at the very same dealer I'd been buying most of my bikes from. I couldn't continue in the aircraft industry because of limitations caused by my injuries and because I hadn't had the chance to do the civil licenses required for that work. Bikes was the only other thing I knew, so I took my CV and a precis of my biking (repair and maintenance) experience to them, and got the job.

A year or so into that, I got another Z650, an F1 model in red. It had a nice set of custom-made stainless pipes on it - they were a bit shorter and a little more upswept than the originals, and sounded a little rortier. It had Hagon rear shocks, which suited the bike well, air linkage on the forks, and a Telefix style fork brace, but otherwise was standard - a very clean example.

https://i.postimg.cc/j2dCR6LL/bikes-6-zps8e041b3c.jpg

https://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b550/nicknicklxs/bikes_7_zps3bae56c6.jpegMy F1 and my mates B, originally mine in black.

I spent the next few years moving from bike dealer to dealer, always negotiating a little more money with each move, as I never got a pay rise at any one place, and now and again just fancied a change of scenery - this happened a lot with parts staff; you could start out working at one place with a guy, leave, go through another couple of dealers, and end up working with the same guy at a different place a couple of years down the line.

I wound up working for the guys I'd originally bought my bikes with all those years ago - they'd left to set up their own dealership, and it turned out to be the best place I'd worked for since leaving the RAF - still is.

I got myself an SV650 there, having not had a bike for a couple of years. Put a nice can and braided brake lines on it and took it for a week's holiday in Wales, my first introduction to that biking Nirvana. And got nicked for speeding there

https://i.postimg.cc/gcNnN7TR/bikes-9-zps6699a54b.jpg

The SV seemed ok at first, but I found it quickly ran out of puff, the seat was bench hard, and the front cylinder would cut out through water ingress into the electrics in heavy rain - I found this out on a motorway, escaping from a torrential downpour having blatted up to the Lake District with tent one BH weekend. (my tent had been literally destroyed by rain as I set it up, and I'd chucked it in a skip and hired a static caravan for the night before retreating home next day). That ride was not a pleasant experience, as the bike wouldn't now pull more than about 45-50mph on one cylinder. The rain and spray was so bad that I literally couldn't tell what lane I was in half the time, and just tagged on behind an HGV in the hope that anything coming up from behind might at least be able to see that thing, if not me. I managed to nurse it along to the next services, where I resorted to half a can of WD40 for the first time since my learner bikes, and that got me home.

[chickenstrip]

(New edit at bottom of first post)

The trip to Wales on the SV got me interested in doing a bit of touring, but I needed something a bit more suited to the job. So, when we ended up with a couple of Yam Fazer thous in the shop, I asked to try one out.
My boss was a little bit miffed when I didn't return for a couple of hours (well, I liked it! and had a sneaky fag break whilst out too) - I was supposed to be working behind the parts counter after all.

I found the Fazer to have plenty of power for the job, it was comfortable, had reasonable wind protection, and I didn't need to change bars or anything to make it manageable for my dodgy arm and shoulder. So I traded the SV for it - they gave me what I originally paid for it.

I put an Akrapovich titanium can on it and had it Dynojetted, which all gave it a little more character. Then I loaded it up with the camping gear and took it on my first proper UK tour.

https://i.postimg.cc/q751sQdd/FAZER1.jpg

First FZS1000 at Wasdale Head, Lake District

This bike just grew on me more and more. It was fast and smooth for motorway work, handled well for what it was in the twisties, and seemed to cope with town stuff remarkably well too. And you could load them up with a pile of luggage and hardly notice the difference. Yamaha had originally advertised them as "son of R1", trying to make out like it was some kind of looney street bike. The reality turned out to be that it was a superb all-rounder with plenty of low end punch, but a nice rush from about 7k rpm too. They shot themselves in the foot by putting them in the showrooms for sillly money at first though - when they first came out in 2001 I think they had them up at about 8 grand!
The only problem they had, was glitchy fuelling at low rpm. I've had four of these now, and all standard ones have this to some degree, although some are worse than others. But it's bearable, and when you get them in their natural habitat - fast, winding A roads - they are a really enjoyable bike to ride.

I had to change jobs and where I was living though, so I had to sell it. But when I'd got settled and sorted my finances again, I had no hesitation in going for another one. This one got nicked after just a few months, so with the insurance pay out I bought Fazer no. 3.

No. 3 I found on evilbay but there was one slight hitch - it was in Guernsey But, it was cheap enough, and sounded good enough, to be worth the trip. So I took the bike kit and jumped on a train to Weymouth, from whence I took the ferry over. The seller turned out to be a Guernsey copper and he'd looked after it pretty well, apart from a few rusty bolts from the island sea air. I was satisfied with it though, and, knowing I'd have to pay VAT on it when I got it back, he wrote a receipt for considerably less than I actually paid him for it - you gotta love cops!

The trip home started well enough. A steady crossing back to Weymouth, arriving in the late evening. But then, as I headed back to London, the wind got up, and the rain started hammering down. By the time I hit the M25, it had turned into a storm of nightmare proportions. I was nearly getting sucked under all the lorries that run at that time of night, could hardly see where I was going and was soaked through. By the time I got home I was exhausted from fighting the wind, and just collapsed in a heap. What an introduction to a bike you've just bought!

This one I got knocked off of while filtering traffic on the way home from work one time. A boiling hot day, it was the one time I'd thought, "too hot for a jacket; sod it, it's only a couple of miles, I'll strap it to the back just this once". Always the way isn't it? Traffic at walking pace approaching a crossing, I decide to take the opportunity to get a bit closer to the head of the queue, when some twat decides, oh look, a parking space on the other side of the road, and wham! He slams the wheel over just as I draw level with him.

Now, I'd been told if I had another heavy fall on my dodgy shoulder, I could lose the arm. But because I'm really protective of it, my natural reaction was to withdraw it, try not to land on it. So I don't tend to put that hand up to break a fall. But, consequently, it's exactly what I did fall on
Well, that surgeon must have been bloody good, cos the shoulder didn't sustain any injury at all! But, I did get a couple of cracked ribs.

I had legal expenses cover on my insurance, but a fat lot of use they were. The woman who was dealing with my case said I'd have to accept 50/50 at best cos filtering is a risky thing to do! She actually sent me a load of case examples which were supposed to be precedents for my case, to show I couldn't do better, the daft cow! I was able to shoot each one down as not applicable. Bollocks to that, I kept the argument up for a few months and in the end got a 70/30 in my favour; I reckon I could have got it 100% but I was getting fed up with how long it was dragging out and wanted the money to get the repairs done on mine.

Once that was all sorted, I took it on UK tour no. 2 - 3 weeks this time, and about 3000 miles.

https://i.postimg.cc/c12Skffx/DSCF0030-zpse8eecdc0.jpg

Fazer no. 3, complete with glamping rig!

This one I did in style - kit must have weighed a ton, but the bike took it all in it's stride.

Eventually, I had to move away from London though, as it was just getting too expensive to live there anymore. So that bike got sold too.

And now I have Fazer no. 4! This one has had the Ivan's full monty done on it now - that's jetting and needle changes, airbox mod, BMC air filter and ported carb rubbers - if you ever have one of these bikes, take it from me, this transforms it! More power everywhere, the glitchiness is gone, and from 7 grand it fkn flies!

https://i.postimg.cc/J4FCh3GS/DSCF3238-zps316a01c6.jpg

And that's where I am today. And riding bikes is still what I love best

[slowlydoesit]

[chickenstrip]

[m3-paul]

Fantastic read. Seems incredible that you recovered so well given the injuries you sustained

[chickenstrip]

[m3-paul]

Without taking this off topic I think it is such a shame that many never got the chance to ride a decent 2T bike. Even my TZR250 with its 50bhp makes me laugh so much as it goes nuts at 7000rpm .

I am going to possibly get an RG400 and build it to 570 spec.

Having ridden an RG500 taken out to 570 I can comprehensively say it was a savage beast

One of my mates still reminisces about the 750 H2 he owned with admiration but also a little fear. I have never ridden one but as you, he said that that monster engine in that weedy frame led to every ride being a little more than interesting!!
____________________
Yamaha TZR250 - love the smell of TTS!!!!
CBR900RR Fireblade - so much fun

[chickenstrip]

Personally, I don't mind a little digression

The only other one that I've seen that would fit in this category was a guy who, back in the day used to ride a TZ750 with lights tacked on to High Beach - how about one of those?

If you get around to that RG570, be sure to post it up in this here show & tell - if you survive it

[Howling Terror]

Carry on.
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[grr666]

What a great read.
Thanks for posting.
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[chickenstrip]

Well, as you may have figured, couple of things to add now. First off, a NIP from riding in Brecon Beacons area. 91 in a 60 limit meant 6 points and fines totalling £305.

And nice to have a pictorial record, who needs their own camera

https://i.postimg.cc/QNT83689/001-zps2c665e26.jpg

Latest reaquaintance with the tarmac:

https://i.postimg.cc/Y0qz14qT/DSCF6288-zps42737cd2.jpg

and increased orthopaedics score by several points with fractured tibia and couple of cracked ribs in the process.

https://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b550/nicknicklxs/DSCF6287_zps7c9a7d35.jpg

On the positive side ( ), have covered something like 25k miles since buying this bike; many trips for fun to Wales, including BCF BBQ and BCF Snowdonia trip, meeting the good folk of this wonderful forum for the first time; solo trips camping or just day rides, trip to Yorkshire and the Lakes, several rides with Fazer Owners Club, also all good folks met since having this bike.

Couple of representative pics:

https://i.postimg.cc/k4HvS5KM/DSCF3688-zps8c0b6b1c.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/PrnDD32Y/DSCF3699-zps6acb7b40.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/1Xr3wH3r/Easter-Bank-Holiday-Trip-April2014071-zps15c366b7.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/sXRzmh86/DSCF4536-zpsc2ccebb3.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/NF6kXWXC/DSCF6003-zps0ab5aa6f.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/Y2v9S67g/nick1.jpg

Since buying this Fazer in June 2013, it has been Ivanised and had an R6 rear shock fitted, and the process of collecting the parts for an R1 fork conversion is well in hand. Further plans for next year, after a move up north where I hope to be exploring new roads and scenery. Roll on 2015!
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[chickenstrip]

So, chickenstrip's life of ups and downs continues...

R1 fork conversion completed, and bike handling like never before. Very close to being my perfect Fazer, but it can never be with this particular one. Already covered nigh on 3000 miles since having this done:

https://i.postimg.cc/FH7J5MRt/DSCF7125-zpsldzvzoiv.jpg

And on Sunday 26th April, threw it in a hedge

https://i.postimg.cc/9fFktrRy/hedge-trimmer-4-zpsuufmerni.jpg

Bike was behaving perfectly, had been thoroughly enjoying the ride up til losing it. Just a momentary loss of concentration is all I can think went wrong. Totally down to me

Lying in a hospital bed somewhere in Shropshire, all I could think was, I hope I'm back on it before summer is gone, can't wait - sucker for punishment? Well, maybe, but I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't ever ride again, it's all I know, even though I don't seem to be very good at it
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[Pigeon]

Firstly, glad your still around. Hope you bounce back soon!

Secondly, I should say something encouraging, or positive. There is no point in beating yourself up, shit happens, whats done is done etc etc

But really, my honest first thought was, FFS mate, what have you bloody done!!!!

Gutted for you, such a lovely bike AND at the end of April.

mmm, that's not helping.

You will bounce back and it is an opportunity to think about bike shopping etc some positives.

Focus on getting straight. Really sorry dude!


EDIT:

Actually, doesn't look tooo bad in the pic, could be fixable.

INB4 Paddy makes an offer.

[Fladdem]

Gutted, the 26th of April was a bad day.

I hope it's either fixable or you can salvage some decent bits off it to stuff onto another Fazer.
____________________
Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[Howling Terror]

[chickenstrip]

In their early days...

I just don't seem to learn, do I?

However, there will be no gloomy faces in this room - we will look upon this as an opportunity rather than a set-back

If the right bike comes up (and I just missed the perfect one; 4500 miles on a carb-model Fazer thou ffs!), I will plough ahead with Fazer no.5, this one to be the final incarnation, the one I've slowly been working towards, sometimes unknowingly, and so far with the wrong base-bike. But the current one has most of what I need on it, just a case of swapping over to the next. Thinking of how to make the next one a little more unique while retaining it's user-friendliness. Ready to throw money at it! Watch this space
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!