The Wild Geese

Gizmo Bites The Dust
I always say that there are no guarantees in biking, any of us can come to grief. Well, on Sunday, coming back from Byron Bay, it was my turn. I took the scenic road going down to Byron, out through Kilcoy, Somerset Dam, Fernvale, round Ipswich, Kyogle, Lismore then down to the coast. Twice the distance I would have ridden on the highway, but much more fun. Had a great couple of days in Byron Bay with some non-Goose biker friends, then headed for home along the same route. Going around Ipswich was a bit tedious so this time I decided to cut through the town. The directions are a bit poor there but it was working out reasonably well, until...

...riding into the sun, concentrating on the road signs, I was following a sign indicating that the highway was dead ahead. Trouble was, I failed to see the stop sign that was blacked out by the low sun, and crested a rise that turned out to be a junction where I didn't have right of way. Half way across as I realised that something was not OK I looked right, straight at a car bearing down on me from about 2 metres away. Oh f***! was the first thought to enter my head, and I think my expression will have conveyed the same feeling. Jammed the brakes on, but no way was I going to get away with it. Got smacked by the car, rolled off the bike onto the bonnet then down onto the road, and my ride home was over. The bike is mechanically OK but the beak is a bit out of joint so steering is currently not an option, the mudguard has gone walkabout, and various bits have gone with it. The car looks a bit secondhand too after meeting with more than 300 kilos of bike and rider.

Good news though is that I got away with a just a deep gouge in my calf (just above the riding boot, bugger, should have bought longer boots). Helmet, jacket and Draggin jeans all unscathed, no whiplash, nothing. Thank God, I still bounce quite well. I count myself very lucky.

The driver was unharmed and was really nice about it - he even insisted on driving me home to the Sunshine Coast, a round trip of probably five hours for him. The bike will need a longer convalescence than me, so it looks like I will be getting the XJR out for the next few rides.

So, there we have it, I stuffed up. As I am always saying, speed is not necessarily the danger the police would have you believe - I had ridden a very spirited ride until I got to Ipswich with absolutely no problems, and when I got wiped out I was probably doing 30 km/hour. I reckon I pay a lot more attention when going fast, I suppose I had better learn to do the same in town.

Anybody know of any GS bits going cheap??

-- Gizmo

(For now I will be riding my Yamaha XJR 1300, not as good as my GS in the dirt but a fun - and fast - road bike).

Update to the above: I finally got the necessary parts for my GS and it is back on the road since May 05. Ran like sh*t for a while, it turned out that the Throttle Position Sensor must have been the cause of the hole in my leg, getting damaged in the process. $350 and a new TPS later, and the bike is running perfectly again.

Category Rides