An up and down day

Today I had a tiny crash on my motorbike :(

Not the first little off and definitely not my last. But the reason I'm telling you this: it was the direct result of me getting on my bike after comforting a friend, after hearing bad news and needing to be strong for her sake. I stupidly got on my bike and within seconds I was off it again (thankfully out of sight and earshot from my friend). I'm typing this mainly to drum it into my own head,

"One should not ride/drive when one is overly emotional for fear of making a stupid mistake and risking yours or someone else's life."

I'm fine and more importantly, the bike is fairly fine - it's seen more contact with ground than I care to share with you and needless to say I'm well practiced at picking it up! A few more scuffs and scrapes to add to its "character". So after it's little tarmac-kissing incident, my Suzuki SV650 was missing it's gear lever which, although not altogether a completely disabling feature, it still makes it a pain in the 'arris to ride.

So I'd like to introduce to you to #drum roll please# "The Fixer-Peg"!!! This will be one of the most useful things you click on in your biking career.

Link to Ebay shop to come VERY soon but in the meantime you should be able to contact him direct... http://www.hotfrog.co.uk/Companies/Fixer-peg

A simple and handy bit of kit designed to make a temporary fix for a missing gear or brake lever in the unfortunate event of a crash. Now I have limited mechanical knowledge...I probably know more than your average girly biker due to hours of watching and asking questions whenever my other half works on 'em...but I reckon if a Border Collie had opposable thumbs it would be able to fix one of these dewberries on, they are so quick and easy to bob on and bishbashbosh, you're mobile again! All you need is an allan key to fit it which is supplied in most standard toolkits...and if you don't have one in it then make sure it's there (along with tie wraps, duct tape and bungees - VERY essential!) So handy when you could be potentially stuck in the middle of nowhere with no help.

A friend of mine, by the name of John Davies (or DavieSV as we know him!), first invented this cracking device and his ingenious idea was ripped off by Motrax, the big motorbike accessory provider that also went into administration a couple of years ago (HA!).

So a sneaky plug for Dave in there and a little warning to my fellow bikers though I guess it goes without saying about the emotional thing. My motorbike is my ONLY form of transport and I really can't afford to be breaking her just because I didn't take a bit longer to sort my head out and ride with a clear mind. Although I admit in some cases when I'm angry or worried, riding can sort my head too, an emotional release through the need to concentrate and focus on the task in hand. I should know, after nearly 4 years of riding my own bike, how to judge my own moods but it appears not after today's antics!

 

So on a little tangent, I thought I'd also share this. I stumbled across it today:

"Why I ride" by Michael Carley

A truly fantastic read if you're a fan of motorbikes. Exact, precise and to a tee. And if you're not a fan of motorbikes then it's still a great read, it gives you a superb insight into what it is that fuels our passion for two wheels. Something that cannot be really understood until you've ridden that open road, just you and your bike.

I wasn't too sure about this quote however...

"A motorcyclist sucking his teeth as he looks at a rear tyre is not commenting on the lack of tread, but on the excess, implying that the tyre’s owner should probably have his hormones looked at."

...I was gutted at recently needing to replace my last rear tyre, I was bloody proud of my chicken strips ta very much! :P

But this quote I really liked,

"The motorcycle, unchanged in its essentials in a hundred years, is a riding animal, controlled like a horse. A car is not controlled in the way a coach and four is, but a bike is controlled by weight, pressure, touch, and the forces felt through hands and feet, thighs and gut."

So true and well put. Although my other half, preferred this...

"The inward and spiritual grace of a motorcycle is the thermodynamic reliquary of the engine, holder of the Pentecostal flame, holy of holies, chamber of combustion."

 He's an engineer and I'm an animal artist with a Zoology degree, I think our choices of quotes were rather apt, wouldn't you say?


I haven't typed this much in such a long time! And I have far too much drawing to do, oops! Please cross your fingers that this soreness in my thumb is not a fracture or worse, it's my drawing hand :/

Bye for now,
Meg x