Awful fortnight, broken bike, sod's law

Hi,
I've not been on here for a while as i've been busy but I've got one hell of a story to tell.

It starts 2 weeks ago, I decide to take my girlfriend upto her parents house on my bike, my first time with a pillion, and her first time as one. Get the bike ready, check the pressures everything seems good, so we set off. After 2 miles the oil pressure light comes on (argh!!). Drop into hein gerike (only place i could think to goto), there's plenty of oil in it so the only option is to send it to a garage.

After i get back from the weekend i find that the oil pressure was fine, it was just the warning light that was broken. So I go and pick up the bike and the bloke who fixed it told me that the cooling fan come's on when you start the bike as well as when the bike is hot. it's a bit strange but not a major problem. I stick it in the pile 'o job's that need to be done at some point.

So I've got my bike back, great, i decide to go on a ride to see if see feels ok. Goto the yorkshire dales and have a great time. Knowing that I'm going to start commuting on it i decide on saturday that I should give it a real good clean, top up fluids, ect.. spend about 4 hours on it and then go for a quick test ride. She feel's great, i'm silly happy with her.

Get up on sunday morning to ride to cambridge (i have an induction on monday morning) get my kit on, go outside and find that the lovely local children have covered my seat and tank with dog poo (and my housemates cage). So, very angry I clean the poo off and get on my way. I get to cambridge and goto the induction on the next morning.

After the induction I ride back upto york, where some complete nutter in a small white van almost has me off as he flys onto a roundabout without looking. Either way I make it back, my toe's have gone a bit white with the cold but I don't really care, I'm happy to be home.

Tueday morning, my first day at work in sheffield, get up, get ready, fire up my baby and start the ride. It's really early (6 - 7 ish) and really, really cold outside (i'm fine in my gear tho), i'm taking it very easy as i'm worried about ice. I get to the end of my road and turn right really slow, everything is fine. Ride to the end of the road and turn right really slow. I see nothing on the floor, not any shean or shimmer but there was some black ice, i go down before i know whats happening.

A nice bloke helped me pick the bike back up and get it to the side of the road. So I investigate the damage, The brake pedal is snapped, the front indicator is smashed, right hand fairing cracked, and the exhaust is slightly bent and looks like it's broken near the front of the cylinder. Knowing that I would be really really late if i got the train, and that i really have to get myself back on the bike I go for a very tentative ride to see if she is ok. I don't want to use the front brake as I'm worried about ice, so i twist my foot to the left to use the remaining stick of a rear brake. I go round corners like a granny but the bike seem's ok and I ride her the 70 miles to sheffield (happily spending time at 50mph in the left lane behind actual granny's) The low level fog on the A64 didn't help to releve my concerns especially considering i didn't know precisely where i was going)

So i finish my first day at work and ride the bike home, as i'm sure you can guess I wasn't a happy bunny. Alongside this i've also been developing a bit of a cold since sunday and this combined with my asthma have ment that i'm begining to have trouble breathing. I goto the dropin center at sheffield after work and after waiting 3 hours the nurse say's that there's something wrong with me but i'm gonna have to see a gp as he can't prescribe anything.

Today I saw a GP and got myself some anti-biotics. So my fortnight is over, i now travel to work on the train, and my bike is broken, again. Unfortunately my bike is now for weekend pleasure only (when fixed), until I can be sure there is no black ice anyware.

Is there some mysterious force out there that doesn't want me to ride?

Steve
(In need of a lot of new stuff for his bike)

being a bit dumb i've put this in bike's talk and issue's, I ment to put it in idle banter, sorry all

Steve

[dirtydog]

Looik on the bright side...




it can only get better

Sorry to hear your tale of woe.

Black ice is a b*gger but I'm surprised you encountered some on Tuesday as I didn't think it was cold enough then. Is the area where you live untreated? I live north of York and my normal way to work in Leeds requires the first 4 miles on untreated roads with the longest straight about 200 yards so I must say I'm pretty unkeen to ride in such conditions particulalry as I have spun the car on the same road...

Hope you get the bike back soon and aren't entirely put off winetr commuting on it. My sister bought me a fancy Oregon Scientific Instrument gismo which tells me what temperature it is outside (plus max and minimum) and forecasts weather conditions and I find that helpful in deciding whether to bike or not... mind you a suitably positioned max and min thermometer and weather forecasting site on the net are as good.

Originally Posted by Steve W

Sorry to hear your tale of woe.

Black ice is a b*gger but I'm surprised you encountered some on Tuesday as I didn't think it was cold enough then. Is the area where you live untreated? I live north of York and my normal way to work in Leeds requires the first 4 miles on untreated roads with the longest straight about 200 yards so I must say I'm pretty unkeen to ride in such conditions particulalry as I have spun the car on the same road...

Hope you get the bike back soon and aren't entirely put off winetr commuting on it. My sister bought me a fancy Oregon Scientific Instrument gismo which tells me what temperature it is outside (plus max and minimum) and forecasts weather conditions and I find that helpful in deciding whether to bike or not... mind you a suitably positioned max and min thermometer and weather forecasting site on the net are as good.

Not sure if the road's are treated or not, but i was going real slow, not banked over much at all, and there was nothing i could see as the cause, so my guess was black ice. The junction was between 5th avenue in tang hall and the road that leads up to the university

Oh, man, that sucks!

Like with everything else in life, you get good and bad days or weeks or months. Please don't let it put you off!

Maybe just stick to the train for the winter though?

Geez that sucks. It always tends to be the (apparently) insignificant little things that cause accidents. For me it was loose gravel a couple of months ago. Now the broken-bike routine sets in: sit all day thinking about the "what ifs" and obsess about being able to ride again. I can only offer the same wisdom which was given to me by those who were tolerant enough to bear with my whining. It already happened and you cant change that. The important thing is that you're ok and can ride again.

Steve, I know (partly) how you feel. I suffer with eczema and it has been really bad at recently. Always is when the weather turns cold. Twas so bad I didnt touch the bikes for 2 weeks, just didnt feel like it. Bikes are ok though.

What about a cheap winter hack and save the SV for best? The Honda CB-1 makes a great winter hack (shameless plug )

what a ****ter of a story roll on next summer

You binned my baby Sorry to hear about that steve, really gutted for you mate! Hope you get it sorted, and feel better soon!