Nearly a perfect day in Worcestershire and Shropshire

My first proper ride out with No 1 son (17) who made the step up from a Sachs twist and go to a new CBR 125 R about a month ago. Since getting the Honda he’s retaken his CBT, had a day’s intensive training and been using it on the school run so we figured it was time for some Dad – Son bonding:

The route:

Redditch to Ludlow stopping on Clee Hill for the view
Full English breakfast by the Castle in Ludlow
Ludlow to Bridgnorth
Tea at the bikers cafe on the road out to Kidderminster
More tea and cake at a cafe by the river Severn in Arley
Stop off at Suttons (Honda) Bromsgrove to book first service for next Saturday and order a set of R&G crash bungs
Back home for tea…except

Having done a 100 Miles with no problems he dropped it when he hit some gravel on a bend about a mile from home.

Thank God he’s OK, apart from a couple of bruises and being shaken up. If there is a plus he will undoubtedly be a better rider because of it I suspect.

The damage to the bike is cosmetic: new mudguard, two N/s fairing panels, new indicator, bar end and gear shift. I got him home carefully in second gear, took some pics and went back to Suttons….

I was expecting the worst having seen what second hand SV fairings are going for on Ebay. The Honda guy did all his tapping on the parts ordering system, gave me a bemused look and asked me what I thought all the bits would cost.

I was guessing I wouldn’t see a lot of change out of £500….

…£168 including VAT

The gear lever will be here Tuesday, the fairing panels and other bits (currently in Belgium) will be here Wednesday. So the bike will be back to brand new on Saturday.

It could have been a lot, lot worse

[Binky]

Originally Posted by myfirstsv

Having done a 100 Miles with no problems he dropped it when he hit some gravel on a bend about a mile from home.

I do hope you're going to be putting him up for adoption soon. That is unforgivable.

Your son's name isn't Chris by any chance...

No it's James but by a weird coincidence my Dad's family come from Grangemouth. I always say the family are from Stirling if asked

You are not a long lost relative are you?

Mate, you and me have similar focus on our rides, plenty of tea and food stops and navigate by the cafes lol

Bit of a bum raa that the lad dropped his ride though, I dont get on with gravel either, was there much on the road?

[Jayneflakes]

Awww, hope that the poor lad is OK after his drop, but a hundred mile ride with Dad sounds really lovely, especially with those carefully planned stops. We all drop our bikes at some point, but we get up and get back on. Sounds like your lad did this and will no doubt learn from the experience, I bet he is still looking forwards to another ride out with Dad though.

Bless...

[Geodude]

Bike does'nt look to bad tbh and he has got the bike dropping out the way early and gained experience without to many bruises and had a good day out with his dad

You are right mate, could have been a whole lot worse and we had a great day up until then.

I've had about 3 cardiac arrests since thinking about how bad it might have been, while number one son has been at his girlfriend's all day getting loads of TLC (and quite a lot else judging by the smile on his face).

We are going to have a ceremonial cleaning of our bikes next Saturday afternoon when his is all fixed again.

Footnote, he has learnt from it. On the way to his GFs he asked if we could take a look at the crash site. He really studied what went wrong, what else he could have done to avoid it...it brought a lump

[sv4me]

You sound a very proud Dad! I remember my 1st ride with my dad on my own bike instead of being pillion, very special day. its one of the few times I look forward to getting older, when the time comes I get to go for my 1st ride together with my son

Originally Posted by myfirstsv

while number one son has been at his girlfriend's all day getting loads of TLC (and quite a lot else judging by the smile on his face)

Where about did it happen? I think i recognise the close you live in from the pic, i always fly past the entrance to it.

You might wanna consider getting some crash bung on it if they do them. Im suprised how cheap the bits were! My little honda was also fairly cheap on parts.