Biking Days Officially over ..... For ever

Still, you might be able to salvage something…

Cheers,

M

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You could salvage bits and use them for bases.

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Damn John, what bad news. Glad to see you are relatively in one piece - it could have been a lot worse.

My middle son did his apprenticeship as a motorbike mechanic. One perk was he was able to ride the shop bike to work when it was available. After nearly being side swiped by an idiot changing lanes without looking, then the next day nearly being sucked under a truck by the slipstream created by its load, he decided to give the road biking away. One of the other guys he worked with took the shop bike home and was killed on it a week later - hit some debris from a blown truck tyre and came off the bike right in front of a car in the next lane.

On the flip side, my brother has been riding bikes for 30 years. He has been hit by cars 3 times, forced off the road by a truck once and has been knocked off the bike by stuff falling off the back of a utility, and the worst he has suffered is a few bruises.

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Thanks Peter… Your boy probably made the right choice after those misses… I do miss it already, but the cons outweigh the pro’s now for me … So I’m happy to think back on what I did , saw, experienced and rode with a smiley face … And the ludicrous speeds I achieved lol…:grin:

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My wife and I routinely “do the ton” on the Scout. I have to do something to keep her awake after those heavy Mexican lunches.

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In my madder and slightly younger days, if I wasn’t doing a ton up there was something wrong lol …

I almost reached Mach2 on the Ninja 12R … But bottled it :see_no_evil:

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Wow John, I’ve only just picked up on this one. So sorry to hear what happened, but great news that you came out of it repairable! Sounds like it could so easily have been very very bad for you. From what I saw on your other threads you are making good progress physically, but have a way to go yet. You’l get there I’m sure.

I’ve never had a motorbike. As a teenager I had a go on my mates Tiger cub, just one go, and I came off big time, so decided it wasn’t for me back then, and anyway got the bug to learn to fly! Funnily enough around 5 years or so ago, at the age of 65, I had this urge to get a motorbike and learn to ride it … SWMBO (and all the kids) gave me some strong messages that they weren’t sure about that idea, and with hindsight, it may not have been my best idea - too old to start really!

Anyway, my best wishes for a full recovery, and look on the brightside - you could build model motorbikes into your old age!

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Lol . Cheers Terry… And very true … Could of been a whole lot worse …and I have been considering building one of the Tamiya bikes …:+1:

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Yeah, you finally reach an age where you’re wise enough to know that you’re not indestructible - John hadn’t gotten there until now. :grin:

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And I got there with a bang lol :+1:

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Same here, except I can’t remember the sort of bike and while I didn’t come off I scared myself… (Easily done, I’m sort of… timid.) A couple of years earlier when I came of age for a bike Dad was very keen on me getting one (presumably because he wanted to borrow it) but Mum wasn’t fooled so that was the end of that! It didn’t help that the son of one of Dad’s sisters took his bike out for one last spin (he’d recently become engaged and had bought a car) and met a milk tanker head-on on a country lane with terminal consequences… Dad was a keen biker from the days when crash hats were for wimps, all you did was put on your goggles and turn your flat cap back-to-front! He left his last bike in a minefield in Germany having come round a corner (at speed) and was through the tape before he came to a halt. He put the bike on it’s stand and tight-rope walked his way out along his tyre tracks… When he was demobbed he got home and found the coastal artilleryman billeted on his parents had been using his bike without maintaining it until it broke. Dad got a deal on a pre-war two-seat Morris Minor from an RAF pilot who was also being demobbed, it had the hot engine which had been further tweaked by his ground crew and there was a jerry can of aviation fuel in the back for use as a petrol additive…

Cheers,

M

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I worked with a bloke who had a clapped-out old Norton that wouldn’t start without a bump. We were next to a disused quarry with an access ramp down (maybe 1:3 slope?) that he’d use to bump-start the bike - the saddest scene was him repeatedly having to push it back up for another try…

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My late Dad (piled in 2022) had a BSA of which he was extraordinarily proud (pictured below in the little village lane where we lived in Wiltshire):

One day, for whatever reason, he put me on the pillion (I must have been around 6), and my sister - aged I think, 2, on the petrol tank, and off we went hurtling down the aforementioned, narrow, twisting lane to the next village - some 2 miles or so distant.

I think he made some purchases from the ironmongers or blacksmiths and then we returned, again at the same thrilling speed.

He never wore a crash helmet, and just had 2 x kids clinging on.

My mother, who had wondered where the hell we were, was less than impressed. Funnily enough, there was no repeat performance.

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I’ve got a couple of clapped out old Nortons myself -
The Commando and I both survived a teenage girl coming into my lane and taking me out .

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Hope your recovery is going well👍

Watto.

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Yeah going well Nik…cast off, but bone only 70% fused, but the plate and screws are doing the job intended… Back in 6 weeks for a final X-ray … Until then, nothing heavier in the left hand than 1kg…

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Only just seen this Johnny, glad to hear things are healing for you. I was pillion on a Suzuki Katana in the late 80’s and the rider took us into a bus, broke my left leg 'cos the wheel arch pulled me off the back. Have never been on a bike since. At least with it being your left arm you can still salute :grin:.

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I suppose the 1kg limit makes things difficult when going to the loo… :wink:

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I know these things take time👍 heading in the right direction though.

Watto.

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That was the first thing I said to the doctor … “When the national anthem is played, I can still stand and salute” … Everything else pales into insignificance if you can’t do that :prince:

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