I was having a crummy ride anyway – between the traffic volume and the frequent occurrence of idiots in cages pulling out in front of me; I’d had enough and was making my way back home to find something more rewarding to do with my Saturday afternoon.
For years I’d been ranting about the traffic and poor driving in Ottawa, but these past few months sharing the roads with Maryland drivers had me convinced that my home state was setting a new standard for incredibly bad driving. Actually, they don’t drive around here; they sit in automobiles and roll down the road while they do other things. Turn signals are beyond optional – I think that the act of using them is considered to be bad form.
So anyway, as if to punctuate my grumbling…
One minute I was sitting at a red light – and a heartbeat, two loud crashes and a bright flash of white light later I was on my hands and knees in the next lane looking at my bike lying smoking under the front end of a Japanese compact car. And I don’t mean kind of under – I mean the passenger side front wheel was testing the strength of my Rizoma billet clutch cover.
I’m upright and alive to tell this wretched tale because I had the bike in neutral and my arms crossed when the idiot sideswiped a parked car and then plowed into me at about 30mph. The impact cartwheeled me up and over the back of the Hyperstra so I could bounce off of the hood and windshield of buddy’s car and then into the rear bumper of the car in front of me. While I was airborne and moving forward, the Hyperstrada – having bounced off the bumper the I was about to hit – was on its side sliding under me and back into the front end of the still moving car that hit us in the first place.
Kind of like a pin ball machine, but without the flashing lights, sound effects and scoreboard.
The bike’s a write-off, and everything I’ve injured in the last two years hurts like Hell, but it could have been much worse I imagine – had I been holding onto the bars when the impact occurred.
With a distinct lack of weekend track days in these parts and street riding off the menu, golf is starting to look like a fine way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon..
The damage?
Handlebars - Bent
Rizoma Bar Ends - Scraped
Mirrors - Broken / Scraped
Rearsets - Broken
STM slave - Scraped
Fairing/headlight - Broken / Scraped
Fairing mounts - Broken
License plate mount - Broken / Scraped
Triple Clamps - Bent
F Fender - Broken
Pass Seat - Scraped
Turn Signals - Broken / Scraped
Main rear set hang bolt - Scraped
Sprocket cover - Bent
Side Stand - Bent
Hugger - Broken / Scraped
Rear Wheel - Scraped
Rear cowlings - Broken
Sproket Carrier - Scraped
Rear Sprocket cover - Scraped
Frame tube - Dent
Steering lock - Bent
Paint - Trashed
Brake Lever - Broken
Clutch Lever - Scraped
Exhaust System - Dented/Scraped
Front Seat - Scraped
Rear Seat - Scraped
Content: Hyperstrada, Maryland drivers, loudbike, Steve Munro, Ducati Multistrada Custom
