Life on a Honda 2008 CBF1000A purhcased on Facebook Marketplace. A Flog's Blog

[Jerry_Atrick]

I was a late starter learning to ride a motorbike (as with most things in life, really). 

 

When I was 27, I did a one or two day L plate course with a company called Stay Upright. The course was great as it was done at the old RAAF laverton airbase. We were hooning around on Suzuki GN250s and some tank was being put through its paces. Apparently, they were testing it for purchase, and that day the plan was to see if they could roll it. They looked luike they were having fun as well.

 

I never did progress from the L plates. It wasn't that I lost interest, but in the big scheme of things, motorcycling was a lower priority - certainly than flying - so once it lapsed (after a year or two - I can't remember), I didn't renew it. At 31, I moved to the UK and with a haitus in flying, I thought - for a very long time as it turns out  - about getting a licence. At the time, in the UK, it was similar to Australia, except that learners (CBT - Compulsory Basic Training) were (and still are) restricted to 125cc motorbies, about 1/2 of their Aussie counterparts. 

 

A change in the law came, in the form as Direct Access motorcycle licences. I can't remember the precise rule, but it was something like if one was over 25 and had a full driving licence for over 5 years, they could get their CBT (learners), and then, if they did a minimum of a certain amount of hours training and pass their test on a bike of more than 47 hp or thereabouts, they got a full motorcycle license. Well, I thought about it, moved to Australia for a couple of years, and then returned. In the time I was in Australia, the EU expanded from 11 or so to something like 27, and it seemed most of the tradies from the new countries rocked up ionto South West and West London. At the same timne, London introduced a congestion charge, resulting in a lot of cars skirting the zone. And the problem for me was my work at the time was not in the city - but in Watford. The transport links from my place to Watford was slow, decrepit and passed through areas that were not very safe.

 

Ironically, my last jon before moving to Australia was 2 doors from my new job after arriving back. Before moving to Australia, normal driving to work was about 40 minutes or so.. After returning form Australia, that same drive had around doubled with the sheer volume of traffic on the road. We just had a daughter and I convinced my partner that to be able to at least see her, I should get a motorcycle. 

 

 

I got my CBT in a suburb called Croydon. It is a bit of a shiphole, but the training organisation and instructors were great. In the morning, I couldn;t release the clutch without stalling it. By the afternoon, I was reasonably confident on the road. I really enjoyed it, albiet the bike being a whole 12 hp. On the Monday, I trundled into Motorcycles  Direct in Watford and bought a brand spanking new Honda CG125 to spend time getting used to the road and riding before doing the cirect access course. It took a couple of days for them to pre it for delivery (it had to be assembled, etc, and they were quite busy at the time). On the day it was ready, I lugged my protective clothing, helmet and boots, in on public transport! I let my partner know I would be home much quicker than with the car as the bike was narrow and would easly filter through traffic. I was looking forward to being a smug little git passing in between cars stopped in a traffic jam. 

 

That very first ride home took almost 2 hours! As a CBT holder, one is not allowed on the motorways, and a motorway was  part of my normal journey. And even though it was in peak hour, becasue I would be going against the flow of traffic, the motorway section was always fast (normally 80mph until the end of the line). So, I had to take normal roads home.. And they tend to be a lot busier. Not only that, but as I came up to my first set of lights, the gap between the cars looked decidedly marrpw and dangerous to this 40+ year old learner. So, I ended up on normal suburban roads, stuyck in traffic and not filtering to the front of the queue. To say my partner was not happy when I got home woud earn youy a prize of the understatement of the year. 

 

I figured it was useless doing the direct access course if I was too timid to filter through traffic. After maybe two weeks, I racked up the nerve to try it and by the end of that week, I was filtering through traffic confidently and safely. I was still taking longer to get home on account of being stuck on long suburban roads, bt at least it was well under 2 hours. 

 

I used to visit the bike shop regularly as I got to know one of the salesman, and ogle the new big-boys bikes. Anyway, one day, I walked in and declared I was going to go back to the school in Croydon and do the direct access course. They suggested using a local Watford school (not so local to me!). So I went theit their suggestion and also very good instructors. I booked a 5 day course over three weekends. Blimey, riding a big bike is easier than the little ones I though, although those slow u-turns took some getting used to. I was booked in for the test at a suburb called Penge. This was, of course, a week day. I took a day off beforehand to practice with an instructor. But on the day of the test, as Penge wasn't that far, I just "nipped out" for the test. The bike I trained on was a Kawasaki ER5. 

 

Bugger me! I failed it! I did everything right, except as I did a left hand turn into the T intersection, which was a narrow road, a car parked in the oncoming direction pulled out from the parking space. I braked, and he braked too. Apparently, the examiner judged because the oncoming car had to stop, I was blocking his way and didn't show adeuate control of the bike to stop in time coming out of the turn into the T. I thought it was touch and go as I was quite late in the turn before he motioned out, but it was useless arguing. That was the first time in my life I had failed a test. We re-booked the test, I took a another weekend of lessons and the second time was a straight pass; no lost points. 

 

I rode back to the school with instructor behind me and intercoms switched on. The instrutor's voice came over the intercome, "OK Lance.. wait for your own boke to put on some pace" or some such words. As a newly, but filly licnesed moptorbike rider, I wanted to feel what acceleration these things really had. The ER5 is a 500CC 50hp bike, and compared to the CG125, I kept the CG125 for a little while, but would ride it on the motorway.. which was a crack. On a flat surfacec, the 11hhp with full throttle and no wind could get to about 55mph. It is uite embarressing when a fully laden tip truck rockers past you on a motorway. On a downhill, very occasionally I could get it to the speed limit of 70mph. In the end, I ended up selling it after I purchased, off eBay and uneen, a Honda VFR750. 

 

I knew all the consumables needed changing - cables, chain/sprockets, etc. I paid an appropriate price. I rode it from Brighton home to Richmond - about 50 miles I would think. It roade really well, except the chain was rattling a bit. I booked it in for a service with the bike shop in Watford, maybe a month or two after I got it. After all, it had a new MOT (Road Worthy Certificate). On the morning it was going to be serviced, I rode north up the M1 from where it starts in London. I was doing maybe 80,ph, when a stonking Merc overtook me at a great rate of knots. The testosterone injectors in the helmet kicked in and I was not having that. So, I decided to show this wanker what he was up against, and I overtook him at about 100mph, where the power band kicked in.. that was somethign I wasn't prepared for!

 

We both ended up racing each other and hit 140mph, at which time, the testosterone hit started to wane while I remembered I had a new born daughter and I decided that was enough. I released the throttle and the bike was soon agian cruising at 80mph. I dropped the bike off at the shop (which was also a Honda dealer at the time). The commented it was a bit rough - a winter hack - but they are great bikes. At lunch time as I was walkign around Watford, I saw the mechanic test riding the bike. In the afternoon, I walked to the shop from work, and went to the service desk looking forward to a serviced bike, but not the repair bill I was expecting. When the service manager told me the bill was a £35, I was stunned. "What? I thought you were going to do a full service and replace just about every consumable there is". 

 

He explained that when the mechanic took a side panel they they noticed the frame was bent and there was one more weld than there sholuld have been. My heart sank - earlier that morning, I took a bike that should have been written off  and with a weakened frame, and rode it up to 140mph! And I just had a new kid!!

 

Onto eBay it went,. I declared everythign wrong with it, and in the end the highest bid was £50 more than I paid. So not all was lost. I decided the next bike would be a new one. so walked into the Watford bike shop on the Monday after I sold the VFR750. The Hondas were too expensive, but a slick looking Kawsaki ER6f brand new looked great, and was affordable, I thought to myself even idf they aren't as good as Hondas, it is 20 years younger than the VFR750 was, so with the engineering and technoloigy advances in that time, it surely will still be a good bike. I put the deposit down for a new bike without test riding a demonstrator, got 0% finance after negotiating the price down, and a couple of days later was riding a new, albeit boring 650CC bike.. 

 

That was 2007 and I had it for 10 years riding it in all conditions and not looking after it terribly well (as it was a boring bike to be honest). I insured it for 10k miles per year, and it did about that. But, in 2017, there was just too much wrong with it to keep it on the road. So, I sold it for parts and with other things going on (like being back into flying), riding took a pause for a while. 

 

The COVID lockdowon came and I thought I wouldn't work in London again. A motorbike was far from my mind as working out how to eek out a living in the regional cities was pressing on my mind. Of course, I ended up working in London and now commute with a car. But it is incredibly frustrating at times, because I still have to rely on public transport. That, in itself, is not bad, but, if I just miss a train into London, at that time of the morning, it is a 30 minute wait. Guess what? This week, I was running well on time for the train after my commute, only to be stopped at road works and then missing my train by a minute. A half hour wait ensued. Then when I get to Waterloo, it is a faff to get to Liverpool street and takes the same time to get three miles as it does to get from North Sheen to Waterloo  on the slow (stopping all stations) train, which is about 15 miles. And last night, leaving the office, I got to Waterloo at 8:02; two minutes later than the train to my station leaves. Guess what, it is a half hour wait to the next one. 

 

But, with a bike, I can ride all the way to Liverpool Street and park for free. No waiting for trains, issues with train strikes or faulty signals/points that brings the network to its knees. And there is no congestion charge. And, if I get a young enough bike, there is no ULEZ charge either. So I decide, I have had enough and am going to take up riding again. 

 

My choice of bike is the Honda NC750X, as it offers a little more weather protection than the Honda NC750S (competely unfaired). The reason is these bikes are only 55hp, but have a lot of low down torque, rev low so are never stressed, and they have a range of upt to 80mpg. The problem is, even early ones are around £3,000+ pounds unless they have really high milesage or someone is desperate to sell. But as this is a commuter that is going to be used on motorways at all hours of the morning and night, with salt, grime, etc. I don't want to spend £3,000+ Enter the CBF1000. A much understated bike, this has a detuned 1000cc firebalde engine, so has a lot of torque and doesn't rev hard, but pumps out 97hp (new). It is a bigger bike, faired better, and is ideal for longer distance touring. Although I am commuting, the distance from my place to central London is 170 miles using the mortorways, which is what I would nornally use as they don't often get animals on them and there is sufficient motorway services to stop, revive, and survive. 

 

There are two downsides compared to the NC750s. .First, fuel consumption is not quite double the NC750s at between 45 and 50 mpg. Secondly, the NC750 doesn't seem to have anything that commonly goes wrong with them. In other words, the design is pretty sound. However, the CBF10000, especially the Mk 1 (2006 - 2010) suffers a problem where the stator burns out regulalr - about every 15k - 30k miles I think (it may be less dependent on riding style). The problem is the stator sits in the engine housing bathed in hot oil, and that it produces high current which dissipates heat into the oil. Combined with a shunt type reg/rectifier which dumops excess current to ground resulting in heating the regulator and stator, both end up burning out. The answer is to replace the regulator with a MOFSET or series regulator and to ensure the engine oil is topped up. Of course, getting an uprated stator will help, too. I guess they gave that part of the design to an intern!

 

But the benefit of a CBF1000 over an NC750 is price. And I found a beaut for £1,500. It isn't perfect, but it is a lot better than the VFR750. A lot better! And it is comfortable, clean, and everythign works -even the stator, which was rewired a few thousand miles ago. . The bike has a little over 40,000 files. Mechanically it seems great. All of its documentation checks out. So a deposit put down and I collect on Monday, which is the start of two weeks off work for me. My partner will drive me the almost 2 hours to pick it up. I will ensure there is enough oil in the bike and then ride it home. Thankfully, the weather is forecast to be sunny, of cold:

 

The ride home is quite good. The bike is in a nice Cotswolds village called Northleach. It is not far from Cheltenham. A wide enough road out of the village to a dual laned A road, which runs to the M5 motorway - from memory about junction 12 or 13. From there, it is the M5 south all the way to Taunton (Junction 25) and then about 15 minutes on town roads and then country lanes home. I am looking forward to it, even though I haven't ridden for quite a few years. 

 

On Tuesday, it will go for a full service and check over - just to be sure, as well as its MOT (RWC), as that expires on December 18 and once a vehicle hits three years old, a valid MOT for the vehicle  is required to legally drive it on public roads. It will also have heated grips and storm guards fitted. And I may get them to fit a USB powerbank. 

 

The rest of the two weeks will be mainly DIY, but I am going to get my aviation medical in Oxford, so will probably ride there if the weather is goof enough. And then, on the morning of the 2nd of December, my first commute to London from Halse will begin at around 3:30am. 

 

That will be the test of whether or not I made the right decision.

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

I forgot to mention, the laws for getting a licence have changed. You can get a learners at 17 as per normal. At 18, you can get an A1 licence, which restricts you to 125cc still but you can ride on motorways, carry pillions, and not display L plates (P plates are optional in the UK). 

 

At 19, whether or not you have the A1 license, yuou can go straight to an A2 license, as long as you train and pass the test on a bike of around 33kw. This allows you to do the same as an A1, but on a bike up to 33 kw. You can get a bile up to 66kw and have a certified restrictor kit to take it to 33kw fitted until you get an A (full) motorcycle license. 

 

At 24, you can go straight to the full licence after a CBT has been achieved if you pass the course on a minimum sized bikle even if you have not had a car license. You can also skip the A2 licence at 21 and go straight to the full licence if you have had an A2 license for 2 consecutive years. 

 

My son, who is 23, has decided he wants to do the A2 licence, and wants to do some touring with me. That is always nice. 

 

Here is a YT vid on getting your licence:

 

Edited Thursday at 10:13 PM by Jerry_Atrick

[nomadpete]

Congratulations on your return to riding.

 

[facthunter]

Why do you HAVE to have a HONDA?   Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

It may come across that way, but I am not wedded to Honda. The CG125 was purchased purely on cost. I happened to be in the shop and they had a sale; something like £2300 down to £1,800. I got anouther £200 knocked off. I sold it for the same as I paid for it, and if it was maintained well, it would still fetch about £1,800 punds today, with hacks going for about £1,000. 

 

The VFR750 was impulse buy. I liked the look of it, it was cheap, so I threw caution to the wind. The next bike, the Kawasaki er6f, altthough definitely built to a price, earned my respect on its utlimate lengevity given the life it had forced upon it. 

 

Like aircraft, motorbike design is a compromise. So, I wrote down my mission and the important features of a bike. My mission was commuting 170 miles each way with an overnight stop from motorwasy to gnarly urban streets. Also, when this house is finally done and sold, I quit my job (3 month notice period) and head back to Aus. That could means from 6 months to god knows how long.

 

So key charateristics for me are:

• Reliability. I don't want it to be in the shop too long. I don't have the tools to do much maintenance myself, so any down timeis a pain to get to the shop, and get back to it. I simply don't have the time.
• Price - I may have to sell it within 6 months, so putting a lot of miles on will depreciate it. I want something that has had the depreciation kicked out of it.
• Storage - Overnight stays reqire me to bring clothes and work stuff.
• Fuel efficiency - the less I can spend on fuel, the better.
• Flexibility - Good on the motorway and easy filtering in congested London traffic. 
• Comfortable - The er6f was good for urban work and day rides where stopping frequently is not only an option, but desirable. But, mr posterior was quite sore after the long commute from the south west of England. 
• Anythign else like fun on the twisties or speed demon is a bonus, but I just need a good allrounder that can be boring as anything.
• Oh, and it isn't that attractive to theives, especially in London.
• It is going to be used in all but the worst of the winter weather, so it has to be good at keeping the weather off.
• It had to be ULEZ compliant

 

I tend to limit myself to known brands. On all of the above, the Honda NC750 came out trumps. It is virtually bullet proof. The engine is torquey, but doesn;'t rev too high or produce too high top end hp. Yet, it will eat up the motorway miles at 80+mph comfortably and is agile and narrow enough in town for traffic. It has a fuel tank under the seat so where the fuel tank is normally located is a 21l storage space - not quite enough, but a handy addition not to need a back pack to compliment the top box. It was about the most fuel efficient for the mission at up to 80mpg. I did test ride one and they are comfortable, but I probably would add a gel cover on the seat just to soften it a bit. It is thought of as a boring bike, so thieves generally ignore it unless they specicially need it, and many people use them in winter and rave about them. The problem was cost - and I didn't want to spend that much to sell later for a big loss. 

 

So, I had to compromise on my needs, which I did. In the end, I was looking keenly at a Triumph GT1050, but only 2010 on models meet the ULEZ requirement and decent examples of them were starting at around the £2,500. This one was £2,800. But, what walked me away from it was insurance at almost £1,000 without the add ons. In the end it came down to a good example on the second hand market of a bike that largely met my criteria at the right price and in the right condition. There were others I was looking at, at the right price, but they all seemed to be up in Nortnern England and Scotland, and it is too much of a faff to go there from where I live.

 

That's a very long winded way to say I wasn't targettng Honda per se; it was a model that I didn't want to afford was the best, and in the second hand market, the bike that otherwise best fit my bill at the right price happened to be a Honda.

Edited yesterday at 06:12 AM by Jerry_Atrick

[facthunter]

Older water cooled Bikes can Have radiator and Water pump issues. The life of an aluminium radiator can be quite short and some Pumps are of Magnesium.. Honda Parts are NOT cheap. The fairings cost will surprise you. Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

Yeah.. one has to be careful with water cooled bikes, but everythign checked out OK on this one so far. The radiator looks in good condition and although placed nicely away, has a guard on it, too.. Of course, that doesn't stop corrosion, but with only 3 owners and very well documented history, it seems it has been well cared for and with the right anti-freeze and concentration, should be OK for a few miles yet. 

 

Fairings are generally expeinsive over here. If I break a fairing, so be it.. It is a winter/commuter hack. Another reason why I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. I will do a repair if needed, find second hand (never easy), or a mate has a really good 3d printing setup - I am sure he can knock something up in the right colour for a lot less.

 

Honda here are not known to be more expensive than the other Japanese brands in parts. Hopefully I won't need to find out (famous last words).

 

 

Edited yesterday at 07:49 AM by Jerry_Atrick

[Jerry_Atrick]

@facthunter - your post re the cooling system did get me thinking - in case, how much am I looking at. A new Honda (claimed) genuine waterpump goes from around £100 to £150 at dealers. The radiator is around £100 (again, claimed genuine). Fitting and coolant would be extra of course. .Allow a couple of humdred pounds. A thermostat is about £30.. So a full refit (ex sensors) would probably be £450-ish..  I am now double hoping there are no problems. 

[Litespeed]

Good luck with the bike.

 

Use the Piano theory for riding and you will be safe, it's worked for 40 years for me.

 

Stay shiny side up.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Just ordered:

• Textile Jacket -Alpinestars - Their own Dryshield rather than Gore-Tex... On sale. Has elbow and shoulder body armour.
• Body armour - back protector
• Trousers - Waterproof and knee/hip protection. Can't reall the brand, but they were well reviewed and the zips fit the jacket. About 1/2 the price of Alpinestars. 
• Alpinestar racing boots (best protection) Gore-Tex on sale (1/2 price and I checked other stores). Bonza!
• Gloves - Alpinestar Gore Tex, with knuckle protection
• High Vis one piece waterproof outer. 

All done online.. Should arrive tomorrow. That is all the kit done now. Just waiting for Monday! 

[Jerry_Atrick]

(editing window too late).. All done online, no Amazon involvement. It is a well known local chain supplier. With friends coming over this weekend, I would not have had a chance to get to Bristol or Cheltenham, the closest two stores... which are about 45 and 75 miles away respectively.

[Marty_d]

3 hours ago, facthunter said:

Honda Parts are NOT cheap. The fairings cost will surprise you. Nev

I got around that by getting a Honda without fairings.

But really, if you've crashed badly enough to crack the fairings, you've got bigger problems (injuries)

[facthunter]

You only have to "drop it" to Damage the fairing.  That Means while you are Moving.  With an alloy frame on a road bike that often means a write off. Nev

Edited 9 hours ago by facthunter

[onetrack]

I'd really like to know how many bikes haven't been dropped, as so many adverts claim. I'll wager it's only a tiny percentage that haven't gone down at some stage of their lives.

 

I can recall driving N out of Kalgoorlie one evening on the Kalgoorlie Menzies Rd (the Goldfields Highway today). About 10 kays out of Kalgoorlie, in the deep dusk, I spotted a big motorbike lying on its side, on the edge of the (gravel)  shoulder, on the opposite side of the road.

I pulled up rapidly from my normal 120kmh, fearing that someone had come off. As I stopped and wound down my drivers window, I could see someone who appeared to be lying down behind the bike. Even worse, I could hear grunting and groaning noises coming from the body!

 

I called out, "Are you O.K., mate?", whilst getting ready to get out of the ute. A strained voice came back, "No! I stopped for a piss, and the bloody bike fell over, and now I can't stand it up again!!" 😄 

 

Of course, what had happened was, the bike had actually ended up lying somewhat downhill as it fell over the shoulder, and was partly lying on the drop-off, away from the road shoulder!

And of course, the rider was struggling to get any footing on the slippery slope below the bike - what with it being covered in pea-gravel rocks, and being about a 1-in-3 slope!

 

I got out and went over to him, and with both of us under the bike, we managed to get it upright again. It was a big bike, and bloody heavy, too! I don't recall what it was now, just a big Jap bike and certainly around 1000cc or more.

He was extremely grateful for the assistance, and he soon had it cranked up and ready to go again, so I left him with it. But I'll wager he'd also learnt a good lesson about being careful where you park your big heavy bike, on country road shoulders!
 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Just bringing the CBF discussion back to here:

9 hours ago, facthunter said:

Oil on  wet Roundabouts Wet leaves and sand/gravel washed over  roads and using OLD hard tyres. Frosts in cool patches in the early morning. Water on Stainless Brake discs. Wet tram lines. Visor fogging up as well as the Usual way "TIN TOPS treat you. Nev

Thankfully, no tram lines on my route. London only has one tram line between Wimbledon and Croydon, and from the below snippet, it does not interact with the road all that much:

 

I purchased a Shoe neotec helmet with a pinlock visor, which is an inner visor that fits to the main visor. It does a great job of keeping the visor from fogging up. However, it comes with an inbuilt drop down dark tinted visor, which is handy for someone like me who wears specs, but thgat does fog up, but for the times I ride in winter, the sun is rarely a problem.

 

I do have a steep driveway, but the bike will be parked at the bottom of it, so I don't see the need to use the brakes at the times I ride in winter that often until there is some warmth with the bike. I have purchased a decent waterproof cover for the bike, which of course doesn't stop condensation and then picking up moisture when riding, so that's a fact of life I have to live with and manage. 

 

Peak hour drivers in the UK are much better than their Aussie counterparts in general. That is because there is so many of them and they are all very focused on getting through the traffic to get to where they want to go. They are generally situationally very aware and very courteous to motorcycles - often moving away fro mthe centre of the road if they see a motorcylist filtering, for example. Of course, there are exceptions. Day drivers are a totally different beast.

 

I have learned the hard way about debris on the road - and not only leaves, twigs, sand and the like - but I was coming up the centre of the road to a red traffic light passing stopped cars. As I turned to get back in lane at the front of the queue to get back into lane, the ftont wheel slid out from under me (at low speed). As I was going down I was thinking what the F! caused that. I got the bike back up and stood it out of the way of cars ready to go on the green, and walked back to see what happened. You wouldn't believe it, but a think clear rectangle of perspex or similar was laying - impossible to see - right where I started the turn back into the lane. That was my skinny faird er6f Ninja, Bent clutch lever, scrape on the fairing, busted foot peg (they are cheap bikes) but massively dented ego. 

 

3 hours ago, onetrack said:

I've never forgotten a hapless scooter rider many years ago (over 20), when I was waiting at an angled T-junction to turn right in my Holden ute, which was my transport back then.

The angled T-junction had sharper angle to my left, and a lesser angle to my right. As I waited for a gap in the traffic to pull out, a scooter rider came belting along on my right, and indicated a left turn into the road I was waiting on.

 

He zipped around the modest-angle intersection, leaning over in great style. Unfortunately, he hadn't read the road. Trucks had been hauling sand over that intersection, and a nice coating of sand covered the bitumen.

I looked left as he was cornering, then as I looked back again, I was startled to see the scooter rider part company with his now-nearly horizontal scooter, as it skated sideways - and both scooter and the hapless rider were now skating along the intersection join, flat on the road, making straight for the front of my ute!!

 

Fortunately, the scooter shot past the front of the ute, and ended up by the side of the road to my left - and the scooter rider ended up sliding unceremoniously to a stop, right in front of the ute bumper!!

The rider sprang up off the road in front of me, with an alacrity that would do credit to a 100M sprinter getting out of the starting blocks!!

 

I'm sure he was convinced he was going to get run over! But I wasn't going anywhere, as looked on in amazement at the performance! I was getting ready to get out to see if he was O.K., but it became obviously pretty much immediately, that he wasn't too badly hurt, just shook up and possibly a bit bruised.

He hurried over to pick up his errant scooter very promptly, so I took off and left him to sort out the damage and injuries! But I'll wager he learnt a valuable lesson that day!

 

It could've ended up a whole lot more serious if I'd been moving, and he went under my ute - which has no doubt, happened elsewhere.

Yes.. there aren;t too many riders that haven't learned lessons the hard way. Youtube is full of those that can teach others.

 

3 hours ago, onetrack said:

I'd really like to know how many bikes haven't been dropped, as so many adverts claim. I'll wager it's only a tiny percentage that haven't gone down at some stage of their lives.

 

I can recall driving N out of Kalgoorlie one evening on the Kalgoorlie Menzies Rd (the Goldfields Highway today). About 10 kays out of Kalgoorlie, in the deep dusk, I spotted a big motorbike lying on its side, on the edge of the (gravel)  shoulder, on the opposite side of the road.

I pulled up rapidly from my normal 120kmh, fearing that someone had come off. As I stopped and wound down my drivers window, I could see someone who appeared to be lying down behind the bike. Even worse, I could hear grunting and groaning noises coming from the body!

 

I called out, "Are you O.K., mate?", whilst getting ready to get out of the ute. A strained voice came back, "No! I stopped for a piss, and the bloody bike fell over, and now I can't stand it up again!!" 😄 

 

Of course, what had happened was, the bike had actually ended up lying somewhat downhill as it fell over the shoulder, and was partly lying on the drop-off, away from the road shoulder!

And of course, the rider was struggling to get any footing on the slippery slope below the bike - what with it being covered in pea-gravel rocks, and being about a 1-in-3 slope!

 

I got out and went over to him, and with both of us under the bike, we managed to get it upright again. It was a big bike, and bloody heavy, too! I don't recall what it was now, just a big Jap bike and certainly around 1000cc or more.

He was extremely grateful for the assistance, and he soon had it cranked up and ready to go again, so I left him with it. But I'll wager he'd also learnt a good lesson about being careful where you park your big heavy bike, on country road shoulders!
 

I agree - there aren;t too many. The First day I had my brand spanking new Honda CG125, I dropped it. I out it on its centre stand on the side of the road, not realising how much camber was on the kerb side of the bike. It stayed upright until I got to the front door! Thankfully, it is a light bike. The VFR750 went over twice - once it had snowed overnight and our road had ice and snow on it. So I walked it to the top of the road (about 100metres) where the main arterial road into London was, which was nicely ploughed. But, as I looked right, I noticed a bus coming and instinct kicked in to get out before the bus came. I gave it a little throttle and let the clutch out a bit while the rear wheel was still on the icy bit. Over she went. The second time as at a supermarket. I wasn't payint attention when disengaged the centrestand, lost balance and over she went. 

 

The er6f had three drops - the one I mentioned; one where a van cut me off in a turn and I lost balance as it clipped me (and then took off - but I caught up with him, as did a witness, so that fixed the damage), and my accident where I lost grip in the wet under moderate braking - I can only think I hit oil. As the bike started to veer into oncoming traffic, I had to dtop trying to keep it upright and drop the bike - just didn't get my ankle out of the way quick enough. 

 

These are all lessons learned. Even the van incident, which was not my fault, taught me what I could have done better in that situation. 

 

10 hours ago, onetrack said:

Oh, the black ice is going to be fun, for this coming Honda riding! And watch out for the oil spills on the roads! My ideas around travelling in severely inclement weather, involves being cosy inside a warm, waterproof steel cage! But I'm old and soft, and my motorbike riding days are long gone.

I have only hit black ice once, and that was in Richmond Park on by bicycle, on a concrete shared walking/cycle track. Wearing helmets is not compulsory when cycling here, but I make a habit of doing it. It was on the 24th December, and I came off backwards and whacked the back of my head so hard on the concrete, it snapped a side stap of the helmet and cracked the side as little. Shudder to think what would happen if I weren't wearing it. 

 

If it is too cold, I will leave the bike at home, but the weather seems a lot warmer, and the motorways are well salted these days (an issue for the frame - for which ACF50 will come in handy). I haven't yet encountered black ice on the maotorways or arterial/main roads in London yet. But, yeah, there will be a first time. 

 

Edited 18 minutes ago by Jerry_Atrick