Having spent most of the summer working on my bike to get it road worthy, by respraying it and replacing the engine amongst many other things... I managed to throw it across a roundabout on the A120.

I'd spent the weekend in Wiltshire and had a good 180 mile trip across the home Shires on Sunday, to avoid the motorways in a last gasp trip before Autumn closes in. I'd managed 150 miles of hooning about until I got to the A120 where I decided to bring the speed down a bit getting closer to home. A few miles later I approached the roundabout at Rayne with no nearby traffic, tipped it in at about 30/40 mph started to lean it a bit more and before I could open the throttle... bang, the front end just slipped away. As I slid onto my back I could hear crunching behind me fearing the worst for the bike. Once my back had finished using the kerb as a brake I stumbled up to review the scene.

The bike didn't look to have suffered too much damage....until I picked it up. :(
It had hit the kerb making bananas out of the forks and hopped over and into the nearby overgrowth, where it was pissing fuel out of the nice hole in the side of the tank. Most of the right hand side sticky out bits were broken or scraped. As for me, I was wearing my one piece, back protector and Hein Gericke padded waterproof, so I was more bouncey than the Michelin Man and suffered only bruising and a grazed arse it turned out.

Anyway, I called up the AA (courtesy of friendly bloke who came out of his house to help) and had to wait two hours for them to come pick me up. Only having AA Roadside assistance meant I will be invoiced for the £120 tab, plus the £1.50 per/mile costs to take me home!

During the first hour and a half, not one of the dozen or so bikes that went past stopped to help or at least stick their thumb up to enquire if all was ok! Whereas, if I see a biker at the side of the road, I'll always stop and ask if he wants help... seems the once famed code of conduct is fast disappearing. :(
In the last half hour though, a camper van, a harley rider and a car driver all stopped at different times to see if I wanted any help, before the pickup finally arrived. Once home I left the bike in the garage, jumped in the car and legged it up to the off license for some emergency treatment.

Next day assessment revealed the full damage which I thought was a bit excessive for a little slide...

BROKEN:
RH bits - mirror, footpeg, rear brake lever, indicator, front brake lever, brake caliper, fuse cover.
Front fairing
Both forks
Mudguard
Petrol tank
Screen brace
Front fairing bracket
Slip on exhaust
Clutch casing
Front wheel most likely buckled too.

DAMAGED:
RH seat panel
F ront mid panel
Front lower panel
Pillion peg

RIPPED:
Hein Gericke jacket
New Oxford Sports tank bag
Rucksack bungeed on back

As for the cause I'd originally put it down to the tyres being past their sell by date, because I wasn't nailing it into the turn... I couldn't see any deisel or loose surfacing either. However when I was helping push the bike onto the back of the pick-up, my feet slipped from under me and I landed on my knees. The road surface felt like it had a bloody good coating of fuel and general road crap built up from the constant heavy traffic.

All a bit much for my empty wallet to handle, and a right royal pain in the arse (literally ;) Worst bit being I'll have to respray the whole friggin' thing again once it's fixed! Ho hum.

Be careful out there...even when it feels safe to push it. :o'