Motorcycle Domino
The day started as normal: kitted up, helmet on, opened the garage door, go in, wheel motorcycle out, get on and ride away. It was at a traffic light where all things went wrong. Nobody likes to see a motorcycle on its side, but the scene that greeted me yesterday morning had my motorcycle rudely exposing its underbelly, with the left-hand side of the handlebars firmly wedged into a Honda CBR150R's faring. Luckily the Honda had escaped punctured engine casings, but had in turn been pushed onto an older Yamaha Fresh motorcycle that had been on the other side of the Honda CBR150R.Luckily all motorcycles caught up in this bizarre game of motorcycle dominoes had narrowly missed a brand new Honda scooter.
As my motorcycle was wedged firmly into the Honda CBR150%, it took me the best part of 20 minutes to work out how to free both motorcycles without causing more damage. Once my motorcycle was back on its stand, it was time to assess the damage. To my amazement, the only casualty were the handlebars – as my motorcycle fell, it fell directly onto the left-hand handlebar end, which took the full force of the resulting impact onto the Honda CBR150R.
So while that was fantastic news, the handlebars were of course a little worse for wear, making it a little tricky to ride. After the inevitable phone call of shame to my motorcycle dealer, a new pair of handlebars were ordered, but until they arrived, I was motorcycle-less.
I imagine you're wondering by now how the whole story came about: I was wanting at a traffic light in downtown Bangkok when a Thai teenager on his scooter tried to get in from of everybody else waiting traffic light – he bumped against me, I lost balance and fell.
