I Biffed It Today. Glad I Got That Out of the Way

[Calculon]

I pulled into the gas station, but they wanted almost 50¢ more a gallon for premium than my local convenience store. I figured if I went down the road I could get it for less. This particular station has a fast food restaurant in it. Since it was added after the store, the design is somewhat flawed. The parking lot is cramped with parking on both sides and the outlet for the drive thru can be obscured if there's a large vehicle right by the exit. There was a large SUV parked there today. A smaller truck came out of the drive thru a bit quickly. When they saw me they turned away from me a little and waved. I jammed on the brakes and had no trouble stopping. I nodded as I muttered under my breath.


At this point I noticed I was right next to the parked cars and I didn't want one to back me, so as the truck went by I twisted the throttle to get out of harms way, but a few feet beyond the other side of the truck was a ginormous pothole. It measured maybe 30” wide by 10” across and 5” deep. By the time I saw it I was going down in it and didn't have much reaction, other than to fall when the tire couldn't push out because I was going pretty slow. The person who almost hit me helped me pick up the bike, though I think I could have managed myself.


The good news is I was unharmed and mechanically, the bike seems OK. I was able to ride it home. The other good news is the damage is minimal. The right mirror needs to be tightened, though is unscathed. Only the plastic panel on the right by the blinker and the lower portion got scratched. The exhaust, forks and other black parts that are much harder to replace were spared. Honestly, if I could find a matching color pen and touch it up, I'd be happy, but if I have to replace panels, I won't be too upset about it. At least I bought the service manual today a few hours before heading out. The bad news is I saved $1 on gas, but it ended up costing me a lot more.

[Yorkie150]

cant you make a claim against the highway dept for poor maintenance of the road ?

[Old Grinner]

The good news is I was unharmed and mechanically, the bike seems OK. I was able to ride it home.

Another "wipe the sweat off the brow" moment.

What you described has played out with so many different scenarios between so many riders.

It's the CLOSE CALL . . . THANK YOU JESUS episode in life's journey (or whatever/whomever is your belief in the beyond). Glad it wasn't worse.

"I can handle this and live to ride another day" are the words we play out in our minds as we do the instant replay head trips. We ask ourselves what could I have done to avoid this? If anything?

I think we learn from these events and it makes us better riders. It's like Murphy's Law is around every blind corner, ready to fall from the sky, or hiding in the dense sudden fog ahead. In your case it was a rut. Damn those ruts eh?

Glad you are OK most importantly. And perhaps, for the sake of the next person in line, give a shout out to the local authorities or people that run the place to let them know that the hazard exists. Perhaps they'll put somebody on it to fill it in. You may save a life!

If nothing gets done at least you know you did a righteous deed.

[davenowherejones]

Put a happy face sticker on the scratches or a fake bullet hole. Fixed.

[WhiteNoise]

Calculon for you: touch-up paint: https://www.colorrite.com/wizardresults.cfm

Saving a Buck
Try to avoid crowded parking lots, (at all costs, (pun intened ) We all know that folks have their minds on a million different things today (now add covid to the mix ) their hands are not always on the wheel, their eyes are not on the road, mouths are moving, and their feet are off to the side resting. Wow!
Bonus! you hit the jackpot. That monster hole, crater, sinkhole and Bam! In it. What the Hell! Shite!! Am I ok...the bike?

I'm Very pleased to read that You're okay Also happy that someone helped you pick the bike up.
It's Not a featherweight especially when you're rattled by the fall. So, Kudos' to the helpful human!! (Tipping me lid).

I don't think there was much you could do in that situation. So don't be too hard on yourself. But do Learn from what happened --> It was a lesson.
Off you go now Me too

[fish]

Ouch! on that pretty Forza!
I phoned city streets dept. a couple of years ago because I was tired of banging through broken pavement at the edge of a bridge on my daily work commute.

The gal that answered the phone listened fully to my complaint.
Then she said, "Yeah, I hate dodging that on my scooter, too!"

I said, "are you the owner of that pink Vespa parked in front of the streets dept. building?"
I saw it parked there several times on my way home from work.
Sonofagun!
The next day there was the smoothest patch all along that bridge edge!
Apparently the "public" had to lodge a complaint - before she felt comfortable approaching the big shots.

True story.


Also, a fellow Piaggio Liberty150i owner recently broke something in the rear of his scoot after hitting a "sink hole" with wife aboard. Oil loss and water in - totaled the gears as well. Warranty repair coming.

Fish

[Calculon]

Thanks for the well wishes. Yeah, I consider myself blessed. It could have been worse. Unfortunately, it was in the parking lot of a small business, not on the road. I have no witnesses and I didn't have a camera on. I suppose I could call and see what they say. I think I knew somewhere in the back of my brain there was a pothole there, but it wasn't nearly as big as the last time I saw it. I don't go there often. It looks like the panels would be about $100, but won't come for a couple months as the ship they from Thailand.

They have my paint stick, but it's $16 for a half ounce and the site tells me other stuff like a base. That will drive the price up, so I'm wondering if I'm better off buying the panels, though they won't be here until September. I've never used a paint stick before. It looks a bit more involved that just painting over the scratches. Is a half ounce enough to just cover the damage?

[davenowherejones]

The bad thing about this whole deal is that the Forza is meant to run on REGULAR gas. Read your manual.

RON 91 is the same as 87 (R+M)/2 which is what is on the pumps in Canada & USA.

You are wasting your money buying Premium.

The oil companies love you for spending more money than you have to.

Even the alcohol problems are much over-hyped. The corn farmers love you for this.

I have 135,000 km of REGULAR gas receipts to back this up.

The specialty oil companies love you for buying their $30 per litre oils. The Forza runs just fine on $3 per litre oil. Again, I have 135,000 km of receipts to prove this.

But some people just like spending more. The marketing people love you.

[WhiteNoise]

Calculon, sorry I can't help you further than the link I provided on the paint. I've never used any on my bikes. So I don't know how much you'll need to cover those boo-boos

Someone else have advice or experience with touch-up?

[Old Scoot]

......RON 91 is the same as 87 (R+M)/2 which is what is on the pumps in Canada & USA.

You are wasting your money buying Premium.

Not quite, I tanked RON 98 in my Forza 300 for the first time after I got it from the dealer and the mileage went from 27.8 km/l to 29.1 km/l so it isn't a complete waste of money and I feel that the scooter engine is running smoother and better on RON 98 then on RON 95 E5[+max 5% ethanol].
BTW we can't get RON 91 in the Netherlands, Germany or Belgium the lowest is RON 95 E5.

[Calculon]

I ordered the two panels from Bikerbitz(a little over $100 for the two panels) about the middle of July and received them at the beginning of the month. I had to drive it around damaged for a while as I'm too cheap to spend the $100 for two week shipping, but I finally got a chance to put them on and all's well that ends well I guess:





The sad part is now that it's healed, it's time to put it away for the season.

[halluinoid]

sorry to hear about your pothole Calculon, I had the same but in my CAR last year, wrecked my rear shock absorbers, cost me a lot

The bad thing about this whole deal is that the Forza is meant to run on REGULAR gas. Read your manual.

RON 91 is the same as 87 (R+M)/2 which is what is on the pumps in Canada & USA.

You are wasting your money buying Premium.

The oil companies love you for spending more money than you have to.

Sorry to disagree Dave, but I do disagree. Oil companies make a pittance from selling fuel nowadays, their main function is as tax collectors
I dont have to look far back to remember my days working at BP. we sold coffee and I was serving up double fudge caramel lattes every minute of the day
we made more profit from one singel caramel latte that on a 4x4 filling up their tank with Premium

it is the food and the drinks that make the profits at any Gas station , not the fuel

[you you]

sorry to hear about your pothole Calculon, I had the same but in my CAR last year, wrecked my rear shock absorbers, cost me a lot

The bad thing about this whole deal is that the Forza is meant to run on REGULAR gas. Read your manual.

RON 91 is the same as 87 (R+M)/2 which is what is on the pumps in Canada & USA.

You are wasting your money buying Premium.

The oil companies love you for spending more money than you have to.

Sorry to disagree Dave, but I do disagree. Oil companies make a pittance from selling fuel nowadays, their main function is as tax collectors
I dont have to look far back to remember my days working at BP. we sold coffee and I was serving up double fudge caramel lattes every minute of the day
we made more profit from one singel caramel latte that on a 4x4 filling up their tank with Premium

it is the food and the drinks that make the profits at any Gas station , not the fuel

The OP is talking about oil companies. You are talking about garage forecourts in the UK.