Soda Can = Weapon

[Particle Man]

I had a dentist's appointment today and, since I'm not dead or otherwise incapacitated, I took the bike as usual.

Pick, pick, whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, and clean. All better.

On my way home, I took a side road to hit some twisties, after which, I returned to the "main" road and proceeded home. Just as I was accelerating from the stop sign (nothing major, just enjoying the day, not winding it out or anything), I spied an SUV headed my way... a glance down at the speedo showed that at this point I was traveling at about 50 (in a 55 zone). Just as I glanced up, I saw something flying out of said SUV (which at a glance was filled with a bunch of teen-agers) and before I could react, it hit and basically exploded into pieces (at which point I could hear the SUV punch it; old POS Blazer from the 90's).

I panic braked (practice really does make perfect) with pure rage on my mind only to find that my braking power was diminishing rapidly - a quick glance explained the reason for this: my front brake reservoir was hanging by the brake line to the lever and brake fluid was leaking from a crack in the plastic. Fuck. Thankfully, by this point I was well under 25 or so and, while I don't remember doing this, I had apparently downshifted earlier while slowing down which afforded me the opportunity to use the engine and rear brake to come to a stop.

I got off the bike and looked around for the SUV and it was nowhere in sight so I jogged back to what appeared to be the point of impact and found a freakin' PEPSI CAN (or what was left of it). The splatter marks lead me to believe that it was either a full/sealed can or a fairly full can when it hit my bike (and not me directly, thankfully since it would most likely have knocked me clean off the bike).

After heading back to the bike, I assessed the damage:

• Some scratches in the fairing on the left side (top) - I think I can buff these out and touch them up

• bent left clip-on (Christ, how fast were they moving when they threw the freakin' thing??

• Front brake reservoir broken from the mounting on the right clip-on and cracked at the top near the cap

• sliced throttle cable (which I can only believe happened when the can shredded

• left glove ripped almost exactly on the seam

I figure if I was at 50mph and they were doing a minimum of 55 that the impact was like my bike getting hit by a full soda can traveling at 105 mph.

Things happened so fast I can't even remember the color of the SUV (the term "multiple" comes to mind though). I was able to limp home using the rear brake and the throttle works enough to get going but it no longer snaps back when I release it so the slice appears to be just enough to bind the cables.

Looks like I'll be heading down to Oneida Suzuki early next week to get some new freakin' parts.

Fairing:



Base of brake fluid res:



Side of brake fluid res: