Add to that the 100 yard long metal grate bridge I cross on the way home every day.... makes the commute more interesting!
metal grate bridges are a disaster. Back in the early 90's I was on marathon ride from DC to MA. Let me tell you, the TappanZee(sp?) bridge is a scary nightmare on a gs450 in heavy cross winds and rush-hour traffic. And then once you get across it the unbelievable maze of potholes big enough to swallow a Buick...
So my meeting with the road grate: I was working as a motorcycle messenger (the craziest combination of stupid and fun job all in one) in Wash DC, pretty new to motorcycling (maybe a year). It was raining and I was working over in Rosslyn Va, just across from Georgetown. I was coming up to a green light and it changed on me. Rather than push it through the yellow in the rain (I was turning too...) I decided to stop instead. Big mistake. The only place to stop was rolling up on the grate, probably 6 feet wide and 10 feet long. The brakes on an 82 gs450e aren't all that hot... as soon as I hit the metal, the front wheel washed out.
I stayed on the uphill side, somehow. When the bike actually hit the pavement, it stopped dead with a bar-end/lever and who knows what else hanging up in the grate. I popped off the thing and landed on my feet at a slow run, slipped and banged my knee pretty good.
It snapped the end off the clutch lever, bent the bar on the left side, minor ding in the tank, big bruise on my knee and that's about it. Oh, and my pride... I finished the day with a bent bar. That was fun.
Topic: Nearly got bit (Read 3758 times)