A couple days ago a Guzzi riding friend of mine contacted me and asked if I might be willing to allow him to borrow my Breva for a day. You see, his father-in-law is in town for Christmas and my friend wanted to go out for a motorcycle ride with him. The father-in-law was supposedly a lifelong Harley rider with a lot of experience.
So, being the idiot that I am, I agreed to let them borrow the bike and have a nice day of riding.
Read my lips...BIG MISTAKE!!!
I had a voice message from my friend to give him a call when I got a chance. Well, I called, and he told me the father-in-law had gone down on the Breva at low speed.. The father-in-law was ok, a little sore, but the Breva sustained a fair amount of damage, most seemingly cosmetic.
From what I can gather it appears the father-in-law somehow lost control of the bike and hit the back of the car and fell over on the right hand side, all of this happening at low speed when pulling away from a stop light.
The bike got towed to a Guzzi dealer in nearby Ormond Beach so I drove up in the Alfa 164L to assess the damage. A good deal of cosmetic damage to the right hand side, including a destroyed head guard and a valve cover that was hit hard enough to have actually cracked open.
Friends, take a tip from your Uncle Chris. Just don't let anyone else ride your motorcycle, no matter how nice a gesture you think it to be. There's just too much potential for bad things to happen.
Pardon me now, I need to go weep.
***UPDATE***: I just got a call from the dealer. Total repair bill will be roughly $2,300, to be covered by the father-in-law's insurance. Hopefully that will go smoothly.
6 comments:
That poor, poor, bike! I feel for ya. I know how clean and well kept that Breva is. Sad but true....never loan out your bike. You can loan your car, your money, and your woman...but never the bike!
Sorry to hear the news. Is a sad day. But seems those head guards work! Have a cold beer as consellation.
Thanks Mates. I think I will go in search of some seasonal Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale to drown my sorrows :(
Chris - awful thing to happen for both of you. Hopefully the friendship doesn't suffer and everything works out well.
I let my brother in-law (Jap bike owner) try while down for xmas last year. He didn't go down but didn't understand the reaction from the shaft drive bike on starting AND stopping. Took me a while too with my Guzzi when I got her. Hopefully the insurance goes well.
Bob
Sorry to hear that Chris. I guess that means i will never get to ride the Breva if you make it back to the big "O". I will tip a cool one and put some Grand Funk on the Honda's new stereo, and wish for the successful repair of the Breva. Take care, my friend. T.P.
New stereo on the Honda Terry?! Pics please!
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