Path of the Rider Pt.2 – 2009
Written JUL 14 2011 #Reblog
Part Two: Sayuri
After a year on Lil Tractor, I felt I learned the treacherous ropes of London’s traffic and decided it was time to step up to a geared bike. I saw an advertisement for the new 125cc released onto the market and headed down to the store to have a peek.
Honda CBF125
It was sporty red and even had half fairings, not that it was ever going to go fast enough to warrant having them, but I had to get it.
The bike was small but pretty and Japanese, so I named it “Sayuri” after the main character in “Memoirs of a Geisha.”
It was perfect for London, nimble and agile and seemed like it could go forever on one tank of petrol. I think I went for over two and a half weeks using it every day on £20 of petrol, before running dry and having to push it to the next fill up.
Most memorable moment
For a week I had got into the habit of raising the rpm’s whilst stationary on a red light and as soon as the light flipped to amber, dropping the clutch like a bomb. I would grin ear to ear like a little kid when the front wheel popped off the ground, leaving the rest of traffic in my dust.
At a set of traffic lights on the Kings Road, I dropped the clutch, and as expected the front wheel comes off the ground and I shoot away from the line. What I didn’t expect was the front wheel to keep rising past the 45 degree angle to 12 O’clock, dragging the L plate on the back on the floor snapping it off. My legs fall off the back of the bike and I’m left running down the road still holding onto the handlebars of a vertical bike.
The bike slows down and I try to control the bike onto it’s side, dropping on to one knee to help brace the impact. As the bike comes down at a weird angle, my hand twists on the throttle, sending the bike into burnout donut around me.
All the while it seemed everyone on the Kings Road gathered to watch the spectacle before them.
When the bike finally cut out, there was only one thing I could do. I picked it up, started it, jumped back on and rode off like nothing happened. Needless to say I haven’t dropped the clutch at a set of light since.
To be continued…
