Triumph!
After a few years of working at Microsoft, I finally decided to spend some real money. I bought a 2000 Triumph Sprint ST, with heated grips and hard bags. A beautiful bike, great handling, plenty of storage. I sent the zip-in liner of my jacket to Gerbing and they added heating elements. All told, I was very comfortable in all weather.
I crashed it after 2 months, running wide on a downhill hairpin turn. (It was marked 25mph, and we were doing ~50mph). I had a little boo-boo on my left elbow. The bike was so torn up that they said it was totaled. But I wasn’t insured, so I paid a huge wad of cash to repair the important stuff.
My wife was my passenger, and got some really bad sprains and bruises. They didn’t heal well, and she needed a bunch of physical therapy. Her left ankle still isn’t quite right today. Doh.
I couldn’t get back on the bike without feeling nervous after that. It was a huge cost, in dollars, time, hassle, pain, and emotions. I was afraid of repeating the experience. I was tense on the bike, and would panic & freeze up easily. So, I pretty much stopped riding when I discovered that the bus route to work was very convenient.
One of the few times I did ride it to work, I parked in the Motorcycle Only area, and it got bumped by a car & knocked over. The driver didn’t leave a note, and the $2,600 to fix all the plastic came to me. The parts had to be shipped from the UK, so it was in the shop for 6 weeks. Sheesh.
I used it once a week to get to Yoga classes last year, but didn’t really get into the riding. On the way home from the last class, a bolt on the shift linkage fell out. I pulled over, put the bike in 2nd gear, and rode home like that. It’s been sitting in the carport ever since.
