nightflex
Well-known member
It was a beautiful Saturday morning and I had just gotten to work zipping through the twisties on the way. I had gone to a coin wash the night prior and my bike was sparkling. We had rented a Budget Truck 20" for work and I had to return it to Dixion road and I was in Scarborough. The location was going to close at 3:30 pm and I had no one to pick me up and bring me back.
So as any genius would do, I threw some tie down straps on my shoulder, pulled the ramp out and got a guy to help me roll the bike on the back of the empty truck. The idea was simple, strap it inside, return the truck and ride back on 401. And so I did. Put it in gear pushed it back and forth, left to right, tight as my high school girlfriend.
I sat in the truck, lit up a cigarette and tuned to 103.5 fm - Ahh, it was Daft Punk Feat. Pharrell -
"Like the legend of the phoenix
All ends with beginnings
What keeps the planet spinning
The force of the beginning"
I hopped on the highway doing 90 kept rolling listening to the music. I heard no bangs, no snaps and nothing to indicate I should pull over.
Here's what she looked like:
As I pulled over to the location. I hoped out and grabbed my jacket and my helmet sitting next to me. There was a rental company employee standing outside and smoking a cigarette. He came closer and said nice jacket and I said thanks. I handed him the keys and he did a quick walk around then pulled open the back door. He peeked inside, didn't say a word and just kept going as if he saw nothing. Here's what I saw....
As I walked around, my heart sunk and I prayed and hoped there was no damage... but deep down I knew, I knew I was in for some heart breaking just like my girlfriend from high school. It was on it side, the straps just laying there like the pool of blood and my bike was the victim. No one said a word, they just watched me look at my bike and they all probably thought, not their loss. I climbed the ramp and lifted her up and pulled out the kick stand. I looked around quickly to make sure it wasn't leaking oil and if the handlebar was okay. I quickly proceeded to move it down the ramp. Once I made it down I looked at it one more time...
I started her up and played with all the buttons. Felt a little relieved to know that it was at least running. Although, it had lost its luster, its sparkle, it's youth. It was downright smacked in the face.
Then I walked up the ramp to see what had happened..
I looked around and realized that the railing was held on buy small screws, something I should've noticed earlier, I felt like such an idiot. Having brought bike across Toronto from all over the cities, I hadn't given it a second thought that the railing might be weak and that it may not be able to withstand it. I felt so sad and so bad about this decision that I had made in a haste. Had I not done this in the past, I would've surely looked it over. I couldn't understand though that why it only snapped on one side. I scribbled down, equipment failure causing damage to the renter property. Just in case I may have a case.
They asked me to fill out the incident report because the truck had suffered damage and they said their mechanic would take a look at the damage and determine how much I owe them for this damage. At the same time, the gentleman told me had I rented the truck from his location where we were standing at, he would've told me it couldn't hold the weight of the motorcycle. I told him I had actually rented it from the same location a day earlier but no one told me anything, I also didn't notify them that I was hauling a bike on the way back. I couldn't find any stickers saying what weight, equipment it could hold. They gave me some hard time but I told them I would come back on monday to fill out the incident report I had to leave. I also had to bring my credit card so I couldn't fill it out anyways.
I drove it back on the highway, it purred, it ran, it sang and it flew. But it was broken and so was my heart. I drove it home and I couldn't stop thinking about what I had done.
I pulled it into my cramped garage and pulled out my all-in-one black & Decker toolbox. And I...
I headed over to the Home Depot and grabbed some Krazy glue for eye glasses frame, a soldering iron, some 4 3/8 wood screws and stole some lego pieces from my nephew lego box. The damage wasn't just the fairing but also the Upper Stay was bent, the tabs for the headlight were snapped off the structure and some plugs were pulled. Once I started to loose the bolts I realized some pieces of the fairing were completely broken. So I sat down to repair them, the poor student way, I started Krazy gluing them back together one by one. It worked wonders. I melted the lego pieces with the soldering Iron and melted them on the back of the fairing where the crack had happened.
I pulled and pushed on the Upper stay to get it in place and finally managed but still wasn't perfect. For now I only wanted to fix it and worry about replacement later. I continued on screwing the tabs in the headlight assembly back with tiny screws. One by one, as I had taken it apart, I put it back in place.
I took it out once it was all done. I could tell where the damaged had occurred but at least it was in one piece now. I also felt slightly accomplished as I had not only caused the damage today but also manage to slightly fix it. I still cannot believe a 20' truck would have such weak railings and no warning regarding what it's capable of. Small screws into the frame of the truck cage wouldn't have snapped out, but they were drilled in the wooden panel inside.
I took my baby on the highway and zipped and zagged. She made me feel like I hadn't felt before, just like my girlfriend in high school.
On that note, I need zx6r or zzr600 j1, j2 00-02 upper stay, Upper cowling blue or unpainted, side cowling, or possibly just the entire fairing kit. also need to do something about those tabs from the headlight assembly, maybe buy new ones. Sometimes bikes are such nuisance, always asking to spend more money out of nowhere just like cars. :/
So as any genius would do, I threw some tie down straps on my shoulder, pulled the ramp out and got a guy to help me roll the bike on the back of the empty truck. The idea was simple, strap it inside, return the truck and ride back on 401. And so I did. Put it in gear pushed it back and forth, left to right, tight as my high school girlfriend.
I sat in the truck, lit up a cigarette and tuned to 103.5 fm - Ahh, it was Daft Punk Feat. Pharrell -
"Like the legend of the phoenix
All ends with beginnings
What keeps the planet spinning
The force of the beginning"
I hopped on the highway doing 90 kept rolling listening to the music. I heard no bangs, no snaps and nothing to indicate I should pull over.
Here's what she looked like:
As I pulled over to the location. I hoped out and grabbed my jacket and my helmet sitting next to me. There was a rental company employee standing outside and smoking a cigarette. He came closer and said nice jacket and I said thanks. I handed him the keys and he did a quick walk around then pulled open the back door. He peeked inside, didn't say a word and just kept going as if he saw nothing. Here's what I saw....
As I walked around, my heart sunk and I prayed and hoped there was no damage... but deep down I knew, I knew I was in for some heart breaking just like my girlfriend from high school. It was on it side, the straps just laying there like the pool of blood and my bike was the victim. No one said a word, they just watched me look at my bike and they all probably thought, not their loss. I climbed the ramp and lifted her up and pulled out the kick stand. I looked around quickly to make sure it wasn't leaking oil and if the handlebar was okay. I quickly proceeded to move it down the ramp. Once I made it down I looked at it one more time...
I started her up and played with all the buttons. Felt a little relieved to know that it was at least running. Although, it had lost its luster, its sparkle, it's youth. It was downright smacked in the face.
Then I walked up the ramp to see what had happened..
I looked around and realized that the railing was held on buy small screws, something I should've noticed earlier, I felt like such an idiot. Having brought bike across Toronto from all over the cities, I hadn't given it a second thought that the railing might be weak and that it may not be able to withstand it. I felt so sad and so bad about this decision that I had made in a haste. Had I not done this in the past, I would've surely looked it over. I couldn't understand though that why it only snapped on one side. I scribbled down, equipment failure causing damage to the renter property. Just in case I may have a case.
They asked me to fill out the incident report because the truck had suffered damage and they said their mechanic would take a look at the damage and determine how much I owe them for this damage. At the same time, the gentleman told me had I rented the truck from his location where we were standing at, he would've told me it couldn't hold the weight of the motorcycle. I told him I had actually rented it from the same location a day earlier but no one told me anything, I also didn't notify them that I was hauling a bike on the way back. I couldn't find any stickers saying what weight, equipment it could hold. They gave me some hard time but I told them I would come back on monday to fill out the incident report I had to leave. I also had to bring my credit card so I couldn't fill it out anyways.
I drove it back on the highway, it purred, it ran, it sang and it flew. But it was broken and so was my heart. I drove it home and I couldn't stop thinking about what I had done.
I pulled it into my cramped garage and pulled out my all-in-one black & Decker toolbox. And I...
I headed over to the Home Depot and grabbed some Krazy glue for eye glasses frame, a soldering iron, some 4 3/8 wood screws and stole some lego pieces from my nephew lego box. The damage wasn't just the fairing but also the Upper Stay was bent, the tabs for the headlight were snapped off the structure and some plugs were pulled. Once I started to loose the bolts I realized some pieces of the fairing were completely broken. So I sat down to repair them, the poor student way, I started Krazy gluing them back together one by one. It worked wonders. I melted the lego pieces with the soldering Iron and melted them on the back of the fairing where the crack had happened.
I pulled and pushed on the Upper stay to get it in place and finally managed but still wasn't perfect. For now I only wanted to fix it and worry about replacement later. I continued on screwing the tabs in the headlight assembly back with tiny screws. One by one, as I had taken it apart, I put it back in place.
I took it out once it was all done. I could tell where the damaged had occurred but at least it was in one piece now. I also felt slightly accomplished as I had not only caused the damage today but also manage to slightly fix it. I still cannot believe a 20' truck would have such weak railings and no warning regarding what it's capable of. Small screws into the frame of the truck cage wouldn't have snapped out, but they were drilled in the wooden panel inside.
I took my baby on the highway and zipped and zagged. She made me feel like I hadn't felt before, just like my girlfriend in high school.
On that note, I need zx6r or zzr600 j1, j2 00-02 upper stay, Upper cowling blue or unpainted, side cowling, or possibly just the entire fairing kit. also need to do something about those tabs from the headlight assembly, maybe buy new ones. Sometimes bikes are such nuisance, always asking to spend more money out of nowhere just like cars. :/
Good to know those rails are so poorly fastened, for sure ain't gonna keep any larger furniture secure either! Did you purchase the optional insurance when you rented it?? It's supposed to cover the damage to your items while in transit.
