Had a GREAT ride today carvin' up the back roads. Last stop was for gas, my riding partner tells me to take the lead the way home and we'll see eachother next time we ride, we tap gloves and get ready to mount up. I pop the hump and decide to turn on my bottle to open her up just a bit for the trip back. Everything is going good, come up on a car going 5 under the speed limit, we pass going into a sweeping left curve. I see him gaining in my rear view, coming outta the turn I stab the throttle and let the juice flow. Reaching mid tripple digits I see what appears to be a crow start to fly up outta the ditch. Nothing to do but tuck and brace for the impact. I try to swirve ever so jently into the far right of my lane when I feel the hit. Then the **PAIN** in my right shin. I pull in the clutch to down shift to realize that the clutch lever is broken and much shorter. All I could think about was how much damage was done to my bike and how much its' gonna cost to get her right again. Then the pain starts to throb as I try to down shift and could not because it was just to unbearable to push or pull the clutch pedal with my foot. I'm trying to look down to see if I was bleeding in any way but was not. We slow to a stop and my buddy tells me I floored into a buzzard and all he could see was feathers and pieces when I hit. I did'nt get off the bike of fear of not being able to get back on as I could'nt even put the kick stand down with my foot. I ask him if the damage is bad and he said he could see the plastic bow out on impact and flex back in. "Just a small crack, think your alright".
I then think to myself that my shin took the grunt of the impact cause it was burning.
Finally made it home, helped me off the bike and we stumble to the couch, ice my leg down and there I sit waiting for the wife to come back up from feeding the horses. She gets in and I ask her to get the crutches so that we can go take some pictures of this buzzard I hit to document my first buzzard collision. The look I got from her at that time was priceless, but we load up and make the trip.
I'm thinking the plastic can be fixed, and I'm now in the market for a stock clutch lever, if anyone has got one lying around 4 cheap, I'm all over it. Thank god for gaunlet gloves, felt more of a thud on my knuckle, no pain. My leg is doing better, the swelling looks to be going down, don't think anything is broke. Plan to keep off it for a day and evaluate. I can move my foot and ankle alittle more now, so I think I'm good.
And now for the aftermath (wing and a whole lotta feathers found about 50 foot from carcus):
I then think to myself that my shin took the grunt of the impact cause it was burning.
Finally made it home, helped me off the bike and we stumble to the couch, ice my leg down and there I sit waiting for the wife to come back up from feeding the horses. She gets in and I ask her to get the crutches so that we can go take some pictures of this buzzard I hit to document my first buzzard collision. The look I got from her at that time was priceless, but we load up and make the trip.
I'm thinking the plastic can be fixed, and I'm now in the market for a stock clutch lever, if anyone has got one lying around 4 cheap, I'm all over it. Thank god for gaunlet gloves, felt more of a thud on my knuckle, no pain. My leg is doing better, the swelling looks to be going down, don't think anything is broke. Plan to keep off it for a day and evaluate. I can move my foot and ankle alittle more now, so I think I'm good.
And now for the aftermath (wing and a whole lotta feathers found about 50 foot from carcus):
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