Gallery Index
 

This is the Hornet Nasties section. A collection of Hornets, well and truly swatted.

(Usually along with their riders)

This page should serve as a timely reminder that motorcycling has a whole heap of risks.
Every time we venture out we put ourselves into danger, not just from our own riding limitations, but from that of others.
In my case, the Sierra driving git who turned right into me.
No matter how much training and experience you have, you can never know exactly what the other guy is about to do next.
In my experience a healthy fear of the road and other users is a good thing. Lose sight of that fear and you become complacent, careless and take risks.
Just dropping your bike doing a simple U-turn can do the kind of damage your wallet can do without. Add a little speed, a car, some tarmac and a kerb and the effects can be beyond belief.

The pictures below illustrate quite clearly what happens when a bike slides across the tarmac at just under 25mph after being knocked off by previously mentioned git. The resulting injuries being: Damaged coccyx and lower three vertebra. Fractured little finger tip. Cut finger - Bone exited flesh at tip. Nail lost. Bruising to inside of left knee. Bruising to right heel. Strained muscles in both forearms.

Anyway, enough waffle - here's the pics...

Big Red bites the dust...12/01/00 A new set off clocks is £420+VAT. Which is nice.

I was so glad I was wearing a fully armoured jacket, leather trousers, and decent boots and gloves. My injuries were many and painful, but I dread to think what they could have been. I've learnt a lot from all this.

  • I am now convinced that you can never spend enough on good quality kit.
  • Even in hot weather I will never be tempted to go out in just jeans and trainers.
  • Some form of back protection is a must have piece of kit.




Aido has a date with a fence post. Aido tells the story in his own words...
" All I know about the accident is that I was doing less than the posted maximum recommended speed limit of 60kmh, what happened next is guessing. Hit the gutter coming out of a big open hairpin, got thrown over the bike to the left and landed on a fence post (about 4x4 inches) across my right shoulder resulting in a fractured right shoulderblade. I continued on and took out another 4x4 post with my head. I was knocked out for about 15 minutes, resulting in my lack of memory of the accident. Also resulting in the death of one AGV Q3 Rossi Imola Replica helmet.
From what can be told from the crash scene and scratch marks, I didn't hit anything or slip on anything to cause the accident, but it was dark, as you'd ecpect at 11:45pm and there were no street lights. Wildlife is known in the area so maybe a possom or something flew in front of me! I did have a possom run across in front of me about 1 week earlier in the same area.
The bike hit the gutter on the left as I was coming out of the hairpin, looks like it went straight onto it's left side & slid for about 20 mtrs along the footpath resulting in the damage being restricted to the left side except for a bent rear brake pedal wich remains a mystery as to how that happened. The pics don't really show the damage properly so i'll try to list it the best I can.
Scratched front guard, chunked front tyre, broken screen, broken gauges, badly scraped end weight & clutch leaver, scratched Bagster tank cover, dented tank, broken left foot peg, scratched tail, smashed alternator cover, scratched & bent Ventura rack bracket, scratched rear wheel, both left side indicators scratched, scratched radiator & scratched pillion peg. All this damage has resulted in my insurance company writing the bike off."
Cover smashed off.
One busted fly screen, amongst other things.
The tank is clearly dented but the bagster saved any scratches.
The mysterious bent brake lever.

The very post that Aido head-butted.
The good news is - after a few months of recovery Aido is back to biking and has a Brand New 2000 Faired Hornet in Black. Top man.




Stephen Jones just snapped...
Stephen says: "I won't go into the details of the accident but suffice to say that this was the result along with a bent brake pedal. £26 and 2 months later I was back on my trusty steed. Trouble was I missed the summer!"
Yeeow!
OOooh!
One screw or two, Sir?




Michael Upton, Michael had a bit of an off. Fortunately he was ok - the bike however...




Fast Si recently had a bit of a hoo har with the tarmac And he's got the scars to prove it. Ouch, get-well soon mate...
Notice the plaster cast on his left arm too. Bloody hell.




Davide sent in a pic of the reconstruction work to his leg after he had an off. Hmmm, nice.




Kryptonite Rat says "Here is my bike and the tombstone I hit. This is what will happen when you chose the outside line in the marbles. All I got was a dislocated left little toe. The bike wasn't so lucky with a busted oil pan, bent forks, broken clip-on bars, and a destroyed exhaust system. Lots of scratches on the paint and I couldn't keep it."

 

Riding the Hornet, or any bike for that matter, is about a certain thrill.
A special kind of buzz.
If you want to keep it all in perspective, pop back and look at these pics now and again!

In the meantime, ride safely and Keep on Buzzin.

Matt.