Mindless prank

Thought it relevant to tell you about an incident this weekend in Edinburgh. Two of my friends were out on their bikes on Saturday and made a coffee stop in Edinburgh. Upon returning to the bikes they startled some youths who made off hastily. An inspection of the bike (Triumph Tiger 955i) revealed no obvious damage or tampering so they set off, but were curious because the youths were still observing them as they left.

After a few miles in the city they headed north over the Forth Road Bridge. Whilst overtaking a large lorry the bike suffered a massive blowout at high speed and the rider struggled to control the vehicle and bring it to a halt. The lorry driver also had a near-miss as the bike weaved across his path before coming to a stop on the hard shoulder.

An inspection of the rear tyre has revealed that a hole had been drilled in the rear tyre whilst parked in the city centre. This has been confirmed by the police who are currently studying cctv footage in an effort to apprehend the culprits. In order to have a cheap thrill (in itself dangerous enough with the amount of pedestrians present) the thugs were caught short and didn’t quite finish their task. In so doing they created a potentially lethal situation.

MCN would do well to warn their readers and bikers worldwide of the need to check their tyres after any period away from the vehicle. I would stress again that the damage was clearly a fully drilled hole in the tread groove of the tyre where it was thinnest and least obvious.