A joyful ride ending in tears

Ahhhh…..a warm sunny Monday morning it was in May and boy was I glad going to work on two wheels!

My just washed and polished Triumph Speed Four with a glistening stubby exhaust that would wake up the other side of London bridge if I wanted to!

Anyway my 15 mile commute was absolute pleasure, showing off the shine to the dreary car drivers and bikers alike. A few twist-n-go critters trying to wedge themselves into the tightest of gaps only to see the next set of lights turn red!

Eitherway, they were dealt with switfly and effectively with just a ¼ of the throttle. And so I arrived at my local NCP parking blipping the throttle with glee and darting to the nearest bay I could find before the next critter wedged himself in.

And so followed the fateful events in this order… Brake into bay, both feet on ground, indicator off, ignition off, steering lock, remove keys, tilt the bike slowly to the left for a stylish leg over manoeuvre and then just as all was fine, CRASH!

Profanity exiting my mouth faster than I could react. Where is the side stand?

The result: Broken headlamp bracket (£38+vat), scratched alternator cover (£48+vat), a very badly scratched instrument fairing (£120+vat), labour charged (£70) and cost of recovering a very badly damaged ego (priceless)

What did I tell my wife and Triumph group?? ”If I ever get my hands on that b*****d of a vandal that wrecked my bike”