The mysterious case of the sheep on the road

3 weeks after getting the new bike, I was enjoying a Sunday afternoon ride on one of my favourite stretches of road. Barkers Lodge Road between Oakdale and Picton is a fantastic bit of country road winding along the ridge of hills between small farms with lots of horses, sheep and goats in view behind the fences.

 

On this particular day, I was probably going a little bit above the speed limit of 100kph when suddenly, about 20 meters in front of me, half a dozen sheep ran from behind a hedge, straight into the middle of the road. There was no possible way I could stop in time and really no time to think about it. I ploughed into the group, hoping beyond hope that I might get between them.

 

I didn’t. One sheep rammed into the left side of the bike and seem to get wedged between the front wheel and the radiator. Miraculously, I did not come off the bike. It took about another 20 meters to come to a stop. The sheep remained wedged for about 15 of those meters and then fell out. It died instantly. When I came to a stop I was in the middle of the road. I decided to pull off to the side of the road, but as the bike moved I leaned to the right and tried to turn the bars. The bars would not move and subsequently, the bike and I fell on our right side, virtually from a standstill.

 

I was a bit dazed by this time, but I managed to get to my feet, get the bike upraight and push it off the side of the road. There I started to survey the damage. A farmer form next door came out helped me push the bike on to his property for safe keeping. I called my wife who kindly came and picked me up. The next day I was able to organise for the insurance company pick up the bike and take it back to their smash repairs where it was assessed and the repairs approved. New radiator, fan and all the bits that surround them.

 

My right knee blew up like a balloon and had me hobbling for a few week and I eventually found I had a fractured rib. All in all, a lucky escape.

 

The sad part was that it took 9 weeks for the repairs to the bike. Most of that time waiting for parts to arrive from Japan. End result, the bike was brand new again

Sheep appeared at speed from the lane on the left

A radiator full of sheep

Scene of the crime

Looking wonky

Bring on the Honda

At the risk of sounding repetitive, I have upgraded the bike. The Triumph Trophy has done 40,000 fantastic kilometres, but I decided to trade it for a few reasons. It has had some issues, all of which were covered by warranty, but I did want to trade it before the warranty ran out. If the issues continued with no warranty it would have been a big problem. Although the Trophy was absolutely fantastic for touring, only about 25% of my riding was touring. For other types of rides, including the one day dashes which make up the majority of my riding, it was very heavy and unsuited particularly to any type of unsealed road. Now I don’t intend to ride on a lot of unsealed roads, but it is good to have the option should the need arise.

 

So after some deliberation, I settled on a Honda Crosstourer. VFR1200X. a 1200c adventure touring bike with all the requirements to allow me to continue doing what the Trophy did so well, but with the versatility of being stripped down for a Sunday afternoon ride through the park, and good manners on a dirt road. It does claim off-road prowess, but I’ll leave that for the more experienced off roaders.

 

The 1200cc V4 motor is super smooth, with fantastic acceleration and the 6 speed gearbox works beautifully. High speed touring all day without breaking a sweat.

 

So, off into the wild blue yonder on the red Honda.