It’s been a warm December, so even though I stored my bike 6 weeks ago, I decided to put it back on the road this weekend since it was supposed to hit 12-14 degrees C.
Got suited up and thought I’d loop from my place (Yonge + Eglinton) up to Musselman Lake and back:
I pulled off in a little lot somewhere on 9th Line to rearrange my jacket and pants and took this pic (not too good: from a cell phone)
A few minutes later I came to a stop at the intersection where 9th Line makes a quick right-left turn through Stouffville (which you can see on the map link). There was a fair bit of traffic on Main St, and I was making a right-on-red, but I saw a gap in traffic and made the right turn…
…and the back end of bike swung around to my left before I even had the clutch let all the way out and it pointed in the right direction!…
…one second later I’ve completed the turn and I’m slowly driving towards my next left turn with the clutch half-engaged and the engine revving. Yikes!
Dry flat pavement, no manhole cover, no road paint… just a bit too much gas, but it was about 3 degrees out. 100% my fault, and I can’t claim things sorted themselves out because of anything I did. Just enough time for my brain to register “Something Isn’t Right!!”… and my hands stopped where they were giving it gas and the clutch most of the way out.
I really really wasn’t giving it that much throttle (I don’t think) … but I learned my lesson.
Tomorrow, if my clutch arm isn’t still sore from the stop-and-go getting home on the DVP.. I’ll go out again… and be very very very careful