The Saga of Mr. Crunchy, part the second

The only other part of Mr. Crunchy's existence that could be considered a saga is his extreme makeover. Once I got him street legal, I started putting lots of miles on him. My first solo ride was about 62 miles (and involved dropping the bike twice, and breaking the front brake lever off). Shortly after that I began commuting, and coming up with every excuse I could find to ride. In the beginning, when I just had my permit, my riding was restricted to daylight hours, having to be home each night by 8 p.m. In August, I took an intermediate rider safety course, which was a very good class, and which also enabled me to get my license.

Weekend trips abounded, and this is a beautiful area of the country to own a bike. There are country roads 10 minutes away that just wind on through the hills and trees. There are some nice twisties about 30 minutes away, and the lovely Blue Ridge Parkway is only about 45 minutes away (click on pics for a larger view). In October, I started riding less with some of the rains we were getting, and I also started looking for a new(er) truck. I'd donated my old one to my church when they'd asked for truck donations. It was a good old truck, but I'd been thinking about selling it and upgrading. I liked the thought of donating it, as opposed to selling it, and once the title was signed off, I was itching for another truck. I had a car at the time, but wanted to consolidate to just one vehicle, and that be a truck. I found one on Auto Trader that was exactly what I was looking for, and originally the site said it was only 350 miles away. In actuality, the truck was 500 miles away, but that proved no obstacle, when there's a bike to get there and a truck to haul the bike home once 'there' is attained. That was my first overnight trip with the bike, and whetted my appetite for more (as you'll be able to tell).

By the time November rolled around, I'd ridden about 8,800 miles on the bike, but it was becoming less and less ridden with some colder temps and more rains. On the evening our church had a Thanksgiving dinner, I rode the bike for the first time in two weeks. At the end of the evening, it was cool, perhaps in the upper 40's or lower 50's. I lingered in the parking lot with friends and family, and then got ready to go. As I left the parking spot, I leaned into the turn, but the lean turned out to be too much for the combination of slicker than snot asphalt, and (unbeknownst to me) low air pressure in the tires. The rear tire lost traction in the sideways lean, and the bike went over on its side, sliding about 15 feet on the asphalt. I came off the bike almost immediately, and hopped up in one of those, "I'm all right...no worries, yep everything's good over here" moments. The bike engine was still running in the supine, so I walked over the flip the kill switch and try to lift it upright so the carbs wouldn't flood. Thankfully, there was a manly-type guy in the parking lot who offered to right the bike, and I was glad for the help.

Once the bike was lifted back up, Mr. Crunchy looked more forlorn than ever. The right front corner of the upper fairing (where there had been an original pile of Bondo) was cracked completely open. The blinker was pointing to the ground with a smashed lens. The rear brake pedal was twisted like a pretzel, and the mirror was scuffed on the housing. The muffler already had some rash on the sides from its slide prior to my purchase of the bike, so nothing looked too bad there, but the housing of the clutch case was scraped by the brake pedal when it twisted. The bike was rideable, and I got it home (somewhat gingerly). I'd bonked my knee on the asphalt pretty good, and though I was wearing leather riding pants, there was no padding in the knee, and that's taken some time to heal.

The good news was....the bike was fully insured. Since he was my first one, and it was pretty possible I might manage to incur some damage, I paid the extra couple of bucks a month for full coverage. Turns out to have been the right choice, because the total bill for repair on the bike came to $1200. Mind you, I'd only paid $2025 for the bike, so that was a pretty steep bill. There was no actual repair work to be done on the order, only replacement. Anything scratched or dinged was to be replaced, and all of the parts quoted were OEM (if only car insurers would do that too...). Once I got the check for $1200, I started shopping online for the parts I'd had my eye on, if I ever did decide to get fancy with the bike. In this case, going with aftermarket parts was the fun alternative, and a lot more cost effective. For the cost of replacing the few parts that were damaged, I was able to buy all new fairings and fender for the bike, new blinkers, new mirrors, an integrated tail light, a fender eliminator kit, gel grips for the bars, a smoke windscreen, and air horn (yes), and license plate bolts that have LED lights.

All of these items were procured by the middle of January, and the first of February, I loaded the bike and the bits up in my truck and drove them to a body shop 100 miles away, that a friend of mine helps manage. They repaired a ding in the gas tank, painted the fairings and grab bar, and assembled all of the various pieces back together and delivered a beautiful bike back to me in the latter part of April. It was a bit longish to wait, but the results made it absolutely worth it!

As I've written, I tried to think up a new name for Mr. Crunchy, but nothing seemed to stick. He's definitely handsome now, and a real head turner, but nothing works as well as the first name he earned. It makes my upcoming trip that much more exciting, to be able to go with my new Mr. Crunchy.