Friday 9th April.....
Had a bit of business to do other side of town mid afternoon. Knowing what Good Friday traffic might be like on by-pass decided to take bike.
Disconnected trickle charger, got her out of garage, started her up, in process of fitting battery side panel when I get sidetracked by admiring comments from Contractors we've got working in garden at moment. Anyway get kitted up and off I go on my merry way marvelling at the great sound of the Termis.
10mins later there I am doing 75+ on outside lane of dual-carriageway nose-to tail when something catches my eye at low level on the nearside. The almost sickening realisation is immediate. Battery panel has flown off!
In two minds: do I stop and look to retrieve it and risk the wrath of the car/lorry drivers which surely have been thrown into complete mayhem behind me trying to dodge the red frisbee-like missile or do I keep going in the certain knowledge that on impact, whether that be with another vehicle or the road surface, the panel will have shattered into a thousand pieces or even if it didn't hit something mid-flight it surely will have been flattened under the wheels of an 18 wheeler!
Well, in the absence of any screeching brakes, parping horns, crunching metal and explosions curiosity gets the better of me. I stop about quarter of a mile or so up the road and park up on the grass verge. The long walk back towards where I recall last seeing panel as it flashed past my left knee is frought with danger. Only 18inches or so between me, the Armco on one side and the wheels of the murderous traffic on the other, fruitlessly scanning the road surface for those tell-tale shards of red plastic. No sign of it on the road nor even on the central reservation. I'm well beyond where I thought it had come off with thougts of how much and more particularly how long it would take to get a replacement part when lo and behold what's that nestling on the grass verge under the Armco?
I can't believe my eyes! I'm certain that when I get to it and pick it up it'll have a big crack in it or be hideously deformed!
Not so! Apart from a few minor hairline scratches on the leading edge and a small chip on top side the panel is intact. RESULT!
Get back to bike, refit panel and without the previous distracting admiring onlookers I remember to secure the 'D' fastener at front of panel!
How lucky was I? Obviously living up to my name!