Bad night

[blu04]

After enjoying a nice dinner with the family, we returned home and I had some garbage to take out and was going to check the mail, on my way to the dumpster I walked past the FZ and noticed something different, the left rear turn signal was pointing down. Definately not a direction that I want to go, upon further inspection the stalk just snapped. Not sure if someone hit it or if it just go too cold and the plastic got brittle and it broke on my way home from work earlier this evening, I know it was good this morning and when I got on it after work. It was very cold here the last few weeks some mornings were around 3 degrees and it sat all last week because of snow and ice, just seems weird that it would just break. If someone did break it would be nice if they would be honest enough to leave a note or something but that would be asking a lot. Anyways just wanted to ramble about my crappy night, now have to find new turn signals.

 

[fzme]

Look at the up-side: Forced upgrades pass the wife test.

Keep a cover on it--all the time, every time you aren't riding it. It's a crappy feeling to have your bike damaged or stolen, but it's even worse to know that there was something easy and cheap that you could have done to prevent it. I'm not jumping on you, more like re-living a regretful moment of my own... I didn't have my bike alarm armed, and it was stolen.

A shiny motorcycle draws attention, and while that may be good for the ego, it's never good for the bike. Children want play on it, strangers want to touch it and sit on it, and birds want to poop on it.

Nobody is going to own up to damaging it if they haven't already. Spreading word of what happened to the neighbors is a good idea. Maybe someone saw or heard something. Also, spreading a feeling of neighborly concern makes the people living around you more likely to be protective of your bike or reciprocate neighborliness. The bike that they see on a regular basis isn't just a bike anymore--it's the bike of "that nice young man who was a victim of vandals." Word of your vigilance will spread among neighbors, and any potential bad apples may be detured from getting near your bike. Thieves especially want an easy score, not a bike with a list of obstacles to overcome and a known super-conscientious owner.