John sorry to hear of your Canadian Highway experience.
But I half to let you know that if you are going to travel in Canada,
you gotta speak like a Canadian EH!
It's eh not aye!
And as for the Canadian Department of Highways, your story seems to have
been a bit of an anomaly. We usually sign our roads pretty well here -
I think. Road construction or not.
I could tell you of similar stories while travelling in the States.
Grant Gall
Calgary, Alberta Canada Eh!
John Laurenson wrote:
>
> The GTS is a great Long Distance machine...I left last Thurs and just
> got this afternoon after riding in a Rally in Canada and putting just
> short of 5,000 miles on my 84' GTS.
>
> #1. I installed Helibars before I left but I didn't have a chance
> to get time on them before leaving.......they suck. I have used
> Helibars on the FJ which worked great, but these a a disaster. They
> didn't work for me at all. My hands have lost all their strength
> from the nerve damage they have done. My little finger have no sense
> of feel. The angle is just all wrong...at least for me. I can not
> grip them in the normal manner without causing pain in my wrist. The
> angle is too steep so I ended up gripping them so they put pressure
> on the carpal tunnel nerve center. i'll be on the phone tomorrow to
> see if the owner of Helibar can solve the problem...I understand he
> is a good guy to work with.
>
> Bob Taylors recent fix is more like the original Helibars I bought
> for the FJ..it worked well........these present Helibars are
> dangerous in my opinion. I hope my sense of feel and strength full
> recovers. Bob...what would you charge to do my bars?
>
> #2. Bad news.....I had a wreck with my new GTS. After finishing a
> bunch of great mods too. Following is my repost off the LDR list.
> ...also
>
> Anyone on the list have any blue plastic for sale.....?
> Where is the best place to buy?
>
> Definitely my right lower, probably the main front panel, and
> possibly the lower plastic under the engine. The exposed aluminum
> frame member on the right is pretty torn up. A new exhaust can is in
> order.
>
> Any comments or help is appreciated.
> _________________________________________________________
>
> Those evil Canadians invite us Foreigners to their country knowing
> full well that the odds of us getting off their highway system
> unscathed are slim. I now know it was all a plan by Bobb, hoping to
> get one of there own free of the crash title. The highway departments
> in the US clean up somewhat and mark dangerous obstacles to some
> degree, but not in Canada.........AYE. Never happen....AYE Highway
> work sites look like garbage dumps.....:>)....AYE I think the whole
> Highway department work force consists of six high school drop
> outs...AYE That's all I ever saw working....AYE
>
> Here are the facts...... Yeah...I took a dump on my GTS. But at
> least let's get the story straight.......AYE
>
> I won't accept the full blame....it was caused by the stupid Canadian
> half wit disorganized highway dept. 10 % of the highway system up
> there has been ground down with those large asphalt grinders that cut
> deep parallel groves about 2 inches deep so they an
> resurface.....someday. The work sites around the rebuild areas all
> like a bunch high school drops outs were given the job, not very
> organized or neat.....AYE
>
> dennis k and I had been running on these torn up sections the whole
> rally, keeping our speed down because the deep grooves alone would
> throw the bike around. After dennis and I ran for most of the day on
> sections of highway that would put the curves on a Diamond Rattle
> snake, ready to strikes, curves to shame. At 5 AM in Sue Saint Marie
> on a 1/2 mile detour connecting section of Highway 17, the Cross
> Canada highway; dennis k and I were slowly and carefully riding one
> of these torn up detours that haven no warning signs or barriers of
> any kind...just junk scattered around...AYE. The highway was 6
> lanes wide at that point and it took a 90 degree turn. No other
> traffic. The road was all cut down and deeply grooved, so we weren't
> doing much over 40 mph. The road was dark and gravel and trash was
> scattered all over. I was in the center lane and was slowly moving
> toward the right hand lane to make the 90 degree turn. As I looked up
> I saw dennis was just making the turn a 100 yards ahead.
>
> I slowly slide over to the right hand lane, I immediately found
> myself on my back with the bike sliding out in front of me...AYE No
> warning or headshake, just immediately on my ass....AYE The bike
> slid for 50 yards and I slid about half of the distance behind it,
> like one of these racers on my back; periodically getting glimpses of
> the bike as I rotated on my back and hearing the awful grinding on on
> the coarse cut asphalt from my bike sliding ahead and my stich under
> me....AYE
>
> When Dennis came back we picked up the pieces and then we walked it
> off trying to figure out what happened. The f#*ken highway dept
> didn't groove the right hand lane, although it was hard to tell in
> the dark since it was covered with so much broken asphalt. What was
> a obvious, when up close and personal, there was a 2 inch sharp
> asphalt edge drop separating the two lanes. No markers, lights,
> horses, or warning signs. My front wheel caught the edge and flipped
> the bike on it's side. In the daylight I would have seen the edge
> but I did not in the dark. In the US we'd at least spend the money
> on those little rubber cone markers....AYE
>
> All expensive cosmic plastic damage. No mechanical damage. A few
> skinned knuckles. When i said I was going to sue the Canadian
> highway dept, both Bobb and Peter begged me not to. They said it
> would put the highway dept. out of business and those six guys would
> never show up for work again and the grooves would never be paved.
> Peter and Bobb promised to cover the damages personally...:>)...AYE
>
> That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Don't buy into todd's effort
> to remove the Canadian CRASH TITLE....AYE
> _________________________________________________________
>
> hawke.....flying on one wing
