Rory Gibson: The final farewell to my unexpected ‘mistress’
Rory Gibson finally lets go of his ‘mechanical mistress’ and cringes when it all goes horribly wrong.
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I was browsing through a news website that uses, as part of its infotainment mix, funny or shocking videos supplied by the public.
On this particular day there was a clip of an animal lover releasing a house mouse they’d caught in a cage trap. As the mouse fled to freedom across the grass a raptor swooped from the sky and snatched the rodent for lunch, causing its erstwhile jailer to shriek in dismay.
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That video was the first thing that popped into my head when I sold my motorbike this week.
Some readers may recall I rode that bike from one end of Africa to the other last year. We bonded, surviving with barely a scratch the pitted desert tracks of Namibia, the police harassment in Zimbabwe, armed bandits in Ethiopia, fuel shortages in Sudan and kamikaze Egyptian taxi drivers.
We both made it back to Australia unscathed, not showroom-perfect but still pretty to look at. OK, not me, but the bike was.
During lockdown I’d periodically grab a beer and visit the bike in the shed to reminisce about our journey. Looking sleek and raring to go, it symbolised a more carefree time, and offered hope of adventures to come.
But you can’t eat dreams and I needed some cash, so reluctantly I decided to sell it.
I wanted it to go to a good home where its new owner would cherish it like I do.
Raja from Wollongong answered the ad and we struck a deal. I rode the bike down to deliver it, one last duet with my mechanical mistress.
The handover was in a railway station car park. He said he’d owned a motorcycle in the past, but I alerted Raja to some of my bike’s quirks, started the engine for him, watched as he climbed aboard and wished him bon voyage.
The sound of a 220kg precision machine crashing onto concrete is distinctive. Barely three seconds after turning away from Raja, I heard that sound.
He was OK, but the bike was a mess.
That’s when I felt as one with the mouse Samaritan.