Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

Clear blue sky, suns a-shining, birds a-singing, flowers blooming (and all that); the last few cobwebs to dust off as winter merges with spring. So off for a nice little cruise to a nearby township for a bagel and coffee, just a short lunchtime treat really. Back to work soon enough, helmet on, hit the open road...

Dang, a thread's come loose in my brand new Shoei. Curse it. Slow down a little, visor up to push the irritating thread off my forehead...

Jeebersbloodyhell!!!

Nearest side-road, emergency brake, rip the helmet off... And fail miserably at pulling the bee sting from between my eyes! Look for the culprit so I can kill it some more, give up and keep moving.

Home. Seem OK, but it's teary eyes next morning. Off to the docs as the toxin kicks in and my face wants to explode.

Q. Who the hell checks their helmet before putting it on (after it's been strapped to the bike for a short while)? They certainly didn't discuss that in rider school.

Cheers, Matt

Don't leave your helmet on your bike!
And you're ugly.

Well, er, yeah I know. Aren't all 650 riders? (Guys I mean). Being stung in the face prettied me up, if anything.

Kreepster, I'm starting to see why others give you the cold shoulder on occasion (boo hoo, you'll say; curse a response even). As much as I enjoy a good sledging, it does get a little tedious at times. Be nice to share an experience without a smartass comment once in a while.

Oh well, such is life (I hear Ned Kelly wore his helmet to protect against bees, not so much bullets - go figure).

Cheers, Matt

Ahh Matt...
You skipped straight over the sage advice to take offense.
And come on: I'm sure it's no surprise to you

Kreepster,

No prob on advice, always happy to consider (Santa's bringing a two-helmet topbox BTW, so any future bug problem should be soon averted).

Re the friendly sledge, yeah, well... At our last annual golf trip to the Murray, there was an incident with a king prawn and a small blow-up cow. The owner of the cow, a fantastic Aussie character, had the rest of us in stitches for quite some time (15 in number, incl several coppers and various managers; foul mouths all). But then he kept on... And on... And on... And after a while, well, there's only so much mouth-to-mouth one can give to a plastic cow.

Big fan of sledging and mayhem (have to be, with my atheist/doomer grounding), but to a point. Just occasionally it's nice to tell a tale without the retort.

Of course, I'm also a fan of kiss and make up (22 years of marriage), so no hard feelings.

Cheers, Matt

PS. This is what I usually look like...

Read a few time people getting stung while riding with the visor up and a open face helmet.
Loved the photo ...looks like you got in a fight .
I put my helmet in my GIVI hard top case when the bikes parked in the garage ,don't want any spiders walking around the visor when you riding.

After winter I always clean out the inside my helmet as there have been a few 8 legged friends in there in the past, you just never know. I've had a bee fly up inside while riding too, from under the helmet (older Bell, didn't seal as well as new helmets). Stuff happens, just learn from it and move on. One side note though for those that have never been to Australia, I've never been in a place where there is more fauna that wants to kill you, from the funnel web spider, to the salt water croc. Only friendly country I ever flew over where I was required to carry a side arm... gorgeous in places, but you need to respect it.

I would stand before you, look you in the eye and talk just as I type here in the forum...

That you speak of me as someone who "goes on and on" says more of you than me, frankly. It seems you're just not getting it...
But that's OK; some people just aren't cut out for proper motorycling-ness, and like they say: only a fool tries to teach a pig to dance...

You'll have no more trouble from me, Matt Blain.

WOW glad u ok Matt. Rule of military hikers and bikers shake out boots , gloves helmet.
I had a bee fly into my shirt stung me hard in lymph node, was riding back from Arizona,
with my wife, now an ex. on our GSX 850 G, that sting almost kill me.

Glad u make it and your 650 is in good shape

Yep, I had to start keeping my helmet in the house and not the garage because twice I had a 'little friend' run across the inside of my visor while doing 75 or so in traffic. Problem is, it's so close to your face I couldn't tell if it was a spider or not. Flipped visor up real quick and wiped with glove, guess it got sucked out both times cause I never found either 1.

Sort of glad to know others have had similar experiences... Sort of.



Kreepster, at risk of sounding like I'm having the last word, I was implying that you may very well be "a fantastic Aussie character", but perhaps may on occasion take it a touch to far. That's all I meant. Didn't mean to imply that you carried on like an old drunk fart around the campfire. Far from it!

I raise the point simply because I'm sure most would agree, forums should appear to be better that you-tube comments (and such); forums are a kind of community after all. If I attend a party and a bloke I've only known for five minutes calls me ugly, well...

Then again, perhaps it's all about the banter, and who gives a stuff anyway coz life's too bloody short (and all that)!!!

Cheers, Matt

I had a hornet fly up my leather's sleeve and repeatedly sting my throttle wrist last year. took about four hits before I pulled over, and got the jacket off....

that was fantastic.