I know what you mean about the paint stripes. When I was racing bikes ( a la Lance Armstrong) I was always looking for the infamous 'Dixie cup' when racing through suburban cities... Those 18mm tyres just don't handle the little 'wax cakes' like a car will.

BTDT.

That's the spare that blew out.

On the bright side, I got a new dirtbike last night!

Nice bike man! Is it a 650? Last winter, my dad bought me a 99' Honda xr650l off Ebay. Soon after we got it, I took a motorcycle training coarse and got my motorcycle endorsment so my dad and I could go riding together. We mostly trail ride and the occasional ride on the street. The previous owner put a White Brothers pipe on it and modded the carb so it would burn more fuel, but get's only 30mpg which is really really bad for a motorcycle. Here is a picture of it.

a beast!

Nope, its a Suzuki DR350SE. I haven't been riding that long, and I don't need a bike that big. In fact, mine's been lowered! Haha.

Ian,

My condolensces regarding this temporary setback, one step forward, two steps back..., for now anyway.

The important thing is that you were not hurt, and that no one else was. Also, the air dam is plastic, and is replacable, not steel and hard to repair/replace.

Then there is the lesson to be learned by us all-30 year old spares should not be used, unless that use is as a prop at a car show. I guess I should invest in a new spare, and put my original colapsable one up somewhere.

Anyways, you're okay, that's the important part.