Gas, tires, oil.

So my front tire was bald, almost to the point of air showing through. I hate changing tubeless tires, so I brought it to a shop. On the way home, I thought I smelled something burning. Turns out the new tire was one size wider and was rubbing the fender bracket on one side. I decided not to argue with the shop, a wider tire is probably better and I needed to take the fender off anyway. I have previously shown the painting of the front fender and re-riveting it to the bracket. Unfortunately, it didn’t last, both rivets on the right side fell out.

I had put in a pop-rivet just so I could get to work one morning, but it really needed a permanent fix. Since it wasn’t going to rain for 6 months, I just took it off, planning on making a new bracket or getting a different fender.
So a couple weeks ago, I’m on my way home from work and I pull up behind a bus at a stop sign. It was one of those van-front, large bus bodies that the university uses around campus. Suddenly, I see the backup lights come on, it starts beeping and backing up. After staring in disbelief for a second (and when it became obvious that the bus was not going to stop backing up) I hauled back on the handlebars and backed up as fast I could. However, it was up hill and after a few feet the bus caught up with me. I hoped that the bumper would be low enough to push against the front tire, but it caught and grabbed. It rode up on the tire, squishing it flat with the weight of the bus. When it reached the forks I was sure the bike would be wrecked, but just then he stopped (maybe he finally heard the anemic harley horn blowing) and pulled forward. I wasn’t sure if the bike was damaged, so I rode up next to the bus at the next stop sign and yelled at the driver. We pulled off in a parking lot and took a look at the bike. Remarkably, there didn’t seem to be any damage, though I’m sure it didn’t do it any good. The driver said the car in front of him wasn’t moving and he was backing up to pull around it. He looked in his mirrors and didn’t see me (of course).
Now, if the front fender had been on the bike, it would have been smashed and made the bike unrideable till it was removed (at least). So was it good that fender wasn’t on? Maybe. But if the fender had been damaged, maybe I could have gotten a new rim and tire also. It could be that it’s actually damaged and is just waiting to blowout on the highway and through me under the wheels of a truck. I suppose that if I die in a horrible fiery crash we’ll know for sure.