The MT-07 had a scratch. Two in fact – one on the tank decal and one just beneath it.
“Wonder how that happened,” I pondered out loud to my colleagues.
“I thought you dropped it,” said one of them. His tone indicated that this was not just a thought, but already well on its way to becoming an established fact within the team. None of this innocent till proven guilty malarkey at AMCN, it must have been the learner. And there was no point trying to talk my way out of it – I would need serious evidence to clear my name.
But first, the repair. Rod Seddon and the crew at Melbourne Motorcycle Fairings came to the rescue. They organised for pick-up, ordered in a new decal, removed the damaged panel (which can be done with just a hex key on the MT-07) and repainted it. While they cover the full range of jobs – even panels that have been broken in half or have pieces missing – this was a simple spot repair. And the flat Yamaha yellow was far easier to reproduce than the triple-layer pearl or candy finishes they often deal with. In just a couple of days, the bike was back at Gassit HQ, looking mint.
Meanwhile, my investigation was rumbling on. There was no point dusting the MT-07 for fingerprints as everybody in the office seems to get their hands on it. But I figured Rod might be able to supply me with some expert clues.
“We’ve seen nearly every type of accident there is,” he confirmed. “In summer we would see something like 15 crashed bikes a day.” And what did it look like to him? “It’s got a vertical scratches running up and down, so it might have been a strap. It looks a lot like transport damage to me.”
A quick search of the AMCN photo archive produced a shot taken just prior to the MT-07’s Christmas sojourn to Sydney, when it was indeed transported in the van. Zooming in, the tank is clearly undamaged.
The next day I laid my case before the team, and guess what? Someone remembered seeing the scratch when the bike was unloaded after its return trip from Sydney. From there it was easy to shift the blame to our graphic designer, now working remotely and therefore unable to defend himself.
Bike repaired and buck passed. Elementary, my dear Watson.
By Mark Vender
Melbourne Motorcycle Fairings
Factory 14/59 Hudsons Road
Spotswood, Victoria 3015
(03) 9399 3344
info@melbournemotorcyclefairings.com.au
