Three Strikes, You're Walking

Common folklore lore suggests that trouble always runs in threes, and Local Canberra resident Phillip Gatt is now ready to agree. A recent spate of unlucky events has left Phillip scratching his head in wonderment as tragedy thrice struck his beloved motorcycle.

It began with a minor incident when reputable motor dealer (who shall remained unnamed to protect his business) reattached the gear shift lever in the wrong position. Three weeks later, in bizarre circumstances, the speedo drive was shattered by a piece of blue stone. However catastrophe struck early on the Wednesday morning when his Motorbike, a Suzuki GSXR750 was stolen.

The enitre escapade was captured on Fenner Hall's CCTV, however due to shadow faces were not able to be clearly identified.

Phillip (pictured far left) and his family around his beloved Suzuki

The first incident occured when the motorcycle was taken to a professional for a routine chain and sprocket change. When the bike was picked up by Phillip he realised that changing gears was more diffilcult than usual. "I had to lift my entire foot off the foot pegs in order to change gears," he said, "however I was on my way to Brisbane and it was only a small problem that I could live with."

"I had accidently returned the lever to a postition one notch too high," remarked the embarrased mechanic. The job was given priorty and fixed free of charge.

The second incident occured 30 kms north of Byron Bay, just as Phillip was returning from a holiday in Brisbane. A small but incredibly hard piece of blue stone was kicked up by the front wheel of the bike to collide with the speedo drive, smashing the small metal disc into three pieces.

The shattered speedo drive

The speedo drive, which is attached to the front sprocket, tells the speedometer how fast the bike is going.

"When Phillip told me his speedo wasn't working I thought it was something I had done," replied the mechanic when questioned about the problem, "but once I removed the body kit, four pieces fell to the ground, three from the speedo drive and one piece of road."

"Its utterly amazing that the rock managed to snake its way through the bodykit, like some magic stone thrown by a Lee Harvey Oswald type of road" said Phillip. "Riding 1000km not knowing your speed is diffiluclt, but do-able."

The third incident was conducted between the hours of 3:00am and 4:00am. The two men, aged between 17 and 25 scouted the carpark for over half and hour, before removing the cover off the motorbike. One of the men proceeded to lift the back wheel off the ground and roll the bike on its front wheel, thus rendering the steering lock useless. They waited in the carpark for quite some time, and unforunately the CCTV stopped recording (its not 24 hrs) and when it started again at 5:ooam the bike was gone.

The incident left the victim lost for words. "..." he said.

Constable Conlan, who attended the scene of the crime with Constable Sandon (the hot one, as remarked by one Fenner Hall staff member), believes the two perpertrators were just out for a joy ride.

"I hope they are out joyriding. Ideally they'll write the bike off and in the process themselves as well," Phillip commented.

When one of his friends, David (Toby) Mcgill, was asked as to if he thinks Phillip would be angry at the incident he replied, "not if he has insurance."

Don't worry, He has!

April O'neil, Canberra Times.