Hi, and thanks for the welcome. Yes, good point, hadn't thought about introducing myself......
Had my SP for over ten years and love it. Quite different to my previous zx9rs and a very unreliable ducati 748sp. My riding buddy was so impressed with the sp1 when I turned up on it that he went straight out and bought himself one!
Well in October we made our usual pilgrimage to the Pyrenees and Andorra, 1500+ miles without incident. A delayed ferry meant we were much later home than expected. By a further twist of fate I'd run low on fuel twenty miles from home so decided to back off and cruise at fifty odd. So, only half a mile from my house, in the dead of night, this deer bounds across the road. Didn't even have time to touch the brake. Hit me on the offside front, deer killed instantly. Bike stayed stable, although I wouldn't recommend it. I got away with a sore foot and a bill. Broken nose cone, high beam light, and a small cracking in the right hand panel (fixable).
Makes you realise how quickly these things happen, and that after midnight the creatures of this land consider the road to be their territory. Glad to be alive, could have been a lot worse!