Scarring Up Our Watches: Hitting A Kangaroo On A Motorbike With My Tudor Heritage Ranger
One of the best elements of wearing watches is forging memories with them. Sometimes, though, those memories can be a bit traumatic and leave true battle scars on the watch! Today, I’ll share how my Tudor Heritage Ranger survived a serious motorcycle accident and came away with some scars.
When we think of watches showing their age, our minds probably go to something like the patina that develops on a dial or the scratches and marks on a metal bracelet. Sometimes when I handle a watch showing its age, I wonder what happened to cause some of those big dings, dents, and scratches.
Vintage motorbikes: my pre-watch hobby
Before I became passionate about vintage watches and horology in general, I was into motorbikes. Specifically, those have always been the old BMW and Moto Guzzi motorbikes. There is something particularly endearing about the horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engines on a BMW. These bikes are known as “airheads” because of their air-cooled engines. The engines look like they belong on an old propeller fighter plane.
The fact that the cylinders poke out on either side makes them easier to service and tinker on. Accessing a spark plug or the oil pan is relatively straightforward on a BMW airhead. In fact, these old bikes used to come with dedicated tool kits under the seat to enable owners to service their bikes by themselves. To me, this means that the bikes are full of the same personality I find so engaging with vintage watches. Like vintage watches, they are built to last.
A new job in a new state
A few years ago, I was based in the island state of Tasmania as a news reporter. One of my biggest hobbies in my spare time there was taking my 1985 BMW R80 out on weekend trips. There is something quite magical about the hum of an air-cooled BMW engine on a sweeping highway in the middle of Tasmania. Many motorbike riders will confirm that hearing and seeing the world fly past you is a thrilling experience.
Being based in Tasmania was a rare opportunity to explore the island state on a motorbike. In fact, many consider Tasmania one of the world’s best places to ride a motorbike due to its excellent roads, incredible natural beauty, and the sheer array of different places one can go. Another great factor is that it is not heavily populated, which means you sometimes get a road to yourself.
Exploring Australia with a Tudor Heritage Ranger
Over the two and a half years I was living in Tasmania, I probably explored about half of all the roads on that island. This included fire trails, dirt roads, and back lanes. I became addicted to the sound of that engine and the wind on my face pumping through my Shoei helmet. Exploring places called Paradise, Nowhere Else, Snug, Penguin, and Eggs and Bacon Bay was a lot of fun. I got to see whales breaching and little penguins waddling up wild beaches as I rode along the coastal highways and backroads.
During this series of adventures, I had a trusty Tudor Heritage Ranger strapped to my wrist. This is a watch that I bought from my dad, and it’s the previous version of the current Tudor Ranger. The 41mm case coupled with a large dial provided instant legibility, even on a motorbike. The 150m water resistance rating and modified ETA 2824-2 movement helped make it a rugged timekeeper that I could take anywhere.
Wearing the Tudor Heritage Ranger one fateful day
I was wearing that Tudor Heritage Ranger on one fateful day in late 2018. I’ve always been quite a safe rider. This includes avoiding riding at dusk and close to dawn. It is at these times of day when Australia’s wild animals truly start to come to life, including wandering on our roads. Another thing I always would do is wear full protective gear, which included an armored jacket, jeans, a full-face helmet, and gloves.
But, one day, my luck ran out. I was traveling from a beach town called Penguin to the state’s capital city of Hobart when, at about 2:00, I saw a large brown mass jump onto the road in front of me. It was a large kangaroo, perhaps five feet tall. There was no time to apply the brakes much. I collided with the kangaroo at over 90 km/h.
Flying through the air
Before I knew it, I was flying through the air just after impact. I recall seeing the silver motorbike flipping upside down in mid-air as I flew through it. Then, my head made contact with the road, and I remember grunting loudly as the ground scraped my helmet at speed. I landed on my left side, and my body skidded along the road for a good 10–15 meters. I didn’t lose consciousness. But my Tudor Heritage Ranger did take the brunt of the initial fall, making contact with the road and probably saving my wrist from being broken.
Thankfully, because I was wearing the full suite of gear, I ended up being badly shaken, bruised, and in shock but with no broken bones. The most upsetting thing about the accident was that it was fatal for the kangaroo. I spent the next several months slowly repairing the bike myself. Extensive damage had occurred, but the frame and engine were still in perfectly acceptable condition. I stripped the bike down and put in new wiring, new forks, and a new front wheel. It became a cathartic experience that helped me mentally recover from the accident.
Concluding thoughts
A few weeks after the crash, while still sore, I went to Sydney to visit my family. I brought the Tudor Heritage Ranger with me to take it in for an inspection by Rolex in Australia. The sapphire crystal had gotten smashed up, but the watch still ran. Rolex in Sydney fixed it for me. The gentleman who repaired it was a rider as well, heard my story about the damage to the watch, and ended up fixing it for free, for which I am grateful. The watch is still in the family, with a big scratch on the case. That scratch serves as a reminder of that moment, flying through the air, and my lucky stars. I still ride old BMWs to this day.
Bikes and watches, just like people, show their age over time. Age reflects moments and experiences, and battle scars are part and parcel of that. I think that personality is to be celebrated in watches, just like anything else. What about you, Fratelli? Do you have any interesting backstories about a particular scar or mark on your watch? I’m looking forward to reading your stories in the comments.
