Layed down my bike this morning >>> pics

[JBearSVT]

So I already knew I needed tires, the back was just way too squirmy and would slide out at any speed with just a little pressure on the rear brake, and it would step out if I really got on it too. That was all fine and good, but then my town went and paved my road. In my town, that means a light skim of tar and several tons of loose gravel, which the cars then drive on for a few weeks and it gets ground in to the pavement. So this morning when I left the house for work I was going REALLY slow, under 5mph, so as to not throw up a bunch of rocks and (ironically enough) not beat up my bike. Stupidly, it never occurred to me that 2/10 of a mile at 3-4mph didn't warm up my tires one bit.

When I turned out of my road onto the main road (50mph speed limit) I didn't wait until I was fully straight and upright to start feeding in the throttle, and the ass slid right out from under me at 30mph (with traffic coming ). All I had on for gear was gloves and a helmet, and I was really, really fine. I landed on my right arm and knee, didn't even rip my jeans. Hit the pavement in a roll and was instantly up and chasing my poor bike down the road. It slid a good 20-40 feet, I'm not sure.
I picked it up and pushed it off to the side, it wouldn't start and I couldn't get it into neutral, but I pulled on the bodywork a bit and messed with the cable and eventually the oil drained down and I could get it out of gear and started. The oil light flashed for a second then went out. I let it run for a few minutes and looked it over real good, seems to be all cosmetic, so I hopped back on and road it to work. Mechanically it feels fine, but it's pretty fucked up now and I've never been so pissed at myself. If it were just a matter of ignorance it would be a tough lesson to learn, but it wasn't. If I'd thought about it I'd have known that my [crappy] tires weren't warm enough to stick yet, but I didn't even think about it.

I learned a few things about myself though. One, I love to ride. I don't think anything will ever change that. Anytime ANYTHING happens to me in a car, I'm all shook up- adrenalized, scared, whatever. While cars were whizzing by me in the road this morning I was completely unfazed, and I realized that my love for riding is so much stronger than my fear of dying that it's not even a question. I probably shouldn't have ridden it to work after that, but I made sure nothing was leaking or visibly tweaked, and thought nothing of hopping right back on and hitting the highway to work. An interesting experience. Anyway:

For those of you who've used your bikes for a surfboard, I'd like some estimates on what kind of financial damage I'm in for. After I took it all apart tonight to see exactly how deep/extensive the damage was, I took these of the mess:



I was going to replace the exhaust anyway, thank God I hadn't done that yet





My brand new pulsar cover that I just put on a week ago... dammit!

\

I ordered $130 carbon fiber mirrors three weeks ago, and until today I was really pissed that they haven't come in





This is what really gets me- for the life of me, I don't know how my tank got dented. I have a cut/bruise on my left shin that I can't account for, so I figure my leg must have whacked it as I... "dismounted"... but I have no explanation for the little one down by the seat. My balls aren't that hard, seriously. WTF?!

[uzimon]

glad you aint too hurt.
gonna look for same bodywork, or go with a new color (black)?
get some frame sliders, it won't be so bad if it happens again

[JBearSVT]

Yeah, I've been meaning to get some frame sliders but I've been putting it off. That really irritates me, if I'd had them there'd be next to no body damage. I'll get new bodywork, most likely. I love the color, it matches my '93 Mustang Cobra almost perfectly. No, really not hurt at all. My knee and forearm have extremely mild rug burns, I ripped a tiny hole in my sweatshirt, scuffed a sneaker and found out my gloves are awesome. Other than that I'm good.

[Vertigo117]

1. I got the same grips. hahaha 2. sorry about the spill, man... 3. about that tank dent, near where your balls would be... my last bike, an 05 ZX-6RR, i bought wrecked and rebuilt. it was rearended, went over the front, down on the left side and spun (from what i can gather from the damage) but the gas tank has that EXACT same dent in it! i have no idea where it came from or how it got there... perhaps its a stress ding?

[old son]

How come you buy $130 mirrors when you have a good set on the bike but you don't buy a new tyre when the one on the bike is fu*ked? Always make sure the bike is safe before spending money on bling!!! Glad you are not too badly hurt though

[JBearSVT]

Because it didn't have a good set of mirrors. One of the mirrors was snapped off when I got it, so rather than buy one OEM one that maybe wouldn't match the original for $80 I spent a little more on two that would. I only ordered them after my local Kawi shop checked the bike over and said I didn't need to worry about the tires for a little while. In the meantime (a little over three weeks) I've put 2400 miles on the bike. Here's your sign: "a little while" is officially up. So, you see, it wasn't bling, simply an upgrade to the one safety issue the bike had at the time.

Vertigo, I'm completely baffled about the tank. Last night I remembered the injury to my left leg happening at work, so now I have absolutely no clue what happened to the tank. I'm pretty sure the walls are wicked thin, so it wouldn't take much, but still- I really don't remember any of my body hitting anything but the ground. I've considered that it might be a stress thing as well... maybe I'll have the shop look it over and postulate some theories, they may know what caused it. It was a pretty straightforward dump, shouldn't be too hard to figure out. My main concern is what a new tank will cost, because I really don't think the big one will pull out being on the crease like that.
Those grips were one of the best investments for the money I've made on that bike, thanks for turning me on to them! One got a little chewed up in the slide, but since I ordered them my shop started stocking them so no worries lol! Thanks for the condolences.

[Vertigo117]

Yeah, my theory is, when it went down and the tank hit, it tried to pry the tank off the motorcycle, but since its bolted on in 2 places, it sorta "warped" the shape and caused the wall to cave in there a little bit... like taking a peice of string thats curved and pulling it straight, get what i mean?

[raized1199]

Glad youre ok dude.

[JBearSVT]

Thanks raised, me too.

I think I follow Vertigo, but in my case at least, I'm positive that the tank didn't hit the road. That being said, I may have tried to pick it up by the tank, which may have done the same thing? I really don't remember how I ended up getting it up, only that I pulled a couple times from a couple positions before I got it upright... I was thinking more about not getting eaten by a tour bus than what I was doing LOL

So, any ideas what I can expect to pay for a new tank and some skins? Should I just go to my Kawi dealer or is there a better source for this stuff from OEM online somewhere?

[TxNinja07]

Originally Posted by JBearSVT

Thanks raised, me too.

I think I follow Vertigo, but in my case at least, I'm positive that the tank didn't hit the road. That being said, I may have tried to pick it up by the tank, which may have done the same thing? I really don't remember how I ended up getting it up, only that I pulled a couple times from a couple positions before I got it upright... I was thinking more about not getting eaten by a tour bus than what I was doing LOL

So, any ideas what I can expect to pay for a new tank and some skins? Should I just go to my Kawi dealer or is there a better source for this stuff from OEM online somewhere?

im in the same position you are, minus the tank. i dropped my bike and middle and lower fairings are fu##$(*#. i went to the dealer and its pretty pricey, expect to pay a lot. im checking ebay right now but im having no luck so its looking like i will have to suck it up and pay for it at the dealer

[JBearSVT]

Found a tank... well over a thousand bucks. Fuck that. I'd rather buy a new bike.

[Chuckwick357]

sorry to hear about your crash. glad you are ok
the good news is your bike will be better than ever.

i went down last year and my bike looks awesome not

[JBearSVT]

Well, it's not that bad actually. Aside from the tank (and the new pulsar cover), nothing is screwed up that I didn't intend to change anyway. None of the damaged body panels weren't already damaged from before I got it. Granted, they looked a helluva lot better than they do now, but the weren't perfect and I fully intended to reskin the bike eventually. I had already ordered mirrors and bar ends, was considering new levers, planned on flush turn signals. The kicker is that I've been dicking around for the last month trying to pick out frame sliders, and if I had done them first almost all of this damage would have been avoided. I was thinking more about them as an accessory than a safety item. Oh well, live and learn I guess. I woke up a little stiff today, but considering I hit the road going at least 30mph with next to no real gear on, I fell pretty damn good. Wish my bike had made it out looking as unharmed as I did...

[Gloofy]

Glad that you are not injured.

-Gloof

[Vertigo117]

ronayers.com will have slightly longer shipping times but they are MUCH cheaper then other sites... and they sell OEM. their secret? they have the parts shipped to you direct from the manufacturer, thus they do not pay warehouse fees.

[JBearSVT]

Wow, that's a great site! Much better prices than I've seen elsewhere, well laid out and easy to navigate. Thanks man, I'll definitely bookmark it.

[Jaywheel]

Just curious... you don't have insurance coverage on your bike? I was recently in an accident. Doesnt take much to really add up the cost on bike repairs!! $3,800.00 in damage. Cost me my 250.00 deductible. Just wanted to know.

And glad you're okay dude.

Jay

[JBearSVT]

No way I'd put anything but liability on this bike. It costs me less than $170 a year, collision starts at over $200 a month. I can fix a lot of damage before I come close to using that premiums' worth, never mind my rates going through the roof after I have a claim.

[Vertigo117]

no problem dude...

[greenbeastie]

Next thing you should invest in is a set of frame sliders.. Save you quite a bit of money... On the other hand: the bike can always be fixed,, glad you're OK!