Dropped her today

[zLoki]

So I just joined the "people that have crashed" side.

Cruising up Ortega highway (California) today, in second, slowing down and doing about 40mph.  Coming up to a turn, traffic is slowing, getting ready to stop.  Hit the curve and traffic is STOPPED.  Only doing about 30mph but I'm too close, way too close.  Next thing I know I'm flying off the bike saying "Oh sh&*(t on the way into the ditch on the right.  I slide for a bit but not after hitting the asphalt hard with my right knee, elbow and shoulder.  She hits hard too, but misses the car in front, slides on her right side on the asphalt next to the car.  She stops before I do by about 10 feet.

So whats the damage?  Well the Motovation frame sliders SAVED her from serious damage, as did the swing arm sliders.  Mirrors and bar ends where not so lucky and I snapped the right peg in half.  Scrapped the crap out of the brake levers, reservoir and a bit off the handlebar where the bar end bent back.  And the small bit that keeps the handle bars from hitting the tank, pushed back, cracking the outer cover (and maybe the fuel cell, gotta look at that tmrw).  Next was my leather, brand new, waited four freaking months for, Dainese leather...  Scrapped the elbow down to the armor.  I've had this thing for two months...  Some scrapes on my gloves and boots.  And I cant tell if I hit my head or not.  Lots of scrapes on the helmet but no apparent impact, still...  Cant be sure so I think I'm getting a new one to be safe.

What about me?  So on my way out the door I decided to NOT wear my leg armor and took my Icon pants instead.  They survived with no real evidence that I was sliding down the road.  But I think they made the knee injury worse.  So now I have swollen knee with large chunks missing.  But I can still walk and I did ride home.  Shoulder hurts too but otherwise I'm good.

So what are the lessons?
Pay freaking attention!!  Wear ALL your armor!  Can't really tell you what I did wrong, I simply dont remember.  Cant even tell if I fell to the right or over the handle bars.  From the looks of the damage, I must have fallen to the right, getting thrown from the bike.  How?  I really dont know.  I did not lock up the brakes but there was some gravel on the road.  I must have braked and the rear slid out.  Not sure how I managed to maneuver the bike to the right, avoiding the car in front but that probably saved me from something more serious than a swollen, bloody knee.

Some pics for your viewing pleasure.  Jacket and helmet make this an expensive lesson in paying attention but I'm still here...

How she normally looks


Handle bar damage, not that half the bar end slider is still there, it got twisted back and jammed in there.  Some of the handle bar and grip got scrapped off.  The reservoir got the worse of it I think


Frame and swing arm sliders doing their thing.  Shaved about 1/2 off the frame slider



Tank cover damage - have to check the tank under in the morning but it did smell like fuel more than usual   :'(


The leather, wish I could fix it, I really like that jacket


Mirror, foot peg and a bar end


 :'(

[duclvr]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Looks like no "major" damage to the bike except for maybe the tank once you get it apart.
Question on what happened though. You say you were in second did you ever get down to first gear?

[ScottRNelson]

Right now would be an excellent time to buy the book Proficient Motorcycling by David L. Hough and read the sections that will teach you how to avoid getting into this type of accident.  The book starts covering relevant issues from the first chapter.  I've read the book several times and am in the process of reading it again.  That book has done more to make me a safe rider than any other of the many riding books that I've read.

It looks like you came out pretty good in the damage department, at least as far as your motorcycle is concerned.  Maybe you can serve as an example to others about what is proper riding gear and how you never can tell when you'll be needing good protective gear.  It's a reminder to me that too often I don't wear my leather riding pants when I should.

When riding on twisty roads you have to expect stopped traffic around EVERY curve and ride so that you'll be able to identify it and avoid it.  It might only be one curve in a thousand where there is actually a hazard, but if you take enough curves, you'll eventually encounter it and if you're not riding in anticipation of things like that you'll crash because of it.

I hope you heal up soon and don't have too big of a wait on parts to get your bike back in riding condition.

[EvilSteve]

Right now would be an excellent time to buy the book Proficient Motorcycling by David L. Hough and read the sections that will teach you how to avoid getting into this type of accident.  The book starts covering relevant issues from the first chapter.  I've read the book several times and am in the process of reading it again.  That book has done more to make me a safe rider than any other of the many riding books that I've read.

+1

More Proficient Motorcycling by the same author is also an excellent book.

[zLoki]

Question on what happened though. You say you were in second did you ever get down to first gear?

No, she was still in second and running when I got up.  Finally got to use the big shiny red kill switch

[zLoki]

+1

More Proficient Motorcycling by the same author is also an excellent book.

Like the knee armor that I decided not to wear, I actually have this book but have not read it.      I'll be doing that now...

Thanks for the advice and positive comments!

[Raux]

the last time i rode was the first time riding without my armored pants. felt naked. i ordered knee icon knee armor to be able to wear jeans sometimes. can i use you as a reason to justify the cost to my wife?

[duclvr]

can i use you as a reason to justify the cost to my wife?

Oh great idea. 

[zLoki]

the last time i rode was the first time riding without my armored pants. felt naked. i ordered knee icon knee armor to be able to wear jeans sometimes. can i use you as a reason to justify the cost to my wife?

Yes and if you want, I can send you a nasty pic of my knee.  If I had worn the armor, I would only have a sore shoulder to complain about (probably landed on it but hit the armor so no damage).  Instead I have to figure out how to keep it elevated to keep the swelling down.  AND I cant really ride for the next week or so! 

[Raux]

finally got a chance to look at your pics. i doubt you cracked your fuel tank. you probably had fuel overflow due to the tip over. the area crushed on your tank cover is near the air box.

oh and now i see the point of the sliders. wow, i can't believe so little damage.

my friends Honday VTX went over 30mph. 8000 dollars of damage.

gotta get me sliders now. more $$$

[hunduc]

good to hear you are pretty much ok. could have ended up under a car too.

one thing: BUY A NEW HELMET.

and get back on that horse as soon as you can. 

   

[Sleeper_I]

Glad you are ok and not much damage to your ride.

finally got a chance to look at your pics. i doubt you cracked your fuel tank. you probably had fuel overflow due to the tip over. the area crushed on your tank cover is near the air box.

oh and now i see the point of the sliders. wow, i can't believe so little damage.

my friends Honday VTX went over 30mph. 8000 dollars of damage.

gotta get me sliders now. more $$$

+1 Yea, I'm sure you just had some overflow. If the skin held off then your tank should be fine. But it doesn't hurt to check 
+1 on the Motovation sliders. I have the same set up.
I see you have fork sliders as well, was there any damage done to them?

[almazing]

Man sorry to hear that. My repair bill came out to $4100 and the damage incurred to my bike was about the same, except it was on the left side. Insurance took care of it. If you scratched your cans at all(or "get them scratched"), you can get those replaced with Termis, which is what I did. A single stock can costs about 1200 dollars. So I worked it out with the dealership to get Termis put in instead. And I got to keep the stock cans for emissions purposes(in 2012). They also replaced my frame sliders, bar ends, and fork sliders. Overall, my bill came out to $82 out of what was supposed to be a $500 deductible. Thanks to GP Motorcycles for that.

The parts took about 2 weeks to arrive and it was repaired in a day. the reason mine took a whole month was because crappy Geico took forever to appraise the damage and hand GP the check. I hope the shop you take it to hooks you up like they did me.

Good luck!

[Raux]

cooool are those the Ducati Monster shorty gloves? those rock.

[zLoki]

I see you have fork sliders as well, was there any damage done to them?

The right fork slider has a tiny scrape, cant even tell until you reach down and look.  The handlebars/bar end sliders took the damage. 

good to hear you are pretty much ok. could have ended up under a car too.

one thing: BUY A NEW HELMET.

and get back on that horse as soon as you can. 

I totally could have ended up under or over the car, not sure how I didnt to be honest.  Like to think it was my mad skills but I think I was just lucky.

+1 on the new helmet, already on it's way

I was back on the horse for the way home, about 45 min of twisties and slab.  A bit shaken and nervous, no mirrors made me worry about the squids that always come up fast and pass on curves and johnny law pulling me over.  Soon as I get the mirrors back on and my knee gets to the point I can bend, I'll be back on her, guaranteed  [moto]

My damage bill is about $250, new foot peg, bar end sliders, replacement swing arm and frame sliders and some paint - going to sand down those mirrors and paint them, same with the lever and brake coffin.  The small part missing on the grip is tolerable and wont be as noticeable once the bar ends and mirrors go back on.  It wont be show room material but still sexier than any of the big four.

I do have a small scrape on the cans, nothing I can justify replacing them for, it's less than a 1/2inch scrape and did not go all the way to the metal (I had them PCed a few months back.

It's already cost me more to replace the helmet and I'll be looking to see if the leather can be repaired. 

Total bill for me not paying attention - about $1000.

cooool are those the Ducati Monster shorty gloves? those rock.

No, these are the Dainese version of the Ducati Motard gloves.  Which are the same thing.  They are a bit more expensive but I could not find the monster ones when I was looking.  Check them out here http://www.dainese.com/us_en/motorbike/guanto-blaster.html?cat=5.  They run big, normally get medium/large, these fit really snug at small but have stretch and now they fit really good.

+1 on the tank overflow.  No damage underneath!  I'm going to see if I can fix the crack, might be time to put some black reflective stripes on it while I get a new tank panel.