Time to sell???

[merkle]

I was riding a bit stupid and a lot above my skill level yesterday. And I found out the my limits the hard way.

I went for a ride with the Colorado sportbike club yesterday. we took 115 to 50 to black canyon. I was doing pretty well until i caught my toe leaning as going up monarch pass. This scared me a bit and caused me to slow down, but while driving through black canyon i failed to make a corner and bit it hard.



The bike is not that bad I broke the windshield, the mirrors, sheared off the left foot peg and put a small scratch in the tank. The cool thing is all of this I can repair soon.

THe group of guys I was with were very very helpful in getting my bike somewhere safefor me to come back and get it. I could have rode it had I not broke my collarbone. But they let me use their phone and gave me a ride to meet up with my wife and brother in-law to pick the bike up. They even waited for over an hour at a gas station for my wife to meet us. Thus causing them all to be late to a BBQ we were headed to in colospgs.



My wife is thinking this bike is cursed for me and wants it sold. it is a 2006 620 with only about 4k ish miles.


I highly reccommend meeting up and riding with the Southern CO CSC
they are a bunch of great guys and girls.

[Scottish]

Ah shit man.....  that is such a bummer. Glad you're ok, but sorry for your misfortune. Heal quick luckly the bike is fixable. In parts for sale section check out Chris from motored-sports. He hooked me up big time in helping me put mine back together.

[bonfy]

 

  Glad you are okay except for the collarbone.  The Black Canyon is a scarey road.  I have driven it in a cage way back in the day and it left an impression of gnarliness.  For me, lots of roads feel okay to push a little, but I've been on some other roads  (like Red Mountain Pass) and I won't even say I rode them, I just passed through trying not to freak out.  Probably it is a function of what lays beyond the white line if I go off. 
  Just out of curiosity, why do you think that your 620 is cursed?  Did you go down on it before?  If you decide to keep it, have it blessed or get a guardian bell.  I myself have a gargoyle that rides with me.  I need it.  Things happen...

Take care and heal quickly, fellow rider...

[Heffay]

sorry to hear about the spill... even more sorry to hear about the collarbone!     ouch!

don't listen to the wife unless she rides...

plus, we all know the real reason for the crash, you spelled it out for us in your first post.  you are man enough to admit it and she should be too   ... i'm pretty superstitious but i leave that  to what's to come, not for interpreting hindsight. 

bike still looks pretty good... my only question is why they laid it in the truck as opposed to transporting it the proper way?

heal well, merkle.

[merkle]

Unfortunatley I have had to put the bike down two other times when cars have pulled out in front of me

don't listen to the wife unless she rides...

She rides a gixxer 600 and a Honda 599 + the duc scared her her first time riding it so she was always a little worried about it.

my only question is why they laid it in the truck as opposed to transporting it the proper way?

We only had two tie-downs plus we wanted to hurry home because it was getting to be about 8 pm and since i broke my collarbone about 11 am wanted to get it looked at. That side was the side that i crashed on so we figured we couldn't do anymore harm.

[Heffay]

i'm not trying to tell you what to do, but want to offer some thoughts...

lay a bike on its side w/ gas and oil still in it and those things are going to go places that you don't want them to.  oil will try to get above the cylinders and probably will, gas may try to come out of the top of the tank which is the really unwanted problem... yes, you may end up repainting the tank anyway but add fuel soaking into the paint for an extended amount of time and you are sure to need more work than you did before.  and on carbed bikes, all the fuel will pour out of those as well. 

i understand your needing to get checked and not much you could do to help load the bike i can imagine, but two straps is all you should need. 

really not trying to lecture... i've just worked in a few shops and seen additional damage to a slightly damaged bike because people didn't treat it w/ respect directly following a crash.  that's all...

so, you were walking around loading bikes and taking care of business w/ a broken collarbone?  how was that?  supposed to be pretty damn painful! 

[Scottish]

I smell tough guy in here.....

[bonfy]

I've been down twice on my Ducs, too.  Thanks to my gear and guardian angels, I walked away from both.  My first 695 was totalled when a car crossed right in front of me on a left handturn.  My son, WannaDucBad, rebuilt that bike and rides it now.  That crash cooled my jets considerably for in-town riding.  I have no doubt now that I am just a target in a surreal video game.  The other guys insurance paid for my new 695.  Then I went down on the Crest on Sandia Mountain on a small group ride.  I was following too close on a blind corner when the front rider did an unexpected midcurve manuever.  I overreacted and grabbed way too much front brake putting the bike into a fishtail right into the gravel where the bike went one way and I flew another.  I was able to ride it off the Crest after a few roadside MacGuyver repairs.  I much prefer getting back on the bike immediately because the trauma doesn't have as much time to sink in and take up residence.  I had to wait a month after the first wreck for my new bike to arrive and it was during the winter which sucked, too, because I couldn't get a feel for it with the tires always cold.  
Anyway, my philosophy is that it is an activity that has risk built into it, some controllable, some not so much.  I just do what I can to protect myself and not get in too far over my head now.  The second crash put a bad taste in my mouth about group rides even though it was totally my fault.  With the perfect combination of personalities, it is awesome, but for the most part,  I'd just as soon ride alone.  
It would take a lot to make me give up my Monster.  It's like no ride I've ever rode and I can't imagine being content with anything less.  

[J_Slyter]

Sorry to hear about your crash. I was just riding the North Rim of the Black Canyon a couple of weeks ago. All I could think about when reading your post was that laying a bike down on the left side probably meant a long way down in my case(I was going west to east). It could have been worse...Hope you heal quickly.

[Smitch]

Dammmmit Merkle!  I'm sorry this happened to you.  Thanks for sharing pics and your tale of caution.  I think it comes down to not riding above your head.  I'm going to type that again for everybody's edification,

NOT RIDING ABOVE YOUR HEAD.


I take a fair amount of flak for my less than inspiring pace sometimes, but tales like this just embolden my determination to ride my own ride.

There's no trophy at the end for any of us regular folk.

I've heard of the Black Canyon from only one other person who's ridden it, and I'll never forget he told me, "If you go, be on your game."  Bonfy's post, and your mishap, really reinforce that!

[cooleye]

Yea, too bad about the wreck.

I thought about going on this ride, but in the end, I needed to be back sooner.

Cool for the guys/gals that helped you out. It is always great when someone gives up their day to help out, cause it could always be them that was the one in the dirt.

hope you heal fast, and that collar bone must have been painful!

On another note, that is 2 people down so far this year...lets hope they both heal, and as a group we can stay more safe!

[Gringo 999]

Merk.... Duuuddddde!!!

Awh that bites!    I'm glad that you a) are okay and b) the bike is salvageable.  I've bit the pavement hard twice myself - it hurts.  Fortunately I've walked away both times with no broken bones.  I'm terribly sorry your collarbone.  Heal fast Brother.

As for your wife's feelings you have to respect that, but it wasn't because of the bike.  It was because of you.  You just need to assure her that you will ride within your limits and be smarter.  Hell you will be anyway because the best memory is muscle memory and pain hurts.  Your body will make your head think twice next time.  Crashes teach us lessons that we don't soon forget.  I still recall vividly my first wicked high-side when I was just 17 and I'm 45 now.  You will respect your machine more.  Your senses also will be hightened due to the crash.  You will pick up cues you never thought possible after a wreck.  You will be more intuitive from this wreck.  My wife has seen me in the back of an ambulance and taken me home from the hospital after a crash (rear-ended by a driver with a learner's permit).  She knows the risk, but she also knows that I ride smart.  She puts up with it because I love to ride and she doesn't want to hear me say "I wish I'd have done that" when I'm 75. 

My advice is to heal, get your bike fixed and get back on and ride smarter.  Don't let a small setback keep you from doing what you enjoy.

Everyone dies... not everyone lives.  Live well and ride is my motto. 

[bonfy]

   Excellent words of wisdom there SoCo Dog Pres.  I wondered why I literally cannot ride the way I used to.  I keep chiding myself to quit sandbagging and grow a set, but I simply can't go balls out anymore, especially in traffic.  Muscle memory is why.  Even if I feel like being a bonehead, my body says, "No more, Waugh.  Now just simmer down and enjoy your ride."  It is hard when you ride with fast, competitive people because you want to look fairly adept yourself. 
   About picking up cues, that is dead on, too.  I wonder if I will ever enjoy in-town riding again.  I thought I was aware and alert before, but now I am over-the-top.  My senses are honed and almost painful as you said.  Hopefully all these experiences will keep me in the saddle and off the pavement more often than not.