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My crappy (expensive) morning.....

By RyanK,
in Southeast

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RyanK

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I hit a fallen tree on my motorcycle this morning, at 6 AM on my way to work. They way the road is and the tree was, I couldn't see it until it was too late. I was actually going a little slower than usual since the roads were damp. I slid into it just hard enough for it to throw me off the bike, and my right leg hit the tree before I rolled over it. You can see the skidmarks from the back tire in the picture. I'm fine other than my right leg is REALLY sore. I've taken much worse spills on my dirtbike, but it seems to hold up a little better than this one :ride: . It still rides just fine, and the forks seem fine, but hte plastic is all messed up! I guess that is what insurance is for ? .

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RyanK

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That plastic will be about $2000!! Seems like it's more expensive than anything else!!

That would probably be just fine, 'cuz then they'll total it out. Bluebook is only $3-4k. It has a few miles on it now (15k) and it needs new tires pretty bad ($250). With my $500 deductable, it'll be a while before i'm riding it again anyways ? . I sure will miss having a streetbike. Maybe it is time to go SuperMotard? :ride:

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SC_Spode

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That plastic will be about $2000!! Seems like it's more expensive than anything else!!

No doubt.

Years ago when I was working in the shops during college and the Ninjas and such were just coming out, they were actually being totaled entirely on cosmetic damage, and these were almost new bikes. :ride:

When we would get some beginner that bought one of those, we would take bets on how long it would be before it came back wrecked.

The shortest distance was less than a mile from the shop.

Years after I left, they had a guy shoot out of the parking lot and go straight across the street in front of the shop and hit the safety fence on the other side. He got about 20 feet of riding on public roads before it was on the hook! :applause:

But the shortest one was a guy that decided to test ride an 85 CR500 in the parking lot. I had to start it for him and then he whacked the throttle on the pavement and the bike looped so hard that it flipped into the air and landed upside down, crushing the sub-frame.

He got up off the ground all scratched up but nothing broken and the sales rep asked him if he was alright.

He said, "Buddy, ain't nothin' hurt but my pride."

He loaded it into the back of his truck, paid for it and left. :applause:

?

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SidewinderX

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The shortest distance was less than a mile from the shop.

Years after I left, they had a guy shoot out of the parking lot and go straight across the street in front of the shop and hit the safety fence on the other side. He got about 20 feet of riding on public roads before it was on the hook! :ride:

But the shortest one was a guy that decided to test ride an 85 CR500 in the parking lot. I had to start it for him and then he whacked the throttle on the pavement and the bike looped so hard that it flipped into the air and landed upside down, crushing the sub-frame.

He got up off the ground all scratched up but nothing broken and the sales rep asked him if he was alright.

He said, "Buddy, ain't nothin' hurt but my pride."

He loaded it into the back of his truck, paid for it and left. :applause:

?

That is some good stories.. (LOL)

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circletree

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i've heard similar stories about the newbie zero point exponential equasion....that is, the less experienced a rider is, the shorter the distance from the dealer door the crash is. half the experience means four times closer to the inevitable crash. my favorite was a former coworker. he had never ever ridden anythink other than a bicycle as a kid, bought a katana 750 from woody's in florence and dropped it in the gravel in the parking lot. the weird thing is the dealers will sell someone with so little experience a large bike. sorry 'bout your street ride......maybe you should strip it down and make a "adventure tourer" out of it, kinda like the SV 650 or so. enough rattling, gotta hit cola powersports for oil and chainwax. big bore is back!!! yeeeehaaaa!

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ob1quixote

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Sorry you had a get-off and glad you're OK, but...

Your picture says a few things to me. Nothing personal, just calling it the way I see it.

A) You were driving on damp roads in the "grease lane" and through rough pavement. Big no-no. I am assuming you know the route you took.

? You may have been inattentive, the skid mark starts pretty close to the tree debris. Or you were going faster, and began braking further back without locking the brakes. The sight line from the corner to the stop sign looks pretty long, and you needed to be slowing up for the stop sign, but photos can mislead.

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Goosedog

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Damn Ryan! And I was down in G-ville yesterday trading bikes at Upstate. I had no idea this happened to you. I even thought about stopping over on my way back to show off my new ride but it was late and now I'm thinking that would have made you feel worse anyway. Get 'em to total it and then go supermoto....they are a blast!! BTW, I'm really glad you weren't hurt. ?

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Goosedog

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Sorry you had a get-off and glad you're OK, but...

Your picture says a few things to me. Nothing personal, just calling it the way I see it.

A) You were driving on damp roads in the "grease lane" and through rough pavement. Big no-no. I am assuming you know the route you took.

:ride: You may have been inattentive, the skid mark starts pretty close to the tree debris. Or you were going faster, and began braking further back without locking the brakes. The sight line from the corner to the stop sign looks pretty long, and you needed to be slowing up for the stop sign, but photos can mislead.

Whats your point here OB1? Do you really think this is gonna help matters? Ryan is an accomplished and well seasoned rider and shit happens to us all, I can't see where your hindsight is going to be in any way productive dude. ?

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RyanK

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I'll give you $500..........

To pay my deductable :applause: ? You're the man!!! :applause:

Dropped it off at Cycle Specialties (Suzuki dealer) in Taylors Sat. He did the estimate this morning, around $1300. I highly doubt they'll total it. Good thing I just sold a bunch of crap on eBay. Now I can pay for my dirtibke parts and have enough left to start on my deductable :applause: . He said he'd order parts as soon as the ins. guy came by, which should be the middle of this week ? . I'm crossing my fingers to maybe get it back towards the end of next week. He said all the parts come in already painted and everything, just needs to bolt them on.

Mark, give me a call when you have time. We gotta talk about that new ride of yours :ride: .

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RyanK

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A) You were driving on damp roads in the "grease lane" and through rough pavement. Big no-no. I am assuming you know the route you took.
No I wasn't in the grease lane, and the road wasn't damp where this happened. If it was, there wouldn't be that super black skidmark. I ride/drive this 7 days a week, as it is 3/4 mile from my house.
:applause: You may have been inattentive, the skid mark starts pretty close to the tree debris. Or you were going faster, and began braking further back without locking the brakes. The sight line from the corner to the stop sign looks pretty long, and you needed to be slowing up for the stop sign, but photos can mislead.
The photo must be misleading, and it is from a standing point of view, not down low as if on a motorcycle. There were no branchs off my side of the tree, just below & on the other side. When first coming around the corner, It just looked like the other road and the other side of the road. I was starting to slow down outta the corner, but I usually stop about 6-10 feet after the white line, for visibility reasons. The tree was about 10 feet before the line, so I would've stopped in plenty of time for where I usually stop.

I still havn't figured out why I didn't squeeze the front brakes a little harder ? . I knew I had the back locked up right away, but I also KNEW that I didn't want to go sideways into that tree, or under it, since it was a couple feet of the ground.

All that said, of course I was doing more than 40 mph through that windy road, I'm on a sports bike :ride: . Most of the road was damp though, so I wasn't going as fast as usual. There are places on this road that'll be wet at 4:30 in the afternoon when it hasn't rained for a week. The end here is usually dry though, as it is pretty open.

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ob1quixote

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Whats your point here OB1? Do you really think this is gonna help matters? Ryan is an accomplished and well seasoned rider and shit happens to us all, I can't see where your hindsight is going to be in any way productive dude. ?

If one doesnt learn from his mistakes, he will repeat them.

Who knows what the damage will be, then...had an MRI lately, they start at about $8K. Dont know what coffins are going for these days.

I didnt rip him a new one, just pointed out what appears to be evident in the pictures and his description of the accident and conditions.

If what I pointed is true [after all, pictures can be misleading], then I did help him, whether you think so or not.

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