Laid it down

[cloudfire]

Well, as they say, it's not a matter of if, but when . . . I laid it down today. There was a long line of cars turning left at a light, I was going straight, car coming the opposite way turned left in front of me. I made the mistake of adjusting my helmet as I was coming to the intersection and had only one hand on the bars when I hit the brake. It was a beautiful laydown, though. Bike went down, I caught it in the knee and on my forearm but bounced right back to my feet and chased down the sliding bike. I was sure that the fairing would be all scratched up and ugly, but there was hardly any damage. I got a little road rash on my arm and a nice silver dollar sized abrassion on my knee. Messed up my brand new ACU's with sown on nametape and rank though. Thankfully my helmet never touched the ground.

Bike damage: tiny abrasion to the fairing under the windshield, scratched turn signal, scratched bar ends with a possible bent bar, bent gear shift, scratched kickstand, scuffed handrail on the rear seat

And the one that ticks me off the most is the damage to the left side engine cover. I've got frame sliders, which caught most of the damage, but didn't save the engine cover? Isn't that part of what it's supposed to do?

Attached some pics below:

 

[Marthy]

Well, as they say, it's not a matter of if, but when . . . I laid it down today. There was a long line of cars turning left at a light, I was going straight, car coming the opposite way turned left in front of me. I made the mistake of adjusting my helmet as I was coming to the intersection and had only one hand on the bars when I hit the brake. It was a beautiful laydown, though. Bike went down, I caught it in the knee and on my forearm but bounced right back to my feet and chased down the sliding bike. I was sure that the fairing would be all scratched up and ugly, but there was hardly any damage. I got a little road rash on my arm and a nice silver dollar sized abrassion on my knee. Messed up my brand new ACU's with sown on nametape and rank though. Thankfully my helmet never touched the ground.

Bike damage: tiny abrasion to the fairing under the windshield, scratched turn signal, scratched bar ends with a possible bent bar, bent gear shift, scratched kickstand, scuffed handrail on the rear seat

And the one that ticks me off the most is the damage to the left side engine cover. I've got frame sliders, which caught most of the damage, but didn't save the engine cover? Isn't that part of what it's supposed to do?

I'd attach some pics, but I don't know how to do it on this forum. I don't see a button to upload an attachment.

That sucks! I got some turn signals... PM me your address and pay for shipping... there yours.

 

[iSpoolin]

Frame sliders are there to protect the FRAME. Nothing else, even though they do help with the fairings a bit. Also, you should still wear gear over your ACU's. Then you wouldn't have the damage you have to yourself right now.

 

[cloudfire]

You're right on both counts, frame and ATGATT. Thankfully, the abrasions to my body are minor.

I also failed to mention that the guy that pulled out in front of me did stop to apologize and check on me and will help out with the damages.

 

[Detrich]

Sorry to hear about the mishap, but glad you're ok. Speedy recovery & hope u get the bike fixed up... For minor touchups u can use Forever Black dye for black and a silver paint marker u can get at any stationary store for a few bucks... In the future ATGATT and remember riding isn't like driving. That is, when riding u cannot shift or lose focus even for a split second like u can get away with when driving. Tnx for sharing ur exp.

 

[DragonBlu]

Sorry to hear of your accident. Get patched up and fix up the bike and get back out there. Learn from your misfortune as most of us have been there before. Good luck!

 

[Spunky99]

Sorry to hear about the road rach and glad that's all it was.

Did the other driver stop?

 

[MikeN02]

Frame sliders are there to protect the FRAME. Nothing else, even though they do help with the fairings a bit. .

This. Common misconception is they protect all. They protect the Frame and are suppose to slide the bike while grinding down the delrin plastic.

When a bike goes down, usually the engine/stator case covers get rashed or torn off. Thats why a lot of racers replace or reinforce them with woodcraft, bg racing or yoshimura covers.

 

[BrueThru]

Battle scars....:thumbup:

 

[leprecaun jon]

glad the guy that turned in front of you wasnt a total prick lol... sorry to hear you went down... your frame sliders look pretty warn down what brand are they? and i have heard of clutch sliders too i dno if they make em for the fz6r but may be worth looking into for the future..

 

[cloudfire]

Sliders were T-Rex Racing sliders. I'm not too suprised at how worn the sliders were, but I 'm not sure how they're supposed to look after grinding down the road at 20-30 mph. I have seen the slider for the crank case around the web but I didn't pay too much attention to it. I think I might look into now.

So a couple of questions about fixing the bike?
1) Anyone know where I can get some Yamaha blue touch-up paint?

2) How difficult is it to change out the crank case cover? I'm guessing I'll have to empty out the oil and I know I'll have to replace the gasket, but is there anything under that cover that I need to worry about or can I just switch it out? I'm pretty mechanically inclined, having worked in an auto shop in college. Anyone have any howto's for something like this?

3) Any recommendations on handlebars? I think they may have bent slightly. Also, how hard is it to do that yourself? Does everything just loosen and slide off or is there a special trick to it?

Thanks for the well-wishes. What's funny is that I had just watched the video from the "Ninja Skills" thread yesterday morning before the lay down. I kinda felt like that guy because my knee and forearm hit the ground and then I was back on my feet running after the bike. Barely even a skuff on the side of my combat boots, either. AND, my helmet never touched the ground (thank goodness! I love my Scorpion Freedom Helmet)

 

[kevin8198]

I also failed to mention that the guy that pulled out in front of me did stop to apologize and check on me and will help out with the damages.

YES!! That is awesome!! Further restores a little faith in humanity.

 

[leprecaun jon]

Sliders were T-Rex Racing sliders. I'm not too suprised at how worn the sliders were, but I 'm not sure how they're supposed to look after grinding down the road at 20-30 mph. I have seen the slider for the crank case around the web but I didn't pay too much attention to it. I think I might look into now.

So a couple of questions about fixing the bike?
1) Anyone know where I can get some Yamaha blue touch-up paint?

2) How difficult is it to change out the crank case cover? I'm guessing I'll have to empty out the oil and I know I'll have to replace the gasket, but is there anything under that cover that I need to worry about or can I just switch it out? I'm pretty mechanically inclined, having worked in an auto shop in college. Anyone have any howto's for something like this?

3) Any recommendations on handlebars? I think they may have bent slightly. Also, how hard is it to do that yourself? Does everything just loosen and slide off or is there a special trick to it?

Thanks for the well-wishes. What's funny is that I had just watched the video from the "Ninja Skills" thread yesterday morning before the lay down. I kinda felt like that guy because my knee and forearm hit the ground and then I was back on my feet running after the bike. Barely even a skuff on the side of my combat boots, either. AND, my helmet never touched the ground (thank goodness! I love my Scorpion Freedom Helmet)

im not sure how they are supposed to look my self but they look worse than some of the other ones ive seen...i wish they put a scale of hardness with frame sliders so you knew exactly what your getting, my uncle slid across some pavement on one of his bikes after hitting a smashed coke can in the middle of the road and the bike slide for about 150 feet and his frame sliders just have some scuffs and scratches...aether way i still dno how they are supposed to look and id suggest replacing them hopefully with something a little better lol... i here the shoguns are supposed to be one of the best.

the crankcase and clutch case aret hard to take off, my buddy and i just did it with a cb250.... we drained all the oil out of the engine before we did it though... its only a couple of bolts and as long as you keep track of your pieces you should be ok...( im actually selling a crankcase cover on ebay for the cb250) keep an eye on the floor just incase you drop something lol

talk to marthy about bars he seems to know a great deal of them.