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  • Locked thread
BlackMK4
Aug 23, 2006

wat.
Megamarm

Coydog posted:

That's awful Stugazi. I'm really sorry you have to be so familiar with that.

After that my crash and requests seem so pedestrian. For some reason I really want to get back out on the bike and am trying to bite the bullet on online parts and gear replacements today. All of your feedback and observation made me feel a lot less bad about my drop. It could have easily been much worse. Practice is needed for sure, though.

Looking at my clutch lever, does it look like a normal stock sv lever? Where can I find a REALLY cheap replacement that looks the same as that one? I have some of those china spiffy shorty levers, but I don't like how they look and don't really want to use them. Plus, my brake lever is part of some special tien mechanism and I don't think stock levers fit it. Before the crash I was thinking of stocking out that lever.
Yeah.
http://www.bikebandit.com/2004-suzuki-sv650-sv650k4/o/m147649#sch505595
BikeBandit PN: 1101109
$18

quote:

I need that front silver ring that goes on the stock headlamp bucket. What is that called? I really like that OSRAM projector HID and am glad it was spared.
http://www.bikebandit.com/2004-suzuki-sv650-sv650k4/o/m147649#sch507600
BikeBandit PN: 1071403
$57

quote:

My rearsets are silver CFMotorsports Woodcraft and the lever and peg on the left side are bent. I can't see that they sell parts piecemeal for these. Furthermore, it looks like I can only get them in L/R pairs. Anywhere I can get a good price on just the shifter side?
Shift Pedal: http://www.woodcraft-cfm.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=08-0200
$75
Foot peg: http://www.woodcraft-cfm.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=06-0200
$26

quote:

My bar end mirror and bar end on the left side is toast. That's not such a bad thing as I wanted to replace them. What's a good black bar end weight? Will any one do? On the mirror side of things, I'd really like to run Tuono mirrors for a narrower profile. Problem is those screw into things on fairings. What's a good thing that I can put on my handlebars to screw those into?
Get some Woodcraft or Vortex slider bar ends. Your bike has CRG mirrors - usually they sell replacement parts.
http://www.woodcraft-cfm.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=BE01

quote:

My tank has a dent in it, but replacements online are 250+, so I'm going to hold off and wait for a cheaper one. My tail handle is rashed up from when the bike was...upside down?! All I know is it kept my tail plastics from taking damage so it did a good thing. Those look like they are 40+, and I don't know if I should wait on that or not.
SV tanks are just going to keep going up in price. Leave this stuff alone unless it really bothers you and you're really not going to drop it again.

quote:

My frame slider is still serviceable. Should I replace it? I hear there are bad ones. What is a good one? I'm very impressed with how well it saved my frame and engine parts.
Again, Woodcraft here.
http://www.woodcraft-cfm.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=50-0224
$40 (don't forget to order pucks too)

quote:

A fall like mine wouldn't mess up the rear suspension/swingarm, wheel, etc right? I don't see any scuffs anywhere back there on those parts, and riding home in first I didn't feel any oddness. The chain didn't come off which I would expect if I bent something back there.
Not entirely impossible. Post some full pics of the bike.

BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Dec 29, 2013

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Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.
You're a good egg, blackmk4.

Coydog
Mar 5, 2007



Fallen Rib
It is really nice of you to dig up all of those parts blackmk4. You've been a massive help I can't even believe it. Thank you for laying it all out like that. I didn't even know that was all available.

So I've horribly procrastinated these past two weeks on ordering parts, partly from family mostly just from me. My bike finally looks enticing to me again and it really shouldn't sit so long so I'm buying the stuff now. Woodcraft stuff has to wait til i can call them tomorrow. My shift rod is bent and while I can use the shorter stock rod i have with the screw on extender for my riser plates, I'd rather just have whatever longer rod they recommend.

On those frame sliders, the woodcraft ones look way lower profile than what i have. Much better. Am I seeing things? Will it protect all the exposed stuff on my sv as well if it doesn't stick out so far?

I keep trying to get a shot of what I'm talking about with the suspension but it never looks the same in pictures as it does to my eye. I feel like when i look at the bike from the rear, the shock should be dead center, but mine is to the left a bit.

This picture actually makes everything look much worse than it is, but other than perspective and the uneven wear the wheel always had, it looks ok but for the shock in the back. I can't find any scratches on the rear parts or swingarm other than the nut holding the wheel on is gouged so it took a hit there. Not gouged badly though. I missed it on prior inspection.

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.
Is your tire nearly corded or is that just a trick of the photo? It looks like it is past shot. Also how old are those tires?

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

Don't most bikes have a slightly off-centre shock position? No bike is symmetrical and it might be slightly offset for production reasons. Someone else with an sv needs to confirm this.

That tyre looks destroyed, you can see the squaring if you look at the lower edge.

Coydog
Mar 5, 2007



Fallen Rib
That is a huge relief. I wasn't sure if it was "take it straight to a shop" messed up or what you guys said. A buddy of mine races SV's but lives kinda far. I'll have them give it an in person look and ride.

That tire is SHOT. Or it may have some miles left on it but I've resolved to get it replaced right after the bike is up and running again. When I bought it it looked better and coredump said he thought it had at least a year left on it. It was flatted a bit then, but it wasn't flatted at an angle like that. The flatting has gotten much worse in the last month or two. Maybe my choppy downshifts, copious launches, and poor cornering caused extreme wear? It's gotten past the point where I'm comfortable with it. I'm glad to hear it def needs to go.

Thing is, it didn't look THAT bad before the accident. It looked like a normal tire. Flatted but I chalked it up to normal wear on commutes. The spots you are seeing isn't cord but a shiny bit that goes the whole way around. This was dull before the wreck so I'm thinking its from the hard stop I did. Maybe I had it moving slightly before lock for a long way and just glazed it all the way around?

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.
Typically thats what rubber looks like right before it shows a cord.

Your shock is fine.

The Royal Nonesuch
Nov 1, 2005

Yesterday I was out in the parking lot at work talking to a couple of coworkers, and noticed a big Honda K1300 leaving our parking lot. It went out of sight behind some trees where the exit is, and shortly after I heard a smash. Thought it was some nearbye construction, but seconds later I get a call from our gate kiosk that a motorcyclist had just been hit on the street.

I grabbed my medic kit out of my truck (part of my job includes medical response) and we raced out to the street. The bike was on it's side, the poor bastard was laying in the intersection and a couple of bystanders were rushing up. The big SUV that hit him had pulled over, and it's horrified driver was standing on the corner gasping. I rushed over and did a quick survey while instructing him to lay still - poor guy grabbed my hand when I said I rode too and that he was going to be okay. Right off the bat I see his ankle nauseatingly twisted, and he was rashed up in various spots... wearing only jeans, tshirt, hiking shoes. At least he had a fullface. We immobilized him as best possible while waiting for EMS; he was able to speak but the pain really started kicking in and he gave me his wife's phone number through tears and gasps. He kept complaining of leg cramps, so I (correctly) figured his leg was busted too.

Police arrived first and blocked off the street, EMS arrived a couple of eternities afterwards and shot him up with what I later learned was a near-lethal dose of morphine. I broke away to make the call to his wife - something I really didn't want to do, but I know EMS doesn't make that call until much later and if it was me, I'd want my family knowing ASAP. She took it well, but it was pretty sad to have my phone ringing constantly for the next hour as the hospital hadn't made contact and I was her only link.

From what we surmised and a partial witness, he stopped at the stopsign entering the street, proceeded, and she hit him from the right directly in his leg/foot. She had a stopsign as well and claimed to have stopped but didn't see him - the sun was low in her eyes and he was in neutral colors so it's possible. I think it's more likely she was looking at her phone and did a slow-go stop. The motorcyclist's wife called me again today to ask a question, and I inquired as to his status - broken ankle, broken fibula, broken shoulder, broken finger, bad puncture wounds to his leg and roadrash. He's in for a lot of surgery and rehab. She thanked me profusely and sounded like she was doing okay; even joking how she'd tried to get him to stop riding and he usually would be only wearing shorts.

Took me a little longer than usual to fall asleep that night. I still rode to work the next morning, but it was eerie riding over the bits of plastic in the road. My next day off is going to be spent buying the most expensive, reinforced racing boots I can find. Be careful in intersections dudes.

Bonus meathead police quote from the scene: "Nah, boots won't save ya - they just hurt more when the medics take em off! This is why I don't ride!" :downs:

nsaP
May 4, 2004

alright?
Good on you.

Snowdens Secret
Dec 29, 2008
Someone got you a obnoxiously racist av.

The Royal Nonesuch posted:

My next day off is going to be spent buying the most expensive, reinforced racing boots I can find. Be careful in intersections dudes.

Bonus meathead police quote from the scene: "Nah, boots won't save ya - they just hurt more when the medics take em off! This is why I don't ride!" :downs:

If you take a broadside from a three-ton SUV, the forces involved are completely different from you sliding on the ground by your own inertia. Safety gear definitely would've helped, but depending on the hit and how pulverized he was the best boots in the world might not have let him walk away. Off-road boots are stiffer and more heavily armored than anything appropriate for the street and just the force of running into a tree or a rock can still end up breaking feet and legs; a heavy motor vehicle pinning you against the road or your own vehicle is way worse.

I'm in no way defending the idiot for riding without gear or trying to discourage ATGATT, but the cop's silly line does have a glimmer of truth, hard plastic armor simply can't work magic against physics. You could be dressed like this guy and still get badly injured. The two ways to walk away from an accident like that are to be in a car with nice crumple zones instead - like the cop said - or avoid it in the first place.

Thanks for being a good samaritan and administering first aid, and the family followup, that was a good thing you did.

ReformedNiceGuy
Feb 12, 2008

Snowdens Secret posted:

Thanks for being a good samaritan and administering first aid, and the family followup, that was a good thing you did.

Echoing this. Most people would be lucky to have someone like you around when they come off. The first time I had an accident an SUV drove between me and my bike before I'd had chance to pick myself up!

n8r
Jul 3, 2003

I helped Lowtax become a cyborg and all I got was this lousy avatar
Just look at motoGP for guys that are wearing the best gear available and still get all sorts of busted up. I'd wager most of his injuries would have happened regardless of the amount of gear he has on.

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.
^^^ How many times did Marquez crash this year with no real injuries? ^^^

Or Shinya Nakano having this crash:
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10151095618681563
and walking away with no significant injuries?

Snowdens Secret posted:

If you take a broadside from a three-ton SUV, the forces involved are completely different from you sliding on the ground by your own inertia. Safety gear definitely would've helped, but depending on the hit and how pulverized he was the best boots in the world might not have let him walk away. Off-road boots are stiffer and more heavily armored than anything appropriate for the street and just the force of running into a tree or a rock can still end up breaking feet and legs; a heavy motor vehicle pinning you against the road or your own vehicle is way worse.

I'm in no way defending the idiot for riding without gear or trying to discourage ATGATT, but the cop's silly line does have a glimmer of truth, hard plastic armor simply can't work magic against physics. You could be dressed like this guy and still get badly injured. The two ways to walk away from an accident like that are to be in a car with nice crumple zones instead - like the cop said - or avoid it in the first place.

Thanks for being a good samaritan and administering first aid, and the family followup, that was a good thing you did.

I think there's a bit of a false equivalency there. There's things you're not going to walk away from regardless of what sort of gear you're wearing. What gear will do is be the difference between recovering from road rash for 3 months, or a completely shattered ankle and a broken leg. I'd much rather have a broken leg than a busted ankle. You heal a shitload faster from a broken leg then you do some kind of damage to a joint that is far more complex to operate on and has less bloodflow...anything that spreads the impact and can protect the small, fragile bones in your joints can be the difference between surgery and a couple of weeks of recovery and months and months in a cast/immobilizer in the hopes that your joints won't be hosed in the long run.

nsaP
May 4, 2004

alright?
God you're annoying lately, have you not been able to ride recently or something?

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

I'm not siding with anything z3n is saying one way or the other, but NsaP I swear to god you exist solely to shitpost about him.

nsaP
May 4, 2004

alright?
You must be glossing over my other posts and you seem to be making a big mistake. He's the one poo poo posting, I'm just pointing it out. He begins his post with a false equivalency then ends it by accusing someone else of a false equivalency. It's not worth the effort to respond to it other than 'lol'.

Snowdens Secret
Dec 29, 2008
Someone got you a obnoxiously racist av.

Z3n posted:

I think there's a bit of a false equivalency there. There's things you're not going to walk away from regardless of what sort of gear you're wearing. What gear will do is be the difference between recovering from road rash for 3 months, or a completely shattered ankle and a broken leg. I'd much rather have a broken leg than a busted ankle. You heal a shitload faster from a broken leg then you do some kind of damage to a joint that is far more complex to operate on and has less bloodflow...anything that spreads the impact and can protect the small, fragile bones in your joints can be the difference between surgery and a couple of weeks of recovery and months and months in a cast/immobilizer in the hopes that your joints won't be hosed in the long run.

Which is exactly what I said. Better (or any) gear would have almost definitely put him in better shape. He probably still would have broken bones and have had to have been carted off in an ambulance. I wouldn't even go so far as to say it would have totally prevented broken bones in his feet, if he straight up takes a Yukon to the ankle. Gear helps but is not magic.

Also Marquez escaping without major injury all season was considered stunning win-the-lottery luck by every moto journalist I've read.

E: And to stress again, the right way to avoid injury is to avoid the crash. Even in the brief explanation of the crash given in the post, there were several points where the rider could've acted differently. But that's beating a dead horse against hearsay.

Snowdens Secret fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Jan 15, 2014

Halo_4am
Sep 25, 2003

Code Zombie
The statement.

The Royal Nonesuch posted:

Bonus meathead police quote from the scene: "Nah, boots won't save ya - they just hurt more when the medics take em off! This is why I don't ride!" :downs:

The devil's advocate.

Snowdens Secret posted:

I'm in no way defending the idiot for riding without gear or trying to discourage ATGATT, but the cop's silly line does have a glimmer of truth, hard plastic armor simply can't work magic against physics.

The reason it's not much of an advocacy.

Z3n posted:

anything that spreads the impact and can protect the small, fragile bones in your joints can be the difference between surgery and a couple of weeks of recovery and months and months in a cast/immobilizer in the hopes that your joints won't be hosed in the long run.

In short, there's badly hurt and then there's crippled for life or just dead. Being pinned by an SUV means long odds of getting up and dusting yourself off, and regardless of gear there's always a chance of death and dismemberment in incidents with things measured in g-force and weighed in tons. That doesn't mean your odds are zero, and it never means the gear didn't improve the odds.

Can we get back to learning from mistakes now or does Karl Pilkington have more brilliant ideas to shed light on non issues?

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

Snowdens Secret posted:

And to stress again, the right way to avoid injury is to avoid the crash. Even in the brief explanation of the crash given in the post, there were several points where the rider could've acted differently. But that's beating a dead horse against hearsay.

This is my take on 90% of bike crashes. I often struggle to find any sense of sympathy for people who have some sort of high-speed or intersection related wreck because the majority of the time there were steps they could've taken to avoid crashing to start with. It also makes the ones that are unpreventable all the more depressing to think about.

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.

Slavvy posted:

This is my take on 90% of bike crashes. I often struggle to find any sense of sympathy for people who have some sort of high-speed or intersection related wreck because the majority of the time there were steps they could've taken to avoid crashing to start with. It also makes the ones that are unpreventable all the more depressing to think about.

Yeah. My experience with this?

My wife t-boned by a Volvo SUV - she was doing roughly 35mph, Volvo was at a side street on her right, and pulled out into her path to make a left, then slammed on the brakes, blocking the road.

She swerved to the left but didn't want to cross the DY despite the lack of oncoming traffic, and the kid learning to drive the SUV (with his mom in the passenger seat) let off the brakes, rolled forward, and clipped the front right fork of the bike. As she got highsided off the bike, her knee caught the edge of the car, her foot hooked the bumper, and she took the bumper with her as she got launched off the bike from the bike flipping sideways.

She got taken the to the ER, but they didn't do anything. She had massive bruising, she still has some residual swelling on her right knee, her boot was ripped open and a quarter inch gouge was taken out of the internal support skeleton of the boot, but no lasting joint damage. She was in full gear (leather jacket, textile pants, A* SMX-4? boots, A* gloves, scorpion helmet. I have pretty much zero doubt from looking at the damage to the boot that she probably would have been lacking a very significant part of her foot after that accident.

I've been in crashes at speed approaching 100mph on the track, lower speed crashes on the street, almost always in full gear, and have never been to the hospital as a patient.

Gear won't save you when you go headfirst into an oncoming car at a combined closing speed of 80mph, but I have seen it save people's lives in accidents that "physics" would say you shouldn't survive.

Of course, every one of those accidents someone could have done something to avoid it. My wife would have been fine if she had cut the DY. I would have never crashed if I hadn't been riding faster than I should have been around a blind corner, or hammered the throttle on a cold night on old lovely tires, or been target fixating on the lines of the rider in front of me.

Incidentally, this is why I think supermoto is great. You see all kinds of escape routes on those things that you never see anywhere else.

The Royal Nonesuch
Nov 1, 2005

Welp.. I wasn't trying to say he would have walked away from it if he'd been wearing boots - He still would have been all kinds of hosed. I was saying it was a dumb thing for the copper to imply that it's pointless to wear boots because it hurts more to take them off with a broken ankle post-crash.

Really I was just trying to insert a little humor into an intense post, but apparently some of you guys need to slam few mg of morphine yerselves.

edit: the supermoto escape route point is excellent, and should not be overlooked.

Shimrod
Apr 15, 2007

race tires on road are a great idea, ask me!

I always assumed they just cut boots off after a crash if they think you've got a broken ankle?

Bugdrvr
Mar 7, 2003

The Royal Nonesuch posted:

Welp.. I wasn't trying to say he would have walked away from it if he'd been wearing boots - He still would have been all kinds of hosed. I was saying it was a dumb thing for the copper to imply that it's pointless to wear boots because it hurts more to take them off with a broken ankle post-crash.

Really I was just trying to insert a little humor into an intense post, but apparently some of you guys need to slam few mg of morphine yerselves.

edit: the supermoto escape route point is excellent, and should not be overlooked.

I think for a lot of people, they haven't seen or felt an actual motorcycle boot outside of a Harley leather dress boot. My A* boots have some serious ankle support and I really do think they'd help a lot even getting hit by a lovely SUV.

Anyway, I forgot to put my kick stand down after I parked yesterday. The bike fell over. On me. In front of my neighbors. They laughed and then helped me get unstuck.

I'll take a few mg of morphine if you're buying. Between dropping a bike on myself and doing an R&R on a Cayenne Turbo transmission I think I'm about ready to cash it in.

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

I once got second degree burns all over my face and it was one of the worst days of my life.

Then they gave me eight shots of morphine and it became the BEST DAY EVER!

ought ten
Feb 6, 2004

Slavvy posted:

I once got second degree burns all over my face and it was one of the worst days of my life.

Then they gave me eight shots of morphine and it became the BEST DAY EVER!

Had a kidney stone last summer. Took me a while to convince the nurses it wasn't an STI, but after I demanded painkillers they gave me a morphine drip and hoooooooly poo poo. It was instantaneous. Best four hours I've spent in a rundown ER hallway. Unfortunately I didn't get the drugs until after they jammed a q-tip in my peehole, not that I cared at that point.

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

A hospital is an incredible place when you're on morphine. So much busy activity, so much beautiful soft lighting, the sheets and blankets are just so wonderfully soft and cloud-like and everyone is so nice...

Safety Dance
Sep 10, 2007

Five degrees to starboard!

When I broke my tibia and fibula, I got morphine in the ambulance, which was enough to take the edge off. I got special K(which was curious) and percocet in the hospital. After surgery they had the hardware in place for one of those press-button-get-morphine machines, but it wasn't hooked up nor was there any morphine to be had. That sucked.

BlackMK4
Aug 23, 2006

wat.
Megamarm
K is loving weird. It's been a minute? It feels like yearssss.

Safety Dance
Sep 10, 2007

Five degrees to starboard!

It wasn't like that. It was more like, "Oh, you're setting my leg? Cool. Yeah, it hurts, but it's all good. You can keep pushing on it if you need. Cool bracelet, is that paracord?"

BlackMK4
Aug 23, 2006

wat.
Megamarm
Recreational levels are like what I described, at least. :v:

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

Heavy doses of Ketamine apparently replicate the symptoms of a schitzophrenic episode pretty well. I had a friend who took it pretty religiously and he said it made your brain prioritise your internal reality as being more real than the outside world.

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.

The Royal Nonesuch posted:

Welp.. I wasn't trying to say he would have walked away from it if he'd been wearing boots - He still would have been all kinds of hosed. I was saying it was a dumb thing for the copper to imply that it's pointless to wear boots because it hurts more to take them off with a broken ankle post-crash.

Really I was just trying to insert a little humor into an intense post, but apparently some of you guys need to slam few mg of morphine yerselves.

edit: the supermoto escape route point is excellent, and should not be overlooked.

I think I just reach a certain level of frustration because people say "well, gear can't save you from everything", yet gear will basically always reduce the severity of an accident by, at the very least, an order of magnitude. From roadrash to no roadrash, shattered bones to single breaks, etc.

I think all other gear gets a little strange because there's not a lot of good data on the accidents where people just pick the bike up and go home. Out of all of my accidents, none of them have ever involved a serious injury (most of the time, thanks to gear), and only one has involved the police (when a lady made a left in front of me and a police report was taken). Yet all of those accidents would have probably involved a trip to the hospital if I had only been wearing a helmet, as most of them had some ended up with destroyed gloves, boots, or other pieces of gear that sacrificed themselves in place of my skin and bones.

The EMTs were also shocked in my wife's accident because they had basically never seen a rider in gear before, which is an interesting data point as well.

Of course, from drug chat, maybe I'm missing out by never going to the hospital...

ElMaligno
Dec 31, 2004

Be Gay!
Do Crime!

When I dislocated my shoulder last year, the ER gave me 4 shots of morphine. It did take the edge off the pain, but it wasn't a magical experience everyone seems to rave about.

Then came the Propofol (the same drug Michael Jackon OD on) and I blacked the gently caress out. I mean apparently I was still trying to maintain a conversation with the nurse. :v:

Pompous Rhombus
Mar 11, 2007
Had my first real uh-oh on the XLR last weekend after just over a year of ownership: was heading up a mountain, came around a corner, hit a patch of black ice, and took a spill. Didn't feel the bike lose traction or anything, was pretty much just an instantaneous "welp, poo poo".

My leather jacket (which I bought secondhand, and already had some light rashing on that elbow, it's still fine) took the brunt of it; my elbow got a light bruise that barely hurt. My girlfriend (who I make wear gear, and now finally appreciates it) got a similar bruise on her knee, which I think she would have escaped if she was closer to my size and the knee armor had taken the impact rather than the area just above it. There's now a small hole in my good mesh pants, which the anal retentive in me wants to replace, but not for $200. The Icon Overlord's I was wearing got a little rashed up but seem otherwise fine (well, as fine as the cheap pieces of poo poo they are can be). I might have lost another stud off the Elsinore's (where the buckles hold the leather straps), or maybe that just fell off naturally beforehand like the first one and I didn't notice it. The pants were a hand-me-down from a friend, the boots I bought myself... don't think I'll ever buy another piece of Icon equipment, it seems very poorly made.

Bike: I lost my left turn rear signal; the bulb is still attached but it's not working. Should be an easy fix, been using hand signals in the meantime. Handlebars are also crooked, tomorrow going to head over to a buddy's place and we'll prop it up, loosen the triple tree bolts, and set it straight. Still perfectly rideable.

I've had one or two similar crashes on dirt (offroading scooters in Vietnam), but this is my first one since getting a license/proper bike. There's not a whole lot else I think I could have done differently; We were 5.5kms up a 7km road to the top and had only just started encountering snow on the sides of what appeared to be a very well-plowed road (we walked the rest of the way up and there was no more ice, the patch in question wasn't in the shade or anything, just seemed random), hindsight is 20-20 and all that. I'm definitely going to be more paranoid when I start seeing bits of snow around me, for sure.

Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Jan 18, 2014

Finger Prince
Jan 5, 2007


Welp, had a parking lot fall over today. Stupid Tesco :v:! There's a car wash bay on the way out that I had to ride past, and with the bit of water on the road. I knew it would be a bit slippy, so was being careful and taking it easy. As I came to the junction next to it, I wasn't really sure which way I had to turn to get out. In my confusion and hesitation, some crossing cars got closer than they would have and I had to stop a bit more suddenly than I had planned to. Well I can only assume that the water was actually a diesel slick or something similar because I went down like a judo throw. Armour did it's job, but my leg got pinned under the bike. Thankfully the helpful carwash attendants lifted it for me. Anyway, no real damage. I nursed the bike to my friend's place down the road and he gave me a lift to the hospital. No bone damage, just feels like a Ducati sat on my leg. Squashed calf, it's gonna be super stiff tomorrow. Damage to the bike was minimal, some scratches on the side fairings and a busted shift lever. Side stand seems a little hyperextended, but doesn't look too bad, probably just the bracket pushed out of place.

hot sauce
Jan 13, 2005

Grimey Drawer
I went dirt bike riding with a friend on Monday and had a little spill. His cousins live out on this farmland with lots of woods and fields to ride in. The bikes were little CRF100s, so I admit I didn't take it as seriously as I should have. I had on a helmet but nothing else. Long story short, I was going about 30-35mph when I noticed a gopher hole coming up on me fast. I tried to brake but the ground was soft and the back tire started sliding. Before I had time to think, my front tire was down in the hole and I went over the handlebars. Luckily, my left shoulder took the brunt of the impact rather than my neck. It didn't hurt at the time so I hopped up to make sure everything was still attached. No real damage to myself or the bike, besides feeling a little stiff for a while. Looking back, I wasn't really going that fast, just riding carelessly and not looking in front of me.

Lessons learned: 1) small dirt bikes are just as dangerous as a real motorcycle and 2) whenever I move out of the city I'm buying a dirt bike

LifeSizePotato
Mar 3, 2005

Welp, 11 years and something like 60,000 miles of smug, mishap-free riding down the drain this afternoon. I had a low-speed front end wipeout coming home from work.

They're doing a bunch of construction around my office, so the roads are all dusty and sandy. I was riding behind a lady, with good following distance (I'm typically like an MSF poster child), and she randomly slammed on her brakes and came to a complete stop for no apparent reason. I squeezed my front lever, progressively and not abruptly, as I recall, but it must have been too much for the road surface, and the front wheel swept out from under me. I was only going about 10 or 15mph, and I slid about 10ft on the ground. ATGATT, so no injury at all, gear's all reusable (but dusty) and the bike is mostly fine. Scratched up the exhaust a little and the left side engine cover, the latter of which is easily replaceable. I rode the remaining 8 miles home without incident.

I know 99% of crashes are the rider's fault, so in this one, I will accept responsibility for not taking into consideration the dusty road and a front tire that's in its twilight days. I probably should have done more rear and less front brake in that instance, too (it was a simple straight-line brake job). I just hope it doesn't make me skittish of using the front brake now. It was crazy how instantaneous it was. I'm sure if I were a pro I could have recovered, but it just felt like milliseconds.

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.
Practice, practice, practice - if you try and react to the front tire locking, it does seem like it happens in milleseconds, if you're anticipating the lock, you can release the second it happens and smoothly reapply.

Glad you're ok, though! One minor fall in 60,000 miles of riding is far better than most do.

LifeSizePotato
Mar 3, 2005

You know, I typed that right after I got home. But, after giving it some more time to sink in, and replaying it over and over, I think the front did lock for about half a second or more. I probably really did have time to let off the brake, but I just didn't recognize it because I'd never had a front wheel lock before.

It's also one of those things I've always wanted to practice, knowing that I should...but I never wanted to risk crashing a bike just to see what a front wheel lockup feels like.

UPDATE: Just editing this post for future readers since I don't feel like bumping the thread. I went back over the place where I wiped out after work today (3 days later). It wasn't just sand and dust - there was a dark swath of oil/gas across the lane right there, too. That explains why I was braking, progressively, and then it just slid out from under me as I rolled across it. It spanned the entire lane and was about 3 feet wide. I was a bit relieved to see that it didn't mean my tire was completely worthless or something.

LifeSizePotato fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Feb 25, 2014

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Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.
I had sort of the same mentality towards that sort of practice. But the reality is, in a controlled situation, the front wheel gives some warning before it goes away, and there is plenty of time to recover it in a controlled, non-panic situation. When you're out on the road in a panic situation? Not so much...

I'd say the risk of crashing in a controlled environment is 3-5% when you first try it, and it drops significantly after you do it the first few times. Just work your way up to it, and ingrain good habits.

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