Dumped on the highway at rush hour

[zoomman]

I think if I end up ordering the fairing, I'd just get it in the same color rather than going to black and needing to buy both. Going with black was just to save $50 and future-proof the bike (since I know that is a contact point, I can always re-touch it up).

I was in a similar accident and ended up replacing the front fairing (Ron Ayers), touching up the gas tank (ColorRite), the touch up paint does not work well on the plastic fairings.

** On the "crank case" I used a black matte heat resistant spray paint, my wife couldn't even notice the difference...came out looking pretty sweet. I'll post pictures later today. I cut a circle out of a piece of card-board the size of the crank case and used blue painters tape to make sure nothing else was exposed...nice!

 

[zoomman]

This the cheap man's way to fix a bike! As I mentioned before, I sprayed the crank case, not pretty but, adds character.

 

[agmom98]

Luckily, it looks like the part of the fairing that got scraped can be replaced for MUCH less than it would cost to replace the entire front fairing. That's one option.
Thoughts?

That really stinks! I know that stretch of 128 all too well, having commuted it for 8 years from Boxford to Waltham. It gets a little tight with Highway 3 merging in.

That piece is only $40 to replace and very easy to do. It's what I would do, rather try to fool around with painting those parts...unless you really want to. JMO. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Amazing that you had such minimal injuries going that fast, and most importantly, you didn't get runned over during heavy traffic.

So I've been on Hwy 128 plenty of times, it's a freeway with mutliples lanes. Which lane were you in, did the cager come from the left or right? Idealy, you should have been in the fast lane. I assume that the cager was on his or here cell phone and didn't even realize what had just happend, so it's very important to get a very loud horn and use it. You might want to practice up on emergency braking too. Sounds like from your description you pretty much crashed due to inexperience. And unless you get use to the idea that this can and will most likely happen again ( bad lane changes ) you'll be much better prepared nextime. There is not a day that I ride, that at the very least, I have the horn covered just in case.

 

[bcityroller]

Glad both you and the FZ sustained only minor injuries - a crash with all the rush hour traffic on 128 had the potential to be a lot worse. It's one of my least favorite roads around here - unfortunately it's all too often that a cager pulls into your lane (even when you ride the outside lanes as much as humanly possible). It's also pretty unusual that a horn has any impact - they generally know you're there and just don't give a crap.

 

[wrightme43]

Amazing that you had such minimal injuries going that fast, and most importantly, you didn't get runned over during heavy traffic.

So I've been on Hwy 128 plenty of times, it's a freeway with mutliples lanes. Which lane were you in, did the cager come from the left or right? Idealy, you should have been in the fast lane. I assume that the cager was on his or here cell phone and didn't even realize what had just happend, so it's very important to get a very loud horn and use it. You might want to practice up on emergency braking too. Sounds like from your description you pretty much crashed due to inexperience. And unless you get use to the idea that this can and will most likely happen again ( bad lane changes ) you'll be much better prepared nextime. There is not a day that I ride, that at the very least, I have the horn covered just in case.

Kenny has some good advice for you here.

Let me ask you this. This not a knock at you or anything. The idea is to dissect every wreck (where the people are willing to) and find out how to prevent it from happening to the next guy. If you search you can find mine. LOL

Ok
When was the last time you practiced your emergency braking?
Do you practice emergency braking from the speeds you ride at? I.E. if you normally ride 85 down the interstate have you stopped as fast as you could from 85 recently?
We have to do this because cagers will hurt us and we hurt ourselves. If we dissect our crashes we learn.
I hope you understand and think its a good idea too.

Were you tired? Hungry? Thirsty? Thinking about anything else? Anything else that could of contributed?

 

[FZ1inNH]

As a typical male, I'm distracted by the thought of sex 6 times a minute. It's difficult to drive a motorcycle.

Excellent advice from you guys. On the highway, there are many escapes. When someone is pulling into your lane, it's highly likely you're riding in their blind spot. That is the very place we, as riders, need to be most aware of and avoid at all costs. Passing through someone's blind spot should be a very quick task. Never linger there or take your time passing. Use the RPM's that were bought and get by to a place where you are seen by the drivers around you. Safe distance is also key, especially in multi-lane roads. Don't ride the center of the lane. Stay where the driver ahead can see you in their left and rearview mirror. If you can't see their face, they will not see you. If they have mirrors that aren't properly adjusted, they probably won't be looking when they swap lanes.

Just some highway advice.

 

[dankatz]

Sorry to hear about your accident. 128 is a horrible road around rush hour. In general, Boston drivers are very aggressive and don't always pay attention. I'm glad you were ATGATT! It sure helped a lot. I had a similar experience in Acton and the gear really saved me (bike totalled). I got up just like you did. Your bike did much better than mine. Those are minor fixes. I am glad you were able to keep riding it. An oil change is easy to do - I did it and I am not mechanically inclined.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Kenny has some good advice for you here.

Let me ask you this. This not a knock at you or anything. The idea is to dissect every wreck (where the people are willing to) and find out how to prevent it from happening to the next guy. If you search you can find mine. LOL

So true, I thank everyone who have crashed for posting pics and explaining how it happened. I absorb every crash that I have read as a learning curve and it has helped me as a rider so that I try to prevent the exact same scenario happenning to me.

Of the 19,000 miles I have logged here in Las Vegas, there have been instances that I think I should have crashed but didn't partly due to the fact that I have read someones posts on how they crashed.

A common denominatorI keep reading, including this recent crash, the use of the horn prior to the full commitment on the cager to change lanes may have prevented this incident. But it's a tough call, I wasn't there and don't know how much room or reaction time there was. But all I do know is that lane and line choice, and possibly the use of the horn could have all come into play. This is another scenario in which I wish there was a motorcycle simulator so that we all could see as a rider on which evasive or corrective action we can take under the exact same circumstances, similar to what pilots do.

Also, Eric ( FZ6inNH) made a great point about blind spots, never linger. I know you were in rush hour traffic, but that should have been a clue that bad lane changes were most like to occur, thus having the horn covered or choosing a better lane or line may have been an important factor that came into play than you had realized.

 

[Se7enLC]

Amazing that you had such minimal injuries going that fast, and most importantly, you didn't get runned over during heavy traffic.

So I've been on Hwy 128 plenty of times, it's a freeway with mutliples lanes. Which lane were you in, did the cager come from the left or right? Idealy, you should have been in the fast lane. I assume that the cager was on his or here cell phone and didn't even realize what had just happend, so it's very important to get a very loud horn and use it. You might want to practice up on emergency braking too. Sounds like from your description you pretty much crashed due to inexperience. And unless you get use to the idea that this can and will most likely happen again ( bad lane changes ) you'll be much better prepared nextime. There is not a day that I ride, that at the very least, I have the horn covered just in case.

I was in the second-to-the-leftmost lane, the driver came from the leftmost lane. My lane was moving slightly faster. The car really jumped out fast, probably to grab what looked like an open space. They came out completely in front of me, so the horn would have done nothing but alert him to what he had already done. I do have an aftermarket horn (it was installed by the previous owner, but I love it. It's louder than most car horns and really catches attention when it's needed). Emergency braking is something that really will need a lot of practice. It's hard to really "get" it when faking the emergency, but now that I have a bike that is scraped on both sides, it's a great time to take the chance and really squeeze the brakes and see what happens.

When was the last time you practiced your emergency braking?
Do you practice emergency braking from the speeds you ride at? I.E. if you normally ride 85 down the interstate have you stopped as fast as you could from 85 recently?

Almost never. I did it for the course, and I've only done it since then in actual emergencies. I am usually so afraid that I'm going to lock the brakes that I apply them fairly slowly.

We have to do this because cagers will hurt us and we hurt ourselves. If we dissect our crashes we learn.
I hope you understand and think its a good idea too.

Were you tired? Hungry? Thirsty? Thinking about anything else? Anything else that could of contributed?

I had just gotten out of work and onto the highway. Had a song stuck in my head and was singing in my helmet. Really, I was just in a good mood and having a fun ride despite the traffic, and got too complacent.

A common denominatory I keep reading, including this recent crash, the use of the horn prior to the full commitment on the cager to change lanes may have prevented this incident. But it's a tough call, I wasn't there and don't know how much room or reaction time there was. But all I do know is that lane and line choice, and possibly the use of the horn could have all come into play. This is another scenario in which I wish there was a motorcycle simulator so that we all could see as a rider on which evasive or corrective action we can take under the exact same circumstances, similar to what pilots do.

In this one, there was actually plenty of room for the car at the speed they were going. Had I not hit the brakes at all, it's likely I never would have hit him. When a car jumps in front of you that close, though, the instinct is to just jam on the brakes and give yourself some distance that they clearly didn't give you. Oops.

Also, Eric ( FZ6inNH) made a great point about blind spots, never linger. I know you were in rush hour traffic, but that should have been a clue that bad lane changes were most like to occur, thus having the horn covered or choosing a better lane or line may have been an important factor that came into play than you realized.

Those kind of lane changes are VERY common, I agree. Usually I can see them coming, when a car slows down a little or hugs the side of the lane. When moving slow enough, you can sometimes even catch the driver swiveling his head around looking for a spot to jump into. This time my lane was actually overtaking the left lane, so there was no way to see what the cars were going to do with that much difference in speed. Had I left a few extra carlengths, there's a good chance that WHEN I got cut off, it would have been further ahead.

I blame myself for a fair amount of this crash - namely my inability to stop without dumping the bike, especially given that I had more than enough space to do a NON emergency stop. Once the bike started to wobble, I didn't take the appropriate action to regain control. As for the cars jumping out, there's only so much you can do. Cars WILL jump out at you, no matter how visible you are and how much space you give them. The horn might have helped if the driver took his time switching lanes, but he really JUMPED into the lane. He knew there wasn't much time and took the opportunity. He had space to do it and did it. But I got spooked and crashed.

 

[FZ1inNH]

Sounds like you've thought this one through and know what you need to practice going forward. Experience is learning from your mistakes the first time. Stupidity is making the same mistake twice.

Here's to your Experience! Well done!

 

[oldtimer]

Doing about 50 in heavy rush-hour traffic on 128SB in MA just north of Rt 2. A small black sedan (BMW perhaps?) quickly changes lanes right in front of me. I slam on the brakes and lose control of the bike. Everyone ELSE stops, but not the black sedan. No injuries (except to pride and a bruise on my hip). As far as I know, nobody saw a plate number, and by the time I was back on my bike, he was long gone (though, I did consider a chase, but there's no way I would have known if I found the right car)

Bike did well, the front fairing is scraped, the crankcase cover is scraped. Minor scrapes on the blinker and mirror. Everything still mechanically fine, and I was able to ride home. In case anyone was curious, the Motovation sliders work great, but they do nothing to protect the crankcase cover.

Luckily, it looks like the part of the fairing that got scraped can be replaced for MUCH less than it would cost to replace the entire front fairing. That's one option.

My other option. What if I were to clean up the scrapes and give that piece a good coating of black? Here's a mock-up of what it would look like if I did that to both sides:

If I screw it up on the one side, I'm still only out that one piece that I was going to have to replace anyway. Thoughts?

Glad you're okay. I can't imagine laying the bike down during rushhour.

It's going to be cheaper to get the scratched fairing part (called the mole) replaced. If you decide to repaint it factory red, the paint and bondo will cost more than a new stock part.

If you go black, well, you're chancing it with the other side.

Crankcase cover is cheap ~ $60 or so.

Check out Discount Motorcycle Parts. Wholesale to everyone..... Find the part number, then call them. For whatever reason, they quoted me cheaper prices on the phone than ordering it through their website. Shipping was very reasonable.

 

[Reclaimer033]

I'm glad you're okay. I'm pretty new to this site. Most of the stuff I've seen here is helpful and constructive. Pretty much the opposite of what I've seen on those gixxer forums. I had a question about your Givi case and your sliders. Was your case on at the time of the accident? I recently purchased the E52 case and was concerned on whether or not the Motovation Frame Sliders would protect it or not.

 

[abacall]

Crashing in rush hour has always been a big fear for me. I avail rush hour as much as possible, mostly becasue cagers do everything but drive during that time.

You know, most people who scrape up their fairing just go neked!

 

[4fun]

The motivation sliders did do a lot for your crankcase cover, yours can be grinded with a dremel, painted and you would not notice the difference.

Here's is what mine looked like without the sliders in a low speed lowside.

My motivation sliders just got delivered today. Can't wait to put them on.

Oh, and thanks for the honest write up. We all learn from our mistakes, that is if we acknowledge them.

 

[Se7enLC]

I'm glad you're okay. I'm pretty new to this site. Most of the stuff I've seen here is helpful and constructive. Pretty much the opposite of what I've seen on those gixxer forums. I had a question about your Givi case and your sliders. Was your case on at the time of the accident? I recently purchased the E52 case and was concerned on whether or not the Motovation Frame Sliders would protect it or not.

Case was on the bike, I don't think it even touched the ground. I had dropped the bike before (right side) and gotten very minor scratches on the box, but nothing worse than I do to it accidentally when the case isn't even on the bike. I think the givi saddlebag rails I have do more to protect the box than the sliders do, though. Those rails are TOUGH! When the bike laid down, the saddlebag was squished, but the whole rear of the bike was supported by the rails (granted, the rear doesn't weigh nearly as much as the front, but still)

I'm a firm believer of those motovation sliders. I've already ordered a replacement set for the ones I have that look like used crayons.

You know, most people who scrape up their fairing just go neked!

If it had been the more expensive fairing, I probably would! I really love the look of the naked FZ6. But the cost to "convert" to the naked is still more than the cost of repairing/replacing that one piece. Maybe the next time I crash it

 

[abacall]

^^ Ahg.. Don't say that!
You can always sell the pieces you have now and offset the cost.... OK. I'll stop.

 

[xj750_Pete]

About the left side crank case cover, I do no think oil will leak out of it if you remove it. So you won't have to drain the oil or anything. I think this is where the ignition pick up is located. By the way, sorry to hear about the crash. I ride in heavy traffic all the time and I am so paranoid when I hear screeching tires behind me. Hope the bike gets fixed like new.

 

[Oscar54]

Good to hear you are OK!

 

[Tailgate]

I wouldn't replace the crankcase cover. It doesn't leak, does it? Same thing happen to me, same EXACT places. I'm just going to spray over the crankcase cover. Who knows? Might end up scratching it up again. I already got the color match paint through Colorrite for the fairing piece. I first ordered through Cyclesurge.com but had to dispute the transaction through PayPal because I never got. PayPal refunded the money but it took, all together, almost a month. I bought the plastic primer spray and clear top spray from Lowe's. I couldn't find a color match so I forked over the near $50 for it (includes shipping). However, I DO like your black mod to the fairing. Looks like a nice option!