stark23x
Junior Member
My story: Years of riding cruisers, wanted something different. Wife agreed that my birthday this year was a good excuse to but something mildly sporty. I picked up a 1995 Seca II (XJ600) and really enjoyed riding it. I did not enjoy the incessant maintenance or the ten minute warm-up every time I let it sit more than an hour. Or the intermittent vacuum failures on the pet**** even though literally every part in the system was new and checked by four different people.
So when a nice 2005 FZ6 came around my local dealer, I jumped on it. They put a brand new tire on the rear, tuned it, changed oil & fluids and gave me a decent price. Picked it up on a Thursday, did paperwork, transferred reg, etc. Rode it home. Immediately fell in love. Friday morning, I took my Hyperlites off the XJ and installed them on the FZ. I decided to go for a short ride before dinner. Ten minutes in, I wanted to pull over and see if the double-sided tape was really holding the Hyperlites to the underside of the fender eliminator bracket. I saw a turnoff I've used a hundred times before.
I saw the patch of sandy gravel but it looked packed down, and like I said I've used this turnoff a million times. STUPID DECISION. It's this perfect picturesque spot to take motorcycle glamor shots.
I started to pull in and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. I was going maybe 4, 5 miles an hour and that gravel was mostly sand. Rear tire just went right out. I sat on the ground staring at the bike for a good three minutes until someone stopped and asked me if I was OK.
I was. I lifted the bike and assessed. It was a lot of plastic damage, some frame scrapes, mirrors snapped off, but it started. No fluids came out of anywhere. The mirrors were aftermarket with signals and were swinging by the wires. I decided they were fine just swinging. STUPID DECISION. What I should have done was cut both mirrors off and stuff them in my pocket.
Rode home, the mirror on the non-crashed side had flipped up in the wind and flopped down inside the fairing, went to turn in the driveway, the steering was jammed, I couldn't move the bars in either direction, I panicked and grabbed a handful of clutch, but I also grabbed the brake. Hard.
As you all know, the brakes on this bike are pretty decent up front. Tipped over right in front of my own house, bike fell on my leg, smashed the opposite side signal, plastic and my pride. No frame damage though since I provided a nice barrier between the bike and the street. The mirror was jammed in there pretty good.
Every part of the fairing has damage now, mostly in mounting points. So that's a lot of plastic I just bought. The headlight assembly broke all but the one main mounting tab. Shockingly though, the windscreen didn't get a single scratch.
So now I am ordering parts and waiting. I've replaced and re-wired the signals, and fixed some really suspect wiring the previous owner did with the HID upgrade. Probably wouldn't have ever seen any of that without this crash. I have the Color Rite silver frame paint already, so I can minimize the frame damage. And when it's all over the plastics will all be brand new, so she will be very pretty. Eventually.
Every day I feel like a complete idiot.
Album link: Crrrrrash (New-to-me 2005 FZ6) - Imgur
So when a nice 2005 FZ6 came around my local dealer, I jumped on it. They put a brand new tire on the rear, tuned it, changed oil & fluids and gave me a decent price. Picked it up on a Thursday, did paperwork, transferred reg, etc. Rode it home. Immediately fell in love. Friday morning, I took my Hyperlites off the XJ and installed them on the FZ. I decided to go for a short ride before dinner. Ten minutes in, I wanted to pull over and see if the double-sided tape was really holding the Hyperlites to the underside of the fender eliminator bracket. I saw a turnoff I've used a hundred times before.
I saw the patch of sandy gravel but it looked packed down, and like I said I've used this turnoff a million times. STUPID DECISION. It's this perfect picturesque spot to take motorcycle glamor shots.
I started to pull in and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. I was going maybe 4, 5 miles an hour and that gravel was mostly sand. Rear tire just went right out. I sat on the ground staring at the bike for a good three minutes until someone stopped and asked me if I was OK.I was. I lifted the bike and assessed. It was a lot of plastic damage, some frame scrapes, mirrors snapped off, but it started. No fluids came out of anywhere. The mirrors were aftermarket with signals and were swinging by the wires. I decided they were fine just swinging. STUPID DECISION. What I should have done was cut both mirrors off and stuff them in my pocket.
Rode home, the mirror on the non-crashed side had flipped up in the wind and flopped down inside the fairing, went to turn in the driveway, the steering was jammed, I couldn't move the bars in either direction, I panicked and grabbed a handful of clutch, but I also grabbed the brake. Hard.
As you all know, the brakes on this bike are pretty decent up front. Tipped over right in front of my own house, bike fell on my leg, smashed the opposite side signal, plastic and my pride. No frame damage though since I provided a nice barrier between the bike and the street. The mirror was jammed in there pretty good.
Every part of the fairing has damage now, mostly in mounting points. So that's a lot of plastic I just bought. The headlight assembly broke all but the one main mounting tab. Shockingly though, the windscreen didn't get a single scratch.
So now I am ordering parts and waiting. I've replaced and re-wired the signals, and fixed some really suspect wiring the previous owner did with the HID upgrade. Probably wouldn't have ever seen any of that without this crash. I have the Color Rite silver frame paint already, so I can minimize the frame damage. And when it's all over the plastics will all be brand new, so she will be very pretty. Eventually.
Every day I feel like a complete idiot.
Album link: Crrrrrash (New-to-me 2005 FZ6) - Imgur
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