markersniffen
Junior Member
I hate this part, but I know I should do it. Being humiliated sucks but I believe it ultimately leads to growth. So I went down the other day. I cannot blame another driver for cutting me off, no one else was involved.
I am pretty much completely fine, I have a decent size bruise on my right hip and a small one on my right knee. My right forearm has a bruise too. Right hand is a tad sore, but I don't have any rash anywhere, no part of my ever touched the pavement, just my gear (which did it's job!).
So I was pulling out of a parking lot...same huge gravel parking lot that I set my bike down at 0mph in soon after I bought it...stupid parking lot...
anyway, I was pulling out, turning left onto a normal two way road, double yellow in the middle. I accelerated a bit as I left, probably got up to 20-25mph as I straightened out, and then suddenly the bars jerked and pull hard to the left. As they turned to the left, the bike moved slightly to the left to follow the "turn" and then suddenly the bike tipped harshly over on it's right side (highsided?). I went left, over the bike, but it stayed in front of me as we skidded about 30 feet. It didn't seem like 30 feet but the scrapes on the road showed otherwise. I landed on a combo of my right shoulder and hip. The awesome pro-life armor in my jacket completely preserved my shoulder. My hip is actually fine too, other than a bruise. I did nick my head on the ground, right where the mask connects to the helmet. It was a glancing hit, and I barley felt that I had made contact. I told the paramedic, and he seemed to think I was fine, and the day after I don't feel anything. My bike ended up in the opposite lane, but there weren't any cars coming for a bit, and the people behind me were a decent ways away. I think 7 or 8 cars pulled over and a few guys helped me pull my bike out of the road which was cool. I jumped up immediately and got out of the road, I wasn't really shaken, more just pissed that I went down. =P
So after everyone who stopped quadruple checked to make sure I was OK, they all left, and since someone had called 911 I just waited for a few minutes for the flashing lights to arrive. The cop took my statement, gave me a report with a number to give my insurance so they could see the report. I signed off on the ambulance ride to the hospital, as I was feeling fine and the medic said I seemed to be perfectly fine. I called my buddy with a pickup truck to put the bike in to bring it home. I wasn't planning on riding it back. I inspected the damage on site, and aside from the skid marks on the frame, the whole front fairing was off kilter, and the lower right section of the front fairing had cracked and was hanging off. Me and my buddy couldn't get it into his truck, so I ended up riding it slowly home. Everything worked, turn signals, brakes, clutch, etc. It didn't sound or feel different.
So that's where I'm at now. I haven't called my insurance company yet, I was curious to what any of you might think. I don't have collision, and provided the bike is mechanically sound, it might just be cosmetic stuff that I have to get fixed before I can take it out again. (regardless, I am going to have a shop check it out to make sure it is ride-worthy) Do I legally have to call my insurance company and report the accident? Is there a chance they will cover anything? Will they force me to do anything? I did a little research online and someone was saying that they could total the bike and essentially make you buy it back if you wanted to keep and fix it. Not sure if that is remotely true, but I wanted to check with real people first.
I definitely plan on riding again, I am not shaken up enough to make give it up. It did make me think a lot about how I ride, and the fact that I really am a beginner. I don't know exactly what happened...I assume it was something I did, maybe accidentally rolling the throttle to much or putting weight on the handlebars...I did recently install FZ1 bars with heated grips. Since the bars are pretty flat and a lot lower, I did catch myself leaning on the bars every once in a while. Not good, but I tried to train myself not to do it. It seems that everyone who has done the mod says that the cable lengths do not need to be adjusted (brake lines, clutch, etc.) but I did have a few more lines going down, power for my phone & the new heated grips. Maybe something got caught on something? I haven't really looked at the bike since I brought it back, but I am going to take a closer look when I get some time. Work has been crazy.
So that's about it, I'll just hit post now before I change my mind. I might post pics too, for advice, etc. Front fairing anyone?
One last thing for the sake of anyone who is on the fence when it comes to ATGATT, even a "minor" crash like this was hugely influence by my gear. Full face helmet, Revit Sand Jacket, TCX Infinity Boots of Awesomeness, and Revit Monster gloves all played their part. If I had only shelled out the $300 for the matching pants with the jacket, my hip wouldn't be as black and blue right now. :thumbup:
-mark
I am pretty much completely fine, I have a decent size bruise on my right hip and a small one on my right knee. My right forearm has a bruise too. Right hand is a tad sore, but I don't have any rash anywhere, no part of my ever touched the pavement, just my gear (which did it's job!).
So I was pulling out of a parking lot...same huge gravel parking lot that I set my bike down at 0mph in soon after I bought it...stupid parking lot...
anyway, I was pulling out, turning left onto a normal two way road, double yellow in the middle. I accelerated a bit as I left, probably got up to 20-25mph as I straightened out, and then suddenly the bars jerked and pull hard to the left. As they turned to the left, the bike moved slightly to the left to follow the "turn" and then suddenly the bike tipped harshly over on it's right side (highsided?). I went left, over the bike, but it stayed in front of me as we skidded about 30 feet. It didn't seem like 30 feet but the scrapes on the road showed otherwise. I landed on a combo of my right shoulder and hip. The awesome pro-life armor in my jacket completely preserved my shoulder. My hip is actually fine too, other than a bruise. I did nick my head on the ground, right where the mask connects to the helmet. It was a glancing hit, and I barley felt that I had made contact. I told the paramedic, and he seemed to think I was fine, and the day after I don't feel anything. My bike ended up in the opposite lane, but there weren't any cars coming for a bit, and the people behind me were a decent ways away. I think 7 or 8 cars pulled over and a few guys helped me pull my bike out of the road which was cool. I jumped up immediately and got out of the road, I wasn't really shaken, more just pissed that I went down. =P
So after everyone who stopped quadruple checked to make sure I was OK, they all left, and since someone had called 911 I just waited for a few minutes for the flashing lights to arrive. The cop took my statement, gave me a report with a number to give my insurance so they could see the report. I signed off on the ambulance ride to the hospital, as I was feeling fine and the medic said I seemed to be perfectly fine. I called my buddy with a pickup truck to put the bike in to bring it home. I wasn't planning on riding it back. I inspected the damage on site, and aside from the skid marks on the frame, the whole front fairing was off kilter, and the lower right section of the front fairing had cracked and was hanging off. Me and my buddy couldn't get it into his truck, so I ended up riding it slowly home. Everything worked, turn signals, brakes, clutch, etc. It didn't sound or feel different.
So that's where I'm at now. I haven't called my insurance company yet, I was curious to what any of you might think. I don't have collision, and provided the bike is mechanically sound, it might just be cosmetic stuff that I have to get fixed before I can take it out again. (regardless, I am going to have a shop check it out to make sure it is ride-worthy) Do I legally have to call my insurance company and report the accident? Is there a chance they will cover anything? Will they force me to do anything? I did a little research online and someone was saying that they could total the bike and essentially make you buy it back if you wanted to keep and fix it. Not sure if that is remotely true, but I wanted to check with real people first.
I definitely plan on riding again, I am not shaken up enough to make give it up. It did make me think a lot about how I ride, and the fact that I really am a beginner. I don't know exactly what happened...I assume it was something I did, maybe accidentally rolling the throttle to much or putting weight on the handlebars...I did recently install FZ1 bars with heated grips. Since the bars are pretty flat and a lot lower, I did catch myself leaning on the bars every once in a while. Not good, but I tried to train myself not to do it. It seems that everyone who has done the mod says that the cable lengths do not need to be adjusted (brake lines, clutch, etc.) but I did have a few more lines going down, power for my phone & the new heated grips. Maybe something got caught on something? I haven't really looked at the bike since I brought it back, but I am going to take a closer look when I get some time. Work has been crazy.
So that's about it, I'll just hit post now before I change my mind. I might post pics too, for advice, etc. Front fairing anyone?
One last thing for the sake of anyone who is on the fence when it comes to ATGATT, even a "minor" crash like this was hugely influence by my gear. Full face helmet, Revit Sand Jacket, TCX Infinity Boots of Awesomeness, and Revit Monster gloves all played their part. If I had only shelled out the $300 for the matching pants with the jacket, my hip wouldn't be as black and blue right now. :thumbup:
-mark
