I'm In! New member of the Crash Club.

[artistic rider]

Beautiful day yesterday for riding so I figure I would head up to Freeport Illinois to take care of some business. Why bother to fax, I have a motorcycle and look for reasons to ride. So off I go. Beautiful ride but a tad bit windy. Then I hit the traffic from the I90 work 2 miles before I exit at Rockford. That added another 20 MINUTES to do 2 freaking miles. At least the ride going home didn't look bad. So after dropping off the paperwork I went to Taylor park. Haven't seent the Lincoln statue in awhile. So as I am going thru the park I ride by the pond and started remembering when I was a kid and would come there in winter and play on the ice. As I looked over at the spot where the warming house use to be, I sorta drifted to the edge of the road. My front tire hit the water saturated ground and took off sliding. I tried to compensate and was able to get the tire back on the road but wasn't in control from the sliding. Then the rear tire caught the edge and the next thing I know it took off, spun out and the next I know I was on my left side sliding down the road. Its amazing how fast your thoughts are moving through your head in dire times. I was looking at the bike sliding on its left side thinking how glad I was the hardcase was holding up and then it decided to part from the bike. Thankfully no one was around to see the stupid rider crash. I pick up the bike ,thankfully I knew how thanks to this forum, and survey the damage. Slightly tweaked left handlebar, scratched case, left case and engine cover scratched to hell, case mount broken, left slider (thanks again forum) ground down about an inch and muffler scratched on the underside. Me, my left leg and toe, that is every shade of blue, red and black now, was killing me. I knew it was going to be hard to shift. Boots scruffed but still usable. Week old pair of draggin jeans shredded but the Bohn armor seemed to absorded any impact. Iphone screen spiderwebbed but still works. Gloves, jacket and helmet ok. I rode back to Chicago leaving my cases in Freeport and straight to the shop. Thank God traffic was light and didn't have to shift until I got off 294 here. I have 2 very simple and basic lesson reinforced from this. If I want to sight see or reminisce about past days, do so when I have stopped. Motorcycling takes attention and I should have been giving it that. Hopefully that lesson won't cost me too much. Also the fjr handles sweet without the cases!

 

[raclow]

Sorry to hear about your get off. A beautiful day and then someone let a nasty fart and ruined it... :angry:

Glad to hear you aren't hurt any worst but I would bet you are pretty sore.

I hope you and the bike recover soon. You are correct, maybe pull over and think about the old times the next time.

This could have happened to any one.

Take care.

 

[RiderCoach Lar]

Very glad to hear you're not hurt any worse than you are, Victor. Sorry to hear about the get off. Thanks for the posting. It's a great reminder to all of us to (1) stay focused....even with perfect weather and no traffic, stay focused, and (2) wear All The Gear All The Time just in case we forget rule "1"....which we're all susceptible to doing.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help get the bike back into shape.

 

[keithaba]

Aww crap, that's the worst type of crash. You get up, look around, and just think, "Oh no... What did I do?"

Your not the first though. I know a few who have wound up in a ditch either looking at a map in the tankbag, or looking in a rearview for another bike.

Glad your mostly o.k.

You are looking at some costly repairs there. May as well turn this one in to insurance and pray they don't raise your rates!

 

[sonicspeed]

i'm glad you are ok

bike can be fixed

 

[Toecutter]

Glad you rode away from that one, coulda been bad.

Many of us get away with an inattentive moment, and hopefully we learn appropriately. Those who don't get away with it teach us as well, if we're open to learning.

Thanks for airing your dirty laundry. You may have saved someone else's life. We appreciate your contribution.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Sorry about your getoff.

 

[cougar8000]

That sucks. Go stand in the corner and when you are done polish every shiny part on that poor baby.

I think I am forgetting something here..... Oh yeah, glad you are ok

 

[Docholiday]

Sorry to hear about your slide. It's amazing to me how small a lapse in attention it takes to get in trouble. Glad to hear that you are not hurt. Cost of side bag ~$500. Being able to walk/ride away from a crash: priceless.

 

[NoCage]

Glad you were wearing the gear, like keithaba said, the repairs will be pricey. Man, it only takes a second. I saw a dog standing by the side of the road that looked exactly like my dear departed Cairne Terrier, Doc. After a second or two I snapped out of it, only to realize I was about to rear-end a cage... it was close.

 

[artistic rider]

Ok. The tally so far on the bike is about $250 in parts and another $211 in labor. That includes a left engine cover, muffler mount, and shifter assembly. The labor is for all that and new sliders. I will have the saddlebag repainted and the muffler only looks bad on the bottom. Won't see it unless you know its there. I can live with that. If I replace the mufflers I would get something lighter/ after-market. Those 2 items would add another $1100. Trying to keep my rates down with the addition of another bike. And speaking of that, why do insurance companies call motorcycle just pleasure vehicles? Especially if you use it everyday going to work. Is there a difference in rates? Dang, just hijacked my own thead.

 

[Hawkeye]

Ok. The tally so far on the bike is about $250 in parts and another $211 in labor. That includes a left engine cover, muffler mount, and shifter assembly. The labor is for all that and new sliders. I will have the saddlebag repainted and the muffler only looks bad on the bottom. Won't see it unless you know its there. I can live with that. If I replace the mufflers I would get something lighter/ after-market. Those 2 items would add another $1100. Trying to keep my rates down with the addition of another bike. And speaking of that, why do insurance companies call motorcycle just pleasure vehicles? Especially if you use it everyday going to work. Is there a difference in rates? Dang, just hijacked my own thead.

Victor , you got off lucky. My first and hopefully last horizonal misadventure totaled my cruiser/loser bike and still trying to get my wrist back to normal after 8 months. Still learned a very valuable lesson that inattention can be very costly. Glad you didn't injure any body parts.