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77 Posts
Let me start with a disclaimer: "I'm an idiot and I hate myself for doing this to my bike!" However, I will not encourage you to agree with me...
I was looking forward to today's ride and such a beautiful fall day it was. I started out with a buddy of mine on his GSX-R 600 up a canyon with nice hairpin turns and such. I hit the first 2 turns just right and on the 3rd (lefthander) I was almost out of it when for some reason I hesitated for just a moment which was enough to stand my bike up. At that time I hit the gravel on the shoulder which prompted me to go into offroad riding mode - stand up and ride through the deep ditch - that worked ok for 20ft or so until the damn ditch took a sharp turn left and I was left with trying to jump out of the ditch. That didn't work so well and I endoed landing on my left hip on the side of the ditch. When I picked my bike up I was horrified! clutch perch and lights block gone, lower rad and fairing mangled, tail section busted and dents in my tank. Coolant was pouring out... what an idiot!
On closer inspection I think none of the critical parts got damaged such as fork, frame, engine or wheels. I think the bike is still very true and easily repairable. I guess this is my opportunity to justify those aftermarket bar-end mirrors...
On the bright side, I managed to slow myself down from 60mph to make this a low speed crash, maybe 15-20mph when I endoed. It turned out my dirt riding skills made up for my lack of fast road riding experience. I only suffered a minor bruise on my left hip but my ego is totally busted.
Lessons learned:
-target fixation leads to blown corners -get track training
-Full leather suit will save your hide (had an Alpinestar RC-1 two piece on)
-Try to ride within your ability on the streets. This could have been ugly had it been a cliff or other car instead of the ditch
Sorry about the long rant, here are some pictures
I was looking forward to today's ride and such a beautiful fall day it was. I started out with a buddy of mine on his GSX-R 600 up a canyon with nice hairpin turns and such. I hit the first 2 turns just right and on the 3rd (lefthander) I was almost out of it when for some reason I hesitated for just a moment which was enough to stand my bike up. At that time I hit the gravel on the shoulder which prompted me to go into offroad riding mode - stand up and ride through the deep ditch - that worked ok for 20ft or so until the damn ditch took a sharp turn left and I was left with trying to jump out of the ditch. That didn't work so well and I endoed landing on my left hip on the side of the ditch. When I picked my bike up I was horrified! clutch perch and lights block gone, lower rad and fairing mangled, tail section busted and dents in my tank. Coolant was pouring out... what an idiot!
On closer inspection I think none of the critical parts got damaged such as fork, frame, engine or wheels. I think the bike is still very true and easily repairable. I guess this is my opportunity to justify those aftermarket bar-end mirrors...
On the bright side, I managed to slow myself down from 60mph to make this a low speed crash, maybe 15-20mph when I endoed. It turned out my dirt riding skills made up for my lack of fast road riding experience. I only suffered a minor bruise on my left hip but my ego is totally busted.
Lessons learned:
-target fixation leads to blown corners -get track training
-Full leather suit will save your hide (had an Alpinestar RC-1 two piece on)
-Try to ride within your ability on the streets. This could have been ugly had it been a cliff or other car instead of the ditch
Sorry about the long rant, here are some pictures
