Dumped the bike for the first time.
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Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 145
Likes: 7
From: Illinois/Wisconsin Border
Dumped the bike for the first time.
Well, city decided to **** up a road in my neighborhood and not put any signs up. Got a 6 foot long part of the road torn up from one side to to the other like they dug down to get at a water pipe or something and they just filled it with gravel. It starts about 2 feet from an intersection, no sign marking the hazard and no street lights. Made a left turn onto that street tonight and didn't even see the gravel until it was too late. Bike slide right out from under me. I was right down the street and the shift lever was bent so that it was touching the primary cover so I walked her home. Appears to be just cosmetic. Primary cover and derby cover pretty beat up, shift lever bent and the peg is toast. Somehow my clutch side controls housing got beat up but the clutch lever is OK. Tank doesn't have a scratch on it which is lucky. It came down on the left side pretty hard with the handlebars at full lock to the left. Anyone got any good advice on what to safety check before bending that lever back out and taking her out again in case there is any non cosmetic damage from laying her down with the bars turned like that and from bending the shift lever into the primary cover?
Tourer
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 311
Likes: 3
From: OHIO
You know what they say it's not if but when and how bad. Bikes can be fixed! Lost my father in law a few weeks back in an bike accident, I'm just glad you're ok bro!
Get that scoot back on the road and keep riding! Stay safe
Ps I would contact the city and let them know what happened
Get that scoot back on the road and keep riding! Stay safe
Ps I would contact the city and let them know what happened
Road Captain
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 539
Likes: 5
From: Harleyland, USA
Do you expect the city to take blame for all of your mistakes? I suppose you'd like them to put wet pavement signs out whenever it rains? 
Sorry he dumped his bike but sometimes paying attention to the road on a motorcycle is worth the extra effort it takes.
Same thing happened to my younger brother Toad in 2010, on a sweeping uphill left-hander. He wasn't so lucky, high-sided and he speared onto his head and died instantly.
They'd just cut out a 6" deep, lane-wide 30 yard-long section of road and filled it back in with gravel. No signs, nothing. C***ts.
Pretty screwed up, but he was doing what he loved, fully accepted the risks, and it was a really nice day for a ride...
Anyway, re suing the city, you'll probably find that there are fairly strong legal protections for them re accidents caused by road conditions. It sucks, but its understandable. If they were liable for every pothole and bump in the road, their insurance premiums would be so high no roads would ever be built. If you see what I mean.
That said, this was in Australia, the law about that stuff might be different in the US.
My advice: hug your loved ones, and ride out to visit some others. Life is a gift, and you just got some more of it.
.
They'd just cut out a 6" deep, lane-wide 30 yard-long section of road and filled it back in with gravel. No signs, nothing. C***ts.
Pretty screwed up, but he was doing what he loved, fully accepted the risks, and it was a really nice day for a ride...
Anyway, re suing the city, you'll probably find that there are fairly strong legal protections for them re accidents caused by road conditions. It sucks, but its understandable. If they were liable for every pothole and bump in the road, their insurance premiums would be so high no roads would ever be built. If you see what I mean.
That said, this was in Australia, the law about that stuff might be different in the US.
My advice: hug your loved ones, and ride out to visit some others. Life is a gift, and you just got some more of it.
.
Last edited by Davdoodles; Aug 26, 2015 at 06:14 AM.
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From: Galt's Gulch - MI
Check your lock to lock motion of the forks and be sure the stops are not damaged on the left side.
I've found after quite a bit of track riding and binning the bikes a time or two you should check out your forks, they'll tend to twist in the clamps and get put under tension when the bike goes down. At the track I'd put the bike on the race stands and start to loosen the pinch bolts, you'd hear the creaks and pops as the forks went back to their neutral position as the tension was released. I'd lift your bike and back off the pinch bolts and allow the fork tubes to resettle themselves if they need to.
Check out your bars and risers, you may find you've tweaked the bushings and the bars and risers are also twisted. If they are loosen up the riser bolts to reposition them, you may need to change your bushings if they were the OEM rubber bushings, those don't take much to distort and allow added bar/riser movement and vibrations...
I've found after quite a bit of track riding and binning the bikes a time or two you should check out your forks, they'll tend to twist in the clamps and get put under tension when the bike goes down. At the track I'd put the bike on the race stands and start to loosen the pinch bolts, you'd hear the creaks and pops as the forks went back to their neutral position as the tension was released. I'd lift your bike and back off the pinch bolts and allow the fork tubes to resettle themselves if they need to.
Check out your bars and risers, you may find you've tweaked the bushings and the bars and risers are also twisted. If they are loosen up the riser bolts to reposition them, you may need to change your bushings if they were the OEM rubber bushings, those don't take much to distort and allow added bar/riser movement and vibrations...
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Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 145
Likes: 7
From: Illinois/Wisconsin Border
Check your lock to lock motion of the forks and be sure the stops are not damaged on the left side.
I've found after quite a bit of track riding and binning the bikes a time or two you should check out your forks, they'll tend to twist in the clamps and get put under tension when the bike goes down. At the track I'd put the bike on the race stands and start to loosen the pinch bolts, you'd hear the creaks and pops as the forks went back to their neutral position as the tension was released. I'd lift your bike and back off the pinch bolts and allow the fork tubes to resettle themselves if they need to.
Check out your bars and risers, you may find you've tweaked the bushings and the bars and risers are also twisted. If they are loosen up the riser bolts to reposition them, you may need to change your bushings if they were the OEM rubber bushings, those don't take much to distort and allow added bar/riser movement and vibrations...
I've found after quite a bit of track riding and binning the bikes a time or two you should check out your forks, they'll tend to twist in the clamps and get put under tension when the bike goes down. At the track I'd put the bike on the race stands and start to loosen the pinch bolts, you'd hear the creaks and pops as the forks went back to their neutral position as the tension was released. I'd lift your bike and back off the pinch bolts and allow the fork tubes to resettle themselves if they need to.
Check out your bars and risers, you may find you've tweaked the bushings and the bars and risers are also twisted. If they are loosen up the riser bolts to reposition them, you may need to change your bushings if they were the OEM rubber bushings, those don't take much to distort and allow added bar/riser movement and vibrations...
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Joined: Sep 2012
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From: Delawere
Where's your sense of personal responsibility? Do you expect the city to take blame for all of your mistakes? I suppose you'd like them to put wet pavement signs out whenever it rains? Sorry he dumped his bike but sometimes paying attention to the road on a motorcycle is worth the extra effort it takes.
Do you expect the city to take blame for all of your mistakes? I suppose you'd like them to put wet pavement signs out whenever it rains? Sorry he dumped his bike but sometimes paying attention to the road on a motorcycle is worth the extra effort it takes.