VFR Discussion Group -> Crashed yesterday...

I'm copying this post from sport-touring.net

Ok, let me start off by saying I was unbelievably lucky. I'm not a praying kind of guy, but I said a prayer when I went to bed last night.

So, here's how my day went. Shot up I-5 past Centralia to Highway 12, then over to Aberdeen. Took 105 out to Westport and went out to the jetty. There's supposedly a lighthouse out there somewhere, but I didn't take the time to look for it.

(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/westport.jpg)

This was taken from the lookout out on the jetty. So far, my day's going pretty good. Headed down 105 to Raymond, where I hooked up with 101. I didn't see any troopers at all today except for one in Aberdeen sitting in a speedtrap. Took advantage of that and did anywhere from 75-100 MPH down 105 and 101. Don't get me wrong, I don't take it up to 100 very often, just on long straight stretches where I can see what's going on. For instance, the Astoria bridge. :D

Popped in to Long Beach for a minute, saw the ocean and turned around. I've been there so many times I didn't even take my helmet off. I was planning on taking lots more pictures, but this was all familiar territory so I didn't think about pictures that much.

Here's the Astor Column in (where else) Astoria, OR.

(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/astor_column.jpg)

Ok, from Astoria I took Highway 30 East and ended up in Clatskanie. From there I took 47 South, heading towards Vernonia. 47 was pretty cool except for just a smidge of gravel in the center strip on some spots. Not bad at all, but enough to make you back off a bit.

Now, I want to point out that 47 and the road I crashed on were very similar. The reason I crashed was because I rode beyond my abilities. At the intersection of 47 and the Scappoose-Vernonia road, I pulled of for a minute to see whether I wanted to continue down 47, or head to Scappoose. At the same time, two guys (which turned out to be girls) pulled over on matching 2005 GSX-R 1000's. We stopped and chatted for a bit and I decided to follow them back down to Scappoose.

The funny part is that we even had the conversation about not trying to keep up with them, riding in my skill level, etc. So, we get on the bikes and take off down the road. They immediately jump up to like 80-90 (guessing), brake hard for the first right hand corner which went right into a left hander, then I went off. Nice, eh?

I had time to think "Oh, they're speeding up a lot, braking hard, then speeding up again." I'm used to keeping lower speeds on the straights, then engine-braking for the corner, then taking it about the same speed. I got into trouble because I was still slowing down from the right-hander, then had too much speed for the left. I tried to stand it up to bleed some speed, then was starting to lean over again when I saw the gravel on the shoulder. I had a moment of indecision about whether I was going to hit the gravel, then I was on the ground.

Honestly, if I had come up to that corner on my own terms, I think I would have been fine at that speed. But, I was still slowing down from the previous corner and ran out of time, room, and skill. Or something like that.

Also, after looking at these pictures and that corner, I probably could just have leaned it over and been fine. I just panicked.


(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/skid_00.jpg)

Here's the left-hander where I decided to mow some grass.

I got reaaaaaaly lucky on that corner. Went off into the soft grassy shoulder and came out with two snapped off mirrors, some skuffed paint (which is matte black and looks skuffed anyway), and a bruise on my left shoulder. Oh, and I realized later that night that the entire front fairing is nudged to the right about 1/2 inch. That'll take some straightening and should be ok. And the front brake lever is bent too. Not bad, but enough that I'll replace it.


(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/skid_02.jpg)

Here's where I went off after standing it up and braking. I tried to bleed off speed and was about to lean in again when I saw the gravel and paniced. Then I ended up doing nothing, and went off.

(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/skid_01.jpg)

This is looking back at the right-hander.


(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/skid_03.jpg)

Here's the grass that saved me from serious injury to myself and the bike, I'm guessing. Well, I was wearing gear, so maybe just the bike. Who knows.

Looking at the picture, I now realize that the bike leaned over to the left, hit the ground, snapped off the left mirror, then flipped over to the right, snapped off the right mirror, then came to rest on the right side. I don't know what bruised my shoulder. I remember laying on my back thinking "God dammit!!!", then getting up and looking at the bike. I didn't have any pain at all, wasn't dazed or anything, just pissed.


(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/left_side.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/right_side.jpg)

Not too bad for a 60 MPH get off, eh?


(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/right_fairing.jpg)

This is most of the damage. The front fairing is kind of nudged over.


(IMG:http://www.landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/the_girls.jpg)

And here's the reason I crashed. Just kidding. It wasn't their fault at all. They were a great help after I crashed. They came back and made sure I was ok, then even went back to Vernonia to get cell phone coverage to call my wife and HRC.

This all happened about 5:00 PM or so. The tow truck driver didn't get there until about 10:00 because he couldn't find the road. I didn't get home until close to midnight. He was supposed to tow me to the nearest Honda dealer (Forest Grove) but he was really nice and took me all the way to my home in Vancouver. If HRC biatches I'm going to ask them if I was supposed to drop my bike off on some side street at 11:00 PM in Portland.

So anyway, I'm ok, the bike is mostly ok, and I learned my lesson. Thanks for everyone's concern.

Edited to add -- I must have bled off a lot more speed than I thought, or I wasn't going that fast. It doesn't look like I went far enough for doing 60, does it? :blink:

glad to hear you are ok. sorry about the bike. sounds like you've got some tweaking to do to that bodywork. i dread the day i drop my 03 because i can see the repair bill and makes my legs weak. :(

i happen to try out a friend's new 05 GSXR last night and believe me. That is not a bike to try to keep up with on a VFR. it feels like a feather, accelerates better than any litre bike i've been on and the brakes can scrub off speed just as quick. i fell in lust with it immediately. just the slightest touch of my knee against tank and she was changing lanes. better than sex! :thumbsup:

Glad to hear you're ok. Further proof that women in leather are BAD news. :o

Edit: can't type today

Women in leather pants can cause you to do bad things ! :P
Glad your crash wasn't to bad, could have been bad ! Nice area and roads !
Glad your walking and the bikes not bad at all !
When in doubt, lean, gas and trust your bike ! It's had to do, but you have to teach your brain just that, which is hard to do if you don't try it all the time !
:beer:

In one respect, I'm sorry you took a tumble, but I'm really glad it wasn't worse. :huh:

A track day will help with what Baileyrock is talking about... when in doubt, gas it and look where you want to go! :thumbsup:

In one completely different respect, I'm glad that your unfortunate incident brought us a picture of two hot women in leather on new GSXR's! :beer:

On a serious note....I'm very glad you're OK. One more data point that shows good gear and a helmet help!

On a not so serious note....I showed your pics to my wife and she said the girls don't seem to be "chaseworthy"! Dude, I laughed hard at her! She just doesn't understand how automatically hot chicks on bikes are. Add leathers and a couple hot bikes and I'm sure I would have been the one with the broken mirrors explaining to my wife what happened...that would have been worst of all.

Good to hear you're okay :beer: I would have probably done the same thing trying to keep up with those two women in leather :P

Dave. :wheel:

ALso glad you are relatively unhurt...... I might have told my wife that I was chasing these ladies to let them know a brake light was out - then you would have been the hero.. :goofy:

Well, after taking off most all the body panels I also found:

Plastic alignment pin/pointy-thing on the front fairing is almost broken off. I'm going to try super glue. There are four of them and align the front fairing to the front subframe, or whatever it's called.

Bracket that bottom-most fairing bolt on left side snapped off the tab off the engine case. This doesn't look too crucial, might have to work something else out.

Left side radiator pin (??) on the bottom of the radiator is bent. Straightened it out, it's doable.

Both side fairing mounting brackets are bent a bit. I don't remember what they looked like new. Now they look like this...

(IMG:http://landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/fairing_bracket.jpg)

Banjo bolt on front, left-side brake caliper is bent a bit. One, can I just bend it back? And two, if I loosen it a bit to turn it, is brake fluid going to come out?

(IMG:http://landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/banjo.jpg)

All in all, not bad for a first crash.

Glad to hear that you are ok... :beer: Just curious, are you going to go through insurance, or solo?

DEZLPWR, Apr 20 2005, 11:52 PMGlad to hear that you are ok...  :beer:  Just curious, are you going to go through insurance, or solo?

Nah, I'm only looking at around $200 worth of parts. I'd rather not have them know about it.

opus, Apr 20 2005, 04:55 PMNah, I'm only looking at around $200 worth of parts.  I'd rather not have them know about it.

Good idea... Are you going to repaint the scratched fairings or leave them as is? You REALLY lucked out if you are only looking at $200 worth of parts! :D

opus, Apr 20 2005, 02:44 PM

This all happened about 5:00 PM or so.  The tow truck driver didn't get there until about 10:00 because he couldn't find the road.  I didn't get home until close to midnight. 

OK...this is what you told your wife, now tell us what you did all that time with these girls. :beer:

Serious, I'm glad you didn't get hurt. :thumbsup:

Tin Man, Apr 20 2005, 05:23 PMOK...this is what you told your wife, now tell us what you did all that time with these girls. :beer:

LMAO! The gal on the right is possibly doable after a few beers, the other one is nasty!!! :unsure: hehehe

opus, Apr 20 2005, 11:48 PMWell, after taking off most all the body panels I also found:

Plastic alignment pin/pointy-thing on the front fairing is almost broken off.  I'm going to try super glue.  There are four of them and align the front fairing to the front subframe, or whatever it's called.

Bracket that bottom-most fairing bolt on left side snapped off the tab off the engine case.  This doesn't look too crucial, might have to work something else out.

Left side radiator pin (??) on the bottom of the radiator is bent.  Straightened it out, it's doable.

Both side fairing mounting brackets are bent a bit.  I don't remember what they looked like new.  Now they look like this...

(IMG:http://landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/fairing_bracket.jpg)

Banjo bolt on front, left-side brake caliper is bent a bit.  One, can I just bend it back?  And two, if I loosen it a bit to turn it, is brake fluid going to come out?

(IMG:http://landofopus.com/rides/april_19_2005/images/banjo.jpg)

All in all, not bad for a first crash.

I wouldn't mess with the banjo bolt fitting, cause there could be a stress crack on it that you can't see. Just buy a replacement line to make sure your brakes will be there when you need it in the future. I'd also replace all those bent up faring brackets for similar reasons.

Beck
95 VFR

Glad you're ok, too. I think I spied some levity somewhere!

looks like you got lucky

Beck, Apr 21 2005, 12:35 AMI wouldn't mess with the banjo bolt fitting, cause there could be a stress crack on it  that you can't see. Just buy a replacement line to make sure your brakes will be there when you need it in the future. I'd also replace all those bent up faring brackets for similar reasons.

Beck
95 VFR

Yeah, I pretty much already decided that while I was waiting. Grand total is $208.25 for the mirrors, brake line, washers, some bolts, and the brackets I bent.

If go though Ron Ayers it's $178. Anyone know how long their "9 days for standard shipping" actually takes?

Lucky Dog!
Glad your are OK! :thumbsup:
Who cares about the bike. Here is something to think about. What If there was Guard Rail? There would two of you one for each girl.

wow man, my condolences.

You and I got our VFR-ABS' about the same time, and I really feel for ye.

You're well aware how "lucky" you were in this situation, and it sounds like you are not in the least bit of denial about what happened and why.

I feel freaked out vicariously through you...we both sprang the extra dough for the ABS equipped viffers, but there are plenty of situtions where one can defeat the bike's safety potential...and being psyched during a long ride on cool roads, and chasing after women (dudes would be bad enough) on sweet bikes is an after-school-special worthy scenario of temptation.

I am going to try and do my darndest to internalize this story and play it back the next time I'm having the "wick it up or no" dillemma on my bike.

In light of your your very clear analysis (with photos!) of what went wrong, I'm curious about what gear you were wearing that did such a nice job of protecting you, and whether or not you've ever done a track day or the experienced rider course.

I've got 14 years and about 90,000 miles of riding, but I've done neither the ERC or a track day; now that I've got my dream bike I've set a goal for myself of doing at least one of those this year, and the other the next.

again, my condolences, my thanks, and my request:keep us posted on how the rebuild goes.

peace,
fellswoop

Ok, so I'm adding up everything (forgot the brake lever) and it comes to roughly $200 from Ron Ayers.

But, here's my dilemma. The side fairings *are* scratched up, the front fairing frame was bent (which I roughly straightened), that fairing mounting tab is snapped off the engine case on the bottom, the radiator is bent, etc.

I've got full coverage. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just report it and get it fixed at the dealer.

What are the ramifications of that with the insurance company? Do your rates automatically go up with every accident, or does it take a few? I don't want to report it if I'll regret it for the next three years or whatever.

fellswoop, Apr 21 2005, 01:56 AMwow man, my condolences.

You and I got our VFR-ABS' about the same time, and I really feel for ye.

You're well aware how "lucky" you were in this situation, and it sounds like you are not in the least bit of denial about what happened and why.

I feel freaked out vicariously through you...we both sprang the extra dough for the ABS equipped viffers, but there are plenty of situtions where one can defeat the bike's safety potential...and being psyched during a long ride on cool roads, and chasing after women (dudes would be bad enough) on sweet bikes is an after-school-special worthy scenario of temptation.

I am going to try and do my darndest to internalize this story and play it back the next time I'm having the "wick it up or no" dillemma on my bike.

In light of your your very clear analysis (with photos!) of what went wrong, I'm curious about what gear you were wearing that did such a nice job of protecting you, and whether or not you've ever done a track day or the experienced rider course.

I've got 14 years and about 90,000 miles of riding, but I've done neither the ERC or a track day; now that I've got my dream bike I've set a goal for myself of doing at least one of those this year, and the other the next.

again, my condolences, my thanks, and my request:keep us posted on how the rebuild goes.

peace,
fellswoop

Here's my gear...

Shoei TZ-R helmet
Roadgear Jacket
Firstgear HT Overpants
Tourmaster gloves
Doc Marten boots (I just got my new Aerostich Combat Lites, and I don't fit in them)

The thing that saved a lot of pain/damage was landing on that soft shoulder. I almost think I would have been fine without the gear, not that I'm suggesting doing that. I've got some grass/dirt marks on the jacket/pants, and nothing on the gloves, helmet, and boots.

I've taken the BRC course, but no ERC or ARC yet. I want to do the ERC. I have read Proficient Cycling and Sport Riding Techniques, but nothing from either of those books had time to enter my rapidly panicking brain. :blink:

Sorry to hear of the fall. If you go the insurance route they'll likely replace every bit that's even scratched. Not to mention tweaked brackets radiators etc. This will add up to well over $200. Especially with the labor. They'll hold it against you, even if it doesn't cause a rate rise by itself. Just don't get a ticket or anything. So ya gotta ask yourself, do you want it to be perfect? Well, do ya? :P

Hey, just thought I'd chime in about the insurance. I'm an agent in Ga and I can promise...your rates WILL increase at renewal. Not to mention, your rates will be higher for up to 3 years. Save the claim for a total loss.

Glad you're OK -- both you and bike look pretty good for fast get off like that! Hope everyone here is just as lucky!

Here are answers to a few of the questions I can help with --

1. Ron Ayers -- their 9 day shipping is usually a bit faster. Like most dealers, they don't stock the majority of the parts you order. Instead, they receive your order and then relay it to Honda's parts warehouse. Once the parts get to them from Honda (2-3 days), they send them to you by Fedex ground, which is pretty quick. Since Ron Ayers is near the East Coast, it may take a little longer to get out West to you. You can also try Service Honda's website. Their prices are usually a few dollars cheaper than Ron Ayers and they're closer. (Unfortunately, I know this from experience -- and Smoothrider -- the repair bill for the plastic on a silver '03 will make your legs and most other parts of your body weak. Now try it twice in 2 months. And, no, I don't want to talk about it!) :pissed:

2. Insurance -- I know a little about this too, but not from the bike. Most single vehicle accidents are "chargeable" against you because they're usually your fault. Depending on the insurance company, a chargeable accident will mean higher rates or dropped coverage after your current policy period expires. It's worse if you have the bikes on the same policy as your cars (like I do). Then the rates for everything go up for three years!

Last time I faced this issue, one of my more enterprising friends told me to tell the company that a deer ran out in from of me and I had to swerve to avoid it -- funny because my get off was in the city. But I did see trees in your pictures... :idea3:

Best of luck and safe riding -

Bill

Unfortunately that's how these things happen, isn't it ? Good to hear you weren't busted up.

Good deal!

That telephone post was close enough! :D Just to see if good things come in threes, play the lottery for the next week. :idea3: Heal quickly and solidly.

Any accident you walk away from, is a good one. Any you can walk away from, and only have to invest $200.00 on,....... B)

Glad to here your ok just curious though why you had to wait for a tow truck, with the little damage and all???

2nova2, Apr 21 2005, 04:44 AMGlad to here your ok just curious though why you had to wait for a tow truck, with the little damage and all???

Oh yeah, forgot to add that part. The sidestand switch was killing the engine as soon as I put it in gear, even when the sidestand was up. It was getting dark and I didn't want to start tearing the bike apart.

After taking off the side panel today, I found where it was disconnected. Would have been a relatively easy fix. I wasn't that comfortable taking the side panel off on the side of a country road, though.

Now I'm a lot more familiar with how everything is bolted on and wouldn't have a problem.

Rivcyko, Apr 21 2005, 04:08 AMGood deal!

    That telephone post was close enough!  Just to see if good things come in threes, play the lottery for the next week. Heal quickly and solidly.

    Any accident you walk away from, is a good one. Any you can walk away from, and only have to invest $200.00 on,....... B)

I actually bought one yesterday morning before I left. :D I still need to see if I won anything. That would top the day off, eh?