My First Drop!

M

MikesGSX1300RK9

Registered
Well, darn. I knew that my run of good luck with my light, nimble Ninja would come to an end once I bought a heavier bike...

Five days into ownership, I dropped my brand new Busa this morning. It will go back to the dealer tomorrow for a battle damage assessment and repairs, but looks like the clutch cover, left/front footpeg, and clutch lever took the brunt of the drop. They must all be replaced. Fairings are scratched and will probably be replaced. The left exhaust has only a nick on the exterior, and it may be possible to simply cover that up with the appropriate paint. Take-off/new exhausts are available online for much less than the dealer can offer. Left mirror is gouged.

Thankfully, there are no dents in the exhaust pipes and everything appears to be straight. Shop will verify that tomorrow. Fuel tank is unscathed, mercifully. More than the bike, my pride and pocketbook are injured. Thought I was ready to "graduate", but had no idea how much those extra 170 pounds can make a difference.

Essentially was not awake when I backed out of the garage this morning. Have not slept well the past couple nights, and had to wake up early to be at work early today. Slipped coming out of the garage because I was not paying attention to how fast I was backing out. Had the wheel turned to steer the bike out of the garage, allowed the bike to dip into the turn about the time I stopped its rearward motion (wheels not straight), then overcorrected as I started moving the bike forward. By the time I got my footing back it was just too late to salvage the bike. Once I knew what was going to happen, everything was in super-slo-mo. After the bike was on the ground, I was able to pick it up by grabbing hard parts and raising it. What I learned in the MSF didn't help in this case, most likely due to my own incorrect form.

We'll see what the shop says tomorrow... damage could have been worse, as I let her down fairly easy.


Mike
 
Well that sucks . Not much more to say other than good thing it didn't come down on your leg possibly breaking it as well . I'm pretty sure I have my GenII clutch lever still in new shape . Your welcome to have it if you want it . Just let me know . Sorry about the fall .
 
sucks bro. Same thing happened to me the very next day after buying my busa brand new and only had 50 miles on it at most. Started the bike and was warming it up a bit in neutral before a ride, just like i always did with my 750. Started to walk away from the bike to grab helmet/gloves and noticed it going down. Rolled right off the kickstand, luckily i was there to catch it but still couldn't hold her up. Had to ease it to the ground and then managed to raise it back up (this bike is not easy picking up off the ground by yourself!!). Luckily the only damage was stator cover slightly scratched, fairing had a tiny chip, and mirror was a tad scuffed. If i wasn't right next to the bike i would have been in the same boat as u with a few broken parts and messed up fairing
 
Yup, and me...backing out of the garage and leaned it just a little too far to avoid my wife's car in the driveway...JUST manged to keep it upright! My previous bike was a Ducati.
 
Main issue is going to be replacing the fairings. Wouldn't worry about it if the bike weren't brand new.

How do I get the fairings off? Going to let the dealer check to make sure everything's straight, but believe I'll come out better if I do most of the other work myself (such as mirror and fairing replacement). No idea how to take these items off the bike.


Thanks for any help,

Mike
 
You should be able to find it in you manual how to take it off. It can be tricky the first time or two. Best of luck.
 
Mike, Sorry for your mishap...That really sucks. Check out the fairing tutorial in the gen II sticky section, it is of great help.
 
Well, got the estimate today. $1800. Unbelievable... 16% of the purchase price for a simple drop!

Not sure how to proceed yet. Hard parts (clutch lever, footpeg, mirror, magneto cover) first, then will worry about new plastic and having sliders put on at the 600 mile service.

Sigh... I'd put it on insurance, except that I don't have the heart to call the ins co with a claim worth more than my annual premium less than a week after coverage began...
 
Frame Sliders (Was My First Drop!)

All,

Interested in knowing the truth about frame sliders. It seems to me, never having used sliders or seen them installed, that concentrating the force of a tip over at one point on the frame, while eliminating "plastic" damage, is likely to lead to other expensive headaches (such as a bent frame) in a tipover.

I'd rather replace plastic than deal with unbending a frame after X-hundred of pounds of force were directed at one concentrated point on the frame by a slider.

Thoughts/experiences? Just debating whether to go with sliders or not.


Thanks,

Mike
 
Kromdom,

Saw the message thread linked, but it does not answer my question about frame damage caused by concentrating hundred of points of impact at a single point on the frame.

Sliders woulda saved me over a thousand bucks, if I'd actually thought I'd have dropped the bike 5 days after delivery. Sheesh I hope my luck changes!
 
I had my first drop of the Busa about 2 months ago. It was literally within a week of installing the Puig cut frame sliders and damn I'm glad I did! It was in the parking lot at work turning to back in the parking space and locked the wheel to the right coming in a lil too fast tap the front brake and oops! :whistle: She was going down on her right side and luckily I was able to get my leg over and the other out from under and just layed her down as gentle as I could. No damage to plastics except a couple nicks at the very bottom of the fairing. Sliders got scuffed a little, but that's about it for damage. I went the first year and a half without them because I loved the sleek look of her, but decided function > form, so got them installed. Just in time it seems :rofl:
 
Bad luck, Mike.

I dropped mine the day I bought her! - Rode 200km home...and fell over turning around in my garage. There was plenty of swearing, I tell ya'!

I found the stock height of the Busa to be too much for the weight of the bike. I had her lowered 1 inch, front and rear, and now she shows no signs of wanting to fall over at all.

Redeye, your accident is almost exactly how mine happened.
 
Last edited:
MikesGSX1300RK9 said:
Well, got the estimate today. $1800. Unbelievable... 16% of the purchase price for a simple drop!
Not sure how to proceed yet. Hard parts (clutch lever, footpeg, mirror, magneto cover) first, then will worry about new plastic and having sliders put on at the 600 mile service.

Sigh... I'd put it on insurance, except that I don't have the heart to call the ins co with a claim worth more than my annual premium less than a week after coverage began...
Click to expand...

::9::9::9

Hope your able to get 'er fixed up!
 
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