First Time Fall

Cpt_Caveman

Registered
Well Guys, it finally happened. This weekend me and a few buddies were heading up to The Dragon for a nice little weekend getaway. As some of y’all had seen, I got my first Busa just about a month ago and had been excited to take it up there to really test out.
I know what you must be thinking “new rider wants to conquer the dragon?... take some time to learn the bike first”.
Well, I didn’t. But that wasn’t the cause of my fall. I’m about 5 hours away, so that meant a nice freezing cold morning ride to head up there and apparently it’s easy to let yourself lose attention. About an hour and a half in, and the group was deciding to stop and give some of them an opportunity to pick up some warmer gear. When i went to move over, we’ll call it a result of target fixation trying to figure out where we were trying to turn into, cold weather leaving my hands worse for wear, and being unfamiliar with the drive leaving me missing the sharp drop off on the right edge of my lane. In any case, I drifted too far, hit the drop (about 2 inches) to finish pushing me right into the curb before overcorrecting left and popping me sideways. The road was clear, so no traffic to worry about, but that didn’t help me feeling like a fool for finally doing this. After riding for about 4 years, this is my first ever fall.
I got up with a few scuffs but no real injuries.
The bike has a nice rub on the right fairing from rubbing the curb, and a nice rash down the left fairing, stator cover, rear peg, and a few other pieces from going over.
After a minor scare getting it back up and hearing what sounded like a knock from the engine oil being out of place, and some air in the brake lines, we got back on the road and finished the ride up.
After two days on the dragon and all the trails, I can say I’m glad I picked a low consequence place to go down rather than the dragon and can’t wait to make my next trip back up there. An absolute blast to ride with some buddies and saw very little traffic the entire time. I learned a lot from this incident, but still can’t believe I actually went down
 
Glad to hear you are ok and was able to finish your vacation. Get the pockets ready, I know from experience.
 
Hey man dropped mine at a car wash looking at a open stall rolling forward slowly and turned while grabbing my front brake. Went down in front of ohhh about 25 people. Picked that big bird up, waited my turn which was 10 min and pulled her up in there and washed her with NO shame. poop happens to everyone, at least no one got hurt, only your pride momentarily.
 
Thanks Guys. Like I said, I’m glad it was low consequence. I’ve priced out most of the repairs and it seems like the fairings are the only big hit for me. I’ve priced out the stator cover, pegs (if I can’t just sand them down to look good), and the couple misc pieces. May just call this an opportunity to change the color and order something crazy from Monster Fairings. Should be fun. Either way, it’s all cosmetic and totally rideable as is.
The air in the brake line came from the reservoir already being a little low and likely tipped over just enough. Either way, it doesn’t grab unless I’ve pulsed the front brake several times and then it starts to grab just fine. Checked the rotors and it all appears fine, so likely just needs to be bled properly.
 
Thanks Guys. Like I said, I’m glad it was low consequence. I’ve priced out most of the repairs and it seems like the fairings are the only big hit for me. I’ve priced out the stator cover, pegs (if I can’t just sand them down to look good), and the couple misc pieces. May just call this an opportunity to change the color and order something crazy from Monster Fairings. Should be fun. Either way, it’s all cosmetic and totally rideable as is.
The air in the brake line came from the reservoir already being a little low and likely tipped over just enough. Either way, it doesn’t grab unless I’ve pulsed the front brake several times and then it starts to grab just fine. Checked the rotors and it all appears fine, so likely just needs to be bled properly.
Are these the vortex rearsets you are talking about, or were you still running OEM ones?
 
Are these the vortex rearsets you are talking about, or were you still running OEM ones?
Bizarrely enough I actually mean the passenger pegs, not the rearsets. Not sure if they are just closer in or not, but only the rears were scraped up and honestly not terribly. Just enough to slightly bother me, but I may just be able to clean them up to be fine.
The vortex on there are totally fine. Those vortex are fantastically comfortable by the way.
 
Bizarrely enough I actually mean the passenger pegs, not the rearsets. Not sure if they are just closer in or not, but only the rears were scraped up and honestly not terribly. Just enough to slightly bother me, but I may just be able to clean them up to be fine.
The vortex on there are totally fine. Those vortex are fantastically comfortable by the way.
Glad to hear the vortex survived! I cringed a bit when I read about messed up pegs. Maybe now would be a good time to Powdercoat the rears black(?) I’m glad you are happy with them. They are really nice pieces.
 
Glad to hear the vortex survived! I cringed a bit when I read about messed up pegs. Maybe now would be a good time to Powdercoat the rears black(?) I’m glad you are happy with them. They are really nice pieces.
Yeah, I just reread my post and I called them rear pegs so I totally understand how rearsets would be understood.
I’ve looked at just powder coating them, and may go that route. Looking to source some black ones to avoid it, but think I have some connections to powder coat them if it becomes necessary.
 
Funny thing about falling off due to dumb mistakes, it reminds us that we are only human after all, riding a Busa for awhile and I start to think I'm invincible lmao!
I find the Busa very easy to ride, and I've ridden A LOT of different bikes!
The power is so easy to control from low RPM to mid range. . . I rarely go past 8000rpm coz all my riding is on the road and I like my job, if I lose my license I'll lose my job

Anyway we live, we fall, we learn, and learning is the best part of being alive!!
 
So the front brake MC was and is low on fluid(which would suggest a leak), and you have to pump the brakes for them to work!?
The front brakes do the majority of the stopping.
Do you have a death wish?
 
So the front brake MC was and is low on fluid(which would suggest a leak), and you have to pump the brakes for them to work!?
The front brakes do the majority of the stopping.
Do you have a death wish?
Yes, apparently I do...
No, not at all. The cylinder was slightly low, but still reading above the low level sight line. After I went down, I noticed that the brakes wouldn’t grab and required some pumping to function. I topped off the fluid and thought that wouldn’t fix it but didn’t have the right size wrench to bleed it while on the trip. I just got back and haven’t been able to yet. The bike had sat up for a while and I see no indication of a leak, so I’m thinking that the slight low level it was was enough to put air in the line when the bike flipped. While the front does do most of the stopping, engine braking with the slight rear and pumping to get the front is enough for any mild stopping. And now that I’m home, I’ll be able to properly bleed them before I go back out
 
do not feel bad
I have dropped mine i a buddy's driveway at no quite 1 mph . scratched the muffler and foot peg . A little flat black bbq paint and we are all good again
 
I dropped my old Gen 1 in my driveway once. Was backing out to go to work and turned too sharply, exhaust hit my ex wifes car, and down I went. Laughed it off and went about my way. Happens to the best of us.

Nex time you head to the dragon, hit me up. I'll meet up with you guys in Atlanta somewhere and go.
 
Back
Top