yougod
Registered
I guess this was bound to happen, being a new rider and all.. I had been messing with my bike off and on throughout the last week and I guess I put up the kickstand and never put it back down. So when I took it off the rear stand the other day, I didn't take the quick second to check that the kick-stand was down and she fell over on her left side. No big deal, a few scratches here and there but the stator cover ended up with a decent sized scratch. I put wax over the fairing parts and it took away the whiteness in the scratches but the marks are still there and you can only tell if you were looking for it. Annoys the crap out of me though (since it was such a stupid mistake).
So I'm riding today after visiting my cousin in the hospital (had a mild heart attack and is due for surgery this week; a whole other story). Anyway, I'm at a stop sign with a truck opposite of me who stops first but waits me to go (I'm making a left turn). The intersection was a little bit of a downgrade that evens out at the white lines through a nice little bump. I proceed to stall out because I wasn't sure if the other guy was gonna go or not, but it was a few seconds so I was pretty sure he wasn't gonna go. I had to walk her back a few feet because I rolled into the intersection by then. Started her back up and waited for a car or two to pass by. I proceed to make the left turn, but for some reason I couldn't make it and came up on the curb real close (probably within a few inches). That's when I pulled the front brakes and it threw me up over the seat. I wasn't rolling that fast to begin with so I landed on both feet on the right side of the bike while still holding onto the handlebars. The bike is now leaned over on the curb (which is about 3-5 inches in height) still running because I'm holding onto the brake and clutch still. I had to turn her off and pick her back up to reset myself. Of course this left a few good gouges on the right side fairing where it hit the curb. No major damage but enough to tick me off. Wax on this side won't help that much. It also gouged some of my stickers on the right side. I didn't take any pictures because I'm still pissed off about it. I feel pretty incompetent that I couldn't make that left turn. Granted I only have about 100 miles of riding under my belt but I have been able to make my turns until then (and I thought I was getting better).
So two stupid mistakes are going to cost me two fairings so far. At this rate I'll be investing in a whole new set of plastics by next year. Although, I do live in PA, so maybe I can take the off-season as a chance to take off the damaged parts and repaint them (if possible). I can always look at the positive side and say that I haven't had any major damage yet and the bike is still in perfect riding shape. Plastics, other than the aero-dynamic aspects of it, are just cosmetic; and I won't be riding at 180 mph any time soon to take advantage of aero-dynamics. The downside is, I did scratch up a perfectly clean bike. Although I know now that the previous owners weren't the best but the bike didn't have any scratches on it until now.
I'm not looking for any advice; although anything that can make me feel a little better will help . I'm just taking some time to rant and hopefully relieve some of this anger that has built up by my own doing.
Thanks for listening.
So I'm riding today after visiting my cousin in the hospital (had a mild heart attack and is due for surgery this week; a whole other story). Anyway, I'm at a stop sign with a truck opposite of me who stops first but waits me to go (I'm making a left turn). The intersection was a little bit of a downgrade that evens out at the white lines through a nice little bump. I proceed to stall out because I wasn't sure if the other guy was gonna go or not, but it was a few seconds so I was pretty sure he wasn't gonna go. I had to walk her back a few feet because I rolled into the intersection by then. Started her back up and waited for a car or two to pass by. I proceed to make the left turn, but for some reason I couldn't make it and came up on the curb real close (probably within a few inches). That's when I pulled the front brakes and it threw me up over the seat. I wasn't rolling that fast to begin with so I landed on both feet on the right side of the bike while still holding onto the handlebars. The bike is now leaned over on the curb (which is about 3-5 inches in height) still running because I'm holding onto the brake and clutch still. I had to turn her off and pick her back up to reset myself. Of course this left a few good gouges on the right side fairing where it hit the curb. No major damage but enough to tick me off. Wax on this side won't help that much. It also gouged some of my stickers on the right side. I didn't take any pictures because I'm still pissed off about it. I feel pretty incompetent that I couldn't make that left turn. Granted I only have about 100 miles of riding under my belt but I have been able to make my turns until then (and I thought I was getting better).
So two stupid mistakes are going to cost me two fairings so far. At this rate I'll be investing in a whole new set of plastics by next year. Although, I do live in PA, so maybe I can take the off-season as a chance to take off the damaged parts and repaint them (if possible). I can always look at the positive side and say that I haven't had any major damage yet and the bike is still in perfect riding shape. Plastics, other than the aero-dynamic aspects of it, are just cosmetic; and I won't be riding at 180 mph any time soon to take advantage of aero-dynamics. The downside is, I did scratch up a perfectly clean bike. Although I know now that the previous owners weren't the best but the bike didn't have any scratches on it until now.
I'm not looking for any advice; although anything that can make me feel a little better will help . I'm just taking some time to rant and hopefully relieve some of this anger that has built up by my own doing.
Thanks for listening.