[mattg]

well, a good friend of mine wants to sell his gix1k to me. super sweet bike. its an 02 with micron serpent full system, pc2, custom map, tons of other goodies. I was looking to pay around 8k with new tires, and some other little shit.

well, we were out riding tonight and I took a good d*****. I was on my bike, about to make a right turn. I slowed, looked through the turn, knew where I wanted to end up at the end of the turn and kept looking there. just like I always tell myself, look through the turn. well, either I didn't see the pothole or I thought it was freshly filled in with alphault. I started to lean and the front tire went right in it. I hit the ground before I knew what was happening. I wasn't crankin it, not hot doggin at all. my buddy says he thinks I didn't have enough speed through the turn. I think I took it a little too sharp for my speed, but I know I would have been fine had I not hit the pothole.

on to the damage portion of the story.
so, he was on a 03 r1, and he was to the outside of me. when my bike fell, it snapped the speedo cable on the left (dunno how), and broke the front brake lever. scratched up the already scrached up fairings, and whatever. maybe $50 tops to fix it.

the r1 wasn't so lucky. he was just behind me when I went down, just outside of me in the turn. some part of my bike his the bottom fairing of the r1 and rashed the hell out of it. i'm guessing around 200 to 250 for a new lower right fairing.

me, i'm okay. my head didnt' hit the ground except where I stopped moving and laid to rest for a second or so. my jacked worked wonders. I would have broken my elbow had I not been wearing it. I know I slid on my shoulder too. I would have tons of rash had I not been wearing it. and I can barely even tell by the jacket that I was down. amazingly, my jeans held up just fine, but I was only doing about 15mph. just scuffed a bit. my hip is really sore, as is my elbow. other than that, i have a hurt ego, and a lighter wallet.

i've been riding for over 2 years. I've close calls before. had I been on the gix1k I would not only be more pissed, out more cash, but probaly hurt much more too.. just another reason to remember to start small.

thanks for listening.
Matt.

 

[paulF3]

what kind of bike are you riding. do you know which tire let loose? did you lean on the throttle or did it just hit the ground? I have hit potholes in turns before and been fine, except for being jarred a little. The only thing I have ever really scared the piss out of myself with before was coming out of a parking deck. I went through a large puddle of water, then a speed bump. After the speed bump, I had to turn so I started the turn before completely going over the bump. When the back tire went over the bump, I leaned on the throttle(right handed turn and all) and the back tire really got squirrelly.

 

[808]

there are two kinds of riders the ones who have crashed and the ones who have yet to crash...

 

[Meh2u]

Thank god my GSX-R600 comes stock with a steering damper. I was coming off the highway and merging onto a road at around 60mph. I hit a series of potholes leaned pretty good and went into a tank slapper. I kept my arms loose, didn't move my body, and kept on the throttle.

Everything was ok, I didn't even think about it afterwards. It was just an accident. I had no idea they ripped up the road because of resurfacing, and reacted well, so I just consider myself lucky to have the necessary skills to respond to a situation like that, and had I not had a steering damper I might be in the hospital right now.

 

[mattg]

what kind of bike are you riding. do you know which tire let loose? did you lean on the throttle or did it just hit the ground? I have hit potholes in turns before and been fine, except for being jarred a little. The only thing I have ever really scared the piss out of myself with before was coming out of a parking deck. I went through a large puddle of water, then a speed bump. After the speed bump, I had to turn so I started the turn before completely going over the bump. When the back tire went over the bump, I leaned on the throttle(right handed turn and all) and the back tire really got squirrelly.

i'm on a zx7, have been since about this time last year. I rode a katana for over a year before that, and a f2 for about 3 months before that.

i had some throttle through the turn, but I wasn't on it. just enough to keep my speed steady. I might have been just coming off the front brake too. I'm not exactly sure because it just happened way too fast to remember what went wrong.

 

[MaxOwner]

I dont' think what ever bike you were on had anythign to do with it, its just you as a rider and the things you did. I am not trying to blame you or say you don't have the skills, but it would have made no difference being on a zx7 or a gixxer 1k.

Actually with the gixxer being lighter than the zx7 and with better cornering ability and with a stock steering damper you may have made it with the gixxer 1k

 

[Gixxer_Six2003]

Same thing I was thinking Max.

 

[ZeuSeason]

I have seen some potholes that will swallow your front tire. No way to avoid those especially cause they are right where you least expect them and they weren't there last time. Totally sucks and I'm glad to hear for the most part you are ok. I relocated to South Florida a year ago and I am glad I don't have to deal with those northern potholes anymore.

 

[The Governor]

Thank god my GSX-R600 comes stock with a steering damper.

Don't be fooled into a false sense of security. The stock damper is about as useful as a fork when you're trying to eat soup.

Junk it and get a real damper.....you'll never go back!

Gov

 

[Gixxer_Six2003]

Gov, you say that, but I can tell a huge difference in my bike with it, and others without it.


Besides, I eat my soup with a fork. By the time I tear my grilled cheese up and put in it, then load it with crackers, its perfect to eat with a fork. :twofinger

 

[MaxOwner]

eating soup with a fork will allow you to get some food in your mouth.

I can tell a HUGE difference riding my bike than my cousin's R6.. man talk about tank slap city.

that steering damper might not do ALOT.. but it does something.

 

[f2benny]

.
when my bike fell, it snapped the speedo cable on the left (dunno how), and broke the front brake lever. scratched up the already scrached up fairings, and whatever. maybe $50 tops to fix it.

the r1 wasn't so lucky. he was just behind me when I went down, just outside of me in the turn. some part of my bike his the bottom fairing of the r1 and rashed the hell out of it. i'm guessing around 200 to 250 for a new lower right fairing.

You have not priced new bike parts before I'm guessing!

 

[Gixxer_Six2003]

$292 from bike bandit, for a '03 R1 fairing.

 

[mattg]

no luck findind a fairing at a decent price yet.

and i'm starting to think it wasn't the pothole that got me. the guy I was riding with said he thinks i didn't have enough speed going through the turn to support the amount of lean that I had. I dunno, i think that once I started the turn, I began to lean and BOOM I was just down.

now that my bike is rideable again, i think i'm starting to agree with him. this may have been more rider error than conditions.

 

[MaxOwner]

I bought used fairings off ebay.. ran about $150

 

[paulF3]

I have seen pictures of people dragging a knee at 15MPH, so unless you were going slower than 20 or so, you should have been fine in the speed department.

 

[mattg]

i'll bet I was slower than 20.

and I hear tomorrow if I got the loan of the gsxr. after this i'm wondering if i'll be okay on that thing.

 

[pelican]

A reasonable amount of respect for a motorcyle will keep you from doing really dumb stuff. And on a gixxer 1k....well a bit of restraint might not be a bad idea.

 

[mattg]

i'm just seriously starting to wonder how many more mistakes i'll make that would be more "expensive" because of the smaller margin for error on the b***** bike. I wouldn't call myself a beginer anymore, but i'm not a racer by any means. I'm always riding with my friends that have about 4 years riding experience on me. i know that riding with them i'm gaining experience, but sometimes i just watch them and say wow.

 

[The Governor]

eating soup with a fork will allow you to get some food in your mouth.

I can tell a HUGE difference riding my bike than my cousin's R6.. man talk about tank slap city.

that steering damper might not do ALOT.. but it does something.

Well, I can tell you this.....having owned both an R6 and a GSXR750, the R6 definitely has a nervous front end. But don't attribute that to the GSXR's bs steering damper. Seriously, try an aftermarket one, like a Scotts or Ohlins and then compare it. You will then understand what a real steering damper is supposed to feel like, and you will like it!

Gov