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It wasn't a bad crash, in fact, as crashes go it was probably the BEST crash to have. I lowsided in SOFT grass. 
The Zero Gravity windsheild went, I cracked the upper and middle (R) fairing, broke the intake cover & signal, bent both brake levers, and bent the right exhaust pipe. All things considered, I am happy the damage was so minimal. I broke my trigger finger and ground down the tip a little, sprained my pinky, banged up my shoulder, and cracked a rib on my left side.
My buddy Kelly got away with a broken wrist and some pretty bad road rash, but is otherwise OK...his GSXR1K did not get by so good however. The tail section got ripped off, the tank is crushed, and the exhaust is twisted like a pretzel. The frame where the tail bolts on cracked off, as well as the bodywork is all gone.
Kelly went down on a right hander. I was right behind him and watched him as he tucked the front end. In an attempt to avoid running him over or hitting his bike, I swerved to the left and shaved off alot of speed but ran off the shoulder of the road into grass. Game over.
It has been 10 years since I last went down. That crash put me in the hospital for a week with a broken arm, 2 cracked teeth a broken collar bone, a mild concussion and some cracked ribs. In my opinion, any crash you can walk away from is a good one. This last crash was a wakeup call. I admit to getting too confident in my riding, and this has helped me get my head on straight. What have I learned?
#1. No matter how long you ride, or how well you think you know the road you ride, shit happens.
#2. Although riding close to your buddy is fun, it doesn't leave you enough room to avoid trouble if he were to go down in front of you.
#3. Gloves are GOOD. I never liked gloves. To me, they took away feel and I always had trouble using them. I will wear gloves from now on. It would have saved the tip of my finger.
#4. Spidi's Cordura Jackets are OK for running to the corner for a pack of Cig's, but they aren't worth nothing in a real crash. Body Armor or not, Cordura does NOT hold up, and should not be used instead of leather. Kelly just bought the Spidi Jacket, and he is suffering from some large scrape wounds. The jacket just fell apart, and what's worse is the Armor in the shoulders and forearm just fell out of the big holes that were made from the road. Had Kelly been wearing a leather jacket he would only have a broken wrist.
My 7 year old Teknic Jacket held up perfectly and I don't have any road rash other than my fingers and knuckles. My KBC helmet worked well too. All my gear worked like it should, and I am very pleased with how they held up.
My new parts are already ordered and I should be back on the road in a couple of weeks as soon as I can bend my fingers and my rib don't hurt so much. I feel very lucky. The positive thing about all of this is the fact that I am gonna get a full exhaust system after all. Here I was thinking that (In my old age) I would be happy with just having slip-on's, but after riding with them I realized that I would have been happier with a full exhaust. Serves me right for being lazy and not wanting to tune this TL.
I now have an Akropovic Titanium Evolution system on the way.
The panels that got broken are repairable so I will get to have another set of fairings to paint up with a custom job soon. If all goes well I will have another tank coming soon thanks to CWN racing, so I am all set. I will take off the blue stripe on the tail section to make it all black, that way I can run both color scheme fairings without having to get another tail section.
So...like that old sayin goes, "When life gives you Lemons...Ask for some Tequilla and salt!" LOL! My TLR will be coming out bigger and badder because of all of this. I love my TLR, I just hope she forgives me for laying her down!
The Zero Gravity windsheild went, I cracked the upper and middle (R) fairing, broke the intake cover & signal, bent both brake levers, and bent the right exhaust pipe. All things considered, I am happy the damage was so minimal. I broke my trigger finger and ground down the tip a little, sprained my pinky, banged up my shoulder, and cracked a rib on my left side.
My buddy Kelly got away with a broken wrist and some pretty bad road rash, but is otherwise OK...his GSXR1K did not get by so good however. The tail section got ripped off, the tank is crushed, and the exhaust is twisted like a pretzel. The frame where the tail bolts on cracked off, as well as the bodywork is all gone.
Kelly went down on a right hander. I was right behind him and watched him as he tucked the front end. In an attempt to avoid running him over or hitting his bike, I swerved to the left and shaved off alot of speed but ran off the shoulder of the road into grass. Game over.
It has been 10 years since I last went down. That crash put me in the hospital for a week with a broken arm, 2 cracked teeth a broken collar bone, a mild concussion and some cracked ribs. In my opinion, any crash you can walk away from is a good one. This last crash was a wakeup call. I admit to getting too confident in my riding, and this has helped me get my head on straight. What have I learned?
#1. No matter how long you ride, or how well you think you know the road you ride, shit happens.
#2. Although riding close to your buddy is fun, it doesn't leave you enough room to avoid trouble if he were to go down in front of you.
#3. Gloves are GOOD. I never liked gloves. To me, they took away feel and I always had trouble using them. I will wear gloves from now on. It would have saved the tip of my finger.
#4. Spidi's Cordura Jackets are OK for running to the corner for a pack of Cig's, but they aren't worth nothing in a real crash. Body Armor or not, Cordura does NOT hold up, and should not be used instead of leather. Kelly just bought the Spidi Jacket, and he is suffering from some large scrape wounds. The jacket just fell apart, and what's worse is the Armor in the shoulders and forearm just fell out of the big holes that were made from the road. Had Kelly been wearing a leather jacket he would only have a broken wrist.
My 7 year old Teknic Jacket held up perfectly and I don't have any road rash other than my fingers and knuckles. My KBC helmet worked well too. All my gear worked like it should, and I am very pleased with how they held up.
My new parts are already ordered and I should be back on the road in a couple of weeks as soon as I can bend my fingers and my rib don't hurt so much. I feel very lucky. The positive thing about all of this is the fact that I am gonna get a full exhaust system after all. Here I was thinking that (In my old age) I would be happy with just having slip-on's, but after riding with them I realized that I would have been happier with a full exhaust. Serves me right for being lazy and not wanting to tune this TL.
I now have an Akropovic Titanium Evolution system on the way.
The panels that got broken are repairable so I will get to have another set of fairings to paint up with a custom job soon. If all goes well I will have another tank coming soon thanks to CWN racing, so I am all set. I will take off the blue stripe on the tail section to make it all black, that way I can run both color scheme fairings without having to get another tail section.
So...like that old sayin goes, "When life gives you Lemons...Ask for some Tequilla and salt!" LOL! My TLR will be coming out bigger and badder because of all of this. I love my TLR, I just hope she forgives me for laying her down!
on the crash, glad you're OK though.
Oh, I gotta say it-
how can you not wear gloves? Am I the only on that tries to ride out all crashes on my palms:dunno
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