worldbound4now
Well-known member
As many of you know, there was one bike that was laid down during WFO. It was me. Going uphill through a tight left hand turn following WPBFJR with Galaxyblue close behind. The incident occured about 5 miles east of the intersection of 395 and CA108. To be as general as possible, I was leaning hard and pulling out of the corner when I felt the front end skip/hop/whatever as I adjusted my path to finish out the curve (ridicule to come later). Next thing I know the front end is washed out from under me, I dropped off to the soft shoulder and low sided my previously unscratched 05. Thankfully the only thing damaged on me was my ego. Hell, I've jumped into bed harder than what I hit the ground. It left my 'stitch unscuffed but full of dust. The FJR has a heavily abraded left lower and upper fairing pieces, a cracked stator cover, and quite an array of scratches on the left saddlebag. The shoulder was several inches lower than the road and I think the stator cover took the brunt of the initial impact.
Galaxyblue helped me upright the bike and get it out of further harms way. WPBFJR returned to the scene after noting that nobody was following him anymore, and a third rider (not sure of his screen name but I wish to thank him as well) (edited... Rogue) stopped and manned the curve to alert oncoming traffic of the road hazzard. After attempting to call for possible assistance, we noticed that the oil leak from the cracked cover was extremely slow (thankfully the carbon fiber protector was there, otherwise I would had a huge hole instead of a small crack). I decided to chance it and ride the 100+ miles back to WFO while checking the oil level frequently. The three riders that assisted me displayed group loyalty and escorted me back to Reno, while stopping for oil and supplies for a possible bike repair.
We made it back to the hilton without major incident. The bike sat all day Saturday and on Sunday I needed to add only about 1/2 quart of oil to top it off before returning to Las Vegas on Sunday. I was able to safely ride home sunday without needing to add more oil. I was surprised to see oil consistently near the upper indicator mark in the sight glass during the 440 mile ride home. My left boot is now permanently waterproofed though.
You three were a great help and are greatly appreciated. :drinks: If I am ever witness to an incident I will do no less than return the good deed that you provided to me. Thank you for cutting your day's ride short and helping me out.
In retrospect, had I been going slower into the corner I would have avoided this incident. With the given conditions and my level of experience, the FJR was able to outperform my ability levels. Somehow the five people in front of me in this group(led by weekender) made it through this curve just fine, though WPBFJR admitted that it spooked him a bit as well.
I also failed to adjust my suspension for my load. Thinking more about the incident, pre-WFO I increased the front end preload to show two rings and set the rear suspension to "hard". This may be fine for some, but I am used to riding with the front end preload set at three rings. The FJR had a light load for this ride, unlike the load it had coming to Reno. I was riding the pace of the group instead of riding my own ride. The wash out of my front end may have been because I was accellerating out of the uphill corner with a fully extended front suspension at a speed that was too fast for the current setup. There was a small amount of debris on the road... could have hit a rock and was going in too hot to notice it. Lesson learned the hard way.
hno-smiley:
Now I'm off to price out new tupperware and hardware for the FJR so I can get her back to her original glory. :moil: I will post pictures of the damage done when I get the courage to look at them.
Edited.....
Here's the overview pics:
Front end damage
The side indicator/turn signal light was pushed inside the fairing... it now just sits in the hole. Also the inner lower black panel (other side of the turn signal) was split open.
Left bag with full thickness split on leading edge.
Left bag upside down in hotel room.
Galaxyblue helped me upright the bike and get it out of further harms way. WPBFJR returned to the scene after noting that nobody was following him anymore, and a third rider (not sure of his screen name but I wish to thank him as well) (edited... Rogue) stopped and manned the curve to alert oncoming traffic of the road hazzard. After attempting to call for possible assistance, we noticed that the oil leak from the cracked cover was extremely slow (thankfully the carbon fiber protector was there, otherwise I would had a huge hole instead of a small crack). I decided to chance it and ride the 100+ miles back to WFO while checking the oil level frequently. The three riders that assisted me displayed group loyalty and escorted me back to Reno, while stopping for oil and supplies for a possible bike repair.
We made it back to the hilton without major incident. The bike sat all day Saturday and on Sunday I needed to add only about 1/2 quart of oil to top it off before returning to Las Vegas on Sunday. I was able to safely ride home sunday without needing to add more oil. I was surprised to see oil consistently near the upper indicator mark in the sight glass during the 440 mile ride home. My left boot is now permanently waterproofed though.
You three were a great help and are greatly appreciated. :drinks: If I am ever witness to an incident I will do no less than return the good deed that you provided to me. Thank you for cutting your day's ride short and helping me out.
In retrospect, had I been going slower into the corner I would have avoided this incident. With the given conditions and my level of experience, the FJR was able to outperform my ability levels. Somehow the five people in front of me in this group(led by weekender) made it through this curve just fine, though WPBFJR admitted that it spooked him a bit as well.
I also failed to adjust my suspension for my load. Thinking more about the incident, pre-WFO I increased the front end preload to show two rings and set the rear suspension to "hard". This may be fine for some, but I am used to riding with the front end preload set at three rings. The FJR had a light load for this ride, unlike the load it had coming to Reno. I was riding the pace of the group instead of riding my own ride. The wash out of my front end may have been because I was accellerating out of the uphill corner with a fully extended front suspension at a speed that was too fast for the current setup. There was a small amount of debris on the road... could have hit a rock and was going in too hot to notice it. Lesson learned the hard way.
hno-smiley: Now I'm off to price out new tupperware and hardware for the FJR so I can get her back to her original glory. :moil: I will post pictures of the damage done when I get the courage to look at them.
Edited.....
Here's the overview pics:
Front end damage
The side indicator/turn signal light was pushed inside the fairing... it now just sits in the hole. Also the inner lower black panel (other side of the turn signal) was split open.
Left bag with full thickness split on leading edge.
Left bag upside down in hotel room.
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