A skittish motor-bike, a patch of gravel... OUCH!

[JLKasper]

Since everybody else seems to be crashing, I thought I might as well, too...

Today was beautiful--  mostly sunny, about 75 degrees, a little wind--  one of those days where you decide to see where some of those roadsigns you've been passing lead to.  All told, I had about 150 miles into the ride, and it was getting dark.  "Time to call it a day", I said to myself.  

The last leg of the ride took me through some reclaimed strip mine land that the state purchased and converted into a wildlife recreation area.  As I left it, I encountered a section of highway construction up ahead with flashing barricades and traffic cones.  Before I got to it, there was a 20 foot wide section of road where a storm sewer had been laid.  It hadn't been blacktopped over yet, and was covered with packed gravel.  Now, I'd ridden over this section for months in my car and on my bike, but the surface had turned into a severe washboard since I last travelled on it.  I saw it soon enough to slow down more, but I didn't slow down enough.

Before I knew it, the bike and I was chattering over the rough surface.  Evidently, my front wheel got slightly cocked, which was enough to catch it in a rut and slammed me to the ground, with the bike atop me, still idling.  I must have looked like John Wayne in True Grit, trying to extricate my leg from under the fallen beast.  Fortunately, Lucky Ned Pepper was nowhere in sight, and I was able to untwist my ankle and get free.  I got the bike up, and soon a fisherman drove up with his boat in tow.  "Did it die on you?" he asked, before he saw me covered in gravel dust.  I explained what happened, shifted it in neutral, and wheeled it under a nearby streetlight.

     It fell on its right side, and scratched the hell out of the ignition cover and peeled off the cover emblem, filling the inside of the ignition assembly with gravel.  Aside from a skinned up turn signal lens, tach cover, and right mirror, the bike fared pretty well otherwise; no body plastic or the gas tank was affected.  The F1S can was a little scratched but undented.

A quick personal survey revealed no "Oh, S**t!- type" expensive pain.  I landed on my left forearm, and right knee and foot.  Since I was wearing gloves, jacket, heavy jeans and boots, I suffered no road rash--  just some broken skin on my left wrist from my watchband, and a little on the right knee.  The denim was unbroken, and the boots and gloves will clean up.

With the fisherman's needle-nose pliers from his tackle box, I removed the bolts from the ignition cover and cleaned out the junk (Side note:  the stock tool kit was worthless; there is no wrench and the pliers couldn't grip the bolt.  A 7mm nut driver is on my shopping list).  I straightened the handlebar and headlight, and started the bike with some difficulty since it must have flooded while on its side.  I shook the fisherman's hand (who generously offered to give me his flashlight, just in case), and rode the eight miles home without further incident.  

So, the GS sits in the shed, bruised but not broken-- waiting for my parts order from www.RonAyers.com to replace the gravel-scarred parts, and erase as much of the evidence of my stupidity as possible.  I have taken a couple of Advil to quell the throbbing from my bandaged knee. I wish I had some Maker's Mark in the house to salve my wounded pride, but the liquour stores are closed on Sunday. Oh well, it's time for bed anyway.

[yamahonkawazuki]

i almost did... :x came across the dam at around 85   (speedo) saw a few fellow riders, harleys rockets a few ducks etc.etc., well i slowed with the quickness, to make the parking lot, and slid, you know like one would with a bicycle. (yeah but this "bicycle" weghs considerably more i slid with the back tire sieways-ish but recovered.    :x   , wont do that again scared the hershey-squirts outta me . hey, ive got some makers-mark here, tell ya what i drink it and think about your day      

[Turkina]

Doh! Glad to hear the damage wasn't too severe, both to bike and body.  Of course, we're going to hear something about the heavy duty aluminum ignition cover now

Ever since reading Proficient Motorcycling, and riding around on crappy NY roads, I've always got little warnings like 'edge trap' and 'gravel' blaring in my head.  With that comes the 'keep on throttle' and stuff... I suppose when hitting a loose section of gravel, you lean on the rear brake more for stopping?

[Cal Price]

Glad to hear you are OK, a tribute to protective kit, like you say boots'n'gloves will clean up, flesh aint so easy! Is there anyone on the site that has not damaged one of those damn covers? I have.

[JLKasper]

... Of course, we're going to hear something about the heavy duty aluminum ignition cover now ...

I'm in the queue for a pair of Seshadri's case savers, and have bid unsuccessfully on SV650 headlights on ebay .  The former would have prevented the case damage, and the latter would have eliminated the crash entirely.  Had I seen the condition of the road soon enough, I would have stopped, gotten off and pushed it through that stretch.  The stock GS's beam doesn't direct enough light far enough ahead to see details at more than bicycling speed. But then again, there was no excuse for outriding my headlight.

[scratch]

Glad you're alright! Scary little crash. I've been keeping a little 7mm carburetor wrench (from Sears, it comes with a bunch in a little puoch) in the toolkit.

[sanityfree]

I HATE GRAVEL!!! In my inexperience, if you see the gravel ahead of time, bring her as close to a halt as you safely can before you hit, then coast over the gravel. Engine braking is probably the safest way to brake in gravel. Maybe lightly hit the rear...

[Sportbilly]

Managed a highside due to gravel one night, unmarked construction on a left hand corner (driving on the left in NZ), the back end stepped out just in time to regain grip at the end of the gravel patch.

Threw me 15 feet to the right, no major damage, except very slight rash on my knee where my jeans wore through.

The cover on the RHS was pancaked, I mean almost flat.  As I was picking the bike up, I heard the little emblem landing next to me,  Go figure.   The bike ran flawlessly for the 100 Km home, and the cover was replaced for cheap from the dealer.  

No long-lived damage except the ubiquitous dent on the tank from the bar-end.

Lesson hard-learned.  But relatively chaeply.  Glad you're ok, and that the bike didn't leave you stranded...