Hey
I was going through a bend and gave it a moderate amount of gas, I got into that 4000-5000 RPM range when the bike starts to pull and got surprised by it. I got too close to the other lane and panicked. I grabbed the front brake (didnt even touch the rear) and lowsided at about 15 mph/25kmh.
My right mirror snapped (aftermarket), the aluminium cover of the exhaust is pretty scratched (can this single part be replaced?), the right black round engine cover is broken (What is under there? Which part of the gearbox is that?), the right rear blinker doesnt work, the right handlebar weight is bend, the gray covers ("cups") of the dash are broken. And sadly, when I drive straight forward the whole handlebar including the dash and all that points to the right. I can only lock the steering if I push it really hard to the left.
Inspection is due this month. I have 30 bucks left. Bought it 8 days ago.
As far as accidents go this definitely thought me a lesson for the future.
So what do you think? If I replace/repair the simple stuff myself how much do you think this will cost me?
I was really careful with it and I still messed up by making such a stupid mistake.
Man, I'm sorry to hear that. It's always a crazy ordeal when you go down. Ruins your whole day and your head is a mess thinking about what could've happened, what you should've done differently, and all that. Just take it as a learning experience and that's the best you can do in the short-term. Believe me, I know where you're coming from, I low-sided my bike the second day after I bought it. Luckily, you came out okay and in the end all that matters is that you can ride another day. You can fix your bike much easier than you can fix you, yeah?
Some pictures of the damage would help out in determining prices and such. Check your state motorcycle laws. You may be surprised that it'll be easy for you to pass inspection. In my state (Louisiana) You only need a left mirror, and blinkers are not required. You also don't need the bar ends to be legal. That's a slight load off what you need fixed for inspection, anyway.
The right engine cover are your clutch plates, and the small round bit covers your magneto.
It sounds like your handlebar is bent? Mine was also bent when I went down, if you have a vice and a long piece of metal something you can leverage in there, you may be able to straighten it out well enough to be operational until you have the cash to get a new one (if you want to do that). Handles bars are very easy to replace.
You could get away with flat out removing a lot of what is broken (depending on motorcycle laws for where you live) and still have the bike be functional. What's left is pretty cheap or easy to repair yourself, depending on the severity of the damage. At least that way you can have your bike operational and you can slowly work towards it being repaired in the way you want it, since it sounds like you're low on cash, I can relate, but the great thing about the GS is that it's bullet-proof and with a bit of elbow grease it is a very economical bike to maintain and repair. It should be fine. Don't worry.
I sent mine up the road on Tuesday. I've found so far that picking up parts cheap is the tedious bit. But everyone on here is really supportive. The right side cover is the timing rotor. Mine got ripped off, sheared the bolts and pulled the timing rotor out too. But as soon as Ive got all the bits I need I don't think it'll take long to mend. My aim is the end of March, minus a week while I go visit my parents.
First of all, how are you?
Second, don't beat yourself up over this. Examine what happened in your mind and definitely learn from it but remember... sh*t happens !!
Did you include a picture? Sometimes pics don't show up for me when I'm viewing the forum on the work computers. That might give everyone an even better idea of what all needs to be replaced/fixed.
I can't offer too much help with pricing things out but I'd imagine it can't cost much for one aftermarket mirror... if you can find a match to the one you already have ? I'm not sure if that cover of the muffler is replaceable but that's one thing you can worry about later (I can't imagine they would care about that for inspection but I'm not sure where you are or how strict the rules are).
The rest I will leave up to the experts to help you sort out... wishing you the best of luck Yianna
(bah was typing this up as others were replying too so forgive me lol... totally agree with Iarn!!)
I will post some pics as soon as I can. Its bed time where I am from and tomorrow is a busy day. I am from Germany and the inspection laws are pretty strict. The only thing I can get away with is the scratched muffler, everything else (inlcuding 2 mirrors) have to be in working order. Pictures on the internet indicate that I busted the cover of the signal generator. MAYBE they will be ok with that being broken but probably not.
I think Im alright. My right knee is swollen but I can walk just fine. A few things in my backpack are broken but my 13 year old laptop survived even though it got scratched. That old POS is truly the GS500 of laptops. No clue how the screen survived getting sandwiched between me and a thermos.
Yikes..... sorry about your spill.
First things first though - check your steering geometry as soon as possible (you said the dash points left of center?). If your forks are tweaked, there's not much reason to worry about mirrors / signals / etc.
Glad to know you are overall OK. Take it easy on that knee, I hope it feels better soon !!
I like the lil story about your laptop... I find more and more each day that older things are much more durable/reliable than some newer things.
Rich has an excellent point. If something is bent/twisted etc in the front then the other stuff takes a spot on the back burner.
What do you think happened to the fork there? From my perspective the whole thing points a few degrees to the right. "Whole thing" as in eveything I can see while riding. The top plate of the fork and everything connected to it. The suspension works fine, the wheels works fine and the brake is also working smoothly. Which part is messed up?
I've never crashed but I've been told that in a crash you can mess up the alignment of the forks/handlebars/wheel. And that the remedy for this is sometimes to just loosen the bolts on the triple-clamps and release the tension in the forks. It may be that they are twisted and will spring back to their original positions.
Sounds like you need to reset the alignment like lucas said, and buy a new signal generator cover, turn signal bulb, and mirror. Easily less than $100 to get back on the road.
The dash and exhaust are just cosmetic. Sorry you went down, but it sounds like you have learned from the experience.
Firstly I send all the usual commiserations, everyone else is concentrating on your bike so I may as well focus on this bit ...As far as accidents go this definitely thought me a lesson for the future...
First thing I thought was why were you gassing it in a corner as opposed to just as you exit the corner? It's not really a good idea, if you didn't lowside you might have stood the bike up and run wide, which could have been a lot worse. I dropped my bike travelling at 0 kph last week trying to go over a 2 inch barrier in a car park, I forgot that my givi was filled with stuff and the front wheel turned in my hands, it was sort of a slow motion tip over and my groin took the brunt of trying to hold it up.
I take it OP is a new rider, given his post history. No need to admonish them for their mistake.
I will say, that being a rider doesn't stop once you're off that bike. It continues as you analyze each ride and improve from each one.
I'd encourage you to look up the loads of material that's out there about riding, how to do it effectively and safely, if you haven't already. I've done so and am really glad I did, as its saved me in a lot of close calls.
If you'd like some book suggestions or where to look, I'd be happy through oblige through PM or through post.
Don't let others get you down.
Glad you're ok.
You'll work the bike out.
Now get that swollen looked at and make sure you're ok.
This is not debatable.
So I am going to take a few pics soon (Hopefully I wont find any other damaged parts) and try to repair the fork. Any advice for the latter?
My plan is to put it on the center stand and loosen the bolts that connect to the Forks. Then just wiggle it and hope for the best.
Wait a second.... don't just put it on the stand and loosen the forks. Unless you have the front end supported (or the rear end tied down), the weight of the bike can come down on the front end. Make sure the front wheel isn't weighted before loosening the forks.
Good advice, I take the weight off the front wheel by looping a ratchet-strap over a rafter and through the frame.
I tried it but couldnt get the nuts loose with the bikes stubby wrench and it's dark now.
A buddy told me that if I don't release the stress from the forks soon it might stay bent.
Is there any truth to that? The wheel points to the right. The fender is straight.
I will post the pics in 4 hours.
Oh and the parking light in the front doesnt work.
Getting a set of metric hex key attachments for my ratchet set made working on the bike quite bit easier. :technical:
No, there is no need to rush. If the forks permanently deformed under stress then relieving the stress sooner makes virtually no difference.
your friends theory makes intuitive sense, but that isn't how the steel behaves.
(http://i.imgur.com/0r6F7R2h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Y40EueIh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/5PCtFgWh.jpg)
Omg that last picture looks exactly like my gs when I got it :icon_eek: The gauge housing, the rash on the headlight rim... ahh memories...
Carry on :oops: :icon_rolleyes:
Quote from: cWj on March 04, 2016, 08:07:08 AM
Glad you're ok.
You'll work the bike out.
Now get that swollen looked at and make sure you're ok.
This is not debatable.
This ..... i agree with. having a destroyed ankle myself. health comes first. only THEN work on the bike. check tree alignment first. can always check the neck and see if it itself is tweaked. ( paint will usually show this. but tbh i doubt this is the case. just got knocked out of alignment. may have to postpone the safety check there. youre not kidding about Deutschland/germany being strict on safety checks. (ive got distant family there. they complain about this often lol) but my friend work on YOURSELF first.
Aaron
Quote from: ShowBizWolf on March 04, 2016, 08:00:17 PM
Omg that last picture looks exactly like my gs when I got it :icon_eek: The gauge housing, the rash on the headlight rim... ahh memories...
Carry on :oops: :icon_rolleyes:
Did you replace the housing?
Sorry to hear about your spill, what a bummer. Glad you're okay and sounds like damage could have been a lot worse, so hopefully you can get her back on the road soon!
Sounds like classic survival response crash.. hopefully a learning experience for you, nothing to beat yourself up about.
I did replace the housing... and the two rubber seals that go around each gauge because mine were pretty ripped up and outta shape.