Well, there I was, taking this relatively tight turn, trying to avoid the gravel like hell, but I think in the end I just got lazy and went right over the gravel.... shouldn't have!

The rear tire skidded, the bike went wide on the turn,  I panicked and pulled the brakes and as soon as the bike went off the road, the front tire skidded on the gravel and the bike went down on its left side.

The front fork appears to be bent somehow, as the front fender is rubbing the left side of the tire.  Broken turn signal and bent handlebar.  Oh yeah and a nasty scrape on the gas tank and engine.

Other than that and a chunk of raw skin on my knee, I'm glad to finally get it over with, the fear of going down that is.

BTW, I praised the nakedness of my bike to no end.

Sorry to hear about you going down.    

It is possible the forks are just twisted in the triples. Loosen the clamps enough to rotate the tubes. You can see easily if they are bent by rotating them in the triples. It does not sound like much of a crash to bend the tubes.

You were lookin' at the gravel weren't ya?

My race manager once told me that we are the masters, we tell the bike where we want to go, it doesn't matter if the bike is getting sideways, shaking its head, and spinning the rear wheel. Look at where we want to go and tell the bike that's where we're gonna go.

Strange echoes of my CBT instructor, if you look at something in the road you will run over it. I found out he was right when I run over a plumbers wrench and it had a relationship with my left shin after the front wheel flipped it up off the road.
Sorry to hear about the bike and the ripped flesh.

The forks might be just fine, check out if the fork spacer plate is alright. Back out the bolts holding it onto the fork legs, and if the holes those bolts fit through are round, then the spacer is fine, if they are stretched, then do a search on making fork spacers.
And checking the rotation of the forks is easy. See if you can take out the fron axle without any trouble. Don't force it, if it's stuck then the forks are not aligned (twist them like dgyver said) and make sure to use a new cotter pin.

Take care of the scrapes  (on the bike) as quickly as posible as the mettal will rust rapidly. You can get a can of sprayable heat resistent engine case paint from a dealership near you for $6. And the tank you can be creative with.
-Denis S.
PS: I still have my 1st one to get over with, It's nice that you got yours over with without too high of a tole on your body.

Quote from: scratchYou were lookin' at the gravel weren't ya?

My race manager once told me that we are the masters, we tell the bike where we want to go, it doesn't matter if the bike is getting sideways, shaking its head, and spinning the rear wheel. Look at where we want to go and tell the bike that's where we're gonna go.

I was thinking the exact same thing as I read

...except I've never raced and never had a race manager  :lol:

Glad you made it out relatively unscathed

PS - its happened to me too.... Target fixation is a Buddha Loves You

I first learnt about looking where I wanted to go in my first rally. Round a corner, sideways, looking straight at a tree. Hit it. Saw it the whole time. Shoulda been looking down the road huh!

good old tunnel Vision collision