Hey guys, new here, I've been riding a 2008 GS500F for a few months now, my first bike.

It wasn't raining today for the first time in a while, so of course I went for a ride and thought it'd be a good idea to pretend I was in the motogp. You probably know how this story goes, I was flying around a downhill corner and I was even scraping a peg (and my left boot) for the first time ever. Then I hit a bit of gravel and suddenly I was scraping a fairing  to be fair I might have been too far down at that point to recover. Luckily it was a relatively low (35-40ish) speed crash, but a rock went through the side of the metal thing on the left side, and a bunch of oil leaked out. (literally the weekend after I changed the oil too :/) I checked the oil level and it said low (but not critical) and I rode the bike about 5 miles home. My question is, what exactly is this part and how should I go about replacing it (I assume it won't function well with a hole in the side of it) and is there anything else I should worry about after getting some dirt and crap into the side of it? I'm pretty this part goes for about $50 on ebay listed as magneto cover, will it be hard to replace myself? The other damage was negligible, I'll have to reattach the turn signal (again) and the fairings were beat up even before I bought the bike.

here is the damage https://imgur.com/a/LJ0JY
ignore the duct tape, I just put that over the hole to (hopefully) stop oil leaking out for the ride home XD

Also as a side note, I was wearing hiking boots and jeans and I got a nice chunk taken out of my hiking boots and got road rash through my jeans... Any recommendations for riding pants, right now I'm just looking on craigslist for some overpants.

https://youtu.be/GxS5yZ44AHU

There's a detailed video on how to get that cover off. But DO NOT ride it that way. Should be as simple as making sure no crap got in there, replacing the cover and filling it back up with oil. Good luck, and be safe out there!

Sent from my Z982 using Tapatalk

First bike?  Riding only a couple months?  Pretend motoGP?   Then this?

You've got a much bigger problem than the cracked case.

Change your attitude or you will soon be dead!

Not that I care, but such statistics make the rest of us look bad.

Please take up checkers.  (God has given you your "first warning"...heed it)


Cookie

Quote from: idk on March 05, 2018, 02:02:10 AM
Hey guys, new here, I've been riding a 2008 GS500F for a few months now, my first bike.

It wasn't raining today for the first time in a while, so of course I went for a ride and thought it'd be a good idea to pretend I was in the motogp. You probably know how this story goes, I was flying around a downhill corner and I was even scraping a peg (and my left boot) for the first time ever. Then I hit a bit of gravel and suddenly I was scraping a fairing  to be fair I might have been too far down at that point to recover. Luckily it was a relatively low (35-40ish) speed crash, but a rock went through the side of the metal thing on the left side, and a bunch of oil leaked out. (literally the weekend after I changed the oil too :/) I checked the oil level and it said low (but not critical) and I rode the bike about 5 miles home. My question is, what exactly is this part and how should I go about replacing it (I assume it won't function well with a hole in the side of it) and is there anything else I should worry about after getting some dirt and crap into the side of it? I'm pretty this part goes for about $50 on ebay listed as magneto cover, will it be hard to replace myself? The other damage was negligible, I'll have to reattach the turn signal (again) and the fairings were beat up even before I bought the bike.

here is the damage https://imgur.com/a/LJ0JY
ignore the duct tape, I just put that over the hole to (hopefully) stop oil leaking out for the ride home XD

Also as a side note, I was wearing hiking boots and jeans and I got a nice chunk taken out of my hiking boots and got road rash through my jeans... Any recommendations for riding pants, right now I'm just looking on craigslist for some overpants.

Quote from: twocool on March 05, 2018, 04:33:22 AM
Change your attitude or you will soon be dead!

This.

If you want to ride like that, don't bother fixing the gs.  Get a track bike and please stay off of the public roads.

Quote from: twocool on March 05, 2018, 04:33:22 AM
Please take up checkers.  (God has given you your "first warning"...heed it)
Cookie

I'm amazed you were even able to ride it home, a hole like that should leave NO oil in the crankcase.  I would not be surprised if more systems internally are now compromised as a result of you doing so, but if a good amount of oil still remains in the engine it might be ok to just drain, check for debris, then fill, as AlmostConnor suggested.


I'll reciprocate what everyone else has said, you really need to change your attitude/behavior for street riding.

First warning:  "It wasn't raining today for the first time in a while."
Rain, rain, rain, then suddenly no rain?  The #1 thing I'd be looking for is debris in the road!  A day like that, while exciting to be back on the bike, does not warrant ANY higher speeds, and definitely not being Street Rossi on corners!

I don't want to turn this post into a lecture so I won't touch on the other issues.

If you haven't go take a safety course.  If you have, take another.  There should be several curriculum offered in your area for both inexperienced and experienced riders alike (you might benefit from both), that will not only teach you safe riding techniques but will also recommend you good behaviors and teach improved situational awareness.

Quote from: Watcher on March 05, 2018, 01:30:59 PM
I'm amazed you were even able to ride it home, a hole like that should leave NO oil in the crankcase.

Ditto that.

I'd be seriously concerned about the condition of the engine after riding 5 miles with no oil.

Quote
I'll reciprocate what everyone else has said, you really need to change your attitude/behavior for street riding.

Ditto that too.

Welcome to the forum lol people make mistakes...  Glad your'e okay and Im sure you learned your lesson.  Besides the understandable lecturing, this site is really good for information about anything GS related.  The wiki is really good and a few other people will answer your question like AlmostConnor did.
Lajko1 and BaltimoreGS on youtube have excellent videos on the GS

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfopOgFUP9aRZNHRZ8GAXeg   Lajko1

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG4Na2FNALVFrzdPAaSyOyQ   BaltimoreGS

Hope this at least helps!

Quote from: Codoloco on March 06, 2018, 03:08:39 PM
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfopOgFUP9aRZNHRZ8GAXeg   Lajko1

Quote from: Watcher on March 06, 2018, 08:38:11 PM

Quote from: Codoloco on March 06, 2018, 03:08:39 PM
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfopOgFUP9aRZNHRZ8GAXeg   Lajko1

Im right there with you.  Glad we can still enjoy his mind and teachings

+1

Hell with that cuz it ain't enough... rather, +infinity for Patrick <3

Crashes happen, we've all been there. Some people on this forum forget what it's like to be young and dumb.

All you can do is remove the cover, clean out any debris you see, scrape and replace the gaskets, and replace the cover. If you are lucky and that duct tape actually held the oil in your bike might be fine. You could also drop the sump and check for debris in there if you want to be really thorough. Then replace that gasket before reattaching the sump.

Hopefully you already knew this, but you shouldn't ride in jeans unless you are willing to suffer road rash and destroyed knees. Get yourself some proper riding pants with leather in the impact areas. Non-premium textiles are not much better than denim. Get leather everything ASAP if you want to continue riding like you are on the track (which I do not condone either but I understand it can be fun). Also get proper full height motorcycle boots with CE rated ankle protection.

Don't post crashes on the GS forums, members will take a dump all over you no matter what. they like to be negative instead of positive. just pretend the GS forums are the new SV650 or GSXR forums. s*** on each other/ so the only folk who are left are those who like s*** on their chest.

Hope you had fun crashing and not dying. as that's the goal after all, I say if you're not dead or mangled to the point of not riding again, congrats. +100 EXP for successful crash

I mean, I had fast motor cars and fast motor bikes, and when I wasn't crashing airplanes, I was crashing motor bikes. It's all part of the game.
— Sir Harry Broadhurst, RAF

Take something for the swelling in your hip, rest it for 3 days. you'll be kosher.

You need that alternator cover, and make sure that the alternator stator doesn't hit the rotor. That leads to goats.
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: J_Walker on March 08, 2018, 04:09:03 PM
Don't post crashes on the GS forums, members will take a dump all over you no matter what.

For the record, I don't care if you crash.  Actually I believe there are way too many people on this planet.  So if you want to leave voluntarily, go ahead.  Just do it in a manner that doesn't raise my insurance rates or make drivers angry at me.

Like it or not, other riders are affected by your s*** decision making. 

Quote from: rocketgirl on March 09, 2018, 05:54:36 AM
...Just do it in a manner that doesn't raise my insurance rates or make drivers angry at me.

Like it or not, other riders are affected by your s*** decision making. 

+1 that. Although I don't want anyone to crash to begin with. That's kind of the point. The goal on a forum is not to prop up any individual's ego, but to help inform the collective about how to do things better, whether that's to be a safer rider and avoid accidents, keep your bike in good shape, etc. We want everyone to succeed. Reinforcing bad behavior that leads to crashes doesn't help anyone succeed.

If you can learn from your mistakes and don't mind being corrected in the open when you post about a crash, then good on you, and this forum will certainly help you grow. If you can't handle that, then posting about crashes on this forum is not going to be a lot of fun for you.

Glad to see there are at least a few sane, reasonable, caring people on this group.

BTW this guy, Sir Harry Broadhurst, RAF ...turns out to be a complete A-hole...Disobeying orders, while flying a British Bomber...resulting in a crash,  and killing 4  crew members...oh yeah, he bailed out...what a guy!

Nice role model!


Cookie

Quote from: rocketgirl on March 09, 2018, 05:54:36 AM

Quote from: J_Walker on March 08, 2018, 04:09:03 PM
Don't post crashes on the GS forums, members will take a dump all over you no matter what.

For the record, I don't care if you crash.  Actually I believe there are way too many people on this planet.  So if you want to leave voluntarily, go ahead.  Just do it in a manner that doesn't raise my insurance rates or make drivers angry at me.

Like it or not, other riders are affected by your s*** decision making.