The scratch has fallen.

So there I was getting onto the freeway, #1 lane, 70mph, the same route and lane I have been doing every day for the past year, or so, going to work. I took my hand off the handlebar to seal my visor when I reach this crest in the freeway, where I know it's bumpy, and the front end gets light, starts a headshake, I try to grip the tank with my knees and I'm down. I'm surprised that I'm down, but I'm relaxed. I wonder when I'm going to stop sliding. I decide to roll around a little so as not to expose any specific area to prolonged sliding. The bike is sliding and keeps going and going and going. Wow.
When I finally stop, I get up and go sit on the guardrail and start checking myself, even though I know I'm fine. Weird.

The cagers I passed at the light before the freeway onramp are now catching up and I give a wave that I'm okay to an older, gray-haired gentleman who's gawking at me from his golden, late-model Cadilac. How sad that they do not know why I went down.

So what did I learn today? That I need to keep both hands on the handlebars when I'm coming up to a well known hazard. See even an 18 year vet can make a mistake and learn something.

Gear (note that I'm posting this first, before the condition of the bike, and also note that I posted the lesson above that.):
A very loose fitting, 18 year old, Vetter leather bomber jacket. Note that I underlined loose. This is because if I had a properly fitting jacket I would not have the rash on my right forearm. The abrasion on my left elbow, I believe, would have been unavoidable. I also have a little roughing of the skin under my right pec, and I'm a little sore there, but nothing internal. It hurt when my wife hugged me.

The swank, 9-point, Fieldsheer Carbolex overpants protected impressively. If I wasn't wearing shorts underneath I probably wouldn't have received the two, quarter and dime sized, scrapes on my right knee. Pictures to follow.

Shoei TZ-1 helmet received a quarter-sized scrape on the right rear custom reflective sticker that I placed there. Removed the paint down to the resin. It's allright.

Boots: Nevados Greystone hiking boots. $15 Bought last week, Big 5. Got dirty.

8-point purple bike damage: REALLY bent handlebars (can't wait to post picture of this!), broken brake lever. Thrashed ignition cover. Rode it home. Air-cooled bikes rule!

The scratch should heal up good... and then start fixing the bike...
Cool.
Srinath.

glad u suffered only minor injuries.  lately a lot of gs'ers are going down.  i would hope i am as lucky as you when my time comes.  

WoW! glad you are OK, the world needs all the bikers it can get.

Sorry to hear it, sounds like you got the long end of the stick this time, though.
Good luck with repairs!

Glad you're okay!

bummer dude.  Glad you got off lightly.

Quote from: scratchThe scratch has fallen.

Sorry to hear it.  I hope it's "all good" soon.

But ... don't you wish someone had gotten a video of your crash, like the ones you've been posting?  _I_ would sure like to know what I looked like flying over that cow....  

"Moo!"

Now that you mention it, I do wish someone had videoed all of my crashes, including this one. I'm sure I gave quite a show for everybody on the freeway.

Thank you for all the wellwishes!

I think all I need is a new handlebar, brake lever and headlamp. I'll be getting the handlebar and lever locally. I will be replacing the ignition cover with one of those billet pieces that I've seen here, eventually.

Hey sorry to hear about your crash man.  Glad you're mostly fine.  If you need any help getting your bike back in action let me know

Hey now's your chance to get one of those nice First Gear Z Pilot jackets you were talking about last time.  I know Cycle Gear and am pretty sure Road Rider carries those

Is it time to give your GS a fancy new rattle can paint scheme? I bet we could make some cool 2 tone paint style with that stock metallic purple
hmm maybe matte black and that color would make a cool contrast

Ouch!     Glad to hear you're OK, though, and amazed to hear that the bike drove happily along.  Thank you for the lessons!

The purple paint is FINE! (boogers) :lol:

The bike will be ready for next week's Doc Wong ride, so I will be able to post the subject, and the 1st Annual Bay Area GS ride, August 21st/22nd.

Glad you only suffered a few scrapes and bruises.  Thanks for sharing the experience, hope you and your bike heal quick.

Aftermath:

The bike surfed the pipe.

New billet aluminum cover from lizard's freind coming

http://sbw.sportbikes.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=12199
http://sbw.sportbikes.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=12200

If I had been wearing full length jeans...

Wow, I just found this thread...sorry to hear about your getoff scratch!  Glad to hear that you're okay though...and the damage to your bike looks like it certainly could have been worse.  Hey, maybe now that you're in the market for handlebars, it's time to pick up a set of the Srinath bars.  I know you had the 100% stock thing going for a while, but Progressive springs and billet covers kind of invalidate that, don't you think?  Come on scratch...the allure of aftermarket modification is already working its talons into you :mrgreen:

BTW, if you need any help getting your bike back together, give me a holler.  i'm close, and it would give me a chance to repay you for all the help you've given me!!

Quote from: 70 Cam Guy
hmm maybe matte black and that color would make a cool contrast

i have a matte black tank and purple fender.  i can testify (under oath if need be) that it's not that cool.

Every time I see a GS down on the right side, it never ceases to amaze me that Suzuki would make such a cheap and fragile cover for the expensive ignition signal generator. Need a billet cover or at least crash bars.

I'm glad you're OK too. I'm also totally impressed at how well your bike survived. Yeah, the cover is toast, but it looks like the internals are OK, and going after down at around 70mph and sliding on that cover it looks pretty good.

Back in high school, I went down at about 60mph on a on-off road bike when I hit a patch of oil on a rain slick road(with knobby tires of course). It was like you described. A nice controlled slide for me, my bike, and the (never rode a motorcycle before) girl that was with me.

I slid on my gloves and wallet(in my pocket). The asphalt ate through the pocket and half of my wallet, but I was fine. We both laughed it off and rode to her mom's house for a clean up for some scrapes on her hands. That was our first and last date.  

Lesson learned: Girls like bikes, guys with bikes, rides on bikes, but not crashes on bikes.

Pablo is amazed the condition of the bike and rider after such a high speed fall is so [apparently] minor. Glad to see that!

Rest up Scratch, get back on when you're good and ready (or the bike is...) aftermarket is good....

p-

Heal up man, glad it worked out as such!


Oh yeah and props for riding it home like that!!  

wow! I'm shocked and amazed and GLAD there wasn't more damage to you or your bike.

I guess jokingly pulling both hands off the bars and looking back to see how frightened my buddy was is not the best idea.    Thanks for the lesson!