Gian T. Balls
Well-Known Member
Good times and bad times. First off, Thanks to everyone for the very nice welcome.
A little about me;
I’ve been riding a bike on the road since I was 15. Now 44 years later I have had everything from dirt to full out road race bikes. Raced a few times but after a fun filled off out of turn 9 at Willow Springs (a 100+ mph turn) I learned to fly. Although flying is fun. When you hit the pavement at 100+, you tend to find out being human hurts (just call me Skippy). So after a week of sitting in the hospital. I thought it wise to put 4 wheels under me when I race and leave the motorcycling on the street. I have done quite well in the 4 wheel ranks. I have many Championships to my name. I will do track days now and again. But full out racing just hurts (me). Besides I’m a little to old to be racing now days.
Well back to my ride. I have own this bike for almost 2 months now. I had been using it for commuting to work. So this was my first real ride. I started off in the Malibu canyons on HWY 22. Decker Canyon is a very tight curvy road. Then on to Mulhulland to HWY 1 and then back through to the Rock Store and then back to the 1 and down towards San Diego and the Ortega Hwy. About a 300 mile ride.
I didn’t even get 50 miles into my ride, still trying to dial in the suspension. When I came into a blind sweeping turn that tightened up at the end. As I was settling in.. knee out. There is a Honda CRX grill stairing at me in my lane. This guy had over shot the turn, crossed the double yellow and sliding towards me. Will I did what any grown man would do… I screamed like a little school girl and grabbed a handful of brake. Next thing you know I’m kissing pavement like a Sailor that had been lost at sea. Dam it! The Honda motored off never to be seen again. :shoot:
The short of it is. For the most part. The bike was not badly hurt. The faring is cracked and slightly askew as well as everything with it (the headlight, mirrors and turn signals). A few scuffs on my Dainese and a few very harsh words for the guy in the Honda. So what looked like the end to a very short day turned into “I’m not going to let this stop me” determination. Somebody break out the Duct Tape… I’m going on.
I picked up the bike. Faring hanging, headlight cracked, Carbon muffler cracked and bent. But no leaks. Yay! It’s still alive. Fired it up. It runs good. Then I thought, hey there is a Autozone close by. Off I went to get the duct tape so I could just get home. But as I was riding. The bike seemed to handle just fine. Hell with it. I’m going on with my ride.
I did continue on my ride, with a few funny glances. I motorered my way down to SD and back. I little sore, my hinny from the 300 miles in the Corbin and my shoulder and pride from the Honda encounter.
Thinking about what happened. There were a few things that contributed to the crash. 1: I should not committed to a blind corner on a new bike I was just getting used to (dam thems some good brakes) 2: New tires are slick (as I looked the bike over I could see the outer sides of the tires were not scuffed in) 3: Suspention was not dialed in (I’m a big boy and there was not enough preload on the front end… can you say Dive capt’n Dive).
Well there you go. My bike is now broken in and I'm waiting for my new faring to be shiped
A little about me;
I’ve been riding a bike on the road since I was 15. Now 44 years later I have had everything from dirt to full out road race bikes. Raced a few times but after a fun filled off out of turn 9 at Willow Springs (a 100+ mph turn) I learned to fly. Although flying is fun. When you hit the pavement at 100+, you tend to find out being human hurts (just call me Skippy). So after a week of sitting in the hospital. I thought it wise to put 4 wheels under me when I race and leave the motorcycling on the street. I have done quite well in the 4 wheel ranks. I have many Championships to my name. I will do track days now and again. But full out racing just hurts (me). Besides I’m a little to old to be racing now days.
Well back to my ride. I have own this bike for almost 2 months now. I had been using it for commuting to work. So this was my first real ride. I started off in the Malibu canyons on HWY 22. Decker Canyon is a very tight curvy road. Then on to Mulhulland to HWY 1 and then back through to the Rock Store and then back to the 1 and down towards San Diego and the Ortega Hwy. About a 300 mile ride.
I didn’t even get 50 miles into my ride, still trying to dial in the suspension. When I came into a blind sweeping turn that tightened up at the end. As I was settling in.. knee out. There is a Honda CRX grill stairing at me in my lane. This guy had over shot the turn, crossed the double yellow and sliding towards me. Will I did what any grown man would do… I screamed like a little school girl and grabbed a handful of brake. Next thing you know I’m kissing pavement like a Sailor that had been lost at sea. Dam it! The Honda motored off never to be seen again. :shoot:
The short of it is. For the most part. The bike was not badly hurt. The faring is cracked and slightly askew as well as everything with it (the headlight, mirrors and turn signals). A few scuffs on my Dainese and a few very harsh words for the guy in the Honda. So what looked like the end to a very short day turned into “I’m not going to let this stop me” determination. Somebody break out the Duct Tape… I’m going on.
I picked up the bike. Faring hanging, headlight cracked, Carbon muffler cracked and bent. But no leaks. Yay! It’s still alive. Fired it up. It runs good. Then I thought, hey there is a Autozone close by. Off I went to get the duct tape so I could just get home. But as I was riding. The bike seemed to handle just fine. Hell with it. I’m going on with my ride.
I did continue on my ride, with a few funny glances. I motorered my way down to SD and back. I little sore, my hinny from the 300 miles in the Corbin and my shoulder and pride from the Honda encounter.
Thinking about what happened. There were a few things that contributed to the crash. 1: I should not committed to a blind corner on a new bike I was just getting used to (dam thems some good brakes) 2: New tires are slick (as I looked the bike over I could see the outer sides of the tires were not scuffed in) 3: Suspention was not dialed in (I’m a big boy and there was not enough preload on the front end… can you say Dive capt’n Dive).
Well there you go. My bike is now broken in and I'm waiting for my new faring to be shiped
