Wreck #2

Well damnit. On my way to work this morning going through a parking lot that was blacktop there was oil I didn't see. Brakes normally not seeing the oil on the black and locked up the front wheel. Was only going like 20mph but my foot was caught under the shift lever so it dragged me a good 10 feet. Was wearing gear just regular shoes though so my ankle has got some rash. Lesson learned.


The bike....


Shift lever bent, clutch handle/mount gone. The thing that concerns me... I could shift the bike with the lever not using the clutch cable to get it into neutral to move it. Big deal or no? Was leaking oil from the air box just from being on its side damage doesn't look terrible.


Is two small wrecks in a year a bad sign?

 

It's not a good sign, but it's not terrible. Par for the course. If you'd had experience on dirt bikes before you started... (Well, never mind. Everyone's got their own learning curve and luck to deal with I guess.)

Gotta be careful in those parking lots, all kinds of shit on the ground there.

Just take it as medicine and get back on. Every wreck is a valuable learning experience, and ones you don't get hurt on are a huge bonus.

When you say you could shift it with the lever, surely you meant to say shifter? Lever = brake or clutch lever, but thast doesn't make sense. Was confused for a second as to what you were trying to say.

Keep in mind that you're riding a very big bike for a beginner. One of the reasons, among many, that it's recommended to start on a smaller bike, is that it's easier to catch yourself on a small tire slip and hold the bike upright.

Still, you shouldn't be going 20 in a parking lot, haha.

Edit: damn autocorrect... Life on a tablet without a laptop is a pain sometimes.

 

Ouch! That is annoying I know. I am always paranoid about 'black' asphalt, especially parking spots because there is often oil from jerks who don't maintain their cagermobiles. I never pull all the way forward to park or ride right down the middle for that reason.

No not a big deal. It just means your shift dogs are in good shape and your tranny is bathed in good oil. Sometimes a gear will get locked in tight and you can't do that even with a new bike, sometime it will effortlessly shift it's just a quirk of the way our tranny's work.

To answer your last question-I started out riding on the dirt, and in my first year (I was eight) I probably wrecked 10 maybe 15 times. Over the next 10 years I averaged 1 wreck a year. As I got older almost every wreck I had was caused by someone else I was racing with, they cut me off or stopped in a turn, etc. The last major wreck i had which was solely my fault was jumping a tree which was over the trail, I just had too much speed and my back tire washed out over the tree. I hit my left shoulder HARD!! Had to ride the 5 five miles back to camp with one arm on the bars (right) and we were in the 'sticks' - not fun very painful.

On the street my last 'wreck' was caused by an SUV that just came over in my lane and nailed me! Bastard knew he hit me and just punched his throttle and drove away. Luckily I didn't go down but my ankle and knee and gas tank all took the hit, on the plus side I did rip a big hole in his side panel and took off his hub cap!!

Although the front brake is your primary braking force it can also cause you to loose control as you have found out. The rear brake can easily lock up and you can maintain control. When braking hard it's best to be straight up, and always feather your front brake (bring it on in progressive increments never just 'grab' it). Obviously wet, oily, leafy, gravely, etc. beneath your tires changes the dynamic quickly.

So long story short over time with experience and healthy respect I have become much safer. You can't always prevent accidents especially when you don't cause them, but you can get really good at avoiding them. Do you feel your wrecks have been a learning experience and making you more aware of how they happen? If so I expect they have been a good thing for your future. You're still alive and they may just help keep you that way.

 

Yes I did mean my foot shifter and good to know about the tranny being normal. I did have experience on dirt bikes before and I never laid them down I rolled a 4 wheeler once when I was like 13. I probably wasn't even going 20. It was like a slow motion oh crap moment. I have learned lessons in both of my two wrecks. This one watch for moisture on black top especially. I honestly do feel fortunate that both wrecks were nothing terrible.

 

Haha sounds like somebody needs to buy some crash bars, lol

 

Glad ur okay bud. Ill be leaving my crash bars on for this reason lol

 

Sorry to hear about another spill Ryan, that'll be your last one.

Not meaning to hijack a thread, but if I had of kept the crash bars (AKA Case savers) on my 650, the motor would likely be OK still! First thing I did was install them on my seca . If you have em, leave em!!!

 

I actually think I do need some... Don't they have to be welded to the frame?

 

Nope, I don't think so. Here's a set from ebay (sold), but they look like the ones you'd be after:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-Yamaha-XJ7 ... 0847086505

Mars

 

i don't see how this is possible but if you say so

 

Maybe dumb luck? I even popped a wheelie by dropping the clutch once and managed to hold on and run behind lol.


Thanks for the crash bars link. It's be nice to mount highway pegs on it as well so kill two birds with one stone.

 

i was just going to post this link as well, i saw it a few days ago and thought of you, lol

 

Yeah, what the hell? Haha, I guess anything is possible. You probably never towed a bicycle behind yours Or tried to ride to the neighbor's while carrying a shovel. :lol:

 

So I actually got to take it out and test it. Bars are definitely getting replaced. Couldn't stand it. Small 1/4 inch difference.



Issue I'm having the bike was pretty hard to warm up. Even when warm and revving the engine it still did climbed rpm pretty slowly. Out on the road it seemed sluggish. Could it be that I over oiled my air filter and its not getting enough air? Could be its still just cleaning itself out from the wreck?

 

how did you oil the air filter
a foam filter gets rolled up in a rag and squeezed out, should hardly make your fingers oily

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression he was talking about engine oil contaminating the filter, Polock. If that's the case, then yes, you gotta clean or replace that, I don't know what filter you've got. If you are talking about a K&N style oiled filter, then that is pretty much impossible to over oil. Since they let in more air (some say too much) than a stock filter, anyway.