Well, it finally happened. My first accident.

Totally my own bonehead fault.

Last night, I put new tires on my bike. Of course, to get the brake discs in, I pried the pads open to give enough clearance. But when I was done, I forgot to pump the calipers back closed. :pinch:

I live on a steep hill. So I took off to work this morning, left my driveway and headed down the hill. All was fine until I came up to the stop sign and tried to brake. :huh: :ohmy: :woohoo:

Of course, there are a dozen things that I could and should have done differently. #1 on that list being "KEEP PUMPING THE BRAKES"! But I had about two seconds to think of something as I was barrelling down the hill heading for the intersection. All I could think of in those two seconds was "what did I forget to hook up?" So instead of realizing that a few quick pumps would get my brakes back, all I thought was "I have no brakes--I am screwed!"

So I decided to ditch. I aimed the bike toward the curb and some bushes. I'm not sure what exactly happened after that. I remember hitting the curb, leaving the bike, rolling along the ground, and my bike rolling over the top of me. :ohmy: :pinch: :silly: :side: :pinch: :S :sick: :blush:

Amazingly, I was able to get right up and realized that I had no broken bones and no apparent major damage. I was in some pain, but it was scrape and bruise pain.

My bike was laying in the bushes. I went over and made sure the ignition was off. My neighbor stopped and helped me get the bike back up and on the street.

Fortunately, it looks like most of the damage is fairly minor. Right turn signals, front and back, are gone. Right mirror broke off and the M/C cap was rashed badly. So I'll need to replace the M/C and mirror mount. Headlight rim is rashed. Small ding in the gas tank.

There was no way I was going to be able to push it back up the hill. So I wanted to see if I could get it started and ride it back (after pumping to get my brakes back :blink:). But I had no electrical power. After doing some checking, I found that the main fuse had blown. When the throttle control got twisted around, I think it shorted the ignition switch wire. So I twisted it back. I had a spare fuse, so I put that in and got my electrical back. I was able to start it and ride it back up to my house.

I heard a "ticking" coming out of the neighborhood of the header pipe/head connection. So I think I might have tweaked open a leak there.

All in all, I consider myself very lucky that it wasn't much worse. I'm going to be quite sore for a few days, but I should heal just fine.

I learned some major lessons today. The biggest is, don't leave home without your brakes. :whistle:

Glad to hear you're in one piece... everything else is negotiable!

Good to hear that you are o.k there skyman as it could have been a lot worse. There is an old saying amongst racers... "There are two kinds of drivers, those who have had a wreck and those that are going to wreck."

Good luck on getting back on the road, a little wiser and more experienced.

Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada

WOW! :ohmy:
Glad to hear your OK and the bike is not too bad off.
It could have been alot worse. :sick:

Glad you are OK...according to Friedrich Nietzsche "that which does not kill you makes you stronger':ohmy:

I'm glad too. It's a lesson learned, always check, recheck then recheck again to make sure all is OK before riding. You could have run head on into traffic.

RonKZ650 wrote:

I'm glad too. It's a lesson learned, always check, recheck then recheck again to make sure all is OK before riding. You could have run head on into traffic.

Wow, no kidding. I will NEVER take off on my bike again without first checking the brakes. I was VERY lucky.

Fortunately, I was wearing a leather jacket and leather gloves. The jacket survived without too much damage. My right glove is wasted. Better it than my hand. There was one spot on my ring finger where the glove tore through and I have a little rash on that finger.

I did not have any protective legwear on. My legs are nicely scratched and bruised all up and down on both sides. Amazingly, my Dockers held up with no tears. But they didn't protect my skin from gravel damage.

funny how a lot of us wear jackets and gloves but neglect to wear protective pants. i'm guilty of this also.
imagine if it was some squid with shorts and sandles only. ouch!

I'm glad you're OK, Skyman!
Thanks for sharing... nothing brings it home like stories from riders that've been there.
Also, I'm happy that you were gear'd up for the ride. Summer temps keep alot of riders from wearing gloves & jackets (I see about 25 every day wearing tank tops, shorts, & slaps - the uniform de jour of the squids).
Hope you're back on the road soon!

Hate to say it but welcome to the club dude, nothing like your first spill. Glad you're ok man.

I had the same pucker factor when the wheel bearing failed on the 1000, the bike had a odd feel to it and went to stop running way too fast, no rear brakes since the movment in the wheel pushed the pads back, had to dig some seat cushion out of my butt