SO as some of you may know, a couple months back I had a slow speed drop with my bike. It's funny, I've ridden with it through the Cascade mountains, on top of Mt. Baker, up the sunshine coast, past Pemberton, up to Merrit, on the island, and countless times to Squambucks and yet I manage to fall (for my first time) in Richmond of all places. I went a bit too wide through a corner (on-ramp) and rode over some dirt, I felt the front slip so I quickly got it back straight and started braking but I ran out of road and as soon as I hit the soft grass/sand I lost my balance and fell over on the right side at maybe 40-50km/h. The radiator took the brunt of the fall and shifted a few mm and the fan center bolt managed to puncture it. the frame is fine but the exhaust and clutch cover is scratched. And of course the right side fairing is missing a few pieces.
So I quickly ordered a new rad and clutch cover from ebay ($160 & $100 respectability) and got the bike running. It still runs good, took it to Squamish a few days later and it felt fine. My confidence on the other hand is another issue. I'll have to work on that at the start of next season. As for the fairings, I've ordered a complete set from ebay and when they arrive I'll let you all know how good (or bad) the quality is. $600 for a complete set vs $1000+ for just the parts that I need from OEM.
I realize that probably telling you all about my little incident is not the brightest idea I've had considering I test ride and review motorcycles for my website but I was careless with my bike that day and was trying new things, something that I've never done before with someone else's bike (or car for that matter).
From the crash, most of the fairing is still there
Back home taking it apart
New radiator on the right, old on the left and you can see the puncture where the fan center bolt hit it.
Now because the weather has turned for the worse, I've decided to start tearing it down further and do the Valve clearance adjustment over the winter season. Hopefully it all goes well and I don't just end up with a giant paper weight.
