Binned it.. DOH!

**Lias** · 15th April 2006, 19:18

Went out for my first big ride on the new bike, and binned my baby.. *sob* Still coulda been heaps worse.. Pretty much all comsetic damage, worst is the right side of the gastank (stoved in nicely and serious gravel rash), and I've munted the headlight housing a bit.. Otherwise its pretty much just a bit of chrome scratched. I think my gear just about came off worse.. Lid scraped, boots scraped, leathers scraped, gloves ripped more, and my teknic jacket is munted to buggery (Now I see what people mean about cordura jackets!)

Still not quite sure how it happened, was at fairly low speed (50-60kish) on a narrow winding road in the ass end of nowhere between Te Anga and Kawhia harbour, best as I can tell I got a bit too close to some gravel on the side of the road and slid into the drainage ditch.

Cest la vie, she was still rideable and I carried on for the rest of the ride, if with dented pride and gastank

Coulda been much worse.

On a side note, anyone on here able to, or can recommend someone to get the dent out of the tank? I'm told they do it by fillign the bugger at high pressure or some such. Hamilton would be good but an excuse for a ride wouldnt be all bad either :-)

**Streetwise** · 15th April 2006, 19:20

BUGGER BUT ARE YOU OK, bikes can be fixed ...

**kiwifruit** · 15th April 2006, 19:21

DAMN!
Sorry to hear this Lias,
glad you were able to ride away.
I hope all is well asap.

**Lias** · 15th April 2006, 19:24

BUGGER BUT ARE YOU OK, bikes can be fixed ...

Yes but ACC pays to fix me, and I have an excess on the bike so I pay to fix it :-P

Oh yeah I'm fine.. got a slight scrape on my right arm (lost a lil bit of skin, didnt even notice till later on when we stopped at kawhia for lunch), and i seem to have done my big toe an injury (notthing visible other than a big white line across the nail like its been bent back, but no blood or bruising.. hurts thou)

**NotaGoth** · 15th April 2006, 19:30

Good to hear you're okay, be careful out there

**Jantar** · 15th April 2006, 19:55

Glad to hear that you are Ok. I'd seriously consider telling your insurance company asap, but don't claim yet. After you have a repair quote you may then decide to claim. Although the damage may not look too bad you will be suprised at how expensive the repairs can be.

A friend recently bought a GZ250 that had been written off purely because of the cost of repairing cosmetic damage. It still goes well even with a dent in the tank and scratched chrome.

**bugjuice** · 15th April 2006, 20:06

that sucks dude.. Hope it doesn't cost too much to get it back on the road..

**T.I.E** · 15th April 2006, 20:12

its a wicked ride out to kawhia, windy as road. and some interesting bits aswell.
i was out there last month for a wedding.
hope the wounds heals and the wound in the pocket is not too deep.
sorry just read kaiwhia rd on a crusier dam, so got to take that road with caution.
dam nice work.

**OMG** · 15th April 2006, 20:13

Bummer dude.

Can you post a pic of your jacket. I've got a cordura jacket rather than leather so interested to see what damage is done at 50kmh

**MidnightMike** · 15th April 2006, 20:15

Originally Posted by OMG

Bummer dude.

Can you post a pic of your jacket. I've got a cordura jacket rather than leather so interested to see what damage is done at 50kmh

Yeah me too

, glad to here your ok though.

**oldrider** · 15th April 2006, 20:18

Things we do! Glad you are OK, sorry about your bike. Cheers John.

**Lias** · 15th April 2006, 21:10

Originally Posted by OMG

Bummer dude.

Can you post a pic of your jacket. I've got a cordura jacket rather than leather so interested to see what damage is done at 50kmh

Dont have any batteries for digicam atm, but put it this way. My leather pants just have minor scratches, vs the whole top of the right shoulder of the teknics jacket ripped to shit, the right elbow "pocket" for the hard armour mostly ripped off, and assorted other rips and tears. Basically wherever the cordura made contact its wrecked, vs the leather being a bit scratched.

**Lias** · 15th April 2006, 21:31

Originally Posted by T.I.E

its a wicked ride out to kawhia, windy as road. and some interesting bits aswell.
i was out there last month for a wedding.
hope the wounds heals and the wound in the pocket is not too deep.
sorry just read kaiwhia rd on a crusier dam, so got to take that road with caution.
dam nice work.

Wasn't the main Kawhia Rd (SH31), that was twice as wide and half as twisty compared to what we were on LOL :-) Was some twisty ass tight little backroad. Between Te Anga and Kinohaku I believe, PaddyFZ1 would be able to pinpoint it better (see maps for rough idea)

One thing to be very wary of on winding narrow roads
on a Cruiser is that they have a long wheelbase requiring
quite a wide turning radius meaning there is no room for
error whatsoever, perhaps as it is a new bike spend all
your time on roads that are straight or have wide sweeping
bends. Also be careful on small roundabouts. While I like
the look of Cruisers the long wheelbase was the reason
I did not buy one. Of course they are the most stable bikes
on a straight road.

That pretty much matches up with my "got the back just a lil bit too close to the gravel" theory :-) I wasn't trying to be a hero and keep up with the sprotsbikes thou, was just taking it at my own pace for the most part and I'm pretty sure the fact I was going slowish and not trying to be a hero is why the bike and I are still mostly in once piece.

Hope it doesn't cost too much to get it back on the road..

It's perfectly roadworthy as it is (well the headlight might fail a WOF, cos its a bit off angle), I road it for another 3 hours or so after the bin :-) Buggered if a little bit of gravel was going to ruin my day out