coldcanuck
Tuned and Synch'ed
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2010
- Messages
- 92
Not really a ride report, but probably the best place for this story on GuzziTech.
Last Friday I took a dump on my flaming red Stelvio. Fortunately I was not physically injured, but certainly am disappointed in myself. I don't think I did anything to cause the accident, but probably could have done more to prevent it.
First, let's set the stage. The crash occurred at the height of rush hour on a Friday afternoon at a very busy intersection. It is constantly one of the top three intersections for accidents in Ottawa every year. The road I was on was basically a feeder side road - the only option for someone in my lane is a right-hand turn into the turn lane on the main artery. I was stationary at the intersection waiting for a gap to turn right, closer to the center line than the curb. Then a dude in a SUV pulled up between me and the curb to turn right. I was a little bewildered why he would squeeze into the gap given my ONLY option in that lane was a right turn.
A gap suddenly opened up in the second lane that I could pull into, so I took the opportunity. I made sure to keep an eye on the cager to make sure he was going to pull into his turn lane and not make a run for the same gap that I was. As I was entering the second lane my front end suddenly shot to the left. For those of you that have ridden dirt bikes on forest trails, it was the same feeling as when you hit a wet root protruding from the ground and your front wheel just slides along the root.
I managed to maintain control, but the line of my turn was suddenly shifted into a wider turn, leading me into the adjacent lane. The problem was, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TRAFFIC WAS IN THIS LANE. I had no intention of going into this lane and was more concerned with the traffic in the second lane and the SUV to my right that monitoring the traffic in the far lane wasn't a priority. As it turns out, there was an SUV traveling relatively fast in that lane. As I was turning my front tire made contact with his rear tire. I'm not sure what happened next, but I think the sudden force of the two tires meeting ripped the handlebars from my hands and down I went. The bike ended up facing the other direction on its left side in a turn lane, with the Givi E360 pannier torn off from the bottom mounts. My new Garmin GPS was laying in the accident lane, as was my Touratech windshield extender. The screen on the GPS was toast, but the Touratech plexiglass suffered almost no damage.
I'm sure I hit the ground hard as I'm no featherweight, but it was a fairly low speed collision and I was able to bounce back up quite quickly. My first thought was "WTF did I hit to cause that?". I surveyed the scene and noticed that there was no other vehicles damaged, although the vehicle I had made contact with had pulled over to the right. Many drivers offered to call 911 but I was not in need of medical care sold told them not to bother. I lifted my bike but it would not start, so I pushed it to the side of the road. It was at that time that the driver and I both noticed an object on the road. We surveyed the damage on my bike and then on his SUV. There was no damage other than some light scuff marks on his tire, but he wasn't convinced that they were from the accident (although I know I had made contact with him).
No foul, no autopsy. My bike suffered some minor cosmetic damage, but nothing appeared serious. We shook hands and went our merry ways. My bike started and I drove home, at which point I noticed that my forks were slightly twisted. I was only about a mile from home so I continued on to further survey the damage.
First, a crudely drawn representation of the accident scene:
Sorry - no photo of the downed bike. I also seem to have deleted the photo I took of my "injuries". About a couple of inches from the left elbow I had some abrasions that basically rubbed the skin raw in a 1.5" square region, but no cuts or skin tears. It looked more like the damage was caused by the pressure of the impact as the mesh pattern could be observed. You actually suffer worse injuries playing soccer to flag football on the weed-infested fields around here.
Secondly photos of my gear. I had my riding boots, gloves,and jacket on, about as fully dressed as I can get given I don't have any riding pants...yet.
My helmet: Some minor scuffs, nothing major. I don't recall my noggin' making contact with the asphalt, but the evidence suggests otherwise.
My boots: The riding boots held up OK, with the major damage being a small tear in the leather on the toe of the left boot.
My Rev-it Monster gloves: The gloves held up well but there wasn't much contact or abrasive action to really inflict a lit of damage. Not overly concerned as I found them a half-size too small for me. I think they are the prime cause of the accident! :wink:
My jacket: I was wearing my Joe Rocket Ballistic mesh jacket. I bought this jacket second hand for $70 at the beginning of the season. I've put over 7,000 kms with it so I think I got my money's worth. The only damage was to the left forearm which I appeared to land on. Given the low speed nature of the accident, I'm actually quite disappointed in the performance of this jacket. I can't even imagine the damage had I slid in this jacket in a 60 mph spill. I'm not too concerned at the loss of the jacket though. The past month or so I've been looking for a reason to get a full set of Motoport riding gear which will set me back a good two grand, and I think I've now found one. Santa is going to be good to me this Christmas ...
GPS: DOA
The Bike: I was fortunate that there was no structural damage to the bike or any damage to the drivetrain, but many of the other parts got dinged. Starting with the obligatory destroyed mirror and handguard (cheap plastic OEM pieces of shit):
The front fender is too severely damaged for repair. The fender and mirror have been reordered from MPH Cycles. The top bolt that holds the fender onto the forks sheered right off. Time to buy a left-handed drill bit set...
The windshield got a bit scraped, but I'm not bothered by it as I was going to replace it with a Givi or CalSci next summer anyways.
The front body panels got scraped, but nothing unrepairable I don't think. Funny story is I went to the body shop I frequent to ask for advice. It is owned by an 55-60-yr old Italian and when he came out to look at my bike I heard a gasp and could see out of the corner of my eye that he kinda stepped back a step or two. At first I though maybe his ticker had just expired but them I heard him mutter "It's a Moto Guzzi", and he even pronounced "Guzzi" correctly. It took me a few milliseconds to recall that he was Italian and realized he was having an Italian moment. His little grandson was there and he was proudly showing him the proud piece of Italian heritage. Kinda heart-warming. Anyways, he directed me to Jimmy at an industrial paint supply store and told me he'd tell me exactly what to do. I also lost my new left Euro turn signal. Given the bulb still works, I guess I will invest some time to remove the paint from the original cover that came with the NA-issue Stelvios (thank God I didn't toss them out after installing the new one's because I certain recall considering it).
The left cam cover got ground down a bit. I guess I can sand that down smooth, bit the only option would be replacement.
The kickstand and centerstand got ground down a bit, but nothing a little black paint can't hide.
The front rim was dinged on the left side. I don't know if this happened due to contact with the SUV or the curb before the bike went down. If felt OK on the couple of rides I took after the spill, but as a precautionary measure I'll probably send it to Woody's Wheel Works over the winter for inspection.
The left front fork got ground down a bit. I have the old style that many people have reported fracturing problems with, so perhaps MG will replace them on warranty. All the white dust on the forks is either pavement dust or ground fork dust. It wiped off pretty easily.
Givi Luggage: I had my E360's on and when the bike went down it landed on the left side and scraped the hell out of the side and ripped the bottom part off the rack but the lock stayed engaged, so the case was sticking out at a 90 degree angle to the bike. The locking cylinder was blown out of the case but the case is still salvagable. I think I will use it as a top box and replace it with a new side case.
So that's it. I'm slowing coming to grips with myself for having slammed by new bike into the asphalt knowing that it was a preventable accident. What I find strange is that I recall feeling uneasy about the situation at that intersection just prior to the incident. This was really out of character with me because I have never felt that way before. I even briefly considered turning around and taking the long way around the intersection. I should have trusted my gut instinct. Oh well...lesson learned (again :s).
So...what did I hit? When we surveyed the scene we saw this in the middle of the second lane. I nailed it with my front tire and it kicked me off line. I probably should have seen it sitting in the middle of the lane, but at the time I was so focused on the vehicles in the lanes and the SUV to my right that I took for granted that the road would be free of debris. While I was on the side with the driver inspecting my bike, a rider on a Concours got off his bike when the light was red and tossed the chunk of wood off the road. Kudos to him. I ended up driving by later that evening when I took my bike for a post-crash test spin and retrieved the chunk of wood.
Anyways, lessons learned. I was able to walk away from the collision and the only damage is superficial. The next day I took a 150 mile ride to see the impact of the wheel and the slightly twisted forks and there was no noticeable impact. I'll monitor the tire where to see if there is any alignment issues. Unfortunately, with all the damage expenses, it's unlikely I will be able to get a GT-Sx or Quill can now as the funds have been redirected.
Cory
Last Friday I took a dump on my flaming red Stelvio. Fortunately I was not physically injured, but certainly am disappointed in myself. I don't think I did anything to cause the accident, but probably could have done more to prevent it.
First, let's set the stage. The crash occurred at the height of rush hour on a Friday afternoon at a very busy intersection. It is constantly one of the top three intersections for accidents in Ottawa every year. The road I was on was basically a feeder side road - the only option for someone in my lane is a right-hand turn into the turn lane on the main artery. I was stationary at the intersection waiting for a gap to turn right, closer to the center line than the curb. Then a dude in a SUV pulled up between me and the curb to turn right. I was a little bewildered why he would squeeze into the gap given my ONLY option in that lane was a right turn.
A gap suddenly opened up in the second lane that I could pull into, so I took the opportunity. I made sure to keep an eye on the cager to make sure he was going to pull into his turn lane and not make a run for the same gap that I was. As I was entering the second lane my front end suddenly shot to the left. For those of you that have ridden dirt bikes on forest trails, it was the same feeling as when you hit a wet root protruding from the ground and your front wheel just slides along the root.
I managed to maintain control, but the line of my turn was suddenly shifted into a wider turn, leading me into the adjacent lane. The problem was, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TRAFFIC WAS IN THIS LANE. I had no intention of going into this lane and was more concerned with the traffic in the second lane and the SUV to my right that monitoring the traffic in the far lane wasn't a priority. As it turns out, there was an SUV traveling relatively fast in that lane. As I was turning my front tire made contact with his rear tire. I'm not sure what happened next, but I think the sudden force of the two tires meeting ripped the handlebars from my hands and down I went. The bike ended up facing the other direction on its left side in a turn lane, with the Givi E360 pannier torn off from the bottom mounts. My new Garmin GPS was laying in the accident lane, as was my Touratech windshield extender. The screen on the GPS was toast, but the Touratech plexiglass suffered almost no damage.
I'm sure I hit the ground hard as I'm no featherweight, but it was a fairly low speed collision and I was able to bounce back up quite quickly. My first thought was "WTF did I hit to cause that?". I surveyed the scene and noticed that there was no other vehicles damaged, although the vehicle I had made contact with had pulled over to the right. Many drivers offered to call 911 but I was not in need of medical care sold told them not to bother. I lifted my bike but it would not start, so I pushed it to the side of the road. It was at that time that the driver and I both noticed an object on the road. We surveyed the damage on my bike and then on his SUV. There was no damage other than some light scuff marks on his tire, but he wasn't convinced that they were from the accident (although I know I had made contact with him).
No foul, no autopsy. My bike suffered some minor cosmetic damage, but nothing appeared serious. We shook hands and went our merry ways. My bike started and I drove home, at which point I noticed that my forks were slightly twisted. I was only about a mile from home so I continued on to further survey the damage.
First, a crudely drawn representation of the accident scene:
Sorry - no photo of the downed bike. I also seem to have deleted the photo I took of my "injuries". About a couple of inches from the left elbow I had some abrasions that basically rubbed the skin raw in a 1.5" square region, but no cuts or skin tears. It looked more like the damage was caused by the pressure of the impact as the mesh pattern could be observed. You actually suffer worse injuries playing soccer to flag football on the weed-infested fields around here.
Secondly photos of my gear. I had my riding boots, gloves,and jacket on, about as fully dressed as I can get given I don't have any riding pants...yet.
My helmet: Some minor scuffs, nothing major. I don't recall my noggin' making contact with the asphalt, but the evidence suggests otherwise.
My boots: The riding boots held up OK, with the major damage being a small tear in the leather on the toe of the left boot.
My Rev-it Monster gloves: The gloves held up well but there wasn't much contact or abrasive action to really inflict a lit of damage. Not overly concerned as I found them a half-size too small for me. I think they are the prime cause of the accident! :wink:
My jacket: I was wearing my Joe Rocket Ballistic mesh jacket. I bought this jacket second hand for $70 at the beginning of the season. I've put over 7,000 kms with it so I think I got my money's worth. The only damage was to the left forearm which I appeared to land on. Given the low speed nature of the accident, I'm actually quite disappointed in the performance of this jacket. I can't even imagine the damage had I slid in this jacket in a 60 mph spill. I'm not too concerned at the loss of the jacket though. The past month or so I've been looking for a reason to get a full set of Motoport riding gear which will set me back a good two grand, and I think I've now found one. Santa is going to be good to me this Christmas ...
GPS: DOA
The Bike: I was fortunate that there was no structural damage to the bike or any damage to the drivetrain, but many of the other parts got dinged. Starting with the obligatory destroyed mirror and handguard (cheap plastic OEM pieces of shit):
The front fender is too severely damaged for repair. The fender and mirror have been reordered from MPH Cycles. The top bolt that holds the fender onto the forks sheered right off. Time to buy a left-handed drill bit set...
The windshield got a bit scraped, but I'm not bothered by it as I was going to replace it with a Givi or CalSci next summer anyways.
The front body panels got scraped, but nothing unrepairable I don't think. Funny story is I went to the body shop I frequent to ask for advice. It is owned by an 55-60-yr old Italian and when he came out to look at my bike I heard a gasp and could see out of the corner of my eye that he kinda stepped back a step or two. At first I though maybe his ticker had just expired but them I heard him mutter "It's a Moto Guzzi", and he even pronounced "Guzzi" correctly. It took me a few milliseconds to recall that he was Italian and realized he was having an Italian moment. His little grandson was there and he was proudly showing him the proud piece of Italian heritage. Kinda heart-warming. Anyways, he directed me to Jimmy at an industrial paint supply store and told me he'd tell me exactly what to do. I also lost my new left Euro turn signal. Given the bulb still works, I guess I will invest some time to remove the paint from the original cover that came with the NA-issue Stelvios (thank God I didn't toss them out after installing the new one's because I certain recall considering it).
The left cam cover got ground down a bit. I guess I can sand that down smooth, bit the only option would be replacement.
The kickstand and centerstand got ground down a bit, but nothing a little black paint can't hide.
The front rim was dinged on the left side. I don't know if this happened due to contact with the SUV or the curb before the bike went down. If felt OK on the couple of rides I took after the spill, but as a precautionary measure I'll probably send it to Woody's Wheel Works over the winter for inspection.
The left front fork got ground down a bit. I have the old style that many people have reported fracturing problems with, so perhaps MG will replace them on warranty. All the white dust on the forks is either pavement dust or ground fork dust. It wiped off pretty easily.
Givi Luggage: I had my E360's on and when the bike went down it landed on the left side and scraped the hell out of the side and ripped the bottom part off the rack but the lock stayed engaged, so the case was sticking out at a 90 degree angle to the bike. The locking cylinder was blown out of the case but the case is still salvagable. I think I will use it as a top box and replace it with a new side case.
So that's it. I'm slowing coming to grips with myself for having slammed by new bike into the asphalt knowing that it was a preventable accident. What I find strange is that I recall feeling uneasy about the situation at that intersection just prior to the incident. This was really out of character with me because I have never felt that way before. I even briefly considered turning around and taking the long way around the intersection. I should have trusted my gut instinct. Oh well...lesson learned (again :s).
So...what did I hit? When we surveyed the scene we saw this in the middle of the second lane. I nailed it with my front tire and it kicked me off line. I probably should have seen it sitting in the middle of the lane, but at the time I was so focused on the vehicles in the lanes and the SUV to my right that I took for granted that the road would be free of debris. While I was on the side with the driver inspecting my bike, a rider on a Concours got off his bike when the light was red and tossed the chunk of wood off the road. Kudos to him. I ended up driving by later that evening when I took my bike for a post-crash test spin and retrieved the chunk of wood.
Anyways, lessons learned. I was able to walk away from the collision and the only damage is superficial. The next day I took a 150 mile ride to see the impact of the wheel and the slightly twisted forks and there was no noticeable impact. I'll monitor the tire where to see if there is any alignment issues. Unfortunately, with all the damage expenses, it's unlikely I will be able to get a GT-Sx or Quill can now as the funds have been redirected.
Cory
. I just hope the pillock on the ZX10 is a.) OK and b.) well insured. I'd hate to loose my no-claims benefits for something that was someone elses fault.
