i can laugh about it now

picked up a new left-over 2007 RWB last friday, trading in my ducati ST3s. i made my first post with a picture of the bike in the "introductions" forum. now i can tell you the rest of the story.

i low-sided it less than 300 yds from the dealership. she had less than one mile on the odometer!!

my new-to-riding-on-the-street daughter was right behind me on her ninja 250. we had just passed a couple of MC cops at the intersection just prior to the toll road onramp.........so........i wasn't going fast. i leaned into the turn, and my front end went right out, (fast) and i was on the road sliding. my dainese gear worked as advertised, and i only suffered a scraped ego.

i had forgotten to go easy with the new (3 year old) tires.

today the new parts arrived, i replaced all the scratched up plastic, went for a test ride, then opened a bottle of wine, which i am well into by now. my new bike looks new again, and i am able to laugh at myself for being such a stupid.

casey

 

At least you made it out of the parking lot check out this guy.

YouTube - new bike crash

 

Not stupid. Glad you were going slow and are OK. Nice that you corrected the plastic. Nice bike RWB 07

 

That was bad. When I bought mine, the finance girl said it happens way more than you would think.

 

Welcome to the site. Glad the damage was minimal. Why did you get rid of the ST3s? My dad just bought a 2003 ST4s and loves it; just wondering what you didn't like about it.

 

i loved that bike, still have a 2007 S4R monster for blasting around locally. i used the ST3s for touring up in the mountains, which was really racking up the miles. the maintenance, which i do myself, was killing me. seemed like every 8-9 months that thing was in a million pieces in my garage. i'm hoping with the VFR, there will be more riding, and less wrenching:biggrin:

 

Much less maintenance on the VFR than a Duc (other than oil changes and routine stuff), so you likely won't be disappointed. I tell my dad that maintenance on a duc is frequent and expensive, but he won't give them up. Hope you enjoy your VFR.

 

Glad your ok, the bikes are easier to fix than the bod. Good luck with the new toy. I would buy a new RWB if I had the funds, great deals out there on them.

 

Even though you rode out on 3 year old tires they probably still had enough residual mold release agent on the tires to make them slippery.

When I was a Honda sales mgr. I always told folks to take it very easy for the first 50 miles on their new bikes.

Glad you didn't get hurt too badly (except for the ego). You now have a great machine. Good luck on it.

 

Look at it this way; you'll never do it again! All things considered, it was minor.

I can't tell you how many times I'll put a bike into gear and have it die because the kickstand is still down, or occasionally stall the motor because I use too much clutch and not enough throttle. :redface:

It's not easy being human. :smile:

 

Glad your ok, but this story being told over and over makes me so mad that the stupid dealerships don't prep these bikes so this doesn't happen.
Step 1. - Wipe down the new tires with a cleaner such as a paint prep cleaner or about a million other things to remove this release agent slippery stuff.
Step 2. - Take some 400 grit sand paper and rough up the tire just a bit.
Done
Somehow they think telling the new rider to take it easy the first 50-100 miles is going to make the bike handle better. When I was just getting back into motorcycling about 2 years ago I bought a new rear tire and the mechanic told me to be careful, bah bah bah and about 1 mile down the road I just about lost it because the rear end was sliding like I was Toyoko Drifting, scared the crap out of me. My wife was behind me in her van watching in horror. When I got home that tire felt like it was covered in oil.
Now, when I get new tires I do step 1 and 2 and no problems.
Rant off, hope this helps someone.
Tom

 

it's not the fault of the dealer, i've never sanded a tire in my life.

 

Sorry to hear about the crash and damage, but glad you were OK and that you got the bike back to 100% quickly.

My 1st time out on an adult motorcycle was when I bought an '01 Kaw. ZR-7S 3.5 years ago. Scary as hell taking off from the parking lot the very 1st time. In retrospect I should have asked for some tips, but thankfully I made it home OK, lol.

 

bruised ego and probably the fact you'll never hear the end of it...

but hey, you're OK, you got the bad out of the way already, curse over.

 

What I don't get is how a dealer can sell a bike without cleaning the crap of the tires first. We all get the warning that the tires will be slippery when new but honestly it is a recipe for an accident especially on a new bike.

 

that way they make more money when you crash that new bike....