Laid the bike down on the thruway (PICS)

[DrastiK]

Was riding home from college around 3:30 pm 9/4/12 in a rain storm on the thruway trying to get home to go to sleep and be up for work by 9:30 pm for my 11pm-7am shift.

Well I was riding far too fast for the conditions (also in need of a new rear tire) and lost control going close to 80mph. The back end slid out to the right and i turned the bars hard to the right to try and put the rear end behind but it swung back harder to the left and the next thing i know i'm tumbling.

I bounced a few times on the pavement and but somehow made it to the grass and in the midst of flailing and being whipped around, something clicked inside of me and said i need to ball up and so i did. I feel like some external force pushed me to the grass, the bikes stayed on the pavement the whole time. I did have plenty of traffic behind me so i am pretty weirded out by the whole situation. I should be dead. Instead i just have very very very minor road rash, no concussion, no broken bones or anything. I almost went to work the night it happened but did lots of waiting at the hospital.

Now here is my dilemma, i do have insurance on the bike but no collision, just comprehensive. I am not really sure what i should do with the bike. The damage is only on the right side of the bike, and i am thinking about just stripping the thing down and parting it out, not sure if i have the patience or dedication to do so. I was planning on selling it by the end of this season to upgrade but i'm not sure i can trust my self on another street bike. I was really tooting "One and done", hence never purchasing frame and wheel sliders even with more than enough money, but i'm not so sure i can stay true to that.

Well here she is, what now?

Tweaked handlebars:

Cracked/scratched front right fairings:

Dented gas tank

Slid on the frame for awhile, i think the engine gas might be cracked, it was leaking oil from somewhere (hoping from the dipstick) when it was laid down but that may be because it's not supposed to ever be on it's side

Ripped off right footpeg plus bent rear brake control:

Grinded rear axle + swingarm:

Slid on bitch bars:

The thought of stripping it down and making it a naked FZ just crossed my mind, but that is only plausible if the motor case isn't cracked. :shakehead:

 

[Erci]

Holy crap are you lucky!!! Glad you escaped what could easily have been fatal with no injuries!! I don't think I'd wanna ride the bike after it was crashed at 80. I'd part it out and get something else.

Doesn't mean it's what you *should* do, just thinking what I'd do in this situation.

 

[Mark3d 4 D34th]

Crap man I am glad you are alright. I-90 is a MOFO with alot of traffic so I would feel lucky too if I got out of the traffic lane too.

 

[DrastiK]

Holy crap are you lucky!!! Glad you escaped what could easily have been fatal with no injuries!! I don't think I'd wanna ride the bike after it was crashed at 80. I'd part it out and get something else.

Doesn't mean it's what you *should* do, just thinking what I'd do in this situation.

Well that was my initial thought because this wasn't my dream bike by any means. Was just temporary.

Crap man I am glad you are alright. I-90 is a MOFO with alot of traffic so I would feel lucky too if I got out of the traffic lane too.

Luckily I was on the 219 south so slightly less traffic.

 

[JimStl]

To learn from it, what should one do with the steering when the back tire slides out?

Glad you are OK!

 

[GeneM]

Well having gone down at high speed myself once, I can tell ya. If you got the bug then you're going to do whatever it takes to get that bike going again, or you're going to sell it as is and get a new ride.
Thing is, you're not dead, in fact it sounds like you're pretty much good to go. Take this as a learning experience and be more careful from now on. If it were me, I'd likely try to sell the bike as is, some shops like to buy those, rebuild them and sell em for a profit. Parting it out would be a freakin time consuming nightmare.
Getting it into naked form would not be to bad..............though you'd still have those gnarly scratches on the side.

 

[fb40dash5]

I'd part it out, personally. I did it with my old XJ, and there's not as much market, volume-wise, for that as an FZ. I more than made back the insurance buyback just selling the carbs, and the rest (not a whole lot, really) was free money.

I probably had 4-6 hours into stripping it down to major components... I dunno how much longer the FZ would take, but it looks like you could pretty well just go after the plastic like a honey badger and get it outta the way, since I don't think you'll be selling it. The trashed tank and frame sucks, but it looks like the engine would be fine with just an ignition cover?

And dude, wow, go buy a lotto ticket. I didn't walk away from a 0mph rear-ender in as good a shape as it sounds like you are!

edit for ^: That frame looks very, very ****ed. Fixing a damaged aluminum frame kinda requires... a new frame, with a new VIN, and usually the rest of a bike attached to it. I'd hope no shop would attempt to repair/hide that frame damage and resell it with all that liability.

 

[PhotoAl]

How much gear were you wearing? Have seen lots of racers go down at speed and walk away with no injury - then someone will go down and break something.

Had the back step out on my at about 70MPH on I75 in Tampa during a storm - lots of water and rolled hard on the throttle and zing, it stepped to the right. Rolled off the gas while dirt tracking and it came back. Took a lot longer for my heart rate to come back to near normal! Running a great rain tire but worn flat so had more surface area.

PS Put that bike back together and ride.

 

[adberns]

Indeed, you are very lucky. Count your lucky stars! Must have been quite scary, and glad to hear it came out OK.

And yeah, it probably isn't worth fixing with that damage, but could be parted out. Especially if you are thinking its time to get another one anyways - I'm not sure I'd fix it unless I had a major love for *that* particular bike.

 

[jazzpaintball]

Looks like another FZ6 for the Hall of Shame.

Glad to hear that you made it through decently.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

As noted above, your very lucky you didn't get hurt more than you did...:thumbup:

You have at LEAST $2,000 in parts (not counting labor) to put the bike back together.. Thats if you can sand that rt side frame arm down smooth (or bondo).

I think I'd sell her as a fixer upper, best offer, and move on (especially if your NOT doing the labor).

IMHO, I'd keep riding. but lesson learned, slow down in the rain (no matter what) AND keep good tires on the bike, you may have stayed up with a good tire.

I wouldn't be afraid to ride again, especially on the FZ, its such a rock solid bike, very flickable and fast when you want it to be... I've sold my FJR (first gen), too much heat and my KLR 250 (needs new LS crank bearing every 32,000 miles and that was getting old).

This FZ is not nearly as hot and I don't expect to ever split cases on this engine....Maintainance is much less than both the FJR and KLR.

Definitly, my favorite bike, period...

 

[ChevyFazer]

Like others have said glad you made it out relatively ok!

I do have some questions if you don't mind, were you in a turn? What kind of tire were you running on the rear? And I you can remember, what exactly did you do when you felt the 1st slip?

I've been in a very similar situation but i wasnt running as fast, I was running about 60ish going around a slightly uphill right turn while raining. I ran through a area where the water was running across the road and my rear tire (shinko 009 ravens) had maybe a 1/4 of the tread left so the rear quickly slide to the left. I used to always play around in the rain in my trucks trying to drift as long as no one was around and got pretty good at it although it has 4wheels the bike reacts very similar in a slide. Once I felt the rear slide instead of letting off the throttle I rolled into just a little more to keep the tire from trying to regain traction quickly and sending me into a fish tail or highside. I also remember trying to move my body back to left and very slightly counter steering. It happened so quickly I can't remember everything but I do remember I felt the bike hold it's slide vs sliding more for a few seconds then I slowly came off the throttle and the rear slowly came back around to where it should be.

I know that is a lot to try to remember especially in a emergency situation but it might just save ya if you can.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Sounds likely as if he just hydroplaned between the worn tire, rain and speed...

 

[wolfe1down]

Glad you made out ok. Your bike, as mentioned, is probably not worth saving. Either part out, or sell as is and get another bike.

Just my $0.02

Sent from my SAMSUNG GALAXY S INFUSE 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[fazil]

I saw a nice grey frame for $375 on ebay, if you decide to repair it.


04 05 06 Yamaha FZ6 FZ 6 Straight Frame Chassis 3T | eBay

 

[Se7enLC]

Glad to hear you're ok, sorry about the bike.

Tell us about how your gear held up!

 

[Gelvatron]

Good that your ok, sorry about the bike

 

[Motogiro]

Glad you're okay and give thanks to what ever that was that clicked in you. Probably saved your bacon...
Good luck on your recoop!

 

[Nelly]

Glad your ok, I would sell the bike as it is and get a new one.
I'm not sure what the issue is with getting another bike. You know exactly why you crashed. It's very scary after the wreck and once you start thinking about it. The important thing is that you have lived to tell the tail.
The mysterious force you felt was called inertia lol.
Good luck,
Neil:thumbup:

 

[trepetti]

Hey man...the bike is just STUFF. Part it out, chalk the cost up to 'Educational Expenses', and get another ride. The Fizzer gave it's life so you could live....and learn.

Really glad you are ok. You are NOT stuff!