Went down last week

[chiwawa444]

Hey yall,
most of the VT'ers know this, but last Tuesday 7/29 on the ride we had to NY, I went down for the first time on a big bike. Came around a right hand turn and straightening up I hit a frost heave that sent me into a tank slapper that threw me off the bike. Slid down the road as did the bike, I ended up a little ways down the road, LH glove wore through, as did a spot on my right arm (jacket). Some road rash and soreness but overall I faired okay. Even took the ol' 550 out to bike night a couple hours later.

The bike was not so lucky. It slid down the road then flipped into a swamp about 15 feet below the road surface. After getting a lot of help pulling it outta the swamp, one of tim and kyle's friends drove me and the bike all the way back to Burlington. The damage was extensive enough for the insurance to call it totalled, but I took a little less in the check to keep the bike. Engine is fine, as with a lot of the parts I had just put on for the gsxr front end swap. Frame looks to be ok, but that will probably need to be measured. Plan on rebuilding it and using it as a track bike, and if that doesn't work out then just selling it I guess.

So with my Indy USGP coming soon I wanted to get another bike in time, and since I loved my SV and almost all the aftermarket stuff is good and intact I decided to buy another SV. Did a little searching on Craigslist and found a nice example of an 05 yellow naked in Mass (there must be something about these yellows). Went down to look at it today and picked it up. Only 837 miles on it, everything stock (not for long), and looks showroom pretty except for some dust on it.

And a very BIG THANK YOU to everyone on the ride that day for helping me out. It's been a week and the all commotion has died down and I have found the time to post this with all the pics.

Crash Pics













New Bike

[burnham]

Nice bike.

[F4Iguy]

very nice, mike! just glad you're ok. just proof that bikes are replacable, lives are not. (i know that gets said alot around here). and what a trooper to even have the nut to ride to bike night! i probably wouldn't have... anyway, congrats on the new bike, glad everything worked out for you. take care, -ty

[jcbell1007]

So I gotta ask, how much was it to buy the bike back from Insurance? are you glad that I gave you the idea?

new bike looks nice. Almost couldn't tell it apart from the old one.

BTW, motofreak didn't get into the water like the rest of us. he didn't want to get his white boots dirty.

Oh, and I'm gonna try to get another run together for this up-coming tuesday.

same damn time, same damn place. tweaking the run a little bit though.

rock on dude.

[wookie]

T**** road, huh?

I think I know exactly which frost heave you are talking about

Glad you are okay. Those are usually fast runs....thank god the traffic is light?

[MotoFreak]

So I gotta ask, how much was it to buy the bike back from Insurance? are you glad that I gave you the idea?

new bike looks nice. Almost couldn't tell it apart from the old one.

BTW, motofreak didn't get into the water like the rest of us. he didn't want to get his white boots dirty.

Oh, and I'm gonna try to get another run together for this up-coming tuesday.

same damn time, same damn place. tweaking the run a little bit though.

rock on dude.

Damn straight I didn't get wet!!!!
I did play a big part in getting the bike up over the rocks...BB-675-VT and I had the front end most of the way, then MattD (pictured with me watching ) took over for the last bit...

Glad you picked up another one Mike, though we missed you tonight!
Let us know if you need anything.
Also, Vix has been talking with the Joe Rocket Rep for the region. You should get in touch with him about replacing the gloves that FAILED in the crash.
Either talked to Mary at RSM, or through Vix.

[OreoGaborio]

wow dude, that's pretty wild. Glad to hear you're alright!

Also glad to hear you found yourself another SV so soon! I really liked how your last one turned out and I'm sure this one will turn out even better.

Also diggin the track bike idea Who knows, maybe one day I'll see ya on the starting grid

[Hauptman]

looks like the Leo survived well. Sorry to hear but glad you're ok.

[spicy]

always depressing to see an SV down (though any bike is a bummer). glad to hear you're alright, and the track bike idea should be loads of fun.

hope you got a good deal on that yellow 05 naked, glad to see you're back in the SV family. 8xx miles doesn't seem like very many, i'd put that on in about a week and a half .

[chiwawa444]

motofreak:
yea i am going to follow up somehow on those gloves, i gotta look at them again and see how they wore through.

oreo:
hopefully on the track a lot in the near future

hauptman:
yea the leo is pretty much alright, bent bracket but i can bend it back. shes going right onto the 05

iamslow:
the adjuster came to look at it on wed, got check on thursday and was on craigslist soon after

spicy:
yea thats pretty much why i was drawn to the 05, its basically brandy new!