I lost my cherry...!

Off-topic
1

…so there it goes - after about 25-30k miles commuting in London over 6/7 years, I had my first off this evening. Was coming up the Farringdon road towards the traffic island here - the lights had just started flashing amber & I guess I misjudged the speed that the leading van was moving off at - next thing I know, I’m doing a superman impression across the traffic island, thinking ‘this is gonna hurt’ & then headbutting the pavement.

Got up & shook myself off - was quite happy that everything was still attached & working - less happy that the bike was lying across the road. The guy in the van ahead & the car behind ran over & were shouting at me asking if I was ok - I was more concerned about the fact that we were blocking traffic, so told 'em I was grand, apologied to the van driver (who thought it might’ve been his fault), picked up the bike & pushed it off the road out of the way. All happened really quickly afterwards - think I kinda switched off to everything going on around me & was only focusing on getting me & the bike over to the pavement.

So apart from a little bit of shock & a dose of the sweats, I was grand.

The bike on the other hand was a bit ‘bent’! Luckily the crash bung & the top box took the majority of the impact, but there’s still a reasonable amount of damage - the handle bars are about an inch offset to the right & feel like they’re also back further than normal, the radiator’s burst, the brake peg is bent, the front mudguard is cracked/bent backwards, the front brakes are rubbing slightly - probably a few more bits & pieces… I guess the handle bars & the radiator are the only worrying things financially - any ideas on the likely repair bill from someone more knowledgeable than me?!

Still not sure exactly what happened, but I think i locked up the front, dropped it down on it’s right hand side, I went flying forwards away from it (thankfully!), it slid along & popped up over the kerb out onto the road… Not sure how fast I was going really, but I’d imagine 15-20mph - not hooning it, but there was sufficient momentum to keep the bike moving for a few feet. Thinking about it, there was plenty of room for me to go up the outside of the van - I don’t really understand why the front locked - it did just start raining, so I probably slid on road markings (of which there are plenty as you can see from Google maps).

I always knew it was coming, so I’m not overly surprised about it now that I’ve had an off. The main thing is that I didn’t hit anyone/anything else and that I’m still up & about.

[lucky stars currently being counted….!] :hehe:

Few pics of the damage:







2

Glad you are safe. For 7 years riding, thats pretty good going, one fairly minor off with no obvious injuries. Obviously there are precautions worth taking if you "“headbutted” the pavement, and if you can find time to go to hospital, it might be worth it :smiley:

Shame about the bike, but at least no one was injured and no one else’s property was damaged.

3

Sorry to hear this. Glad you’re OK though!

4

Glad you ‘bounced’ Ok!

Guess you’re on a naked Honda or sommat similar relatively easy to get fixed. So shouldnt be too harsh financially, couldve been worse.

5

I can only echo others’ sentiments.

Ouch! But good going for the time spent riding and glad you’re relatively okay.

The hospital check up sounds like a good idea.

No idea on the cost I’m afraid.
Good luck mate!

6

sorry to hear…good job nothing happened to yourself!

7

Glad to hear you’re OK m8.
It happens to us all so as you say…you ain’t a virgin any more.

8

Sorry to hear it mate. Hope you aren’t too sore in the morning.

Handlebars aren’t particularly expensive - and it is a job you could probably do yourself if you’ve got a set of spanners and sockets kicking about and want to keep the labour bill down for the whole job. It’s only a bit of tubual steel with bends in it. Just a case of undoing your levers and mirrors and reattaching them onto the new one.

Mudguard won’t be particularly cheap but you might be lucky and find someone on ebay/specialist forums for your bike who is braking one for parts. Another part you could easily do yourself rather than have a garage charge you … only be a couple of bolts to hold it on.

Another thing to think about is your bent brake peg … does that mean your brake lever … or the right footpeg (i.e. on your braking side)?

If it is just the footpeg that is bent - you might get away with bending it back into place with a short piece of scaffolding pipe shoved on the end and gently apply pressure to bend it back down. What you might find by doing this though - is that your brake lever was also bent upwards and you didn’t realise until you bent the peg back down and the brake is now engaged! At which point you need a new brake lever too :wink:

Radiator … not a clue sorry :slight_smile:

9

Thx for all the replies/condolances/best wishes!! :wink:

Whole-heartedly agree that it could have been so much much much worse…!!
Feeling a little stiff/sore this morning, but am otherwise unscathed. Was looking at my bike gear after I posted last night - my gloves are heavily grazed on the palms, lot of dirt/etc on the elbows/knees of jacket/trousers and the toes of the boots are v. heavily scuffed - looks like they took a bit of a hammering. The helmet is fine. The fair whack I paid out for new boots/gear earlier in the year has definatley paid it’s dividend!

Re. repairs - thx. for that Mr C.
I’m not even slightly mechanically minded I’m afraid - getting out some scaffolding poles/etc. is beyond my sparse abilities!!

Had a look on fleaBay & there’s a USED radiator for £250, which doesn’t bode well for what the Honda dealer’s gonna charge for a new one. :crying:
I reckon I’ll be lucky to get away with a bill under £600-700 ??

:unsure:

10

Did you have the, “wow this motorcycle kit really works,” moment?

11

Sorry to hear but glad you were ok.

12

Honda dealer came back with an estimate of £733 to fix - majority of the cost is for a new radiator & to straighten the steering. Lot of bits & bobs and 2 hours of labour.

Given the bike WAS worth about £2k-ish before this, it’s touch & go as to whether it’s economically feasible to get this work done, or just trade it in as a ‘cat-x’ bike & buy another bike (which I’m planning on doing in Jan/Feb anyway)?

Has anybody been in this situation before - better to fix it up & trade it in as a working bike, or trade it in as ‘in need of repair’ ?

:crying:

13

pleeeeeeeeeeeese dont pay that much its not that hard to fix i would get the parts of ebay and get a manual.bars at most £100 rad at most £100,both easy to fit and shouldnt take that long pls the few other parts,at most the whole lot shouldnt cost more than £300

14

This is the relevant bit. If you’ve got the knowhow then do it cheap yourself, if not DO NOT GO TO A HONDA DEALER. Plenty of cheaper independents that will do as good a job for a much better price.

15

sucks about the damage dude!
but the main thing is you’re okay!!!

Pyro