[oserus]

I dropped my '04 250 this weekend. I had some work done on her (just some card adjustments, new +1 sprocket, and general maintenance.) It was getting late around 10pm when she was done and took her out for a quick run around to test everything out. Was dumb, doing this at night, in a very rural area, in an area I didn't know. The asphalt ended unexpectedly and turn to pure soft dirt and rock. I panicked a little and grabbed the front brake and down she went. No damage to me, and not much to the bike. Shattered the left turn signal and cracked the front fairing. That plus some scratches around on the handle bar and muffler.

I was lucky I had on all of my gear, so walked away without a scratch, just a little sore on the arm where I landed.

So anyway, now I'm looking for replacement turn signals, and a new front fairing. I was hoping to get flush mount turn signals anyway before this, so I guess now I'll look around. As for the fairing, I figure it's going to be a search to find one in the same bright yellow it came in.

 

[dimadozenn]

i never really understood why people would post that they crashed there bike.

 

[oserus]

You know, now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I did ether. Might have been worth while posting if it was something interesting, or maybe a lesson to learn. But this was mainly just my own stupidity. <shrug>

 

[raiyo2]

sry bout the drop. least u walked away fine.

i think peeps posting up they crashed there ride is good, kinda. they tell u what they did, so u can avoid it. that's how i see it.

 

[i916it]

Same here.

sry bout the drop. least u walked away fine.

i think peeps posting up they crashed there ride is good, kinda. they tell u what they did, so u can avoid it. that's how i see it.

 

[Ukkid07]

signals http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZninjaQ20250Q20signalQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR40QQ_mdoZ

fairing
http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_fromZR46?_nkw=ninja+250+fairing&_fromfsb=0&_trksid=m270.l1313

 

[TrueFaith]

i never really understood why people would post that they crashed there bike.

Probably for the same reason I posted about my crash in June, also on sand/gravel. The 250 forum has a lot of new and beginning riders who haven't had to deal with issues like riding in the rain, being ignored by car drivers or losing it on a patch of sand and gravel. These are things you don't think twice about if you're in your car, but they can hurt, maim or even kill you on a motorcycle. New riders need to be reminded constantly to watch out for these dangers and others specific to riding on 2 wheels. If you drive a bike like you do your car, they will eventually take you down. In my case I had thousands of safe riding miles before that first accident and it surprised me a bit that the things that I'd been worried about all these years, like drivers turning in front of me, wasn't what finally got me. It was poor road conditions that I noticed too late to adjust to in time. Conditions I had successfuly encountered and ridden through before, yet this time I crashed. I think too many new riders worry or fixate about the obvious dangers and forget that even when you're alone on a deserted set of twisties, the road itself can always surprise you if you're not vigilant.

 

[VladislavZhukovskiy]

FUCK, well imma admit it too, I just dropped my bike yesterday. I was riding with my crew on mullholland, and there was a tight turn coming up after a long straight and my bike was going way too fast to slow down, next thing you know, I FUCKING HIGHSIDE on my bike, but im glad it happened where it did, because it was at the bottom of the mountain, right before the Rock Store. Anyways im okay, got some torn ligiments in my right foot, its swollen up like crazy, i have a few scratches on my knee, and some on my arm n shoulder but other than that im fine, it just sucks, having to lay in bed, and not do anything. I cant wait to fix my 250 and then I cant wait to get a 600, hehe, i just want better stopping power and grip!

 

[KnoxNinja]

signals http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZninjaQ20250Q20signalQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR40QQ_mdoZ

fairing
http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_fromZR46?_nkw=ninja+250+fairing&_fromfsb=0&_trksid=m270.l1313

I got those Asian Cycle flush mount turn signals from eBay. I like them, the quality seems pretty good. The only thing I noticed is that there's no gasket around the lens part, so I could see water or condensation getting in there if you ride in the rain. Some RTV or silocone sealant would fix that if it's an issue. It does suck that you have to drill your fairings a little but it's nothing anyone is going to see. They look so much better than the stock signals IMO, and if you drop the bike again, they're probably not going to ram a hole through your fairing like the stock ones tend to do.

Rockwall has cheap fiberglass OEM replacement fairings on eBay, but I've seen a lot of negative response about the quality of their parts and fitment issues. After a couple hours of google searching and reading threads on other forums, I decided just to buy a used OEM upper and lower set from someone else.

 

[oserus]

Thank you for the responses, and thanks Ukkid07 for the links. =)

I think for me it was just a total shock. This was my first accident on a bike and it rattled me a bit. I had an old 89 Honda 600 that I put 45K on, and now my EX250 that I've put just over 5K on.

 

[ninjamint]

I hope it doesn't grow up to be retarded. Be careful out there.

 

[Jreal10]

With buying turn sigs, check the size of them as well. I bought some off ebay and they were HUGE and look horrible. FYI

 

[sn0rlax]

I always post when I crash (5mph lay down).

Theres no better way to get info on what you should do, how to avoid it, and maybe somebody can flame some sense into you (if you were riding outside your limit).

 

[NJD022588]

I always post when I crash (5mph lay down).

As one of the newbies trying to learn from these kind of thread, I have a question...

I hear about people laying the bike down at slow speeds all the time. What are the factors that cause this to be such a common occurance? In other words, what can I do that would help prevent me from doing this sometime?

I took the MSF course, but these slow speed incidents were not covered. It only seemed to be what you should do in wet/debris/gravel conditions.

 

[oserus]

Allot of what I see for low speed downs is folks forgetting the basics. Allot of people treat a motorcycle at slow speeds like the would a bicycle. The main thing seems to be folks turning the wheel all the way without proper position, or speed. I don't mean you should be going 40 in a parking lot, but just to remember to use to throttle to help you when you are going slow.

The best I could recommend for a newer rider is if you are uncomfortable at slow speeds then to practice you your bike the stuff you did in the MSF class. Even that horrid figure eight in a box exercise is very good to practice. It will help allot on your low speed turns and balance.

 

[mcteague]

Allot of what I see for low speed downs is folks forgetting the basics. Allot of people treat a motorcycle at slow speeds like the would a bicycle. The main thing seems to be folks turning the wheel all the way without proper position, or speed. I don't mean you should be going 40 in a parking lot, but just to remember to use to throttle to help you when you are going slow.

The best I could recommend for a newer rider is if you are uncomfortable at slow speeds then to practice you your bike the stuff you did in the MSF class. Even that horrid figure eight in a box exercise is very good to practice. It will help allot on your low speed turns and balance.

And watch out for that front brake. Going slow, turning sharply and hitting the front brake accounts for many drops IMO. It tends to grab at walking speeds, locks and down she goes. I have not dropped mine yet but had two close calls in doing this.

Tim

 

[NJD022588]

And watch out for that front brake. Going slow, turning sharply and hitting the front brake accounts for many drops IMO. It tends to grab at walking speeds, locks and down she goes. I have not dropped mine yet but had two close calls in doing this.

Tim

Thanks. Thats one thing I make sure to do. I was told by a friend (who has dropped his twice) to make sure to just lightly use the rear brake while at slow speeds. He dropped his by turning a using the front brake.