Guess It Was My Turn - went off today (crashed)!

[Journeyman]

Just back from a 12 hour round trip to Richmond, VA to meet the daughter's future in-laws. Don't do this on the day before (worst) and day of Thanksgiving. Traffic was insane and the police were all out and not happy to be there.

Anyway, the bike is tracking exactly like before after following the steps in the videos above, so what remains is purely cosmetic. Note: the cap nut on the steering column is a 38mm, but a 1 1/2" is nearly identical and will do the trick. The gas gauge came back up in minutes. It just needed to settle in, as I was hoping, like when you fill up.

 

[MIG]

In this case though I was definitely not riding aggressively, nor viewing the scenery, but relaxed? Maybe more so than I would have been later, as planned, on The Snake, but no amount of attention or focus would have allowed me to maneuver out of that fall. I was down wondering why everything looked sideways before I heard my handlebars scraping along the pavement.

Ahhh yes... I too was "far too relaxed" many years ago and low-sided on a surface street actually going 5mph under the speed limit. I was enjoying the day when a larger vehicle in front of me made an abrupt left to avoid a stopped car. Apparently, I was enjoying it a bit too much, which slowed my reaction time... lesson learned. Missed the car though and rode home.
-MIG

 

[Jagster]

Just back from a 12 hour round trip to Richmond, VA to meet the daughter's future in-laws. Don't do this on the day before (worst) and day of Thanksgiving. Traffic was insane and the police were all out and not happy to be there.

Anyway, the bike is tracking exactly like before after following the steps in the videos above, so what remains is purely cosmetic. Note: the cap nut on the steering column is a 38mm, but a 1 1/2" is nearly identical and will do the trick. The gas gauge came back up in minutes. It just needed to settle in, as I was hoping, like when you fill up.

That's good to hear.
Having watched the footage and observed the bike effectively just kiss the deck and slide to a standstill rather than impact anything in anything violent like say, an off during a high sider crash or a full on impact, my automatic thoughts were to expect only bent levers, foot rest and turn signal lamps and some dreaded grinding of the sturdier bits.
Bent frame or forks would be a pretty alarming outcome......In that sense, I think we can probably all breathe a sigh of relief that these bikes don't completely buckle under their own weight.
That said, there is little consolation to having your pride and joy grind itself down in too many places. Especially areas like the engine casing.
Sooo lucky about the tank. That was too close for comfort.

I saw some levers for sale on UK ebay this week. Maybe there are ones on ebay closer to home?

Not sure how easy it will be to get a new Triumph badge for the tank . I guess they are going to be pricier than they should be.

 

[Journeyman]

That's good to hear.
Having watched the footage and observed the bike effectively just kiss the deck and slide to a standstill rather than impact anything in anything violent like say, an off during a high sider crash or a full on impact, my automatic thoughts were to expect only bent levers, foot rest and turn signal lamps and some dreaded grinding of the sturdier bits.
Bent frame or forks would be a pretty alarming outcome......In that sense, I think we can probably all breathe a sigh of relief that these bikes don't completely buckle under their own weight.
That said, there is little consolation to having your pride and joy grind itself down in too many places. Especially areas like the engine casing.
Sooo lucky about the tank. That was too close for comfort.

I saw some levers for sale on UK ebay this week. Maybe there are ones on ebay closer to home?

Not sure how easy it will be to get a new Triumph badge for the tank . I guess they are going to be pricier than they should be.

Thanks- the tank badge is about $47. High for what it actually is, but surprising low considering what they could charge for it. The most expensive thing (other than replacing the final drive which is skinned a little underneath) is the radiator cowl at about $260. I'm going to try to paint the two small scuffs on it and will probably just live with a lot of the other cosmetic problems after doing some retouching.

 

[BravoKiloRomeo]

Thank you for sharing! Reality check raises safety awareness for our whole motorcycling community. I watched your video 30 times in shock about how many times I stupidly zipped across mystery pavement shadows that looked innocuous. Your video reminds me of the perilous reality of motorcycling!

 

[Dr.D]

I was in a left turn and starting to setup for the upcoming right just ahead. It's nearly impossible to stay in one third or another of a lane when carving curves and not at all when switching from the outside to outside, which is widely accepted as "the way" for safety so that you can see ahead. And, having ridden with you, Doc, aggressively in the twisties, there is no way to stay in just one third the entire time at that rate.

In this case though I was definitely not riding aggressively, nor viewing the scenery, but relaxed? Maybe more so than I would have been later, as planned, on The Snake, but no amount of attention or focus would have allowed me to maneuver out of that fall. I was down wondering why everything looked sideways before I heard my handlebars scraping along the pavement.

If you're saying by "planning otherwise" that this would have never happened to you.... well, I truly hope you're right, my friend, and everyone else who is equally confident.

You may have taken my post as being critical but that was not the case. I stated what I try to do, maintaining the third but I understand that is not always possible or desirable. Accidents can happen to anybody but I plan on it not happening to me but understand plans don’t always work out. The way I see your crash is that it was unavoidable under the road conditions and the line you were in. Life happens to us all so keep riding and I hope for nothing but good times to you my friend.

 

[Journeyman]

You may have taken my post as being critical but that was not the case. I stated what I try to do, maintaining the third but I understand that is not always possible or desirable. Accidents can happen to anybody but I plan on it not happening to me but understand plans don’t always work out. The way I see your crash is that it was unavoidable under the road conditions and the line you were in. Life happens to us all so keep riding and I hope for nothing but good times to you my friend.

No offense taken ole boy. I always thought if I went down that, no matter what the cause, there'd be something I would look back on to blame myself for not doing differently. In this case it feels almost like being struck by lightning, which in some ways is harder to accept.

 

[Journeyman]

At some point I'm going to try to touch up that radiator shroud. Other than buying a bunch of grey body paint cans to see which one comes close, does anyone have any ideas on a more scientific approach? Plan B might be to use black plastic dip since it's reversible.

 

[Jagster]

No offense taken ole boy. I always thought if I went down that, no matter what the cause, there'd be something I would look back on to blame myself for not doing differently. In this case it feels almost like being struck by lightning, which in some ways is harder to accept.

I find that the default mindset when something like that happens is along the lines of what you just said (i.e. 'hard to accept').
I'm pretty sure I would feel the same. Thoughts like that can eat into you, so not good.
What am I try to get at here?......well I think i'm trying to say that you're not alone.
It's maddening to hit the deck and spoil the pride and joy.....Can be maddening, for sure.
But the main thing is you're here to tell the tale, which we are all very pleased to know.

In fact your post could well have even saved someone's life already.....making us all think a bit more about 'things'.

By the way, I had my radiator cowl panted in gloss black last spring, as part of my 'winter project' tweaks. At first I thought I had been a bit hasty with this particular tweak as I wasn't intending to change the bike too much...... however, as the year went on, the more I got used to the look and now I have to say that i'm really pleased with how the bike looks. For my eyes, it really improves the look of the bike.
Worth considering.

 

[Journeyman]

I find that the default mindset when something like that happens is along the lines of what you just said (i.e. 'hard to accept').
I'm pretty sure I would feel the same. Thoughts like that can eat into you, so not good.
What am I try to get at here?......well I think i'm trying to say that you're not alone.
It's maddening to hit the deck and spoil the pride and joy.....Can be maddening, for sure.
But the main thing is you're here to tell the tale, which we are all very pleased to know.

In fact your post could well have even saved someone's life already.....making us all think a bit more about 'things'.

By the way, I had my radiator cowl panted in gloss black last spring, as part of my 'winter project' tweaks. At first I thought I had been a bit hasty with this particular tweak as I wasn't intending to change the bike too much...... however, as the year went on, the more I got used to the look and now I have to say that i'm really pleased with how the bike looks. For my eyes, it really improves the look of the bike.
Worth considering.

Looks sweet- better in my opinion.