| Author | Message | ||
     Zpyro |
So I'm new here, I'm new to Buells period. I picked up an '08 XB12R Firebolt, arctic white, on 10th. I rode it from Fremont (bay area), to Sacramento and around there a bit, then down home to Fresno. I got home Saturday evening, and went on a group ride on Sunday morning. I had ~600 miles on the bike when I went into a corner, and for some reason grabbed a handful of front brake. Front wheel locked up, I went down on my left side and slid off the road into some trees/shrubbery. I actually remember nothing of the wreck at all, my last memory is a few minutes prior to it and my next memory is in the ambulance, almost at the hospital. Someone riding behind me told me what he saw. Anyways, I was wearing full gear (leather jacket, gloves, full face helmet, knee/shin guards and boots) so I didn't get nearly as messed up as I could have. I did, however, somehow catch a branch or other sharp object with my left ring finger, which tore through my gloves, removed a chunk of flesh to the bone, fractured the bone and even removed a bit of bone. At the hospital, the drs were talking about possibly amputating it. I went into surgery, came out with my finger intact, with a pin through it. My foot was bruised and swollen, and I had a cut on the inside of my big toe that required 6 stitches. My back was (and is) sore, and I had some bruises and a little bit of rash from my jacket on my shoulder, and some on my leg. From what I'm told, if I hadn't have gone into the trees and bushes in the embankment, I would have fallen down a bit onto some boulders. My finger is the worst of it still, if it gets infected it would need to be amputated still...at this point it seems like its healing. i'm seeing a specialist for it regularly. my whole hand and forearm are wrapped in a half cast. As for the bike, it's being totalled out, but it's not as bad as one would expect. The only frame damage is up at the front, where the fairing mounts to it. The top eyelets broke off, while the bottom ones stayed intact (the fairing support piece broke there instead). Other than that there are some scratches to be buffed out. The frame pucks saved it from being really damaged. The left side suffered the most damage, as the pegs broke off, the heel guard was bent in, the bar seems to be bent, the turn signal is gone and the control switch assembly is busted. on the right, the brake lever and mirror are broken off. The lens over the idiot lights was damaged as well. The air box cover probably needs to be replaced, other than that the plastics are just scratched a bit. I'm going to buy the bike back and fix it myself. I don't know if the forks were damaged, but it seems they didn't take much of an impact from anything. After the amount I still owe on it is paid off (I put down 8k), I'll end up with ~$3k to fix it up. Should be plenty, even with replacing the forks and triple tree if necessary. So yeah, that's my story. For those interested, here are pics of myself and the bike after the wreck: http://s303.photobucket.com/albums/nn148/zpyro35/ there is some gore in there, so don't click if you're a wuss  | ||
| Cudajohn |
Glad you're healing up. Lucky thing you low sided too. Get back on the horse! That is one hell of a first post, welcome to the BadWeB. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Just a little warning for those that click on the photo link. Some of those photos are gory. Mike, glad you made it out ok. With all the repairs that are needed, why not look into getting a nice 2nd hand xbr? might save you a lot of time and effort, and still save you $. | ||
| Damnut |
That doesn't look like it will take much to get her back into shape. I crashed my bike a while ago and had similar damages. Looks worse than it is. I don't know if your going to do the work yourself but if you have any questions send me a PM. Along with the front end, I snapped my rear subframe as well in my crash. | ||
| Zpyro |
Lol I already put in my message that there's gore in there The repairs that are needed are waaaaaayyyyyy cheaper than another bike. Not to mention this one isn't even broken in and its the color scheme I wanted. I waited and went halfway up the state to get this one, when I could have just gone to the local dealer and picked up a black one. I am going to do the work myself. I'm no stranger to turning a wrench so it won't be a big deal to fix it up. It's just a matter of time til it's back on the road | ||
| Ted |
Glad you're getting a 2nd chance & hope for a quick recovery. Hey this could be a good opportunity to change it to a S !  | ||
| Silence_of_the_clams |
Welcome... Well look at it this way. you are healing and you hadn't started adding on tho the bike, then the slide would have hurt even more! I will help you out with the addiction, just click here http://www.americansportbike.com/shoponline/ccp0-c atshow/xb9r.html and boom you have your own one of a kind XBR! Again welcome. Clams | ||
| Swordsman |
Um...wow. Not sure what I had in mind when I read "pin through finger", but THAT wasn't it. Freaky. You should attach a tiny hook.  Glad you made out okay! The bike looks easily salvageable, with a little $$$ and elbow grease. Watch those bushes... hungry little critters, obviously, to be snapping up fingers! ~SM | ||
| Zpyro |
why change it to an S? I liked the R, that's why I got it I get the bike delivered to my house tomorrow  then I get to try working on it with one hand, and sit on it and make vroom vroom sounds | ||
| Adrenaline0210 |
ehh just take your time with it, rip it all down anything thats broken or what not. Buy your parts, grab a few of your buddies and a 30 rack and sling that beast back togather. I dont know if your experienced with riding or riding buells for that matter but they are really hairy. Tankslap is a huge one when riding really agresive and ofcoarse there really nimble. Glad you are ok and glad to see you were wearing full gear. When I wheelied over I was wearing leather jacket, leather gloves and helmet and only got a little road rash on my knees. | ||
| Mp2b704 |
These kind of stories make me nervous to start riding...but I am glad you made it out ok man. | ||
| Zpyro |
nothing to be nervous about when riding. cautious is a more applicable term. just make sure to not ride over your head, and ride like you're invisible because, for all intents and purposes, you are as far as my experience, I had a 98 yamaha yzf600r that I had put a few thousand miles on until someone decided to pull out of a driveway without looking and tboned me. took a year and a half to get my $$ and buy this bike. and another 4 days to crash it :-( | ||
| Firebolt32 |
 Thats crazy. Good to here you could basically walk away. Could have been much worse. A fallen bike can be fixed. Just don't push that hand too quickly. When your baby is fixed ride safe and stay away from that front brake. | ||
| Towjam |
Zpyro, Glad to see you're on the road to recovery and already talking about "getting back on the horse". Good luck!  | ||
| Whitexc |
Front brake is good...like beer...in moderation and under the right circumstances. Good to hear you are ok and your will to get back on is big. Good luck. | ||
| Madbandito |
Gore? Is Al claiming global warming caused the crash? Glad you survived pretty much intact....Says volumes about wearing ATGATT.... Here's to a speedy recovery | ||
| Randomchaos |
Wow, thats nuts! Ive noticed that with frame pucks, these bikes are fairly tough. Glad to see you were not hurt worse. Have fun wrenching away on her, I know I would. Also, how do you plan to fix the mounting point for the front end? | ||
| Garyz28 |
Wow, that finger looks nasty! But at least you lived to tell about it. One of the first things I learned about my Buell was to only grab the front brake with two fingers. Get well soon and get back on that sucker. | ||
| Zpyro |
as for fixing the fairing mount, I've already talked to someone about welding it for me. only gonna cost $50 or lunch and a couple 12 packs btw I'm glad I get nothin but support here. I posted elsewhere (bay area riders forum) and got nothing but people spouting their high and mighty "you •••••• up, good thing you aren't on the road, you deserved it" etc bullshit. regardless of the fact that I didn't blame anybody but myself  | ||
| Wantxbr |
Thats a hell of a front brake isn't it? Glad your doing better. Some how missed this thread. I was wondering why you had that pic on your profile page. Coming from a guy who has met the asphalt a few times, your gonna be sore for a couple of days. However you'll be fine soon enough. PS: check your relays regarding your other thread. | ||
| Aeholton |
btw I'm glad I get nothin but support here. I posted elsewhere (bay area riders forum) and got nothing but people spouting their high and mighty "you •••••• up, good thing you aren't on the road, you deserved it" etc bullshit. regardless of the fact that I didn't blame anybody but myself Web trolls aren't tolerated for long here on Badweb. You're among fellow enthusiasts that you will find more than helpful. Almost family-like. Heal well and welcome! |
