| Author | Message | ||
     Toecutter |
I was only about 5 miles from home today as I was heading out to tour some of Wisconsin's rustic roads. I came to an intersection on a rarely traveled country road, activated my left turn signal and proceeded to wash out in a ton of "invisible" loose gravel. I should'a known better. Boy am I glad I was wearing the gear. I only have some minor scrapes, and general soreness in my left arm. If I wasn't wearing my gloves, my hand surely would have looked like a sloppy joe. I broke the pad off of the shift lever, but it still worked and I was able to get the bike back home without a problem. The left-side frame puck is pretty much toast, but it did it's job. The Dark-Horse Moto fork and swing-arm sliders did their job, and I am extremely happy with how they worked. The Manic Salamander bar end weight kept me from chewing up my heated grip... again money well spent. The only other damage were some scratches on the mirror, the oil cooler duct, and the rear footpeg. Overall, not too bad. Here is a link to some photos of the aftermath: http://pdg.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Buell-Down/9686 139_Ddi5o/1/654336981_hdjWr | ||
| Blake |
That invisible gravel is all around these parts. Asphalt gravel comes loose and gathers in low spots, especially at entrances/exits to parking lots. Glad to here you faired relatively well. The good folks at Darke Horse Moto will be interested to see your slider pics...   | ||
| Skully |
Paul, I'm glad to hear that you are well. Sincerely, Keith DarkHorseMoto, LLC A Proud Sponsor of BadWeB | ||
| Kalali |
Glad you made out OK. | ||
| Bombardier |
The Dark-Horse Moto fork and swing-arm sliders did their job, and I am extremely happy with how they worked. The Manic Salamander bar end weight kept me from chewing up my heated grip... again money well spent. And on a lighter note - the penzoil gator ade red wing chicken coke goodyear chevrolet fram filter t bucket motorcycle done run reeeeaaaal well!! Couldn't resist. Seriously though glad to hear you made it. (Message edited by Bombardier on September 20, 2009) | ||
| Toecutter |
Thanks guys. I am more than happy to endorse a product when it does it's job well. Keith, feel free to use the pictures in any way that you wish. I think your sliders look a lot better with some scratches on them than my left fork and swingarm would have. Thanks again for a great product. When I bought the bar-end weights it was just to dampen the vibes, but apparently they work well to protect the grips too... go figure. Since we're on product endorsements, my Joe Rocket Highside leather gloves got dragged through the gravel knuckles first. The gloves fared well, although a bit bruised, there was no broken skin on my hand. I've had road rash before, and having doctors scrub stones out of your skin with a stiff bristle brush is no picnic. I'm glad to have avoided that this time 'round. Also, the Joe Rocket Alter Ego jacket protected my elbow and forearm. The padding absorbed the initial hit, and the jacket didn't come apart at all when being dragged, mind you I only slid for about ten feet. I did get a bit of a nasty scrape on my elbow, but as the jacket was not worn through or torn at all, I believe that it is more like a nasty bit of rug-burn. My Chippewa boots... they got dusty! | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Western WI is famous for that type of stuff. We had someone go down a while back under the same circumstances (sort of). The dirt is really fine and the wind will lay a invisible layer on the road. Sweepers can get really interesting.. | ||
| Toecutter |
Well, I got all the important parts replaced and rode her to work today. Now that I'm riding it, I can see that the forks got twisted. Not enough to bind the suspension, but enough that I can see some misalignment. No big deal, I'll loosen up the clamps and straighten it out after work. Edit: Well, I loosened up the triples, the axle pinch bolts, and the steering head clamp, straightened everything out, applied some fresh loctite, and re-torqued everything. All is fine now, and it is tracking straight, as it should be. (Message edited by toecutter on September 25, 2009) | ||
| Fordrox |
Glad to hear everything has worked out well. I know that type of road well Living in northern Michigan up till a few years ago. you just have to love the summer when the re-surface roads by spraying hot tar and dumping tons of loose gravel on it to be steamrollered by all the cars and trucks driving on it. Ahh memories. |
