| Author | Message | ||
     Chit |
while driving me and the wife home from dinner a (insert explicative here) ran a stop sign in front me and and forced me to lay her down (the bike and the wife) i destroyed a set of Dark Horse frame sliders (money well spent) and scuffed the crap out of the puck on the right side... all fixable. the front wheel however hit the curb and hard enough to nearly stand the bike up again. dented it, i can ride on it (i did all the way home) but i have little/no front break at all. there is no apparent damage to the caliper, the lines all look fine, if i pump the break about 10 times at a dead stop it'll hold but never if i'm moving. what else could i have broke? there was no fluid, no pieces broken off... just groves in the pavement. any ideas at all of where to start with this would be appreciated. i've already checked the fluid level, the cables, the pads, and the front disk(for everything but straightness) OH and the wife lost a helmet and i got a good scuff mark on the jacket... and arrested for hitting the guy with my wifes helmet a few times. bruises all around, he lost his license for driving high and drunk and got out of the hospital this morning. | ||
| Jaimec |
"while driving me and the wife home from dinner a (insert explicative here) ran a stop sign in front me and and forced me to lay her down" Oh dear God... there are still people who think this way? "I saw that the accident was inevitable so I forced it to happen anyway???" PLEASE, for yours and your wife's sake... when you get the bike back on the road, go IMMEDIATELY to your nearest MSF course and sign up for an ERC. | ||
| Reepicheep |
The rotor (and probably wheel) are bent. When the wheel is not turning, you can pump the brakes up and get the pistons in the calipers to grab. When you start rotating the wheel, the bent rotor pushes one (probably both) pistons deep back into the caliper... so you have to pump the brakes a lot of times to move them far enough in to grab, and even then the bent rotor is trying to push them out between each of your pumps. So you are probably looking at a new wheel and rotor I would guess, but maybe just a new rotor. Sorry to hear about the accident. Hope everyone is OK, hope your legal troubles get resolved, and above all I hope the guy never drives drunk again. | ||
| Kdan |
forced me to lay her down arrested for hitting the guy with my wifes helmet a few times. Oh boy...Good luck. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Yeah! If you had the MSF, you would have said "A guy pulled out in front of me and I grabbed too much brake, and ate my traction pie, and lowsided as a result".  Though I don't remember instructions from the MSF class about what kind of helmet is best to beat the crap out of a drunk driver who just hit you. I'm thinking open face with a good buckle setup. D-Rings would be too slow to hook together, and not having them connected could cost you some leverage on the really good swings The MSF gives a lot more options and a lot more margin. I highly recommend it for everybody. But a drunk blowing an intersection runs a very high chance of creating a no win situation regardless of your bike, skill set, and training. That reminds me, I ought to sign up for the advanced course. I reviewed all their materials (you can buy it at borders) and it was *great*. Yum. Traction Pie. I'll have a big slice please! | ||
| Mr_cuell |
So you were "forced to lay 'er down" because the frame sliders and pucks were better at slowing it down than hydraulic brakes and rubber tires? I find it steers better when upright . . . Maybe I'm not in the best mood today, so someone else will be better able to help you, but I think you need to get your chit straight - if you come out and say "I panicked, I gave up and put my wife on the pavement" people will have the sympathy you might be looking for and move on to advise on the damage. As it stands right now though I agree with Jaimec, your issue is not the parts, it is your honesty with understanding what just happened. I'd address that before the bike . . . Nonetheless it sucks it happened anyway, and I hope you and your wife aren't too banged up. (Message edited by Mr_Cuell on February 03, 2007) | ||
| Mesa_cityx |
No msf class I'VE heard of shows you how to deal with a DRUNK DRIVER. Did everyone miss that in the post? DRUNKS behind the wheel deserve to have the s**t kicked out of them! I hope you got in a few good ones. | ||
| New12r |
Mesa, my thoughts exactly. Blame the guy who did his best to save his wife and himself from death by a cage with a drunk behind the wheel. Of course everyone on this board is a perfect rider and could have easily avoided the crash with a passenger. WERE ANY OF YOU THERE?? | ||
| Mr_cuell |
Yea, there is no way around that. The drunk was at fault the moment he got behind the wheel and he deserves a solid ass-kicking. I just don't get the "lay er down" comments, in most any situation, except maybe trying to get underneath an 18 wheeler to prevent decapitation when stopping is completely out of the question, but that would be a move worthy of the Matrix. I just have a pet peeve about the myth of crashing to save a crash. Its simply a euphemism for something less flattering. Chit does have my sympathy for being the victim of a drunk, for the bad luck of it happening with his wife on back, and just the whole sick feeling of a nice piece of equipment like the XB hitting the ground. Its crappy all around, no doubt, but the bright side is it wasn't worse - A couple secs earlier he could have been t-boned. | ||
| New12r |
Yes he may be inexperienced and that was his save my butt instinct, but lets not crucify the guy. It took me alot of seat time to overcome my "save my butt" instinct and learn how avoid an accident. | ||
| Isham |
The guy was drunk and high he says...and there are people out there that want to legalize pot. Well if that were in effect we would not only have to worry about drunks but people driving high. Now that scares me. I wouldn't blame the bueller for putting it down because someone else ran a stop sign. Maybe if he was riding solo he would have saved the bike but riding with his wife could have triggered some new fears. Fears he would have never faced even if he took the ERC. I've never taken the course but i'm sure they don't teach you emergency techniques with a live passenger. | ||
| Aldaytona |
Oh yeah, some people just need a good arse* whipping. It's good to be out on bail before the "butt wipe" got out of the hospital. That's more than our "justice" system is going to do to him. *thanks to our brothers across the pond | ||
| Jaimec |
Isham: You'd be wrong. I've taught MANY "Two-Up" ERCs in my career. And with over a half-million miles under my belt, most of those miles in the New York City metropolitan area, and most of those two-up I've NEVER NEVER ran into a situation where I had to "Lay it down." The more aware you are of your surroundings, the less likely you are to be taken by surprise. People don't suddenly become drunk and high behind the wheel... odds are he was drunk and high for awhile and there were plenty of clues if the rider was just paying attention. What? The guy ran a "Stop Sign?" You've NEVER done that in your life so therefore you assume EVERYBODY stops for Stop Signs all the time?? Bad assumption. Maybe I've grown accustomed to driving with a*holes because of where I live and ride, and that gives me an advantage. Who knows? But if I can do it, anyone can. I know I'm nothing special. | ||
| Isham |
OK, i'm wrong your right! Your ego is flaring up. Just lay off the guy he and his wife have been through some crap and the bike is hurt. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Jeeze guys, I don't see anywhere in Chit's post where he said "I threw all of my riding experience out the window and threw the bike down". I'm sure that he ran through the multiple choice options in the nano second he had. Were there parked cars? Was there other traffic? Were there brick walls? The guy asked a mechanical question to diagnose what could be wrong. You guys all but told him to park his wrecked bike and not get back on because he lacks the basic skill to even remove it from the garage. I'd take a lowside slide over a collision with a parked car or brick wall were there no other options. PS. I've heard of MSF Instructors being killed in accidents. It's not a bullet proof vest. For some, obviously, the MSF course gives them a sense of overconfidence and invincibility. | ||
| Rum_runner |
Some of you are just Evil.  | ||
| Xl1200r |
Is it possible that maybe he tried avoiding it and low-sided the thing in the process? I doubt he saw a guy run the intersection and instictivly locked the rear wheel and threw it on the ground. And don't start with the "he sould've been aware" stuff. I'm not saying it's wrong, not by a long shot, but being you weren't there, you have no idea how the interection was set up. You live NYC - you should know that you can't always see around the corners, especially with cars/trucks/vans parked on the curbs. I'd rather lay a bike a down and slide into a curb than not lay it down and smash into the side of a car. None of us were there, so we don't know what was possible. | ||
| Vanvideo |
"OH and the wife lost a helmet and i got a good scuff mark on the jacket... and arrested for hitting the guy with my wifes helmet a few times."} You see? You should always ride with your helmet! Sorry about your lowside. And I have no sympathy for drunk drivers- none. | ||
| Nutsosane |
Lots of good information here. Once you weed out the attitude Chit, you have an excellent starting point to think about other options for the next time. Fix the bike, take the course, replace the gear and consult Badweb. NUTS  | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Chit, Sorry to hear about your crash, glad you and your wife weren't injured! I would have the bike checked out by an experienced Buell mechanic. | ||
| Percyco |
Chit, Glad you and the wife are O.K., never mind some of the keyboard critics (they are numerous here). Only you were there ........... | ||
| Brineusaf |
Another thread turned bad? You people argue over the dumbest shit. Hope the wife is ok, additionally - hope the bike gets repaired quickly. Dont listen to half the people on here, "everyone knows everything", someone will always have something negative to say; not to mention all of these season vets who think they can do anything. | ||
| Brineusaf |
Haven't you been watching these trials videos lately... just pop the clutch and launch it...  | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
And with over a half-million miles under my belt, most of those miles in the New York City metropolitan area, and most of those two-up I've NEVER NEVER ran into a situation where I had to "Lay it down." And because YOU have NEVER NEVER ran into that situation, it must not exist... People don't suddenly become drunk and high behind the wheel... odds are he was drunk and high for awhile and there were plenty of clues if the rider was just paying attention. Oh please... So in the few seconds that cross traffic is in your sightline you can determine which cars are driven by drunk drivers? Always? You should be a cop. The MSF course is a great course and I highly recommend it. I don't however remember the part of the course that taught arrogance toward others that have wrecked. Chit, I'm glad you both made it through relatively unscathed. Get the bike fixed. Keep riding. Remember: Kevlar gloves are pretty effective and not as obvious as a helmet with blood stains on the outside | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
Hey Chit , glad you and the mrs are ok . as to your question it sounds like Reepicheep has hit the nail on the head  The rotor (and probably wheel) are bent. When the wheel is not turning, you can pump the brakes up and get the pistons in the calipers to grab. that both of you came out of it pretty much unscathed , i'd say you did ok . hope you whacked him good  | ||
| No_rice |
i realize you have better stopping power on the wheels obviously, but have many of you actually ever t-boned a car face first? i have. it sucks. if my option was not stopping(and we all know there are times when it is obvious there will be hard impact) and having me and my girl face first a car, or slam it on its side and hope to have a more cushioned impact i'll do it any day regardless of peoples opinions. i am not one to bail off of anything. i have pulled plenty things off, but there have been a FEW times that the best alternative was to bail and hope the consiquences were less than the ones you knew you faced with your other option. trying to distance your body from two large metal objects that are sure to colide isnt always a bad thing. | ||
| Firefightergarcia |
I'm glad your OK and the wifey too. I love the Monday night quarterbacking.... Dude none of us were there only you,your wife and DUI. So fix the bike and keep riding. From what you said the damage is minimal just consider yourself lucky. | ||
| Tunes |
Chit - Raise the front wheel off the ground and spin the wheel. Check for the wheel being round, damage, etc. and check all brake components for damage. During your accident avoidance, you may have pulled the front brake lever so hard, you popped a seal in either the reservoir or the caliper or both... or when the bike hit the curb, the front brake lever was pushed to the handlebar. Either way, I would take the brake system apart and inspect it all. Brakes are not that complicated and can be easily fixed. On a separate note... Many years ago, I had a left turn incident which caused me to crash on my bike. I was sooo pissed at the driver, who said it was MY fault, I grabbed him by the lapels and drove my head, with my helmet on, into his face. Knocked him out. We both got arrested. I paid a fine for assault. He lost his license. It happened. It's in the past. Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope you and you wife are doing ok. I have learned from my incident and you can too. Turn a negative into a positive. You'll be better for it. Best of luck! | ||
| Etennuly |
If the rotor is not bent you could just have air in the brake line from the bike laying on its side. You can pump it up sitting still, but if you release it does it have to be pumped up again? If so try bleeding it. Oh yeah......and what Ft_bstrd said! | ||
| Chit |
ok a bit more detail: yes I've been to the MSF course yes laying it down wasn't the right wording, i did put a bit to much rear break for the tires/road being so damn cold (and not having the best traction either... i was more or less hoping i could get behind him and make it in the parking lot that was just on the other side but a bit to much turn and break for that speed with the given road and my 'save ass instinct' is what 'caused' me to put it on it's side (it might have also been my wife trying to jump off I'm not sure the whole thing happened in about .8 seconds.) he was in a XL panel van, there was a ford f150 (or close) coming the other direction, the curbs here are exactly 45cm high, my right side had about 200 trees, and in that situation every motorcyclist here agrees with me launching it and trying to get between him and the ford, might have been the better option, HOWEVER i would have had to take my chances with the stop sign just 20m past the previous intersection that is normally busy. sure, I'm not the best rider and i have beaten myself up over EVERY other possibly outcome and given the instruction from my MSF course i would have ended up with MUCH more than bruises 15kmph into a practical wall could kill you (and thats 15kmph after putting my as much rubber on the asphalt as god would let me.) the instructor here again says that even breaking properly i was looking at both me and the wife with sever head and neck injuries and possible broken bones, having a $500 repair bill a scuffed up jacket and some dark-n-tenders was defiantly the better option. he was high on opium and had an empty 5th of crown in his glove box, he got out of the hosp. with 27 stitches a broken nose and a broken jaw, he says he wants to press charges (hes a military kid of a LtCol. who is only 20 BTW) but being i am where i am, the local laws forbid anyone who was under the influence of anything doing anything of the sort. they are revoking his passport and he's being sent back to the states here soon. and yes the Kevlar gloves DID work great ( icon black short merc gloves ) but i only got in 1 punch and that was after the wife took her helmet away from me, he called me a 'white boy faggot' so a punch to the eye and a kick to the ribs put him on the ground till the cops and ambulance came. the wheel is bent the rotor looks straight tho, if i pump the break it gets hard, when i let go and try again with out moving the bike at all it gets soft again, air bubbles you think? I'll bleed it in a bit and get back whit you. |
