A little mishap .. It was bound to happen eventually

What was once shiny and new
Is now slightly dented, boo hoo!
Fear of the lean
Led to a turn in the green
Wet rubber met smooth pavement
And over she went!

So it was moderately nice out last night, temps hovering around 40 as the sun slowly set behind the trees, and Jen and I went for a short ride. Still no accessories so I was extra careful not to tweak the throttle too quick and send her flying off the rear fender. She closed her eyes and did pretty good leaning with me in the turns. Once she sat up but I noticed a pothole and decided to take the corner wider about the same time so it was not a big deal. The tires are still slick (new tires have a silicone coating on them that needs to wear down before taking turns too tight) and it was my first trip with weight on the back so I was careful but managed to get her leaning pretty good by the end of the short ride.

After dropping her off at home, I needed to go fill the tank, which meant my first trip out of the neighborhood and onto a semi-busy street (with a speed limit of 55). Unfortunately, my brain was thinking about driving on Grand Blanc road before I got out of the driveway and I didn't trust the bike making the turn. Instead of leaning it over like I should have I took the turn WAY wide and drove across a short section of wet grass. I let off the throttle before the back tire touched pavement again but it wasn't enough to keep it from sliding out from under me. I managed to get my foot down, then the right knee, which suffered a bit of road rash in the process, and finally the bike came to a semi-gentle stop resting on the right foot peg and muffler. I shut the engine off and climbed out from under it a little shaken but in tact. It only took a second to remember how to pick the thing up, turn the handle bars so the front tire is pointing to the side of the bike that is up, hold in the front brake with one hand (in this case the left), put my butt in the saddle and my right hand on the rear fender, then rolled it up on the front tire and set it on the kick stand.

Once it was upright again, I cautiously looked down to survey the damage. Much to my surprise there was almost none. The bottom of the foot peg is a little scraped up, nothing that wouldn't have happened in riding it around tight corners, and there is a flat spot on the under side of the bottom muffler that I only found with my hand, you can't even see it when you look at the bike. WHEW! I survived my first crash and the bike is barely damaged. Not even a scratch on the beautiful paint job!

Ride On!