MisterMohawk

Had a bit of a get-off this morning. Low-sided going around a lefthand sweep, slid off the road, through the dirt, into a retaining wall and stopped with the bike laying on me. There's a spot on the header where my textile jacket melted to the steel. And a nice spot on my arm to match. No major injuries. A few spots of road rash on my leg, bruised hip and shoulder and wounded pride. My jacket's shot, gloves scuffed a bit, Carhartt pants have a few blackened holes in them and my helmet looks like it was dragged on pavement for a mile.

Unfortunately my bike didn't fare as well as I did. Because the front end smacked into a retaining wall everything but the brakes (I think) needs to be raplaced. Wheel, forks, triples, guage cluster and frame. The whole shebang. The right-hand fairing is the only plastic that doesn't need to be raplaced. Both exhaust cans and mid-pipes are shot. I need a left-hand radiator, signal, clipon and maybe controls. I need new brake and clutch levers. I'm pretty sure the master cylinder and clutch cylinder are okay. The frame and sub-frame appear to be okay but I won't know till I strip it. Everything's full of dirt. I tried to turn the engine over after I inspected everything to make sure there was no possible engine damage but it kicked over once and died. The starter will turn the engine over once but that's it. Afterwards I noticed a bit of oil leaking out of the head gasket.

So here's the problem: I'm looking at a couple grand out of pocket for parts I've listed plus whatever is going on with the motor, or I can suck it up and call the insurance. I work six days a week and don't really have time to strip, catalogue, purchace and rebuild this bike if I want it done before the next ice age and I really don't have the time or technical know-how to diagnose engine troubles. Let alone dropping it and stripping it. But I don't know how my insurance will hit me. My driving record isn't perfect and I know they'll jump all over me but I'm inclined to take what insurance money I can get, part the bike out and look for another. Any advice?

Nanotech

ouch! Glad you are ok. I too would make the insurance pay up so you can get a new one or be back on the road quickly and hassle free. If your insurance only goes up a 1-2 hundred bucks a year then you can pr'ly justify it. My 2 cents. Good luck either way!

marmaladedad

Ouch dude. Sorry to hear about the crash.

If it were me, I would say go with insurance. I wouldn't mess with a bike with frame damage.

JamieDaugherty

The oil in the pictures looks to be coming from the cam cover gasket. No biggie there, it probably just from the oil filling the cam area when it was on it's side. Those gaskets aren't intended to seal out that kind of situation.

I'd keep trying to start it. It will smoke like crazy when it finally does come to life, so be ready for that. There's probably a bunch of oil in the airbox which will need to burn off.

Again, glad to hear that you weren't seriously injured. Now go fix that SuperHawk!

superhawk22

Sorry for your loss. I would do insurance as well, that would be a total loss from what I can see. If you do rebuild it make sure you take it somewhere like GMD or something to make sure it' still safe and straight.

VTRRR

Glad your ok. From the looks of it insurance will more than likely total the bike.

blokeontheend

Ouch! that just sucks all around - glad you walked away from it. Any reason for the low-side? debris or gravel on the road? To me, the bike is toast - you can get a good used bike for about the same as what it would take to rebuild yours. If you've already been blacklisted by insurance co's and have to go with a dodgy no-name group just to get insurance, then maybe its best to keep them out of it. Otherwise, use the insurance - that's why you pay those criminals.

L8RGYZ

Glad you survived the retaining wall, man.

If you part it out... i could use a right fairing.

RCVTR

Go with insurance. It will be expensive to buy your bike back. I got a fair settlement on mine, but the buyback price was ridiculous. Get the money and get back on!

Glad you're ok.

JamieDaugherty

Criminals? Wow, that's kind of harsh isn't it? I know, it seems like robbery sometimes.

MisterMohawk

Unfortunately I can't go with insurance. I don't know why I didn't realize this before but I only carry liability and the incident was just me sliding off the road so I'm SOL. I'm going to strip everything that needs replacing and price it out. I can't afford another bike so if the motor and frame are okay I'll just have to rebuild it over the (LOOOONG) winter.

Speaking of the motor when I try to crank it over all I get is 'RRRr. RRRr'. It will crank once and then nothing. Hydrolock? Oil in the cylinders? I'm damn sure there was no physical impact on the motor. Pull the plugs and turn it over? Any suggestions?

omniouslink

could have shorted out some wireing somewhere. maybe tomuch of a drain on the battery. try looking over the wires carfully to be sure. then pull the plugs to see if it gets easyer, and it will. see if you get oil spiting out. also cover the hole with a rag. I shot water out of a flooded bike and my god it got all over my shop. it had to shoot 20 feet. also check your oil level before starting it. if thier isent damage now thier will be if you dont have oil! hit me up this winter. I have parts.