Another Busa eats tarmac !

G

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Well it had to happen sooner or later, this morning my busa got more friendly with the tarmac than it had any right to !

Just doing my normal morning commute through the Tokyo traffic with my sensible head on this morning (you really don't wanna prat around in Tokyo traffic). No excessive speed as I was approaching the next junction with the lights on red, started to apply the brakes and suddenly my whole world went upside down followed quickly by a rolling sensation. Myself and the busa had just performed a low speed high-side !! A quick scan revealed that all my limbs were still present and accounted for and there was no major leakage of that red stuff from me. Spotted my fallen friend, put it back up on the rubber and rolled it to the side to assess damage.

Boy am I lucky !! Extent of the damage is some heavy scratches on both sides of the lower front fairing and some on the upper, plus some scratches on the exposed engine cover. Tank is perfect as is the rear bodywork. Mirrors weren't even scratched and my new kenz screen is still as new. The bike survived amazingly well. As for me, some light bruising and road rash down my left arm and leg, full heavy leather gear prevented anything worse. And for those of you against wearing helmets, it's your choice but you should see the gouges this has left in my helmet ! Rather that than my head !!

So the cause ? I had to find out why this happened, it's not fun to highside and not know why. I found oil in the road, very light engine oil. Checking my bike I found the same oil on my front tyre. I had probably ridden through it and then when I applied the brakes had the front wheel lock then slide.

So looks like I should get my A-Tech body parts sooner than planned. I know we have the sick members of the board who want to see the damage so I will get pictures and post them before the repairs are done.

1,2,3,4,5 yep all limbs still here, still can't believe it :)
 
...Nightmare! I crashed this summer the same way, only on a dr 650, lost the front end in wet sand I didn't see...crashed in the dirt too, hit a rut I didn't see and lost the front...moral of story...keep looking!
 
What you see is rarely what puts you down. The problem in a case like Dazee's, combat-riding in rush-hour traffic, is that you have so many inputs from the rapidly-changing traffic situation around you that it is easy to miss something.

Sudden front-end traction loss is a tough one to handle even if you see it coming, but it happens often enough that you need to be able to deal with it. Being able to stay over your fall line long enough to recover, while dicing through traffic, is almost impossible if you are really caught by surprise. If you are super-alert, you can catch it and save it. But a tenth of a second in reaction time, one way or the other, can make the difference. Keeping it upright...that's the object of our chosen game. You have to play to win all the time.
 
....Mr Bear, that was point...what you SEE won't put you down as fast as what you DON'T see...must be time for my meds...
 
Glad you are not badly hurt Dazee. Thanks for telling us what happened so we can keep it in the back of our minds when riding. We have a lot of oil buildup at intersections here due to old oil leaking pickups and cars. Many times the oil begins well before the intersection itself due to autos being backed up at stop lights. At least we don't have the problem with fuel on the roads like the UK BUT there are occasions where septic water is accidently dumped from tanker trucks on the roads out of town. Roadkill is yet another hazzard and has caused me to swerve more than anything else.
 
When you push yourself and the bike hard you are always mentally geared up for it and hopefully prepared for anything. Never once had any incident while doing wheelies or high speed runs. The tendancy (mine anyway) is when we are doing normal law abiding no-nonsense riding to mentally step down a gear and relax a little. You are still alert and vigilant and riding defensive cause you don't know what the cage dwellers will do next, bit that little bit of relaxation can all too often come around and bite you in the a.s.s.

This was my painful lesson this morning. Not sure if it could have been prevented regardless, the oil was very light and things happened real fast. Just thankful the damage to bike and person was limited and no-one else involved. Yes you always need to 'play to win' and as Ducmaniac nicely puts it 'ride like you mean it !'
 
Dazee

I sorry to hear about your miss hap. Glad you're able to get up under your own power. Sounds like you faired all right considering. No need to post gruesome pictures (of the bike, not you).

I take it you're mechanically sound (the bike)?
 
dazee , man trust me i know how you feel probably more than you know . i crashed mine really bad sat. night. funny thing , i just sent you pics of it what , friday or so .
i didnt realize anybody wanted to see pics of my mangled busa or the road rash , bruises and lacerations i suffered. im not so sure i want to even have these pictures exist.
so , i know how hard it is to find busa parts here , is it equally as hard there?
i wish you luck fixing it buddy !!!!!!
best deal iv found so far is a complete body kit for 1500.00. airtech doesnt have busa parts listed on the site. are you sure they are available? i need all but a left side lower.
 
Ooops ! Looks like there is a slight leak from the side of the engine casing - need to make sure that is ok before I move it home.

crazy bill is Airtech the same as A-Tech from my website ? A-Tech definitely has the parts available, they sent me pictures and a price list. If I read it correctly I am looking at about $600 for the lower fairings in carbon fibre, another $800 for the upper. Hope the insurance is ok for this. Glad to hear you're ok too. Posted the pictures of you and your bike in one piece at my website.
 
dazee , can you send me a link ?
blownvega1@aol.com
thanks for the post. i hope we get our rides back to status soon !!! i just e-mailed the guy with the 1500. body kit telling him ill take it . if i can get the parts your talking about i might back out though.
wow , im watching pro-stock bike nhra right now.its killin me.
hope the leak isnt serious.
 
Glad youre okee Dazee,I also know how it is too crash oure beloved "busa missile".
I mist my breakpoint making a wheelie for the fifth time on that sunday evening 8 weeks ago just too make a dam... picture .
I mist the corner behind my house [the road distants was only a 100 metr.,and I know that it is short. I think I have made almost a 100 wheelies there so I MUST KNOW BETTER
Had also not much damage after suchs a crash ,mirror was gone ,tophalf was scrats,right fairing too have let it paint over twice now was a hell of a job the guy said first time the red color was too dark now it look better the new sticker was very expensive 140 dollar only for a sticker paint job was 275 dollar ,new mirrow 60 dollar,tomorrow I will put it toGETHER.
I never had a accident before and they say I ride like Ia m on a 600 cc bike , so NEVER SAY NEVER YOU NEVER KNOW WHATS BEHINDS THE NEXT CORNER
take care!! :)
ps the pictures were too dark so it was all for notting hahahaha uuuuuuuuuhhh crying!! [lol]
 
DaZee, Mikuni Racing or Kenz Sports foot pegs and shift and brake controls.

A-Tech(Japan) and Airtech(US) are not the same.

A-Tech makes all the Busa body parts in carbon fiber and Kevlar as well

Dazee have you found any english speaking people at these companies(mikuni racing, kenz sports and A-tech)????????????????
 
Dazee...Good to hear you're OK and the bike isn't too serious. Thanx for the info on how it happened. We should all honestly analyze every crash just as you did. Then we can all learn from each others mishaps and be better riders as a group.

In the spirit of Hayabusa.org... Hope you didn't damage the road too much.
 
Can't tell exactly where the oil is leaking from so it'll go to the bike shop this weekend for a while (not the shop I used previously). I'll leave the bike there for a while to get the valves checked, pilot sport tyres, chain, etc etc done. Have taken the fairing off to repair and use as start of the new colour scheme.

Hapo - serious injury was avoided due to me luckily landing on my head !

Hope I got revenge on whoever spilt the oil. I reported the oil spillage at the nearest police box. In Japan this results in the fire brigade coming in big trucks, spreading sand all over the road and then meticulously cleaning it all back up. And all done in Tokyo rush hour :)

Kawabuser, sent you a message about Mikuni - strange way to run a company ! A-Tech much better and can let you know soon how good their English is.
 
Here in the U.S. if you hit oil on the road, crashed & called the police about it, they'd send a DOT truck out which would spread sand all over the oil...and leave it there!
 
Glad to hear you came out of it relatively unscathed Dazee. Hopefully the oil leak on the bike is something easy to fix.

Hitting a hidden patch of oil on the ground, during or just before braking, is my biggest fear.
 
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