Damn gravel...

[VaBusa]

My biggest problem with the Busa is on gravel...I live down a gravel road, driveway is gravel (welcome to the country)...

I keep parking the Busa in odd spots where I can't pull forward when I move it, leaving me to try and back the beast up with my feet. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't...I really only have problems when the back tire gets in a "rut" and I have to try and "rock" the bike back and forth to free it.

This morning was nice...I took the kids to daycare, then headed back home to get the Busa out. I was in such a hurry to get to work, so I did exactly what I shouldn't by pulling right up to our boat, making it harder for me to back up. I washed the bike off and hopped on.

It's then that I realized I was essentially stuck, and in the middle of trying to back Caesar up, I slipped up and in a very slow motion sort of move, laid the bike right over on it's clutch side. I worked so hard to keep him up, and in the process forgot to move my hand out of the way...crushed my little finger...

I'm fine, except for the throbbing in my finger...I'm going to lose the nail, but my pride is hurt more than anything

Caesar has little scratches here and there from the gravel, and the Kanji symbol on the side is marred...I'm really ticked at myself for not being more careful, but I dumped the Harley in the same damn way! Guess I'm destined to drop every bike I own in the gravel at least once...sort of a right of passage?!

I was going to go ahead and ride the Busa in to work, but the oil light came on and blue smoke billowed out of the exhaust for a few seconds; when I checked the oil indicator, there must be oil elsewhere in the engine from being laid on it's side for a few minutes...I put him away and drove on it to work...

Don't laugh at me guys...I'm embarrassed enough as it is...and my new bike needs to be fixed already...

If this is any indication of how my entire day will be, I'm going to bed... Now, I must go work...

How hard is it to have the decal replaced? That's about the only part that needs to be replaced I think...

And I'm lowering the Busa for sure, so I don't do this again!

 

[Revlis]

OH No...Va I am really sorry...Time get some pavement out your way...    

Kanji wont be too hard replace, air dryer some goo-gone etc.

But don't feel to silly, there are folks here on the board who have dropped their rides in the Garage etc...some of them multiple times...  It happens.  And if your going to fall over, I would think home is THE spot to do it!!!!

Sorry about Ceasar...

 

[monsterspeedfreak]

When I started reading this, I was really hoping it was just gonna be a close call story.......no such luck.......sorry about th bike VA, I know how much you like Caesar........good thing is, it's fixable.
Hope your day shapes up to be better than yer morning VA.

 

[STUNNAH]

Sorry bout your bike going down...Simple suggestion...When you park the bike park in a manner that you can get on it and drive straight out...May keep you from having to manuever the bike so much...

 

[Jace]

Hey VA i dropped mine from turning out of a stopped drive way dont feel bad i lowered mine because i could barley touch was on tippie toes all the time now i stop and feel planted much better have not had a problem since

sorry to hear about your dropping episode but at least you were not going while it went down not sure how many people on the board have dropped the busa i am sure the number is pretty high though just brush it off and enjoy the rest of the day

 

[VaBusa]

Sorry bout your bike going down...Simple suggestion...When you park the bike park in a manner that you can get on it and drive straight out...May keep you from having to manuever the bike so much...

Yeah, that's exactly what I've been telling myself to do, then I pull right up to a car, or the garage, a boat and am forced to back it up...I've learned my lesson (I hope)...I guess I'm just a slow learner...

It's not bad at all...just hate that a brand new bike had to pay the price for my stupidity! My pride hurts...and my poor little finger! OUCH...

I'll fix Caesar...no big deal, just superficial wounds...it could have been worse, but it was a slow fall, with my entire body trying to hold it up the entire way down, and my poor little finger forgetting to get the hell out of the way...

The lighter side is that I've informed my boss that my career here in IT is over...I can't type, therefore I have to leave! His reply...he'll be my left hand...gee thanks...

 

[L4G4RT0]

Yeah... once i almost let mine went down 'cause I forgot to take the lock off the front wheel... Lucky me I was fast and strong enough to put myself out of the bike and make a very good session of leg-press managing to keep the bike up 5 degrees lower and it was on that point of no return where you have to be REALLY strong to keep it up.
Anyway, we all hate that stuff (how is it called??) to protect the frames, but sometimes it can save a lot of money in this kind of situation...

 

[CorrodedAlien]

...Did just about the same thing w/ mine. At least you were at home. I was in a P-lot w/ other riders watching. A little screatched paint and a huge bruise to my ego was all that we suffered.

The oil shifted while on the side. Should be fine when you get home.

 

[VaBusa]

Hey VA i dropped mine from turning out of a stopped drive way dont feel bad i lowered mine because i could barley touch was on tippie toes all the time now i stop and feel planted much better have not had a problem since

sorry to hear about your dropping episode but at least you were not going while it went down not sure how many people on the board have dropped the busa i am sure the number is pretty high though  just brush it off and enjoy the rest of the day  

Thanks Jace...I don't feel bad for having to lower him...that's no big deal...I clearly need better footing when things get iffy!

Thanks everyone for not making fun...I'm doing that enough myself with my coworkers...they've doctored me up and keep making me laugh...I'm okay...

 

[VaBusa]

...Did just about the same thing w/ mine.  At least you were at home.  I was in a P-lot w/ other riders watching.  A little screatched paint and a huge bruise to my ego was all that we suffered.

The oil shifted while on the side.  Should be fine when you get home.

Sorry about that Alien! I had to call my friend up the street to help me pick it up...I was by myself...ego is crushed!

Thanks for the info on the oil...I was somewhat worried, but my friend rides dirt bikes and he said exactly what you just said, so I parked it and hope it's okay when I go home...

 

[CorrodedAlien]

I got the touch-up pens 2 days ago.... At least you do not have the Orange like me. Standard colors should match EZ'r.

Colorite.com or something like that.

 

[jwcfbd]

Hey VA sorry to hear about you and your bike. I dropped mine in my trailer one day while loading it up. I did get lucky though and not a mark. Things happen. It will smoke a little when you start it but the oil will burn off quickly.

 

[Sane_man]

Wow, sorry to hear that VaBusa. Maybe I should drop mine and get it out of the way. New fairings are about $500, so I hope the damage isn't that bad.

Sorry about the nail. Ouch!

 

[flrider]

Shucks Michelle, sorry to hear about a lay over. I have saved mine a couple of times but paid in the pulled muscle department for it. Hope you get it fixed quickly. Bob

 

[RaiderDm]

I'll add my condolences to everybody else's. Damn shame.
Why can't you type? Its just your pinky. All you need to type (especially IT typing) are 2 index fingers & 2 thumbs. :tounge:

How tall are you? How much of your foot touches?
You might want to wait on the lowering until you have more seat time on the bike.

Look at it this way... give the keys to Ceaser to your hubby. Then go buy yourself a new Busa! Solves 2 problems at once.

 

[VaBusa]

Wow, sorry to hear that VaBusa.  Maybe I should drop mine and get it out of the way.  New fairings are about $500, so I hope the damage isn't that bad.

Sorry about the nail.  Ouch!

No damage to the fairing, thankfully! It's all surface scratches and one small spot on the Kanji decal is pushed up a bit...nothing big at all, just annoying as hell to know it's got scratches now!

I've been joking with coworkers about just taking my next bike and pushing it over in the driveway to get it out of the way!

 

[VaBusa]

I'll add my condolences to everybody else's. Damn shame.
Why can't you type? Its just your pinky. All you need to type (especially IT typing) are 2 index fingers & 2 thumbs.  :tounge:

How tall are you? How much of your foot touches?
You might want to wait on the lowering until you have more seat time on the bike.

Look at it this way... give the keys to Ceaser to your hubby. Then go buy yourself a new Busa! Solves 2 problems at once.        

Raider...I'm 5'7"...I can put my feel fully on the ground. I do fine on pavement, in traffic, etc...it's just gravel drives that have given me some problems...if I am stupid (as I was this morning) and pull my bike up so I can't just drive forward to leave, I have a time backing it up with my feet...I can't get enough leverage or footing to push the big bike around like I could my Harley...

As for not being able to type - I'm one of those rare IT people that actually uses all fingers...now that one's out of commission, I'm having a hell of a time! I think it's enough that I should go on home!

My boss is the "2 finger" typist...

 

[FLCN72]

VaBusa,

Oh that's terrible. I'm really sorry about that drop. I'm sure you can have Caesar back to looking his handsome best in no time.

 

[BulletTrain]

Dang! Sorry to hear this, Michelle!   I know you read my thread about lowering mine for better footing. I know where you're comin' from, I've just been lucky enough to save it the few times that I slipped.

I can't say in words how bad I feel for you, even though you're ok. I know how I am about my new toys and I know how I'd feel if it happened to me.

By the way, did you get my PM about paint last night?

Oh, someone mentioned Color Rite. The link is actually www.color-rite.com just in case you need a bit of touch up for yer scratches. Let me know before you try to touch it up. I can give you some great tips on how to do it the right way, if you don't already know.

You can also PM or e-mail me when you get ready to replace that Kanji. I can give you some tips to make that go smoother as well. Hell, if you were close by I'd do it for ya.  

 

[VaBusa]

Dang! Sorry to hear this, Michelle!   I know you read my thread about lowering mine for better footing. I know where you're comin' from, I've just been lucky enough to save it the few times that I slipped.

I can't say in words how bad I feel for you, even though you're ok. I know how I am about my new toys and I know how I'd feel if it happened to me.

By the way, did you get my PM about paint last night?

Oh, someone mentioned Color Rite. The link is actually www.color-rite.com just in case you need a bit of touch up for yer scratches. Let me know before you try to touch it up. I can give you some great tips on how to do it the right way, if you don't already know.

You can also PM or e-mail me when you get ready to replace that Kanji. I can give you some tips to make that go smoother as well. Hell, if you were close by I'd do it for ya.  

I did get your PM Chris...busy as hell today at work...put in 12 hours yesterday and today's looking very much the same...

I'm taking a break while someone's working on my server, then it's back to breaking things...

I would greatly appreciate help with getting the touch-up work done right, and I'm scared to death to try and do the decal myself...I'll take any advice I can get...

Yeah, Chris...come on up here and fix Caesar for me...

And you're right about the sick feeling...I could almost cry, but didn't because I'm tough, you know!? I really couldn't stop thinking about the scratches until after lunch, then I sort of settled in and accepted that it's all fixable...

Finger still hurts like sh*t...battle wounds!