No more riding for a while :(

[pbmaster]

So I downed my bike for the first time today...unfortunately it wasn't one of those little topples in a parking lot, or a drop in the drive way. Drifted too far to the edge of the road where lots of pine straw was resting, that sent me into the grass. Being that I was still at the lean angle for the turn, I went DOWN. Doing 35 MPH, the pics speak for themselves.

[JC316]

Holy crap! You ok? The bike doesn't look all that bad really.

[pbmaster]

Yeah I'm fine. From what I can tell, the bike is sound mechanically, but the tach cluster and fairing pieces are very pricey.

[JC316]

The tach cluster looks alright to me. Did it stop working?

[DirectorC]

The tach cluster looks alright to me. Did it stop working?

It cracked, some of the cover plastic is missing.

[pbmaster]

We'll see if it can be salvaged. I know the exposed needle is bent, and it got bumped hard cause those aren't the miles that were on it lol

[Papahyooie]

A big tip: Get back on one quick. Even if you have to borrow one for 30 minutes. My friend rode for 5 years and finally went down for the first time and broke his wrist, not even really that serious. But once it was healed he said to himself, eh I'll wait till it gets warmer again. Then when it got warmer he made another excuse for not wanting to ride. He won't go near them now. I've seen it happen two or three times actually. Not saying that will happen to you, but the best thing to do after a crash is to jump right back on if possible. Sometimes your mind convinces you that its more dangerous than it is over time, and it can rob you of a lifetime of enjoyment. So even if you only take it around the block, if you have access to another bike, do it.

Oh and be sure to have the forks tested, alot of times when it gets hit in the fairing like that, the forks end up bent too. Looks like a pretty gnarly wreck, especially for only 35mph. Good news, parts for those things (and full part bikes) are a dime a dozen.

[1Kurgan1]

Thats not too bad, lucky it didn't rip up all your plastic down below, if everything works, replace the blinker and should be all good to go.

I wouldn't worry about riding now or later, it really won't matter, at least to me it didn't after my snowmobile accident. I wanted to ride right away, but I didn't get the chance too until 2 years later, and I was on that ripping around asap :p

[Papahyooie]

Just rip the whole fairing off and ride naked! :D

[pbmaster]

I raged hard. The tach is busted, trust me. Fortunately, the Kawasaki shop has a 250R with a blown engine..we are gonna see if we can buy it off of em for cheap. I REALLY don't want to pay OEM price for all that stuff. It would run around $1000. I can't wait to get back on. I know the engine still runs, and I'm pretty sure nothing major is bent. The left front area took most of the damage cause the front went DOWN when I hit the soft dirt.

[Papahyooie]

you slid pretty good. My first wreck was the same only my bike didnt slide, the handlebars and footpegs grabbed the dirt and the whole bike stopped instantly. Broke a couple of ribs on the handlebars and did a flip in the air landing with my feet facing the bike and on my back lol.

Then I jumped back on it and rode the rest of the way (about 3 miles) to my grandmother's house lol. 250 Nighthawks are unstoppable.

[pbmaster]

Well like I said I'm fairly certain nothing major is bent. I just couldn't turn the handlebars cause the bracket that holds the fairing comes through the center of the forks, and it got bent and pressed down. My dad and I are gonna sweet talk the Kawasaki guys lol...I'd rather drive a multicolor bike over paying a ton for parts.

[pbmaster]

All fixed! What do you guys think?

[Polaris573]

Looks good! Glad everything worked out okay.

[pbmaster]

Thanks man. I'm really pleased with how it turned out...now I just gotta keep it upright this time...

[CyberDruid]

There's two kinds of bikers: them's that's going down andthem's that went down. Now you have gotten that out of the way keep on trucking.

[Papahyooie]

whole new set of plastics and a tank? looks nice. Do you like the blue better than the green/black?

[pbmaster]

To be honest, I think I liked the green and black better..but the blue and silver still looks really good. I'm just happy it came together so well. There was also no mechanical damage at all, which was a huge relief.