Hey dudes,

I low sided today near a grocery store. I did a left turn onto a busy street that had shoppers leaving to cross the street into the medium and go the other direction. I was right behind a truck of some sort (can't really remember) so my vision was blocked but when he changed lanes I saw a car that had nosed out of the shopping center and was blocking all of the right lane and some of the left. (He slammed on his brakes to stop but that just ended up making his car an obstacle) I was in the left lane and when I saw him I locked up my front tire and skidded for like 5 feet and then I went down. My bike slid a little to the left (because I had made at least a feeble attempt to avoid a collision) and didn't hit the car but I (me body) ended up sliding right up to the front clip of the car that I was about to hit. I rashed up my right knee pretty good but that was about it since I was wearing my SPIDI NRG leather jacket, Icon aramid shorts and Sidi boots. All my gear took it hard except my helmet which never touched the ground. My bikes (06 CBR F4i) right fairing is rashed real hard and of course everthing sticking out on that side is broken. Like the bar end, twist grip, mirror, front turn signal and the exhaust can.

I am really bummed out since my bike is messed up but more because I was unable to avoid the accident which I think could have been avoidable. I wasn't concentrating like I normally do in traffic. I ususually call out the danger zones in my mind but today I was just "riding". I wasn't going to fast (about 30 mph) but this was maybe too fast for the situation. Sucks that I locked up the front tire because I think I could have made it around the car if I had been prepared but I wasn't so I low sided. Getting around would have been tricky though because there was the median on my left and a car waiting to turn as well.

Anyway I have some questions since I have never crashed a bike before. I rode the bike back to my apartment which was real close and everything seemed to work but I was thinking I should take it to the dealer to have them check it out for damage that isnt obvious. Do dealers charge a lot for damage inspection? Also my fuel tank seems to wobble a little bit side to side. I never noticed this before. The tank isn't damaged in any obvious way and I dont smell fuel but I thought it strange that it moves a little. Is this normal?
One last question? I want to repair most of the damage (bolt on parts) myself. Where is a good place to buy bike parts like fairings and mirrors etc.. Finally, my leather jacket has a small torn seam. Where can I get that resewn?

I will post pictures tommorow of the damage.

hang loose

 

very sorry to hear about that. glad you had on gear... minimized your injuries. check ronayers.com or ebay for parts. always sucks when a rider goes down...

 

i wrecked my f4i in april. ran off the road and flipped at about 65 in a corner. theres plenty of decent places to by fairings, but the company called Pi-Tek that you will see selling fairings on ebay, they are fiberglass, they dont fit and they suck. at a dealership, a new side plastic is 500 bucks, and a new mirror is 90, if you want to spend that money. myrtlewestcycle.com has used plastics ready to paint, pretty cheap too, ebay always has some. just make sure you buy factory plastics, used or new, there are companies that manufacture their own plastics similar to factory ones, but they suck dude. if youre willing to wait till the fall i got some plastics ill sell you off my '02 but they might need some work. good luck man.

 

I am also repairing the right side of my o6'.
https://cbrforum.com/m_148565/tm.htm

You didnt mention how long you have been riding, but it seems us Newbies tend to lock our front tires.
I am looking forward to getting mine put back together, because now I really want to master that thing called threshold braking.

I have pulled some nice deals off Ebay, but you will have trouble finding 06' plastic.
I have given up, and I will be re-painting stuff from other years (should be an adventure).

Let me know if you find any great sources.

 

I just read your post. I have about 2700 miles on my bike! Yeah I got on the brake too hard like a newbie. I rode when I was 18 and now I am 27 but I haven't had a bike for years because I didnt have the money. (I was in the military no money there). Can you ride your bike as it is? Its good to hear you escaped with no bad injuries. My cousin slid into a guard rail 5 months ago and shattered his ankle. He has recovered but he gave up riding.

I will have to practice braking more often as well. I am scared to practive threshold braking as well but now I see what sliding is like. I am lucky though my knee is rashed but its not real bad and I can walk fine. They had just paved that section of road I was on the other day so the surface was clean but still I didn't control the bike well enough and the results are unfortunate.

Is it normal for the fuel tank to have a little wobble when you press against it hard? I don't remember. well at any rate I hope to be riding again within a couple of weeks. I am going to make sure to practice as well putting frame sliders on.

 

I had this same thing happen to me. I didnt lock the front brake up though, just the back and when I did that I just applied more pressure to the front. Ended up doing and endo for about 10 feet or so. Only coming to a stop as the front tire touched the side of the car and the back tire came down pretty fast. Scarred the sh*t out of me.

 

i would have gotten the woamans info who pulled out in front of you. VERY GLAD you are ok.

 

My damage estimate was $85, which my insurance covered. If you're looking for OEM parts, www.servicehonda.com is the place to go. Sorry to hear about your incident. Hope you heal up quick and the bike is fixed soon.

 

Glad you're okay. If you lock up the front brake release it, regain control, then reapply pressure (obviously not as much). Remember you want to squeeze the front brake lever not pull on it. If you lock up the back tire keep it locked so you don't high side it. Since you haven't rode in a while it may be a good idea to go through the MSF basic course. I've rode for many years but just recently got back into it and decided to take the MSF. It reminded me of things like this and some of the bad habits I had picked up.

My tank doesn't wobble at all when I push on it.

 

good to know your ok