Went on a beautiful long ride yesterday. Was feeling really comfortable, got home and thought I'm not quite ready to go in so I went over to an empty parking lot that I have been practicing u-turns and quick stops.

Have gotten pretty good at u-turns so I was practicing quick stops, from 15-25-35 and 40mph stops and then after the stop quick get a way.

On my last stop from 40 to 0 no problem as I was pulling off for my quick get a way engine stalls and the bike slams over to the left. It was so fast all I could think was NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I'm going to scratch my three week old bike! :( which I did. Luckily there was no one around, but I really would like an instant replay. I did manage a nice ninja roll!

So scratched stator cover (will have to replace) mirror and bar end. Clutch lever too. Unfortunately to poor for nice new shinny parts now.

Oh well I'm counting this one as my first down even if it was at 0 mph! :D

Now you're officially a Horneteer!! Initiation complete. :lol:

Ah, livin' the dream. Good idea to practice everything in a lot - sucks that there was a drop, though.

Did you have any frame sliders or anything on there?

no and I was just looking at some frame sliders from Motovation this weekend. looks like there on my list this week!

I was out this afternoon and my neighbor with cruiser stops, first thing he says " nice scratches" and I thought oh no one will know but me. DOH!

Better in an empty parking lot than in traffic. Bummer about the spill, but the important part is that you're unhurt.

:thumbsup

I've said it before and I'll say it again... them's aint scratches, them's character! :lol:
Glad it was done in practice in the safety of a lot, and even more glad that you are okay and in good spirits. Now that's that's over, RIDE ON!

+1 on the better to get the experience out of the way and learn from it before you are out there in traffic.

I've been riding around for 2 years with a dent in my tank and a couple scratches from my accident...

If you're too poor to fix them right now (or too lazy like me) don't worry about it. Soon enough they won't even register with you.

Glad to hear you and the bike are both ok. Sorry to hear you had a spill.

So scratched stator cover (will have to replace) mirror and bar end. Clutch lever too.

Does it look like this:
http://blackcatresearch.com/photos/Honda599/P3242275.JPG

"I feel your pain." :)

I scarred the left side just after postponing the purchase of my Givi bars. (Bars which, of course, now have a scratch on the right side.) :roll:

I've done a zero-speed drop on each side now. Hopefully I'm finished with such things.... Glad you came out unscathed!

Exactly!! Oh its soooooo painful to look at! :) I was at my Honda dealer today dealing with my battery and spaced asking how much a new cover costs. I guess I should wait till I install the frame sliders. :idea:

Oh and it was nice to see the owner riding a tricked out 04 599!!!!

IIRC, I looked up that cover on bikebandit.com and found it for about fifty bucks. I haven't replaced it yet... the scratches don't hurt anything but our pride (especially when we've only had the bike for a short time), and they're a daily reminder that things can go goofy in just a tick.

Consider it a battle scar! :lol:

I dropped my Hornet early on and scraped the cover too. My solution was to sand it down, then polish with ultra fine steel wool. It was a cheap solution and only took an hour to do.

-Michael

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/1918/polishedcoveros1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/polishedcoveros1.jpg/1/w600.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img374/polishedcoveros1.jpg/1/)

Hmm, I think I'll go polish my scratchless never been dropped motorcycle now. :D So shiney! So pure!

Glad you're OK buddy

I bet that would work on the header pipes. It's probably a giant pain in the ass though.

SSS sounds like a jinx, you better be careful this weekend! :D

My headers look pretty bad as well. I was talking to this guy a couple days ago with a 919 and he said that he took his headers off and had someone powder coat them? I called around and nobody seemed to want to do it? I was looking to see if there is a metal polish that would clean em up.

Nice job Michael! If mda540 and I track you down, you're gonna have some sanding and polishing to do!! :lol:

(Um, shuddup, Steve. :wink: )