80mph tumble

[Tj Gonz]

Glad youre safe and can reflect! Man my first bike was a ninja 250 and doing 70+ I felt like I was riding a giant ice skate out on the highway also had a rash on my hands from holding the bars so tight lol. Youll be on the road again soon Im sure, take care brother!

 

[JARichmond]

Holy crap, buddy! I'm glad you (and the rest of you who have shared crash stories) are alright. I had a crash on my bicycle last week and felt like shite. Walked away with a sliced arm and road-burnt leg. Can't imagine how disorienting a crash (not to mention doing 80 mph) on a motorcycle would be.I'm glad you have decided to get it fixed (eventually) and get back on the road. Speedy recovery

 

[FUBAR]

and all that work on the bags.... damn shame

 

[Pork Chop]

Oh mate that is bad news about the stack but glad you lived to tell the tale. Hope you heal up soon.

Tank slappers sounds like an adult film I had to wiki it to findout that it is another term for the death wobbles.

Posted via Mobile

 

[1979XS4002-F]

Glad your OK...really lucky to be here with us still..best of luck with your recovery.

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Had a check-up today, and since he was also a rider he took some extra time to really help me out. Turns out that most of the damage is considered a second-degree burn, but some are third-degree ones (smaller, thankfully). But if nothing gets infected or worsens, I won't need any physical therapy. I'll still spare you guys from pics of the gore since I got sick of looking at it by Tuesday: hairy limbs + rapidly draining wounds + gauze changes every 12hrs = me getting grossed out. If any of you are ever in that situation, get the "tefla" pads since they seem to be the only ones that do not profusely stick to the wound. Doc is prescribing up to 3g of Vicodin a day now, since I couldn't sleep on 2g without also taking Ibuprofen. It's just kicking in as I type this, so I'll just add that I'm grateful for the support: thanks everyone!

 

[bcware]

Are you supposed to clean the wounds at all or just change the dressings? Can you shower?

 

[dusty92388]

You're a brave man takin that old bike out on 94. I'm in Indiana right over the Michigan line, I've never taken a ride on 94, screw that. Hope you feel better man.

 

[dusty92388]

You're a brave man takin that old bike out on 94. I'm in Indiana right over the Michigan line, and I'd rather not go 80 mph on a bike that's older than me... Hope you feel better man.

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Are you supposed to clean the wounds at all or just change the dressings? Can you shower?

I am supposed to clean them 4x/day and re-dress them 2x/day, but I am slacking on the cleaning since they are hyper-sensitive (even to water). I decided that it's best to stick to the old soap-and-washrag shower for a while.

I94 is actually one of my favorite roads, since it is one of the few that are reasonably maintained around here. After taking a Rebel 250 on it, the XS seems quite capable!

 

[bcware]

Keep them clean; if you get an infection, even a minor one, the healing time can be dramatically lengthened.

I had a significant burn take 6 months to heal because it got infected. In hind sight I probably should have had that checked out, but I was just a dumb kid at the time.

 

[New guy]

Glad to see your OK! I keep thinking a full face doesn't go with the retro bike but your changing my mind with this post. Safety gear at all times is a good idea. I always remember the time my older brother dropped his gamma going around a corner and slid out in some gravel. He said he was going slow and it just slid out. He was a body builder and had huge forearms and his arm was a huge scab from elbow to wrist. He used to pick it at the dinner table with a knife when Mom wasn't looking to gross me out. The worst part was he would start laughing and rice would shoot out of his gapped tooth grin. Friggen body builders!
Wear your gear!!

 

[dO-bOy]

Thanks for the story, I've been wearing my armored mesh jacket alot more after reading this thread last week. Denim jackets look so damn cool with the retro looking bike, but I guess there's a price to pay

 

[Lou Ranger]

Thanks for the story, I've been wearing my armored mesh jacket alot more after reading this thread last week. Denim jackets look so damn cool with the retro looking bike, but I guess there's a price to pay

Not sure how good it is, but the price could be as low as $57:

http://www.motorcyclegear.com/stree...ip/ronin_armored_denim_motorcycle_jacket.html​

 

[drewpy]

wow, that's cheap

 

[sprocket]

Sorry to hear of your crash and glad to hear that you're OK. The bike will get rebuilt, more importantly, you don't need to be rebuilt!
I was thinking of putting bags on my XS400, but ended up putting them on my CB836 chopper instead.

As far as speed wobble, when was the last time you serviced the steering bearings?
I had a 650 Nighthawk that would develop wobble at certain frequencies (about 95mph thru 100mph) and when I cleaned, re-packed and adjusted the bearings, it moved to about 10mph higher. I dropped the forks about an inch in the triple trees and two things happened, steering was quicker (due to reduced rake) and the wobble issue was never seen again. Win Win!!
A steering geometry issue from the factory, but there are ways to reduce the problem. Weight distribution for sure plays a big part on these light bikes.

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

I'm not sure about the bearings, but they seem to be a common enough problem. I plan on doing a very thorough breakdown/rebuild before I get back in the saddle, if only to check for subtle damage caused by all of this.