If you're a motorcycle riders you're going to crash. That's just how it is.
Lesson for the day: Setup your suspension before you go out and nail it. Oh and wear some kevlar jeans of leather pants no matter what. $100 Frame sliders also saved me a HUGE amount of money in repairs.
So I met some friends for a "casual" ride. I JUST finished putting on some new OZ rims and Ohlins suspension- upgrading my RSV to RSVR status. WOW what a difference. I probably got 3 short rides in the week before just to warm up the oil for a change and to service the brakes. Everything was check out but the suspension was too soft up front and I just told myself I wouldn't practice any wheelies for a while so I wouldn't have to worry about bottoming out.
Fast forward to Sunday. I FINALLY got the day off for a morning ride with a local group of gentlemen with sportbikes. Because I've been working so much I haven't had time to adjust the suspension or buy boots so I could wear my one piece leather suit. We started up with a nice spirited ride through the country side and I knew where we were headed... to some really twisty roads. The bike was feeling AWESOME and much lighter and faster turning than before. I was just having the best time once the tires were warmed up. Yet I started pushing a little more and a little more... Soon I was up to a very fast pace and 2nd in line in our group. I really whipped it into a turn with full confidence as I had near new super sticky Dunlops on and such...
The problem? I DIDN't STIFFEN UP THE FRONT FORKS!!! I was off the brakes in order to keep the suspension at neutral as best as I could upon entry and then just a tad of throttle to keep thing balanced and moving forward. I could just really feel the front starting to go and I remember thinking, "here we go... just like I see them do on tv.". It's frustrating to watch a racers wheel just go out from under the front end in a turn. Now I know how it really feels. I never thought it was going to happen when I was entering that turn. I'm sure I could have rolled right through it if my front end was more stiff. But my speed was just fast enough to bottom the front fork and at the point the front tire just lost it's grip. I remember everything down to the finest detail. I read the yellow logo on my tires as I leaned over and tucked into a slide.
