G
GSJohn
Guest
I know it looks really bad, but I think new forks might just make this whole again. The frame could very well be tweaked..it is not obviously noticeable, though. The wheels still rotate true. Any body have any leads for a replacement set of forks?
Here's my police report statement:
July 2, 2009, 6 pm
Statement of John Fellman, WA regarding a motorcycle accident:
I received a call from Ray's wife at about 5pm regarding the purchase of my '82 Suzuki GS650 that I had advertised on Craigslist. She said that she wanted to buy it as a birthday gift for her husband. They both arrived at our residence to look the bike over and he seemed interested in buying it. I demonstrated the bike by riding a couple loops around the cul de sac and they both were witness to the fact that it functioned flawlessly. His wife remained in the passenger seat of their vehicle the entire time. He spoke privately with his wife and then mentioned that his wife wanted him to ride it in a circle around the cul de sac. I allowed that because he said he had owned a similar motorcycle (Yamaha 400 ) previously. He started off OK but seemed confused about which way to turn the throttle. Before I could stop him he accelerated straight ahead at full throttle for about 50 feet and ran into the neighbor's garage and air conditioner. He went over the bars and struck the top front left side of his head when he landed. He did not lose consciousness and was up right away but had a nasty gash on his head. My wife and I got him some wet wash cloths and towels and advised him to have his wife take him to the ER. His wife was already on the phone to call an ambulance but he instructed her to drive him to the hospital herself.
The neighbor's air conditioner was knocked off the foundation. The motorcycle has extensive front end damage. I understand that Officer Gaines took photos of the scene. He also gave me the retaining pin of the clutch lever cable end which he found past where the bike came to rest, indicating that it was intact prior to the impact. I have retained it as instructed by Officer Gaines.
I previously turned down a prospective buyer of this motorcycle after I saw how inexperienced he was as a motorcyclist when he test drove it in a parking lot across the street from his home in Richland on Stevens Dr. He was very upset with me when I told him over the phone that I would not sell it to him.
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Update today:
Ray called and has made arrangements to buy the bike on Monday after work. Since he is doing the right thing, I think I should offer my help getting this bike back in an operable state. Maybe even work on it with him in my garage and introduce him to this site. Crap like this happens occasionally and I respect anyone who owns up to their mistakes in judgment. I assume a certain amount of blame for what happened because I sensed at the time that he was not at all proficient at operating a motorcycle. Things went bad awfully quick!
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Then, again ... 
