My 82 GS650G went down.

[Willmrx]

Long story short, My friends Dad had on his bucket list to ride into Yosemite on a motorcycle. He is in his late sixties and has his own bike, a 1980 Kawasaki 650 something. He is a current rider. About ten miles out of the park on the way home he missed judge a turn going, maybe 30 mph and went off the road, into a tree and some bushes.
Broken right hand, fractured tibia and a chip bone in his elbow. He is expected to have a full recovery and is unbelievably lucky he did not get killed. I was riding in front he was behind me and his daughter was in a car right behind him. I heard her horn and then I heard the sound of gravel and then the sound of the bushes cracking. I quickly turned around and pulled over, his daughter pulled off the road right behind him and got to the crash seen befor I did, she could not find him! So I ran up the road where he went off to see if he had bailed off the bike. It seemed like ten minutes but it was about 20 seconds but we found him under some bushes laying complete flat on his back on the only area that did not have sharp sticks and stumps sticking up from the ground. He was lucid and was not in any real pain.
So far he is doing well!
The bike got damaged pretty bad. I don't know yet what I am going to do. The engine has had a lot of new parts put into it, and the frame and all of the metal parts have been powder coated. It runs but there is a exhaust leak on the #1 head. Oh well.

 

[Guest]

YIKES Glad he was not hurt worse, that's a pretty good crash for a fella that age. Sorry to hear about your bike though. I'm sure with some help from the site you can get her back together again..

 

[posplayr]

Sorry to hear that. Home he gets better soon. I assume you guys were doing a day trip; how long?
We did some day trips down from Reno that turned into long days depending upon how much site seeing and snow there is .
I gotta ask, if you were leading how far back was he? He did not see your brakes or speed apparently.
Beautiful riding, unfortunate ending.

 

[winfield]

Sorry to hear about the accident. Sounds like a pretty traumatic moment.

I'm trying to piece together what happened from your description. Your friend's Dad has his own motorcycle, the KZ650 (nice bike btw) but apparently crashed your bike. Were you riding his bike or another of your own bikes? Was he visiting from out of town and so you loaned him a bike to ride?

I guess I don't understand why he wasn't on his KZ.

 

[Wingsconsin]

Best wishes for recovery...

Best wishes for recovery...

Hopefully he can recover fully from this accident.

After which he can then proceed to make you whole again - that is..to help replace or repair the busted up bike ,either physically or financially. If I borrow something I feel I am compelled to become responsibly for it's well being.. if I lose it - I must buy a new one, if I break it I must have it fixed.. if it can't be fixed then I should replace it..

Just the right thing to do in my opinion... :|

 

[Willmrx]

Sorry to hear that. Home he gets better soon. I assume you guys were doing a day trip; how long?
We did some day trips down from Reno that turned into long days depending upon how much site seeing and snow there is .
I gotta ask, if you were leading how far back was he? He did not see your brakes or speed apparently.
Beautiful riding, unfortunate ending.

It is about 1 3/4 hour to a 2 hour drive from where I live to Yosemite. I was leading and he was no more than 10 to 15 yards behind me. I saw him as I enter the turn(left) in my mirror and then I looked back at the road in front of me. The turn radius tightened up slightly just passed the apex on that turn. I think he did not anticipate that, and or did not think he could turn the bike any sharper, which he could have(hindsight). As soon as he hit the gravel with his brake on, it seemed to speed up. He is doing well and is going to have a full recovery!
The bike at this point? I think I have everything but a tank. It pays to be a pack rat!! Here are the damage parts, front forks, rear fender support, left side exhaust, center pipes, front and back left side blinkers, seat, right side cover, front fork brace, handlebars, clutch lever, headlight, bent rear frame rail, bent brackets(exhaust,headlight, blinkers)and bent left side foot peg.
He was out visiting from the east coast, that is why he was riding my bike.

 

[Willmrx]

Hopefully he can recover fully from this accident.

After which he can then proceed to make you whole again - that is..to help replace or repair the busted up bike ,either physically or financially. If I borrow something I feel I am compelled to become responsibly for it's well being.. if I lose it - I must buy a new one, if I break it I must have it fixed.. if it can't be fixed then I should replace it..

Just the right thing to do in my opinion... :|

Well he does not share your opinion. He does not want to pay what I am asking to be whole. I would like $1,200 and I keep the bike. The tow to get the bike up on the road was $230 and I had to plead them to leave my on the side of the road to wait for my friend to come and pick up the bike with his trailer $ 50 in gas. The Sheriff finally said I could stay, if she said no, It would have been another $230 hour back to the impound yard and then another $100 a day for storage! At that point I had saved another$330 of damage from happening. The helmet was damaged and to replace it was $150. At this point I am not holding my breath.

 

[Charlie G]

Was that the 650 you put a whole lot of work in? We put a lot of work in all our bikes. What a shame. I don't like to loan or barrow.

cg

 

[GSX1000E]

Well he does not share your opinion. He does not want to pay what I am asking to be whole. I would like $1,200 and I keep the bike. The helmet was damaged and to replace it was $150. At this point I am not holding my breath.

What kind of a complete JERK is this guy???
You break it, you bought it!!
Have him find another bike in the same condition as it was in BEFORE HE wrecked it and have HIM send it to you!!!

 

[posplayr]

Well he does not share your opinion. He does not want to pay what I am asking to be whole. I would like $1,200 and I keep the bike. The tow to get the bike up on the road was $230 and I had to plead them to leave my on the side of the road to wait for my friend to come and pick up the bike with his trailer $ 50 in gas. The Sheriff finally said I could stay, if she said no, It would have been another $230 hour back to the impound yard and then another $100 a day for storage! At that point I had saved another$330 of damage from happening. The helmet was damaged and to replace it was $150. At this point I am not holding my breath.

Sorry for the insult to injury.

 

[Rob S.]

Tricky situation, riding other people's bikes.

 

[tkent02]

Especially if you're a cheap bastard with no integrity.

 

[Willmrx]

Was that the 650 you put a whole lot of work in? We put a lot of work in all our bikes. What a shame. I don't like to loan or barrow.

cg

Yes it was! I touched every nut and bolt on that bike

 

[tkent02]

I keep beaters to let people ride, don't care if there's not much effort into it yet. Once there's a lot of time and effort involved I'm really selective about who rides. More so than I used to be.

I'll ride other people's bikes if they offer, but I'm careful, and would prefer to ride their crappiest bike if there's a choice, or at least not their pride and joy.
I certainly wouldn't ride one I couldn't afford to fix.

 

[Guest]

What a great guy this is... NOT! Can I ask what thinks is reasonable and fair? Does he want to pay a dime? Miserable geezer needs to make you whole again.

 

[Wingsconsin]

We aren't talking about a $100 loss here...
It's adding up to a sum of money that is serious business.
Will the insurance help - or was the bike not fully covered?
Perhaps if the insurance will cover some - he could pay the difference.
It is not right to walk away from damaging a persons property without making restitution.
There are provisos for this under the law - you may get some experience with small claims court processes.

What is wrong with people now-a-days ? Didn't their Mommas teach them anything ...

 

[Grimly]

What a stingy, complete jerk. Now you have the real measure of him.
Years ago, I firmly resisted offers to ride friends' new bikes, if I couldn't afford to replace/repair them if the worst happened. I didn't mind borrowing old snotters, as snotbikes are built to take it and can be repaired by kicking them straight, but most certainly not a bike that somebody's rebuilt and put a lot of time and money into.

 

[Willmrx]

Well I got a e mail from him and he said the check is in the mail. We will see. In the mean time, I replace all of the damaged parts, except the tank and a right side side frame cover from my pack rat stash. I sold the bike to a friend of a friend thing, he needed a ride to get away from his drunk wife and I needed to get rid of a crashed bike!
I have to be honest here and say it REALLY hurt me to see it go! He did not even want the manual to it! So so sad, all of the time and emotion I had into that bike, and I bet you it will never spend a single night inside of a garage again!:sorrow: Oh well life goes on!

 

[Charlie G]

I know just how you feel. It's best to get right in on another project. How's that 750 going?

cg

 

[Willmrx]

I know just how you feel. It's best to get right in on another project. How's that 750 going?

cg

Well the 83 750ED is 100% and for sale! I got a Buell 1125r that I am working on now. I got it off of Craigslist after it got laid down, for next to nothing, because it would not start. I found a damaged wire on the ignition switch wire harness. A little maintenance, shimm valves, spark plug, change oil, air filter, little painting, cleaning and new tires! If you have not worked on a Buell motorcycle, you will be impressed on how intuitive it is in design and how mechanic friendly it is! The bike is unbelievable, in many ways!