So it sucks that I'm starting a new topic here. Out for a ride today I had to swing by the office to drop some stuff off. The road in front of our building is really rough and I knew that, but I wasn't paying close enough attention and I was in a monster pothole (inches deep) and down about a second after I saw it, going 30-35 I think. Fortunately, I just lowsided to the right and slid, no flying involved (which could very easily have happened if I was leaning). A guy behind me stopped and helped me get the bike off the road. A friend helped me trailer it to another friend's house. The front fork looks out of alignment but not bent. The front fender will need replaced. The tank has scratches and dents, and will need work. Will need a new speedo, or at least housing. The entire mount the headlight and signals sits on will need replaced. Some right fairings will need work. Rear brake pedal and right peg will be replaced. The rear wheel is a little warped, but my mechanically inclined friend who will be helping me fix it thinks there's a shop in town that can fix it. Surprisingly, the front wheel looks fine. I was wearing my flip up helmet (closed), my Tour Master Transition 3 jacket (RIP, I love that jacket), and cheap tour master gloves. It saved me from a lot more rash and injury. My helmet never touched the ground fortunately. I wasn't wearing riding pants so my jeans tore and I have rash on my right knee and a little on my left. My right is really sore, it makes me look gimpy when I walk which is annoying. I think I hyper extended something on my left hand because it feels relatively bad too, and I can't straighten my fingers. Moral of the story, wear gear. I will be wearing riding pants from now on. I'm super mad that I have to fix the bike now, but it will ride on and so will I. Just not for a couple of months. This could have been a million times worse, I'm just glad it wasn't.
Sorry to read this, neighbor. Hope you heal fast. Was the pothole on a city street or in a parking lot? I'd be sending the repair bills to whichever for having unsafe conditions. They might not pay but if they don't make repairs after being notified of the problem, they can be held responsible for future accidents... or so I've been told.
The road I was on is scheduled for repair this summer. The girlfriend of the guy who trailered me suggested the same thing. I'm going to try to go into the camera system at work on Monday and try to pull video, my gopro went dead up the block.
Does anyone know what I need to be looking for as I repair the bike? The stuff I can visually see is obvious, but do I need to check anything on the carb, engine, etc?
The bike is a Nighthawk 750. I think the front wheel is an 18. Took some pics of the hole today, it's deep enough to see rebar, but looks like if you hit it in the middle (it runs length wise) you could ride it out, so in guessing I hit it on the left side (top) and got thrown off balance. I'm really surprised the front wheel is ok. The run on the rear is bent but repairable.
