I knew you would come in here with that title. Well rather than insult, I would like to tell my tale and ask advice.

My lovely wife sold her 2012 Ninja 250 a few months ago and she has been diligently searching for a replacement ride ever since. Now I like Hondas but due to the wifes height (Pinoy 5'0" with boots on) she only seems to be able to "flat Foot" cruiser type bikes and she was looking hard at the Honda Rebel. Again, not against any bike or type but the Rebel 500 is not made to follow my Ducati's nor my friends Triumphs and other sport bikes on spirited back road romps. She needs the security of having her (at least one) foot(feet) solidly on the ground at stops. Being double her weight and nearly a foot taller, I cannot relate to this problem but I am trying my best to help her find a bike she will love to ride and fit on comfortably. She can ride my 916 and any other bike for that matter as her skills are strong but she cant handle the bike at a stand still especially once it is leaned over even a little. She sat on the Monster 696, Vulcan 650, KTM Duke 390, R3, FZ7, and many others but none fit her to the level where she was confident.

Cut to this past Saturday April 27, 2021:
Since her birthday is just a month away, I dragged her to our local dealer. They happened to have a 696 Monster, Vulcan 650, Honda Rebel 300 and BMW G310R and a Duke 390 all on the floor. The second the door opened and she saw the BMW in HP racing colors (Pearl white with red and blue) and she was in love. She tried all the rest but kept returning to the BMW over and over. The bike is a 2019 with just 800 miles on the clock! The dealer told us that they dont know if they will even get any new 2021 models this year and this bike is clean! I crawled all over this bike and could not find any dirt nor wear anyplace on the bike and the stock tires have 2" wide chicken strips on each side! They were asking $5000 but after a little talking we got the bike for $5000 out the door inc Tax and registration.

Now the bad part. Bike is bought and paid for and registered and the dealer calls for me to pick the new lovely up and bring her home. A good friend and I head to the shop and load up, trip home uneventful--until. I get home, slowly pull into drive to unload and there is a noise and a bump--all stop. One of the tie down straps has broken and the bike fell over onto my aluminum loading ramp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :doh::doh::doh:
Two big scratches in her perfect lightly used new to her bike!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:
What to do now? Hurry up and get armed!? She is at work and will return home soon, How do I tell her that her love is damaged? Worse than that, there are NO parts on Ebay. I have not looked at the dealer cost for this single panel but I would bet its all of $300 new if not more. I need anyone who may know where one of these panel are used to speak up now. I was hoping to tell her that a replacement would be here in a day or 2 but now im not so sure. The damage is just to the panel on the right(throttle) side front fairing that covers the side of the radiator. I think I could just peel the decal and put a new sticker over the scratches and no one would know but the bike is so new I want to replace it if possible. Anyone who knows of a crashed bike or anyone who may have parts please PM me ASAP!

So much for her enjoying her new bike as she cant even ride it due to weather and now its damaged. Help me if you can

Thanks
Ant

Buff it out! **** happens, im sure she wont be too mad at you bud! 4 straps next time!

Tell her it's officially a race bike now.

Buff it out! **** happens, im sure she wont be too mad at you bud! 4 straps next time!

Stupid mistake on my part. Advice to all of you: if your pickup has those little cubbies in the bed, dont trust the straps you store in there! Mine did not look bad when I tied the bike down but after the "Incident" inspection showed them to be dry rotting. Time for all new straps.

Tell her it's officially a race bike now.

Bike will see track time with her and possibly me. Most race bikes get "freshened up" after a crash but most racers dont damage the bike unloading it from the crate!

Mine did not look bad when I tied the bike down but after the "Incident" inspection showed them to be dry rotting. Time for all new straps.

Great "way out". I am convinced, let us know how that flies with her ;):D

Great "way out". I am convinced, let us know how that flies with her ;):D

Contrary to my original post, my wife is reasonable and will understand. The only reason I have not told her yet is I want her to enjoy the unspoiled bike in her head until she can at least take her first ride. I hope to find the replacement panel and have it fixed soon. She has been down there a few times looking at the bike and even showed it off to a couple of her friends without noticing, good thing I parked it with the "Bad" side toward the wall.

Contrary to my original post, my wife is reasonable and will understand. The only reason I have not told her yet is I want her to enjoy the unspoiled bike in her head until she can at least take her first ride. I hope to find the replacement panel and have it fixed soon. She has been down there a few times looking at the bike and even showed it off to a couple of her friends without noticing, good thing I parked it with the "Bad" side toward the wall.

Do you have the part number? Just in case here is the BMW catalog I use for cars. But they also have bikes. https://www.realoem.com/

Do you have the part number? Just in case here is the BMW catalog I use for cars. But they also have bikes. https://www.realoem.com/

SibSerge,
Thank you for the offer but I have not moved on to replacement just yet. Temps appear to be forecasted for a possible first ride for her on the new shiney this Sunday. I will let her ride it the first time then show her what happened. She can decide if the 2018 panel on Ebay is fine or I will find out what the cost from BMW will be and then move from there. I already bought her the rear wheel carrier that had the rear stand bobbins attached, the rest is up to her. She needs to decide how she wants her bike to look and perform, I am just the wrench that makes it happen.

SibSerge,
Thank you for the offer but I have not moved on to replacement just yet. Temps appear to be forecasted for a possible first ride for her on the new shiney this Sunday. I will let her ride it the first time then show her what happened. She can decide if the 2018 panel on Ebay is fine or I will find out what the cost from BMW will be and then move from there. I already bought her the rear wheel carrier that had the rear stand bobbins attached, the rest is up to her. She needs to decide how she wants her bike to look and perform, I am just the wrench that makes it happen.

great plan;) keep the link for later when you need maintenance stuff, filters, brakes etc.

So, what happened? Are you still alive?

So, what happened? Are you still alive?

snot, thank you for your concern. I attempted to have her take her first ride this last Sunday March 21st but she decided to wait a little longer. I have not told her yet and she has not noticed. I really need to upload some pics on here. I decided just to tell her when she finally takes her 1st ride. She can then decide the what and how her bike gets repaired. I need to get ready for trip to Road Atlanta to ride!

I've discovered the hard way that Keeping secrets from smart wives is not a smart thing to do...no matter how small tell her of the screw up, wasn't your fault the strap broke, **** happens ! ...
Yes her short inseam is a problem on todays bikes ! that is one major reason I decided to go with the CSC RX4 it's low seat height ! and I agree with your Smart wife having your feet flat on the ground IS a Safety issue !
I have a 30" inseam and that presents a major problem touching the ground on 99% of the newer bikes out there....the RX4 has a 31" seat height and the rear preload can be adjusted down even further.
I can only touch the ground on my tippy toes with boots on when the seat height is 34" and I will not own a bike I can't flat foot both feet at a stop sign
....
I had a XRL650 Honda that was so tall it was unreal it doesn't work for me!
in my opinion its dangerous and presents a constant danger.... you can't always slide off the seat fast enough to get that foot down and you fall over !
i did that several times before I made new links for the mono shock and lowered the rear to where the swing arm was almost horizontal then I could flat foot it... I also dropped the forks in the triple trees about 2"
so I wound up loosing ground clearance by 3 to 4" over all but out of the 10 or 11" of ground clearance it had it was no loss at all !
...
Bob......

I would just tell her, lol and to be perfectly honest (from another short person) it will tip over again. I'm a super confident rider but have on occasion just dropped bikes because my foot didn't touch the ground. I actually prefer not to have perfectly shiny, non scratched bikes because then I worry too much about scratching them and end up scratching them or dropping them anyway. Derp. Learning the skills, riding and practicing for me are much more important than worrying about a scratch or dent in my bike and having it look perfect every time. Anyway, I hope she enjoys the bike and gets out riding lots soon. :dancecool:

Decent body shop should be able to fix that. Even replace missing decal sections with paint!