Well guys, it could have been worse. A lot worse I'm guessing. This weekend I was crusing on my 05 ninja 250 in a neighborhood, probably doing 20mph. I am rounding a curve, with a man a man standing on the side of the road with a large dog (i assume a lab). The man and the dog were probably north-east from me. The dog immediately barked and jumped towards me, the owner drops the leashe, the dog jumps right in front of my bike, i hit him, run over the dog on the neck, my wheel cocks to the left, bike goes down. I then slide probably 10 feet im guessing sandwiched on top of the dog, and the bike on top of me. Dog died, my body is completely messed up with road rash. :/ I was only wearing a DOT/Snell approved helmet, and im glad i was. From now on though, i will always wear gloves and a leather jacket.


Now the technical questions: It was a low speed crash, but it bend the hell out of my gear shifter, and the handlebars feel offset. Where can these get offset? I noticed on the actual handle, it seemed to have pivoted. like there is a bolt you can loosen to adjust the handles individually. What are the chance i bent something in the steering? I hope not :( and is the gear shifter an individual piece?

Well, it sounds like your bike is fine. Perhaps a new shifter. I would try heating it up and bending it back but if it is really tweaked then just replace it. I have new-gen but recently lowsided and was able to take a big breaker bar and persuade my handle bar back into place.

WEAR YOUR GEAR! I bet with the proper gear you would be good shape. The dog....not so much.

I am glad to hear that you are ok and saddened at the death of the dog by his owner not controling him.
I hope that the owners insurance is going to pay for fixing the bike. BTW that falls under his home owners insurance. I know by experience.

yeah, i hate dealing with that and this guy was very poor. I'd hate to file a claim. Im not too bummed, I just want my handlebars straight and my shifter back to normal. When i get it back into the shop i will give it a shot bending it back.

Glad you're OK- sorry about the dog and bike. I've only experienced that once before- guy drops the leash and the dog darts in front of me. I didn't hit the dog but it scared the bejezzus out of me. Any police report?

Agreed. Glad you're ok and you've learned a lesson about gear. Poor dog though.

I dumped my 250 this weekend pulling into my driveway. Hit dirt in the middle of the turn. Bent my left bar a tad but not more than a 1/8 inch. And bent my shifter in. That part is only $26 so Thankfully not bad. But definitely glad i had my helmet and jacket and gloves. Fairing is scratched up, but i think I will leave that for battle scars. Hope to get it fixed soon, i want to get back out and ride.

go to hospital to get checked out, sue dog owner, pay med bills and for new bike.

Hate to say this, but that may be one legit way to recoup your loss... If you have a police report of the accident.

Dog as frame slider, who woulda thought? Glad you came out ok.

This is why on my bike I steer clear of dogs like the plague. Glad you're ok:thumbup:

The triple trees may be tweaked. You can fix this by loosening the pinch bolts, and then whacking the wheel (gently...lol) against a hard object (house corner, tree). Tighten them back up and ride it. If it's still off, repeat until they're back in alignment. I do this 2-3 times a year for riders who have gone down.

Well guys, it could have been worse. A lot worse I'm guessing. T
I was only wearing a DOT/Snell approved helmet, and im glad i was. From now on though, i will always wear gloves and a leather jacket.



May I suggest pants, a shirt, and boots also!

i bought brand new shoes speed and strength the day i dumped my bike, and broke them. but i called them and they are taking care of the shoes, so i recommend that company.

I dumped my 250 this weekend pulling into my driveway. Hit dirt in the middle of the turn. Bent my left bar a tad but not more than a 1/8 inch. And bent my shifter in. That part is only $26 so Thankfully not bad. But definitely glad i had my helmet and jacket and gloves. Fairing is scratched up, but i think I will leave that for battle scars. Hope to get it fixed soon, i want to get back out and ride.

Exact same damage to my bike. Is the shifter $26 bucks only? thats hard to believe. Awesome, though. I'm still kind of unclear how to fix the handlebar alignment if it is more than the left handle. Any tutorials you guys find useful?

Dog as frame slider, who woulda thought? Glad you came out ok.

Is it sad I laughed hard at this? Poor puppeh :o

I can tell my is barely bent. The shifter was 22 on amazon plus 12 shipping i called my dealer here in town, and asked for a price they said 44. I told them if i buy online it will total 34 so i wound up paying them 35 and it will arrive soon. someone told me everything with dealers and stores is negotiable.

as suggested loosen your triple tree top and adjust front end and bars. new levers are cheap or torch and padded 3 lb. sledge will do. i run over animals as a rule after avoiding them and hurting myself eventually pretty bad (time wise). you'll be fine and the guy may be poor but his insurance co. is not.

Loosening the trees would not fix my bar. The actual tube that the clutch signal controller and grip is on is what is ever so slightly bent. I mean I want to fix it eventually, but rode today the way it is, it rode just fine.

You can usually bend the shifter back in shape by removing it and using a hammer and a vice. Just don't try to do it on the bike. Other bikes have hinged pegs on the shifter so its rarely damaged in a fall. I'm not sure why Kawasaki dropped the ball there - maybe cost.

You might also take a look at your clutch lever because that usually gets bent too, but is not easily noticed unless you are looking at it.

Like others said, since you were injured, you should call a personal injury lawyer and see if the guy has homeowner's insurance which covers damage by dogs. And get to a hospital or walk-in emergency clinic to get your injuries documented. Road rash can sometimes lead to serious infections too.

On the PI lawyers, don't be afraid to shop around and call the BBB to check them out. They're not all crooks. Most charge about 1/3 of the proceeds PLUS expenses. The "plus expenses" is what separates the honest ones from the crooks. Honest ones charge you 5 cents for a photocopy and the crooks charge $5. A friend of mine had a crooked one. The settlement was $20K and she got a check in the amount of $1500 after the "plus expenses" part.

I think you should take the msf class and if you have take it again. You should have been slow enough to make a quick stop if you saw the dog.

a**wipe of an owner!!! poor puppy:( totally stinks you had to go through that. I cant even imagine.

I think you should take the msf class and if you have take it again. You should have been slow enough to make a quick stop if you saw the dog.

I think you meant aborting the turn. That is only feasible if he had a clear spot to move to. Riding into the path of oncoming traffic is the LAST place you want to be. I have been studying local fatal bike crashes and so far, most of them involve the biker getting thrown/forced into oncoming traffic where he gets run over by a cage. All the helmets and gear wont help you in that situation.

The OP didn't say, but if he locked the front wheel trying to do an emergency stop during a turn he would go down for sure.

But all of this is just second guessing and only the OP knows all the facts of the situation.

I think you meant aborting the turn. That is only feasible if he had a clear spot to move to. Riding into the path of oncoming traffic is the LAST place you want to be. I have been studying local fatal bike crashes and so far, most of them involve the biker getting thrown/forced into oncoming traffic where he gets run over by a cage. All the helmets and gear wont help you in that situation.

The OP didn't say, but if he locked the front wheel trying to do an emergency stop during a turn he would go down for sure.

But all of this is just second guessing and only the OP knows all the facts of the situation.

yes your right thats what i ment.