I started riding in February of 2009.. here it was October 2011 and i had never been to US-421 aka "The Snake" ..my other riding friends insisted that they needed to "pop my 421 cherry" asap. and heres my story.. lol.



i left kingsport headed for bristol/shady valley at about 4:30 on sunday the 9th [a week ago today] and made it safely to the famous "Shady Valley Country Store" ..little did i know the ride back would be a different story.

fnRglvD6ilU

if you let this video^ load and jump to 12:00 ..the curve i went down on is at 12:15. [i was coming the opposite way, so it was a left turn for me] i ran wide and leaned hard.. overcorrected.. back tire caught the edge of the road and i slid into the gravel driveway. VERY thankful it wasnt a dropoff... the first 5 minutes of the video is a little boring.. its before you get to the crazy stuff.

i was wearing my icon jacket, jeans, and nikes (not the best shoes for the occasion, i know).. wasnt wearing my gloves but walked away very easily.. all i ended up with was some road rash on my left palm and a banged up left knee with a couple cuts, scrapes, and now bruises.. so my friend lent me a glove for my left hand and we set off on the hour+ ride home.

the actual "crash" hardly phased me.. i was more concerned with the sounds of my helmet and fairings against the road. i remember thinking "if my favorite helmet is messed up im gonna be pissedd!!:mad: "

now.. some pictures..

15457 15458 15459 15460 15461

Glad you're OK! Sad to see another rashed CP blue fairing (best color by far). :(

If you plan to replace the fairings, expect to wait a long time to find one. Get some gloves and boots first!

CP blue all the way. not a fan of candy thunder.. i was hoping to replace them with factory pieces in the same color. worst case scenario find some i could have painted? .. why is the cp blue so hard to find? ..oh, and my gloves.. they were under my back seat.. kicking myself in the ass for that one. lol

I think it has more to do with it taking a different undercoat and overcoat (metallic flake and blue) and thus being very difficult to touch up or match without painting the whole bike. Later blues were just one paint. Also, I like the white Ninja logos vs. gray. :)

Sorry to hear you crashed Haley. Did you enjoy the ride before the crash? Did you learn anything from your mistake?

Sorry to hear you crashed Haley. Did you enjoy the ride before the crash? Did you learn anything from your mistake?

the ride was amazing.. especially in the fall. the trees were at peak color for that elevation and it was beautiful. i cant wait to go back. learned a lot.. i put entirely too much of my body into the lean, and will slow down a little for sure [until i get comfortable of course.] AND .. ATGATT. :thumbup:

the ride was amazing.. especially in the fall. the trees were at peak color for that elevation and it was beautiful. i cant wait to go back. learned a lot.. i put entirely too much of my body into the lean, and will slow down a little for sure [until i get comfortable of course.] AND .. ATGATT. :thumbup:

Awesome. I also learned some lessons recently :rolleyes:

I'm also a big fan of Autumn colours. I like the cool and fresh taste of the Autumn air as well.

Awesome. I also learned some lessons recently :rolleyes:

I'm also a big fan of Autumn colours. I like the cool and fresh taste of the Autumn air as well.

yeah its beautiful! i ride twice as much after august than i do all summer.

Looks like an awesome ride up there might have to try it out one day should only be like two and a half hours from where Im at to get there. Although Im only like 30 mins from the Dragon and I haven't went there yet either. :lol:

Well at least your gloves protected your storage area right? :p


All jokes aside glad your alright now get the ninjette fixed up and then and go show the snake whos boss :thumbup:

Looks like an awesome ride up there might have to try it out one day should only be like two and a half hours from where Im at to get there. Although Im only like 30 mins from the Dragon and I haven't went there yet either. :lol:

Well at least your gloves protected your storage area right? :p


All jokes aside glad your alright now get the ninjette fixed up and then and go show the snake whos boss :thumbup:



im working on finding parts! but apparently thats going to be much harder than i thought.. :confused: so probably wont have her fixed until spring [seriously depressing] ..i mean, i could still ride. the damage is only cosmetic.. but how many girls do you know that will leave the house without their make up?!?!:p ..

do you have any other friends that ride in knoxville? reason im asking is i just live an hour from there.. so this spring if we're still in touch on here you guys should come up and i'll get a group ride together. me and my girls are tons of fun to ride with! and if you dont want to take 40 here on the bike.. there are backroads that take the same amount of time :thumbup:

im working on finding parts! but apparently thats going to be much harder than i thought.. :confused: so probably wont have her fixed until spring [seriously depressing] ..i mean, i could still ride. the damage is only cosmetic.. but how many girls do you know that will leave the house without their make up?!?!:p ..

do you have any other friends that ride in knoxville? reason im asking is i just live an hour from there.. so this spring if we're still in touch on here you guys should come up and i'll get a group ride together. me and my girls are tons of fun to ride with! and if you dont want to take 40 here on the bike.. there are backroads that take the same amount of time :thumbup:

Ya me and my brother both ride hes got a Ninja 650 *had to get the bigger one since hes older right* besides that dont really know anyone else around here. Definately sounds funs though count me in :thumbup:

I do know there are a few other people on these forums around this area as well but i havent ridden with any of them yet.

If I still have my bike and you guys get something organized let me know.

Who cares if you pull some plastic off and keep riding?

..i mean, i could still ride. the damage is only cosmetic.. but how many girls do you know that will leave the house without their make up?!?!:p ..

You could ride it without the fairings. Ninjettes look pretty good naked (http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=88421). ;)

It might make cleaning a little more annoying - you'd probably get more dirt in the nooks and crannies.

If I still have my bike and you guys get something organized let me know.


Most Definately man :)

Im surprised that naked ninjette actually looks pretty sweet

You could ride it without the fairings. Ninjettes look pretty good naked (http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=88421). ;)

It might make cleaning a little more annoying - you'd probably get more dirt in the nooks and crannies.


not bad at all! .. i live on this site since i went down. i havent really wanted to ride it with all the rash. just stepped outside to take a look at it.. and im seriously thinking about taking it out for a little while. its freakinn beautiful outside :(

Im surprised that naked ninjette actually looks pretty good

I was surprised too; that's why I posted the video up.

Wish I looked that good without all my fairings :p

If I still have my bike and you guys get something organized let me know.

Who cares if you pull some plastic off and keep riding?

sure thing! as of right now.. im saying screw the plastic. we may be getting to that ride sooner than spring!

good thing your good :] lol i was worryed there was a actual snake which scare the crap out of me so i was like how does a snake bite you on a bike. >.<

Blue duct tape and zip ties! :thumbup:

Glad you're pretty much Ok. Looks like a fun ride, fer sure.

okay guys.. i need some help. i wnt for a ride yesterday, kept it short and sweet because it was the first one since i had to ride home after i wrecked. and i noticed on the ride home [after crash] that my handle bars didnt feel the same and that my left turns didnt feel right..i noticed it again yesterday.. im thinking my left handle bar got bent when i went down? i was gonna have it looked at today ..but its raining and i didnt want to take a chance with it on wet roads.. ill post a picture later.. but any advice would be helpfun [fixable? not fixable? expensive repair? can it be bent back?] :(:(:(

It looks bent in your first post, top right picture with helmet on seat. You could probably bend it back into shape enuff so that it functions. These things sell for pretty cheap ... take -offs from race bikes and from people that just wanted after market clip ons. I gave mine away to two members here that had crash damage.

It looks bent in your first post, top right picture with helmet on seat. You could probably bend it back into shape enuff so that it functions. These things sell for pretty cheap ... take -offs from race bikes and from people that just wanted after market clip ons. I gave mine away to two members here that had crash damage.

wow i didnt even notice that.. my clutch lever looks way too far away. no wonder i was killing myself trying to pull the clutch the whole ride home with road rash. so.. glad to hear its a fairly easy fix. thanks!

Why is it so hard to find blue fairings? Is it like that for every color, or just blue?

the candy plasma blue is harder to find because of the metallic flake. thumbs downn.
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I'll try not to get a blue bike :thumbup:

the candy thunder blue may be easier to find.. but it just doesn't hold a candle to the candy plasma. best color ever!
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I prefer green :rolleyes:

You both like the wrong color cause everyone knows the red ones are faster :p

We're going to destroy this thread lol :rotflmao:

Your both like the wrong color cause everyone knows the red ones are faster :p

negative! haha. i was looking in 2008 and the new gen 250 never even hit the showroom floor at our local kawi shop [all sold before they even got there] they finally got two 09's and i had my eyes on an all black one.. but when they saw how quickly they sold, the MSRP went from 08's $3500 .. to $4600 in 09.. and then i found her ..in alabama. my candy plasma blue baby.. i fell in love. hahaha.

CP Blue wins. (:

lol I will admit my original plan was to buy the cp blue one though :rolleyes: then i found my red one for a steal :thumbup:

pearl white is the fastest best color.

Other than red. :thumbup:

@Phil.. I know I know. kicking myself in the ass for that one. but very thankful I came out of it so well. lesson learned! (:
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Of course, but it doesn't stay at max speed for long, as it has to wait for the white ones to catch up. :)

Candy Lime Green rules.

got some new/used fairings guys!! and a new clip on for the left side..should be back on my bike in less than two weeks!!!
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got some new/used fairings guys!! and a new clip on for the left side..should be back on my bike in less than two weeks!!!
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Glad to hear it :thumbup:

I keep hearing people use the word "clip on". Does that refer to the bit of handle bar that looks like it can slide in or out of place?

It is the handlebar and the mounting.....thing that goes on the triple tree.

What's a clip-on? (http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?p=373881&postcount=9)