3 months...first crash.

[Macharity]

So you guys it finally happened. Earlier today I had gotten my front Pads replaced and I had been riding around to bed them in. That's when it happened. I was riding along a road I had been on many times before when I approached a turn and for some reason I had what felt like ZERO braking performance upfront. Next thing I know I get massive fixation on the muddy grass im headed towards. No increase in lean angle, no rear brake just staring head on into the mud.

I hit the mud and fall off the bike. Whether I high/low sided I don't know.

I've gotta say I've always wondered how people crash due to fixation, now I see. Target fixation is a killer...I am just glad I was wearing my full Suit and helmet.

PS If you think falling into mud sounds comfy....lol trust me its not.

(This all happened in the last hour, I'm on the side of the road waiting for geico. Will update as things proceed.)

[Macharity]

Here are some pics:

[Motofool]

Sorry to read this, but glad to see that the damage to the bike is limited to a bent shifting lever.
That one can be bent back easily.
After a good wash, she will be ready.

[akima]

Sorry to hear about your crash. I'm glad to hear you had full gear on though.

Hopefully it's only bruises and scratches and nothing worse.

Any idea what happened with the front brake before the crash?

[snot]

Glad your ok, bike doesn't look to bad either.

I hope you heal fast and the repairs are cheap.

[ForceofWill]

Sucks, glad you're OK. Bike looks in good shape, first thing I'd do is check your helmet and see if it hit the ground when you came off.

I know it sucks but if it did you'll probably want to replace it.

[Bob2010]

Damn that sucks. I hate seeing another red ninja like mine all roughed up. Gives me the chills.
Glad you're okay and you recognize the error. That way moving forward , it will help your riding habits.

I also bent my shifter. I found this https://www.ebay.com/itm/152173719558
And I must say - So far I prefer it over the rubber - covered OEM one. My other bike still has the OEM one installed and I just seem to like the solid one over it.

However I'm not doing 109 miles a day 7 days a week so it's really too early for me to say which is better.

[ForceofWill]

Also, it's hard to tell how much of that is scuffs and how much are scratches. The tail fairing looks cracked and if the other plastics are all scratched up and need to be replaced/painted they might total the bike.

[Macharity]

Thanks you guys, yeah the damage doesn't look that bad. Left indicator is missing and tail Fairing is cracked but beyond that it all looks to be in good shape. No injuries at least and feeling good all things considered.

Lol we'lll see how Bad the bruises look tomorrow

[Macharity]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Sorry to read this, but glad to see that the damage to the bike is limited to a bent shifting lever.
That one can be bent back easily.
After a good wash, she will be ready.

Bend them back? Lol more like excuse to buy Rearsets

[Macharity]

Originally Posted by akima

Sorry to hear about your crash. I'm glad to hear you had full gear on though.

Hopefully it's only bruises and scratches and nothing worse.

Any idea what happened with the front brake before the crash?

Nope, no clue what happened with the front brake...I was hoping someone here might be able to tell me what happened. I went to get on the brakes and I barely had any braking performance?

I was really confused especially considering I literally had just put new Pads on.

[Macharity]

One thing this crash has made me realize is that perhaps Canyon/twisty Riding isn't for me. My goal is still to ultimately race but I think I'm going to leave all spirited riding to the track.

Brakes go out on a track and theres miles of runoff, brakes go out on the street again and next time it's a tree and not mud I'm hitting...

[CaliGrrl]

Sorry you crashed, but that doesn't have to mean the end of riding the twisties. Not doing it spiritedly, maybe, leave that to the track, but a person can ride the twisty, fun roads and not hit it hammer-down. And still enjoy the ride.

[Ninja Rob]

Originally Posted by Macharity

Nope, no clue what happened with the front brake...I was hoping someone here might be able to tell me what happened. I went to get on the brakes and I barely had any braking performance?

I was really confused especially considering I literally had just put new Pads on.

When I first bought my bike and I was learning to ride in a parking lot, my front brakes didn't work. Luckily I was going like 7 mph so I stopped with my rear brake. After studying the front brakes, I noticed that one of the nuts near the brake pads wasn't tightened all the way and brake fluid leaked through there. I tightened it and had a friend change and bleed the brakes for me. After he changed them, the first thing I did was check both of the nuts in the rear and front. I tested the brakes while parked, then did a test run in a slow street. Before every ride, I test the brakes while parked just to be sure. I am not sure what the part is called but it is where you bleed the brakes. Check that that nut is tightened properly. Also, before riding, a good check on your fluids and turn signals and all that good stuff can help prevent bad times on your bike. Hope that helps.

As far as target fixation, I almost became a victim of that once. I have remind myself from time to time, "look where you wanna go". I practice that doing figure eights while thinking "look where you wanna go" in an empty parking lot. Every time I go out for a ride, I find an empty parking lot to do a few drills as part of my ride.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by Macharity

Nope, no clue what happened with the front brake...I was hoping someone here might be able to tell me what happened. I went to get on the brakes and I barely had any braking performance?

I was really confused especially considering I literally had just put new Pads on.

4 questions:
did you pump the brake lever after installation?
did you clean the caliper's pistons before installation?
did you double and triple check that all bolts were tight and inspect the brake line for any leaks? (safety wiring helps with this)
did you do a braking drill after installation? Basically in a parking lot to apply the brakes to bed them into the rotors so that you can have maximum braking potential

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Macharity

.......... I was really confused especially considering I literally had just put new Pads on.

Is it possible that the problem was with the installation?
Breakes should be carefully tested in safe conditions after any work other than replenishing breake fluid.

[snot]

What gear did you have on?

[akima]

Curious questions in purple...

Originally Posted by Sirref

did you clean the caliper's pistons before installation?

What's the benefit of doing that?

did you double and triple check that all bolts were tight and inspect the brake line for any leaks? (safety wiring helps with this)

Brake line leaks: is that something you've seen happen before? IE actual fluid coming out of cracks in the line itself (not from either end where it connects).

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by akima

Curious questions in purple...

Cleaning the piston regularly (once per season) allows for it to move more freely and helps prevent it from sticking. A sticking piston in a caliper can prevent it from applying brake pad pressure to the rotor, lock the brake pads on the rotor, or cause dragging issues which causes unnecessary wear on the motorcycle as a whole. All of the above can cause a crash

I have seen rubber brake lines crack and leak though the bike was a good 10 years old and stored outside. I meant more at each end of the line where the bolts could be loosened due to moving the caliper around to install the new pads

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by akima

Curious questions in purple...

The pistons move out of the caliper slowly but steadly as the friction material of the pads slowly disappears.
Dirt, water, oils and mud create deposites of a hard black film over the surfaces of the pistons that have been out of the calipers.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Brake_caliper_rebuild

The increasing volume inside the calipers that is not occupied by the pistons as they relocate themself further out, is filled by fluid coming from the reservoir.
Gradually, the level in the reservoir goes down and more fluid may be added up.

New pads have full thickness and, in order to fit between the disc and the pistons, the pistons must be pushed all the way in.
Excess fluid that was ealier added on must be removed from the reservoir at this point.
If the surface of the pistons are not shining clean and smooth, the seals suffer and can be damaged or can allow some leak of fluid, which attracks more dirt.

[akima]

Thank you both.

[Macharity]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Is it possible that the problem was with the installation?
Breakes should be carefully tested in safe conditions after any work other than replenishing breake fluid.

Possibly? I had the work done at a shop earlier that day. I was just riding around to bed the pads in. I had rode perhaps 30 minutes after getting the pads put on when I crashed

[Macharity]

Originally Posted by Sirref

4 questions:
did you pump the brake lever after installation?
did you clean the caliper's pistons before installation?
did you double and triple check that all bolts were tight and inspect the brake line for any leaks? (safety wiring helps with this)
did you do a braking drill after installation? Basically in a parking lot to apply the brakes to bed them into the rotors so that you can have maximum braking potential

Well actually I had it done at a shop after I couldn't get one of the Caliper bolts off.

The brake Lever was definitely pumped prior but nothing else. I didn't do a braking drill in the parking lot but I would do some mild accelerations followed by braking as I cruised down the street.

[Macharity]

Originally Posted by snot

What gear did you have on?

Its a Cortech one-piece, it's the only thing I ever go riding in. Although after this I really see the need for some extra armour.

Suits perfectly fine, muddy, but fine.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Macharity

Possibly? I had the work done at a shop earlier that day. I was just riding around to bed the pads in. I had rode perhaps 30 minutes after getting the pads put on when I crashed

If a professional shop performed the job, that brake failure should have never happened.
They are responsible for testing the proper operation for the customers.

Yes, the repaired brake would not be performing at 100% out of the shop, but you should have never had to have a feel of "like zero performance".
Sorry, I had assumed that you had replaced the pads yourself.

[cadd]

After I changed my brake pads, cleaned the piston and bled the brake fluid, I did notice a decrease in braking performance (even though I installed higher performance pads). Once I finished bedding in the new pads, the performance became greater than my old pads.

But while I was breaking in the new pads, at NO TIME did I feel that I had less than 75% of the original pad's power. I sense the shop did something wrong while installing your pads. Maybe they accidentally got grease on the pad or rotor when they were applying grease onto the back of the pads and the pistons?

But what's confusing is that you had no problems during the first 30 minutes of riding. Could it have been that they haven't tighten the nipple fully and you were leaking/dripping brake fluid from the nipple and eventually ran low enough that air got sucked into the lines causing you to lose all brake pressure?

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by Macharity

Well actually I had it done at a shop after I couldn't get one of the Caliper bolts off.

The brake Lever was definitely pumped prior but nothing else. I didn't do a braking drill in the parking lot but I would do some mild accelerations followed by braking as I cruised down the street.

Ah, my bad for assuming you had installed the pads yourself. Brake pad installation failure from a shop should not happen. Given that you lasted 30min before the issue occurred and you did do everything properly, as mild acceleration/braking should be more than adequate to bed the pads, that rules out quite a few things.

How much fluid is still in the brake master cylinder?
if it is low then there may be a leak

otherwise you may have hit a air bubble in the line at a very inopportune time.

[ForceofWill]

Originally Posted by Sirref

Ah, my bad for assuming you had installed the pads yourself. Brake pad installation failure from a shop should not happen. Given that you lasted 30min before the issue occurred and you did do everything properly, as mild acceleration/braking should be more than adequate to bed the pads, that rules out quite a few things.

How much fluid is still in the brake master cylinder?
if it is low then there may be a leak

otherwise you may have hit a air bubble in the line at a very inopportune time.

^This.

What did the shop actually do though? Did they even touch the lines/fluid or just pull the caliper off and swap pads? If they claim they didn't touch the lines to fill/bleed them and just swapped the pads, you're probably SOL on them paying for anything. They'll just blame you for there being a bubble in it or it leaking.

[britx303]

Originally Posted by Macharity

One thing this crash has made me realize is that perhaps Canyon/twisty Riding isn't for me. My goal is still to ultimately race but I think I'm going to leave all spirited riding to the track.

Brakes go out on a track and theres miles of runoff, brakes go out on the street again and next time it's a tree and not mud I'm hitting...

Yes,our area(D.C.) sucks for backroad rides even though they are nice and twisty at times,theres just too much debris/guard rails/mud **** at every corner,and having a target fixation never works out good ultimately.Good news for you is Summit isnt too far

[Abu_Mishary]

Originally Posted by Sirref

otherwise you may have hit a air bubble in the line at a very inopportune time.

I was thinking the same thing too Sirref.

[csmith12]

Bummer man, you gave the bike's condition... but how are you? imho... the first crash is the one you remember the most vividly. Wish you well going forward!

[Macharity]

Originally Posted by Sirref

Ah, my bad for assuming you had installed the pads yourself. Brake pad installation failure from a shop should not happen. Given that you lasted 30min before the issue occurred and you did do everything properly, as mild acceleration/braking should be more than adequate to bed the pads, that rules out quite a few things.

How much fluid is still in the brake master cylinder?
if it is low then there may be a leak

otherwise you may have hit a air bubble in the line at a very inopportune time.

I'm not sure, I had it towed to a shop afterwards. I am expecting a call from them tomorrow, hopefully they can let me know what went wrong

[Macharity]

Originally Posted by britx303

Yes,our area(D.C.) sucks for backroad rides even though they are nice and twisty at times,theres just too much debris/guard rails/mud **** at every corner,and having a target fixation never works out good ultimately.Good news for you is Summit isnt too far

I actually was supposed to go to Summit Point just last week. I had signed up for a free beginners day through ProMotion about a month before. The whole month went by with nothing from them, until 3 days prior to the track day when I got my confirmation. At that point I had already made other plans

Next time though

[Macharity]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Bummer man, you gave the bike's condition... but how are you? imho... the first crash is the one you remember the most vividly. Wish you well going forward!

Thanks for asking, I'm okay certain movements hurt occasionally but nothing major.

It's kind of funny, I just want to get some braided lines, make sure they're bled properly this time (lol)....and get back out. I don't have any real dread towards riding.

Even the crash wasn't so bad, the initial impact was like getting sacked out of no where but rolling was just like being on one of those really painful wooden roller coasters

Lmao may have almost cried for about 2 seconds right after the crash though...

[CaliGrrl]

I'm glad it didn't scare you away from riding, and that you're not badly hurt.

[Macharity]

So I just heard back from the shop today about my bike and I've got good news and bad. The bad is that they quoted me at $2,300 to fix the bike....the good news, all the stuff they would have to fix is purely cosmetic and theres nothing structurally wrong. Probably will just fix the brakes, zip tie any cracked Fairings and will be back out there!

[CaliGrrl]

Glad there's nothing structurally wrong! Cosmetics can be dealt with. Can you use some kind of cement or glue to put the fairings back together? Something like that was done on the cracks in my fairing by a previous owner.

[Abu_Mishary]

Almost the same cost to repair mine. Mine is US$4190.

Fork out your own money or insurance claim?

[verboten1]

That is not what it will cost to fix.


I went from a naked crashed bike to fully OEM faired for $300 and some time

[Lazarus]

^^ this. I am about to do the same thing to my bike over the winter (crashed Friday). It is surprisingly cheap to repair these bikes despite what insurance companies say but really only if you can do the work yourself..