So...Lowsides

[00NissanNinja]

Well at 2500 miles I guess my noobishness got me to lowside, now I know how that feels. Happy I wear all the gear I possibly can minus some real riding pants, but the jeans made it out unscathed where they touched pavement, where the bike got a hold of them was a different story. So I immediately get back up in the middle of the street to pick the mofo up and I couldn't get it started again for awhile.
I lowsided on the shifter side and some oil also leaked from the bike (I believe it was oil) that is just from the crankcase venting right? and the oil simply came from the airbox right? Bike seems okay for now, anything I should look at?
Well I bent the shifter back out and got it started after doing a rolling start and also finally remembering the kick stand was down, bike shifted up like three gears. (It shifts better than ever for some reason)
Anyone else lowside before? what was the cause in your case if you don't mind me asking (Really don't want that to happen again). I thought the road was clear of debris and I had grip and I took the turn not extremely aggressive, but still lowsided. Upon laying on the ground I noticed how smooth the road was... lame...
And not a scratch on me minus a large, tennis ball sized, soon to be sore lump (with some abrasion scars form clothing)on my left behind. knee guards and boots took damage and my gloves a bit too, so I definitely will say those items are essential pieces of gear in addition to everything else. jacket and helmet took no damage. Gear definitely assured I could get up without feeling any real injury.

Here is the carnage...

[SteveL]

Low siding is something we all have or will do and I can’t think of an instance when it was not caused by excessive speed. Back in the late fifties and early sixties the foot pegs were fixed i.e. they did not flip up so when you went down there was usually a bit of space between the bike and the road which made it easier to let the bike go. It’s good you got away with so little damage you will be more ready for next time.

Steve

[edbro]

Glad you're alright. Good job wearing the gear.

How fast were you going? Looks like there is hardly any damage, that is why I ask.

[kkim]

Originally Posted by SteveL

Low siding is something we all have or will do...

maybe... maybe not.

[demp]

To me that damage doesn't look to be from "excessive speed", glad you got away with so little damage

[tinng321]

glad you were ok.

[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by SteveL

Low siding is something we all have or will do and I can’t think of an instance when it was not caused by excessive speed.
Steve

I have to disagree. However, you'll have to wait until I no longer ride to actually find out.

[00NissanNinja]

Nope I wasn't going fast at all and it wasn't a very sharp turn either, I was going about an indicated 20-30mph might have been slower. So the oil leakage is normal right? The cosmetic damage is just a lot of things got scratched nothing broke. I don't know if it got mechanically screwed up

[ricochet08]

Originally Posted by 00NissanNinja

Well at 2500 miles I guess my noobishness got me to lowside, now I know how that feels. Happy I wear all the gear I possibly can minus some real riding pants...
Well I bent the shifter back out and got it started after doing a rolling start and also finally remembering the kick stand was down, bike shifted up like three gears. (It shifts better than ever for some reason)

Glad you were wearing your gear man. Seems like my bike shifts better as well, dunno why, but it does. On a side note, My playstation 2 had a terrible time reading discs, but I dropped it (on purpose) one day, and now it reads likes it's brand new!!!

[00NissanNinja]

Originally Posted by ricochet08

Glad you were wearing your gear man. Seems like my bike shifts better as well, dunno why, but it does. On a side note, My playstation 2 had a terrible time reading discs, but I dropped it (on purpose) one day, and now it reads likes it's brand new!!!

Lol, its funny how a bit of roughness makes things work again.

[GeneJunkie]

Wow glad to hear your ok, gj on wearing the gear. What is with this month, it seems to be bad news for everyone in one way or another. September can't come fast enough.

[Delta107]

Battle scars!

Glad your ok.

[00NissanNinja]

Thanks all, definitely got battle scars now. I really wish I could have got those shogun frame sliders, I've been trying to get some for awhile but gear had to come first and it paid off. really don't want to buy those gloves again... I just got them... the velcro strap has a nice crack through it, and I know a crack could critically fail under some more stress

[want1sobad]

good choice on the icon field armor for the knees/shins - i never ride without mine. imagine what you're knee would look/feel like if you hadn't had them.....

[tjkamper]

Are you sure it was oil? With the bike on it's side you are sure to have gas drain out.

The easiest way to check to see if it was oil and if you have a problem is to do as follows:

Clean it up really good.
Look anywere where two pieces are joined together and make sure you don't see any gunk or obvious signs of leakage.
Check your oil level.
Turn it on and let it run. (Take a nice little ride. just enough to get it fully warmed up is all you really need).
Check your oil level again. (is it the same?)
Check all the joining parts again (any moisture/gunk?)

If no obvious signs of leakage appear, ride it normally and just check your oil every day for a while. make sure it is good.

Yes it is possible that you had some oil go up into the airbox, but the only way to find out if that was the case is to make sure nothing else is leaking.

[00NissanNinja]

Originally Posted by want1sobad

good choice on the icon field armor for the knees/shins - i never ride without mine. imagine what you're knee would look/feel like if you hadn't had them.....

Oh man from the damage they took (it may not look too bad in the pic but there is damage that could be pretty bad for your knee), I highly recommend them. I didn't feel a thing, without them I probably would have a nice gash in my knee upper shin area. Great armor and they could probably take a whole lot more damage and you still would be able to get right back up. They also stayed right where they were supposed to be. So there you go crash tested they work beautifully
Well I guess there won't be any mods for me for awhile (probably going to have to get new gloves and the bike needs to get fixed up)...but I will be getting that rear hugger you sell eventually

[00NissanNinja]

Originally Posted by tjkamper

Are you sure it was oil? With the bike on it's side you are sure to have gas drain out.

The easiest way to check to see if it was oil and if you have a problem is to do as follows:

Clean it up really good.
Look anywere where two pieces are joined together and make sure you don't see any gunk or obvious signs of leakage.
Check your oil level.
Turn it on and let it run. (Take a nice little ride. just enough to get it fully warmed up is all you really need).
Check your oil level again. (is it the same?)
Check all the joining parts again (any moisture/gunk?)

If no obvious signs of leakage appear, ride it normally and just check your oil every day for a while. make sure it is good.

Yes it is possible that you had some oil go up into the airbox, but the only way to find out if that was the case is to make sure nothing else is leaking.

Thanks I'll give it a check over later today, might have been gas but it was really slippery maybe I'll drive by there in my car and see if there is anything there.

[tjkamper]

I'd recommend taking the plastics off and just riding naked for a few days to make sure. You can also park it over newspaper, cardboard or paper towels to see if anything is leaking during the night.

[Lurkable]

Looks like you made out alright, it happens though. I thought I'd never drop my bike and yet after owning it for nearly a year and a half, having put 18k miles on it the day came when I dropped it going 5mph. I thought I was all cool cruising slowly on a wet day but I actually went down from merging over wet muni rails too slowly.

Funny thing is I had frame sliders but they weren't on the bike for whatever reason...probably just lazy the last time I worked on the bike before that.

[00NissanNinja]

I removed all the plastics I saw no leakage of anything and the oil is within spec. Drove by the area again and saw nothing there so it must have just been gas like you said (and CO wouldn't have cleaned it up that soon anyways so safe bet it was gas). Looks like it will just look kinda crappy for awhile insurance wants a $1000 deductible cause I'm a new rider (f that). So I guess I will order some paint later and fix the plastics, which isn't hard for me since I paint a lot. Then replace the other crap later.

[00NissanNinja]

Another question: Is the black portion of the SE 250 the same color as the black 250's? Does anyone know a good place to get some color matched paint and the white decals?

[DAKINECHICk]

Glad you are okay!!

[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by tjkamper

I'd recommend just riding naked for a few days to see if anything is leaking during the night.

?

[alex.s]

what caused the lowside? did something scrape? what happened? sounds like your rear swung out? maybe you tucked the front instead? which way did the bike turn when you went down? good to hear you made it out with only minor damage

[Luxodave]

Sorry to hear about the accident, but glad you are ok.

You can get paint from http://www.colorrite.com/

[greg737]

I've heard of a couple lowside incidents (and I've seen one up close) that were caused by a little bit of leaked antifreeze. The one lowside I saw happen (from across a four way intersection) occurred when a rider was making a left turn after the light changed. Apparently one of the cars ahead of him was dripping antifreeze.

When we were picking up his bike and some pieces of plastic we noticed the little puddle of antifreeze in the turn lane. He didn't see it when he rode through it, but it was obviously the cause of his sudden lowside.

[00NissanNinja]

Thanks all,
@alex.s I was making a left and about halfway through the rear just slipped right out, the bike then spun around to the left as it slid across the pavement. Thus, the rear tire must have lost traction and then spun quicker than the fronts I believe. Like I said the road did feel kinda slick after I laid my hands on it, so there could have been something wasted on it. Also this was at night so I did try to make sure to ride slower since visibility is poorer.