Wreck 20060925

On Saturday, 20060923, I took my 599 to the dealer for its first service. I was a bit late in doing this. The first service is meant to be done at 600 miles on the odometer. I didn't get around to it until just over 1800 miles on the odometer. One of the things done on the initial service is checking that all of the things on the bike are in spec. One of these things is the clutch lever free play. The mechanic dutifully reset the free play in the clutch lever to the specified setting.

I was really used to the clutch engaging at a different point when letting it out. This is the so called friction zone that you are told about in the MSF course or when reading about basic motorcycle riding skills. Now the friction zone was in a different place and it annoyed me a bit. I went back to the dealer and the mechanic showed me how to adjust the free play. I got it reset to a position I was happy with. But the friction zone was still in a different place than I was used to. I still had to let the clutch out more before engagement.

I wanted to take the bike out for a nice ride to get used to it again. I also hadn't been riding in a while, so there was some rust developing there too. But I was too tired to go on Saturday. Sunday it rained. Monday was the day to go. Well, I didn't get around to actually going until around 1700. Rush hour traffic. No big deal. It does cut into the fun though on the route I had chosen. A few of the roads have a lot of traffic for two lane rural routes.

In spite of the heavy traffic, I was having a good ride. Not all the roads on my route were chocked with traffic. A road called Creek Road that ends up being a part of route 100 was almost free of traffic. This is a lovely road that winds along near the Brandywine River. As I reached the four way stop intersection at Smithbridge Road, there was lots and lots of traffic. The sun was in my face, but other than that nothing seemed wrong.

It was my turn to go and I entered the intersection and started to turn left. The next thing I knew I was sliding along the road behind my bike. The bike went off the road into dirt and gravel and I followed. I'm glad I was in full gear because road rash would have really added to the hurt. The bike came to a rest on its left side in the dirt and gravel. The left side engine case dug into the gravel and cut a furrow. The bike got road rash. I was not happy.

I picked the bike up and assessed the situation. What the heck happened? It turns out that the middle of the intersection had a covering of gravel. It was like riding over ball bearings. Also, because of the clutch friction zone changing, the engine had a chance to rev up a bit as I let out the clutch lever. It's bad enough to ride over gravel in a turn. But doing it with a lot of throttle is worse. So what was the damage?

The shift linkage was bent. I straightened it by hand as best I could so that the bike would be ridable. The bike started right up. That was good. I stalled when I tried to get moving again. That was bad. Somehow the transmission got itself into fourth gear. I have no idea how that happened. Maybe during the slide. Maybe while I was fiddling with the linkage.

So here's what the bike looks like until the damaged parts are fixed. I filed an insurance claim to deal with this. I hope this was not a bad move. But I really want the bike looking good again.

Amazingly enough, the left bar end, front signal, fuel tank, and Givi A305 windscreen did not get damaged. It's even a fair bet that the Rizoma frame slider prevented worse rash on the engine case that could have punctured it and let out the oil.