Sparxxx's First Day

[Gadjet]

Well, after several unsuccessful tries to get financing, Sparxxx managed to get her new bike on Thursday, a beautiful Candy Red 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 500R. Given that she only has her learners permit, it was up to yours truly to bring it home for her after work on Friday.

What a sweet little bike. I really want one of my own now.



Saturday was going to be her first day on the bike, so after running a couple errands, I zipped up to her place on the mighty KLR to pick up her bike and ride it over to our chosen practice location, a nice big empty parking lot surrounded by chain link fencing and sporting only a couple of lamp posts widely spaced around the lot. Not a single concrete tire barrier to be found.

After some shuttling back and forth, we had both riders and both bikes at the lot. After a quick cigarette and a lift of the bike onto the centrestand, we started with the basics – sitting on the bike and going over where all the controls are, both with gloves on and without. Once she was familiar with just where everything was and what everything did, we moved onto taking the bike off the centrestand. Unfortunately the bike got away from her when it came down and pitched over onto it’s right side, landing her arm into the footpeg on my bike (thank god for armored jackets and full gear). The only damage was that the front brake lever now sported a nice curve in the end, and the back brake lever was slightly tweaked but still fully functional. Nothing broken (didn’t even get the paint scratched!)

After I picked the bike up off her, we continued on with learning clutch control, and just slowly walking the bike forward in first gear – this entails slowly letting the clutch lever out and feeling where it starts to bite. As the bike starts to roll forward, you pull the clutch back in. After traveling about 80 feet, slowly increasing the distance that she let the bike roll forward before pulling the clutch back in, I hopped on the bike and rode it back to the start point to start the exercise again.

After about an hour or so of doing this, she graduated up to getting the bike moving along in first gear and just riding around the parking lot, slowly getting comfortable on the bike and practicing throttle control and turning, as well as braking (this was the most difficult part of things for her, next to smooth starts, as not only can she only really get one foot comfortably on the ground, she had a tendency to get the bike turning to the left every time she reached for the front brake lever. This was corrected by putting just a little pressure on the left grip to keep the bars straight.



The rest of the day went very well after that, with her skills improving to the point where she was riding all over the parking lot, turning both left and right, practicing stopping and starting (stalling more than a few times, but we’ve all done that) and learning how to shift the bike up into second and third gears.

We were both very pleased with her progress on her first day.

[Gadjet]

Then it happened.

As the day wound down to a close and we were waiting for our shuttle driver to show up, she decided to go for one last spin around the lot. I asked her how she was feeling, and she admitted that she was feeling tired and a little sore. I told her she should just call it a day then and not go for one more ride. You are more likely to make mistakes when you are tired and not thinking clearly, especially when you are a new rider.

She went anyway, and successfully managed another nice ride around the parking lot before coming back to the corner we had moved into for the shade. She was now in a position where she was going to have to make a left turn from a stop, as the bike was pointing at the curb edge of the parking lot and the chain link fence there.

Neither one of us really knows what happened then. As she looked through the turn like I told her, she lurched forward a bit, just like she had done before on some of her starts, but then the engine raced and the bike launched forward in first gear, lifting the front wheel a good three feet of the ground and rocketed forward the 20 feet or so straight into the chain link fence, which folded away and cushioned the impact. Sparxxx was tossed off the side of the bike, where she landed fairly hard against the curb and the fence, ripping her jeans open just above the knee. I quickly ran over, hit the kill switch on the bike, then lifted it off of her leg and got her out. After making sure that she was ok, we then proceeded to extricate the bike from the fence (which required that I cut the bottom tensioning strand with a cheap pair of needlenose pliers as it had gotten wrapped up between the frame and the belly pan on the bike.

Damage assessment on Sparxxx – lots of stiffness and some pretty severe bruising on her arm and leg, possibly some strained muscles, both no cuts or broken bones (Wear the gear kiddies – it works!)

Damage assessment on Sparky (the bike) – right muffler has a pretty serious dent in it, but it still works, the forks twisted in the clamps, cracking the front fender in two places and breaking one of the fender mounts clean off the fork tube, right handlebar is bent up about 5 degrees, pinching the throttle cables, and the right front turn signal will have to be replaced.

All other plastic on the bike remained unbroken, and even then the only thing that got scratched up was the front of the fairing and windshield. Nothing else got damaged at all, but it was still absolutely heartbreaking to see Sparky getting taken home on the back of a tow truck after such a nice day. It took me a good two hours to stop shaking myself.

We’ve all seen the videos on the internet of the new/inexperienced rider hopping on the big expensive, powerful sport bike/cruiser and proceeding to wobble it across the street/parking lot/what have you and pile it into a tree/parked car/friends bike. We’ve all laughed about these things, and don’t lie because I know we all have.

[Gadjet]

Let me tell you this; it’s no laughing matter when that happens to someone you care about right in front of you. It’s terrifying and heartbreaking, all at the same time.

The bike will be going into the shop on Monday to get a damage assessment done and have only the critical repairs done; cosmetic stuff like the scratches and dented muffler are going to be left alone. Sparxxx will be back on the bike later this week to practice some more. She will get back on, she’s a very determined woman.

I’m proud of her.

I don’t have any pictures of the damaged bike, and I’m not going to take any, so don’t ask. Instead, I'm going to leave you with this image.



Owen

[Myself002]

glad shes getting back on and shes alright. poor bike, but it will be back!

[Seetrout]

Glad she's OK...and determined to not give up.

[BuzZz]

Well that sucks, Dude.

I'm glad Sparxx is O.K. and she was geared up. That will help with downplaying the fear she will have getting back on the bike. Though, having met her, I doubt she will have much problem with that.

And I have a good arguement for the wife to be buying her a used EX500 instead of a new one.

[Sev]

She's a great person, and doesn't seem like the one to give up on anything easy. I got to chat with Gadjet for a while last night (after it happened) and it sounds [to me] like everything is going to be okay both with the bike and the rider.

She's now two up on Gadjet in her first day of riding, 1st time getting off by accident and first wheelie, HAH take that Gadjet! You're WAY behind dude.

Anyways, send her the forums love, tell her we're all behind her in getting better and riding. And I'll do my level best to make it down there next weekend to do some parking lot drills with you guys. I can't wait.

[BigChickenStrips]

im glad she is okay. sucks about the brand new bike. i am still scared i'll drop mine. luckally being tall enough to flat foot the bike is very helpful in dropping-avoidance and most girls probably cant easily flat foot both feet with most sport type bikes. i hope she gets back on and ges back to riding.

is there no MSF where you live? i'd rather drop thier bikes than my own when i am learning to ride.

[Gadjet]

is there no MSF where you live? i'd rather drop thier bikes than my own when i am learning to ride.

There is a course, but it doesn't start till the middle of June. Also, it's four days during the day, which conflicts with her work schedule (no weekend/evening classes here)

[secgeek]

Congrats to her on the new bike.... I'm glad she is getting the hang off it.. It takes a while.... Its only metal and plastic that can always be replaced.... Keep practicing.... Thats all it takes in the long run..