I load up the tank bag and head off. Fast forward two hours of riding, goofing off at various stops - I'm turning a blind corner on CA-49, and roll right over a nice smooth tar spot. Wham bam thank you ma'm, the machine comes out from under me, and I go rolling. The entire time Im thinking "please lord. . .let the repairs be cheap". I somehow manage to turn the bike off before I fall (dunno how), and after I do my stuntman roll (about 5), i let out a large "fudge", pick myself up and dust off my pants and jacket. I walk back over to the bike and pick it up (note to anyone looking to buy a SV650 - you can totally get it up by yourself) and do an inspection, already accepting the damage that will have been done - left side, right side, front and tail. . .nothing. This can't be right. . .check some more, run my hands over the lights and the mirrors. . .nada. There are scrape marks on the upper-cowl, and around the Suzuki S - but other than that. . .nothing. I almost start laughing as I look around at all the rocks and the large mountain wall to my right. I shrug and say to myself, "Must've been my lucky day", and start her up. She pops on, and the familiar whine of the fuel injection is a sweet sound. I go to put her in first gear and my foot slips. "The hell I say". I try it again - nope. . .slips. I look down, and where there should be a nice little peg - there is nothing. "Oh balls." The peg has appearantly snapped off, and Im wondering how the hell I could have missed that. Im still able to shift, but only but getting my foot under the nub end of the shifter. "Well this will be interesting" I tell myself, and shift into first, and make my way back down 49 to get on 80 and head home.
All told, I got off pretty lucky. My body is starting to feel a little sore - hitting the ground at 30-40mph isnt going to make you feel better - but my ego isn't. I picked myself up, and will try again - thats what matters to me. Bound to happen sooner or later.
Anyway - heres some pictures:
Salmon Falls to CA-49
Bike
) and now seem to be feeling it, and not bike riding numbness.
) and I'm starting to figure out how to make the SV rather comfortable. In fact, on the freeway, it's the most comfortable bike I've ever been on by a good margin. I could ride her on the freeway all day (and probably will, considering taking it out to Iowa to visit my parents).
The lever sits at such a position that I wonder, even with sliders on, if the lever would remain in tact. Its possible the best thing to protect it, aside from not going down, may be like a lower engine roll cage type thing. If I had a MIG setup I'd think about custom fabbing a nice, low key bolt on cage.
