Triumphrat

06-26-2007, 09:45 PM

Hi everyone. I bought an 02' tt600 a few weeks ago and laid it down 30 minutes into my first ride. Arggghhh... I knew I was going to drop it, as I don't know many people who haven't dropped their first bike - but it sucked to have my entire right side in shambles none-the-less.

Now to the good part. I've logged a fair bit of miles now and I dropped my tank and plastics off yesterday to get them painted in House of Kolors Tangelo. I get to go by today and see the tank and rear set in color and I'll be riding again this weekend. I'll post pics when I get it put back together this weekend.

Now to get my seat wrapped in something other than black (this thing is already a money pit)...

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself and say hi. I'll be a regular around here I'm sure.

redl1nerpm · 06-26-2007, 09:56 PM

sorry to hear that, make sure to post some before/after pics! I actually sold my first TT because I thought I would do the same, and I thought it was too nice to hurt!

Years later, I haven't laid any motorcycle down yet (knock on wood) but ironically I was doing a trick on one of those pocket rocket mini bike things, fell off and got pretty scraped up..

06-26-2007, 09:59 PM

Sadly enough I don't have any before pics

I'll definitely take some after pics though.

And if anyone has a frame and swing-arm for sale before winter hits the US, let me know. I'd like to get some so I can get them in chrome for my winter project.

Anyone know of any aftermarket wheels that fit / look good for these bikes? I'm already into it for far more than I'll get out of it so I might as well make a hobby out of it.

redl1nerpm · 06-26-2007, 10:59 PM

Quote:

On 2007-06-26 19:59, Greg-J wrote:
Sadly enough I don't have any before pics

I'll definitely take some after pics though.

And if anyone has a frame and swing-arm for sale before winter hits the US, let me know. I'd like to get some so I can get them in chrome for my winter project.

Anyone know of any aftermarket wheels that fit / look good for these bikes? I'm already into it for far more than I'll get out of it so I might as well make a hobby out of it.

You can do the same effect but having your aluminum frame polished to a mirror shine. You can even do this yourself. Google how to polish aluminum. Here was my ZX9 with a polished frame (Im not big into this type of thing, it was the previous owner, but it was unique).

Yak · 06-27-2007, 12:54 AM

Can I ask what caused you to lay it down so soon after you got it? Just not used to it? or doing something you shouldn't have?

Not an attack on you personally, but when I hear stuff like this I kinda get irritated. Its incidents like this which make insurance premiums so high for the rest of us. Again, I don't know your situation, so Im not passing judgement.

All I know is that the most inexperienced riders end up getting the R1's and R6', most dump them within the first thousand miles. The general public has NO understanding how much power a liter sportbike really has. 600's arent slouches either.

:hammer:

rustbucket · 06-27-2007, 01:00 AM

Hey man -

Welcome to the site, and congrats on buying a great bike!

A couple of opinions I've spent significant pain and blood developing:

0.) For crying out loud, wear protection. There are no good reasons not to. Last summer I was riding over to a friend's house to do some work on my bike, so I wore beat up jeans and left the riding pants at home. Can you guess what day I crashed last summer?

1.) Ride your own ride. Don't pick up the pace just because the guys you're riding with do. They'll be at the next intersection and won't care, or they're not worth riding with. They won't be happy to deal with the aftermath of you crashing, regardless of whether they're worth riding with or not.

2.) If you feel nervous, like you're going too fast, you are! Slow down, and see item 1. On the same note, mid-corner, if you don't feel like you could avoid hazards you can't see yet, you're riding too fast. If you must push it that far, take it to the track. Track fees are cheaper than hospital bills

3.) Most instinctive human reactions to emergencies on a motorcycle are just the opposite of the correct action.
3a.) If you find yourself mid-corner going faster than you'd like, do not roll off the throttle, and for god's sake don't touch the brakes! Keep steady throttle, push on the inside grip, and be amazed at how far your motorcycle can lean over.
3b.) The back brake is not your friend. Unless you have a very high level of proficiency, the only thing you'll do with the back break on a sportbike is lock it up and crash. This is probably a contentious point.

4.) Riding a motorcycle well requires skill. Skill is gained by practicing. Go to a parking lot and see how quickly you can stop from 20mph. Then try 25mph. If you're comfortable doing a quick stop from 50mph, you've got a much better chance of pulling it off when you need to.

Preaching time over :razz:

Seriously though, take it easy and have fun. Books are not your enemy - if you're the reading type, there are quite a few good books you can pick up that will help make you a faster, smoother and safer rider.

Sorry to start on such a harsh note - I just heard that two coworkers who bought spanking new 600's for their first bikes this spring crashed today riding together. They were going through a corner, the guy in front panicked and locked the front end, and the other guy target fixated and followed him right off the side of the road. Two emergency room visits, one admitted to the hospital - he may need a skin graft . Both swear they'll never ride again - they've suddenly realized it's dangerous. :brk:

Jon916996748 · 06-27-2007, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Hi everyone. I bought an 02' tt600 a few weeks ago and laid it down 30 minutes into my first ride. Arggghhh... I knew I was going to drop it, as I don't know many people who haven't dropped their first bike - but it sucked to have my entire right side in shambles none-the-less.

Ah don't feel bad, I did the same thing. I was still getting used to the handling, had been driving a 535 Virago, plus I was trying to get the gear changes exact since it was still in "break-in" mode. Then I came up to this turn that is banked poorly and I had poorly judged and took out the right side. Luckily it landed in grass as did I. I was only going about 30mph. Just had to replace the turn indicator. Been two years and um around 6000 miles since and shes fine.

Also be sure to post some pics of the end result.

WHAT · 06-27-2007, 02:01 AM

Quote:

On 2007-06-26 19:59, Greg-J wrote:
And if anyone has a frame and swing-arm for sale before winter hits the US, let me know. I'd like to get some so I can get them in chrome for my winter project.

Anyone know of any aftermarket wheels that fit / look good for these bikes?

I think you made a mistake...you meant to post HERE right?

rustbucket · 06-27-2007, 10:11 AM

Hey Greg -

Don't get scared off - we're not as unfriendly as we sound in this thread :razz:

If you go down the road of bling, you can expect to get some colorful comments. I've never seen a polished TT600 - sounds good to me - I'd love to see pics as the project progresses.

I don't know if you're in the US, but if you are: if you get a frame, life gets a little complicated. The frame is the main component that the VIN is looked at on, so you'd probably have to re-resister it with the new VIN. That's why you see so many frames on eBay - take a stolen bike, swap all the parts onto a frame with a clean VIN, and presto, not a stolen bike.

A good shop should be able to to all visible parts of the frame if you give them the bike with the tank and fairings off. I haven't seen too many swingarms on ebay either, so your best bet would probably be to use yours.

redl1nerpm · 06-27-2007, 11:29 PM

a bike is only as fast as you push it. Take your time if it still seems very fast and work up speed. I'm not sure if you mentioned how you put it down, my guess with inexperience was a pretty slow speed crash. The first bike I really rode (after I sold the TT), the beater was a scratched up Katana 750. I never crashed it but a friend of mine and my brother laid it down, both going less than 5 mph. Just lost balance and weren't use to being on a bike.. Glad I had that rather than the TT, because it was already scratched up (see pics below). I probably put 2-3k miles on that bike, if that. Then I stepped up to the ZX9R which I owned for a few years. It had nearly 150 bhp and was very lightweight. I never crashed it because like I said, its only as fast as you want it to be and I took my time. For the first few weeks I never revved it past 8k rpm because the power was so unbelievable. Eventually I could push it as hard as i wanted with no fear. The TT feels like a Toyota Camry in comparison, but I like it for other reasons. Anyway, be safe.

[ This message was edited by: redl1nerpm on 2007-06-27 21:32 ]