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Thread: Sad day - crashed my beautiful '09 Firebolt today

  1. #1
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    Sad day - crashed my beautiful '09 Firebolt today

    Well,

    I haven't frequented the forum for a long time. I've been riding often enough (and enjoying it).

    Highsided my Firebolt today in a fairly spectacular back end over front fashion. I'm extremely fortunate that my gear did the trick, and I have no broken bones (just a lot of pain - especially between shoulder blades).

    The bike, however, for all the protection I had on it, is most likely going to be total'd. I'm so frustrated, as I've poured so much effort into making it about the most beautiful Firebolt I've ever seen. I'm heartsick.

    Sorry for the 'down' post - I'm just really discouraged.

  2. #2
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    Sorry to hear about your misshap glad you’re safe. Get to a chiropractor ASAP the soreness is often from soft tissue injury a chiropractor is going to be able to help get you back together quicker.
    I have some parts if you are interested in putting it back together.

  3. #3
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    Thank you for the very nice words. I would love to put it back together again - still need to get it home from the tow company and assess all the damage. I had all the frame/axle protection available, but it seemed (not that I got a very good look at it for any length of time) that the major damage is to the front fairing (it was hanging off and pieces everywhere).

  4. #4
    Senior Member konarider94's Avatar
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    High sides are tough to protect against. Most of the sliders are just protection for a low side.

    Probably worth a closer look at the damage to evaluate the reparability, but it might also be an opportunity to give something else a try.

  5. #5
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    I agree...like most of us, the frustration is in having spent so much time and effort over the years making this a truly unique motorcycle.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Cooter's Avatar
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    Glad you're ok man that sucks. Thats the important part.
    For the bike, all that protection will help for a driveway spill or very slow speed tip over and that about it. The good news is, parts should be relatively inexpensive and still easy to source.
    The bad news is if the frame (that the Vin# is on) is dented, just get paid by insurance and find another one. Its not worth the hassle of swapping it and the impending confusion at the DMV

    When you get it back, take the fairings off and post lots of clear, close pics. Get a list going and hoarders like 34:19, CVC, and me can send you what you need to bolt on stuff and get your baby right and ride it again. But only AFTER your body is 100% Yes, see a chiropractor.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cooter View Post
    Glad you're ok man that sucks. Thats the important part.
    For the bike, all that protection will help for a driveway spill or very slow speed tip over and that about it. The good news is, parts should be relatively inexpensive and still easy to source.
    The bad news is if the frame (that the Vin# is on) is dented, just get paid by insurance and find another one. Its not worth the hassle of swapping it and the impending confusion at the DMV

    When you get it back, take the fairings off and post lots of clear, close pics. Get a list going and hoarders like 34:19, CVC, and me can send you what you need to bolt on stuff and get your baby right and ride it again. But only AFTER your body is 100% Yes, see a chiropractor.
    You, my friend, are awesome. Thank you. I will do all of that. The battle, at least right now, is with the insurance company. I'm convinced they are going to try to immediately total it. Luckily I told the adjustor that I had a spreadsheet of custom parts/add-ons - and she said that would go into their decision about the bike as a whole.

    Oh - and I'm already going to a chiropractor today :-)

  8. #8
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    So my wife's with the tow company right now, and she's not being allowed to take pictures. However, things are looking up. The major damage is to the body work (front fairing - looks like stuff behind it is okay but we'll see) - top of airbox and seat cowl scratched. Frame untouched - even the frame pucks are in good shape according to my wife. Axle sliders did their job with the wheels - frame sliders kept any marks off the engine block. Corbin saddle is still in perfect shape.

    Not being there myself, I'm a bit worried (given the mainly 'on-top' damage) about the clipons - steering column join. That said, the GPR steering damper is in good shape, so that would seem to indicate that that area didn't take an impact at all.

    This is very preliminary, but I'm a bit more hopeful than I was all night.

  9. #9
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    The control cluster will also need replacing, from my wife's description. The actual gauge cluster is, I think, in good shape (good news as odometer, etc., might still be okay).

  10. #10
    Senior Member 34nineteen's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear about your crash. I'm glad to hear it sounds like you faired pretty well, considering the description of what happened. Please go get yourself checked out and make sure everything is OK. You can always build a new Firebolt in the future, but we need you around for us to help.



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