Wait. WHY IS THERE NO MORE PAVEMENT??????

[jfurf]

On Friday I was up in Highlands, N.C. on a ride up to Asheville to meet some friends. It was a beautiful day so when I rode into town heading North, I decided to turn right and explore a new road instead of going staight onto Route 64. I believe the road is called "Hunters Cove" or something like that and it has a bunch of nice switchbacks. Then a few miles later, I'm doing about 45 mph or so and come around a corner and.... wait, why is there no more pavement? Where did the asphalt go? SHIT SHIT SHIT.

I had no chance. Went down pretty hard on my left side almost as soon as I hit the downward-sloping, very loose dirt/gravel surface.

Luckily I was alright. My SV1000 was a bit rashed up but what had me most worried was the green stuff dripping out of the radiator. Uh oh! Luckily I found a Napa about 15 miles away that stocked radiator leak stopper gunk. That worked well enough to get me to Asheville that afternoon, then home on Sunday.

Yes, I continued my trip! And I can now say for sure that chicks dig scars because over the weekend I might have gotten some, uh, affection for my troubles. I should crash more often.  

The only damage to me: A bruise on my forehead and some rash on my left elbow and knee. I continue my streak of never having broken a bone.  

[motodog650]

On Friday I was up in Highlands, N.C. on a ride up to Asheville to meet some friends. It was a beautiful day so when I rode into town heading North, I decided to turn right and explore a new road instead of going staight onto Route 64. I believe the road is called "Hunters Cove" or something like that and it has a bunch of nice switchbacks. Then a few miles later, I'm doing about 45 mph or so and come around a corner and.... wait, why is there no more pavement? Where did the asphalt go? SHIT SHIT SHIT.

I had no chance. Went down pretty hard on my left side almost as soon as I hit the downward-sloping, very loose dirt/gravel surface.

Luckily I was alright. My SV1000 was a bit rashed up but what had me most worried was the green stuff dripping out of the radiator. Uh oh! Luckily I found a Napa about 15 miles away that stocked radiator leak stopper gunk. That worked well enough to get me to Asheville that afternoon, then home on Sunday.

Yes, I continued my trip! And I can now say for sure that chicks dig scars because over the weekend I might have gotten some, uh, affection for my troubles. I should crash more often.  

The only damage to me: A bruise on my forehead and some rash on my left elbow and knee. I continue my streak of never having broken a bone.  

Hooligan  

But seriously, glad your relatively OK...

[Bill-Z]

Off road monster!  Glad yur ok!

[kyzrex]

Pretty sure I know that road.....got the same surprise a few years back, minus the fall.   Great road, but strictly a down and back up type of road unless you are on a DS.

[2RR2NV]

kind like the road in the Hills that heads up to Deerfield lake except with less of a surprise. or down here on FF....  which i got to experience a months back.  got practice emergency braking...(if you want to call it that)  ...  hauling butt, come over the rise, Sign says "pavement(?) ends". slam on brakes... stopped just a bit shy of the gravel. Found out the road goes down to the lake. dabnabit, and it was such a nice road too. grrrr.

glad your slightly banged up and not worse.

how's the bike doing now?

[jfurf]

glad your slightly banged up and not worse.

how's the bike doing now?

Thanks. The only major damage was to the radiator. That's gotta be replaced. There's some very annoying road rash on the back (front facing) side of the gauge cluster though. That's going to be an expensive or maybe impossible part to replace, as the naked SV1K hasn't been brought to the US since 03.

I'm planning to fix it up and make it better. Going to ditch the rashed up stock pipes for either some Two Brothers or Yoshimuras. Might add a chin spoiler and some other streetfighter-ish type mods. All in all, that crash could have been way worse.

[2RR2NV]

Two Brothers FTW!  just me tho...   buddy had em and they just plain rocked!!!

[eFnJustRide]

Been there, almost done that! I lead a group down that road a while back and luckily, I was keeping the pace down to wait for some "slower" riders when I found this surprise. Glad you're ok dude!!

[sprint_st]

Try 197 out of Burnsville on US19.  Great road, except when it turns to dirt for about six miles.  Apparently the National Forest won't allow NC to pave that section.  There's guy who pulls his pickup up a trail right at the break point and kicks back with cooler of beer.  Natural AC, ten degrees cooler there in the summer.  Told us of numerous times when sport bikers crest the mountain and lose it on the gravel.  

[scott19]

Thanks. The only major damage was to the radiator. That's gotta be replaced. There's some very annoying road rash on the back (front facing) side of the gauge cluster though. That's going to be an expensive or maybe impossible part to replace, as the naked SV1K hasn't been brought to the US since 03.

I'm planning to fix it up and make it better. Going to ditch the rashed up stock pipes for either some Two Brothers or Yoshimuras. Might add a chin spoiler and some other streetfighter-ish type mods. All in all, that crash could have been way worse.

Sorry to hear about this, but glad that you're mostly OK. FWIW, the back part of your gauge cluster shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm pretty sure it's the same for the SV650N. The internals are different, but I think the outside is the same. I had to replace the LCD screen on my SV1KN (surprisingly easy) and I used the back of the eBay donor cluster I got (mine had some rash too, which probably explains the broken pin on the LCD screen). The naked SVs have a chrome strip around the seam of the cluster that the S models lack, but I don't remember if it's part of the front or back half. Investigate to see. You may need to get one from a Naked model.    

[jfurf]

Sorry to hear about this, but glad that you're mostly OK. FWIW, the back part of your gauge cluster shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm pretty sure it's the same for the SV650N. The internals are different, but I think the outside is the same. I had to replace the LCD screen on my SV1KN (surprisingly easy) and I used the back of the eBay donor cluster I got (mine had some rash too, which probably explains the broken pin on the LCD screen). The naked SVs have a chrome strip around the seam of the cluster that the S models lack, but I don't remember if it's part of the front or back half. Investigate to see. You may need to get one from a Naked model.    

Yeah the naked SV1K has the chrome strip around the front (or is it back? front facing!) side of it. That chrome strip got a bit chewed up. Its not THAT noticeable from more than five feet away but it's bad enough to bug me.  

[loadedmind]

Definitely glad it wasn't any worse.  What gear were you wearing when you went down?  Just curious how it fared in all of this.

[black hills]

the answer to your problems  

[Dan K]

The only damage to me: A bruise on my forehead and some rash on my left elbow and knee. I continue my streak of never having broken a bone.  

You may need a tighter fitting helmet?  Glad you're ok.

- Dan

[jfurf]

Definitely glad it wasn't any worse.  What gear were you wearing when you went down?  Just curious how it fared in all of this.

Loaded, I completely forgot to respond to your question:

I was wearing a BRAND new HJC RPS-10. Dan K suggested the helmet maybe have been lose but actually it was quite tight and was still being broken in. I had to chuck it out obviously, but it certainly did its job well. I did quite a bit of damage to the front of the shield, too. I will NEVER EVER EVER wear a half-helmet of any kind. No way!

The rest of my gear did a pretty good job.

- Jacket was a Scorpion leather jacket with armor. It's still in good shape. Fared well. My arm got a tiny bit of rash but the leather itself didn't tear anywhere.
- My boots are Cortech Latigos. Kind of a full race style book. They survived intact.
- I was wearing jeans (H&M, non-armored... hahaha) so they got a few small rips in them but no injuries to my legs either. I'm lucky, I guess.
- Gloves are Lee Parks deerskins with the huge gaunlets. This is my second minor get-off and the Lee Parks have gotten scuffed but held up strong. They still look great too.