First crash - first gear ownage

[nlsquare]

Just got home from my first crash tonight. I downshifted to do a u-turn, thought i was in second gear, turns out it was first. The front wheel just went UP UP AND AWAY!. I was wearing jeans, riding shoes, gloves, riding jacket and a backpack with sports clothes inside. Slid down the street for a couple of meters then tumbled a few times, look up and see my bike slid down the street. My frame and fork sliders saved my bike. Thank god
 
My only injury is the road rash on my lower back near the left butt cheek is minor cosmetics. Small tear on my jacket and gloves, nothing major, still very usable. Had to throw out the t-shirt i wore underneath and my boxer lol.
 
As for bike; back brake light casing is demolished but the light still works... gotta reorder, it's a Motodynamic... damn it. The left feet peg broke off, the shifter is bent but was still functional. Nothing was leaking and I was able to ride the bike back on the highway with my feet resting on the passenger peg haha.
 
Feels like the handlebar is slightly crooked, gotta check on that tomorrow. Will probably bring the bike in for a checkup and see about repair costs.
 
First riding season, 3 months in, brand new bike since May... all in all, a stupid mistake. But relatively speaking, a small price to pay for that lesson.

[username]

Good to here nothing is broken on yourself. So you did a bit of a wheelie during the turn?

[nlsquare]

It was actually out of the turn on the straight. I was just careless and went for the throttle a bit too hard on first.

[jake]

The hard part about learning is you have to make mistake in order to learn, especially on a bike. That is why you will hear start out on an old used bike. My first bike was the FZ and I dumped it the first week I had it ( nothing serious) but now I know why they say get a used bike first.

[hobbs]

Initially I could not equate downshifting with a wheelie in my mind. It makes sense now though.
 
Bummer, but I doubt you'll do that again.

[snowdriftless]

Glad to hear you are ok. Get a dedicated set of riding jeans. Keep your but rash free.

[ShiftHer]

Glad you're okay, along with the bike! I went down in May on my Nighthawk as I was turning off a road that had been covered in gravel (under construction). Applied a wee bit too much brake while turning, felt the back tire slip a bit (it's gravel, it does that), and then before I could react, I was getting intimately acquainted with the ground. Bent the handlebar enough that I had to get a new one. Made right-hand turns quite interesting on the ride home. I would definitely recommend getting the bars checked out if you feel it might be bent.
 
But hey, at least you did a sweet wheelie!

[SkH]

FZ-07's torque taking a bite out of newbie's asses since 2014.
 
Glad to hear you are ok.

[rewplayff]

One of my big fears is that my pants will just explode off my body if I ever go down. I guess I wouldn't really want that in any circumstance though. Next piece of gear is pants. Glad to hear you're ok. Never know who's coming up behind you and not paying attention.

[nlsquare]

The hard part about learning is you have to make mistake in order to learn, especially on a bike. That is why you will hear start out on an old used bike. My first bike was the FZ and I dumped it the first week I had it ( nothing serious) but now I know why they say get a used bike first.

Yeah but when i looked at prices for used bike... say... a suzuki gladius and the likes... the difference was like 2000$. So i went with the FZ 

Initially I could not equate downshifting with a wheelie in my mind. It makes sense now though.  
Bummer, but I doubt you'll do that again.

Yeah, ain't gonna be that careless anymore that's for damn sure 

Glad to hear you are ok. Get a dedicated set of riding jeans. Keep your but rash free.

I do have riding jeans, the problem was that i was sliding feet first, so my riding jacket caught the worst of it but then it slid up my body exposing my lower back to the asphalt 

Glad you're okay, along with the bike! I went down in May on my Nighthawk as I was turning off a road that had been covered in gravel (under construction). Applied a wee bit too much brake while turning, felt the back tire slip a bit (it's gravel, it does that), and then before I could react, I was getting intimately acquainted with the ground. Bent the handlebar enough that I had to get a new one. Made right-hand turns quite interesting on the ride home. I would definitely recommend getting the bars checked out if you feel it might be bent.  
But hey, at least you did a sweet wheelie!

I feel that it's a little crooked but i rode it home like nothing happened though so it wasn't too bad but i definitely need to have it checked out 

FZ-07's torque taking a bite out of newbie's asses since 2014. 
Glad to hear you are ok.

Yeah we all know about the torque. The medic asked me "did you try to do a wheelie?" and i'm like "if i was trying to do a wheelie, i would have expected the wheel to come up. I wasn't trying therefore the bike jerked me backward so my hand stayed on the gas" 

One of my big fears is that my pants will just explode off my body if I ever go down. I guess I wouldn't really want that in any circumstance though. Next piece of gear is pants. Glad to hear you're ok. Never know who's coming up behind you and not paying attention.

Yeah empty street, thank god. 

[nlsquare]

one lesson I learned is that when you go down... the most horrible sight is your bike sliding down the street and that crashing noise. If nothing is broken, you don't give a shit about yourself and run to the bike hahha

[sorkyah]

one lesson I learned is that when you go down... the most horrible sight is your bike sliding down the street and that crashing noise. If nothing is broken, you don't give a shet about yourself and run to the bike hahha

I hear that... first crash i ever had was riding a buell blast on the backroads of pittsburgh suburbs had the same issue, downshifted during a u-turn. Only thing i remember is watching the bike do a full backflip after i landed on my ass. The bike didnt have much torque, but it was enough for that little spectacle.
Road rash is a pain in the ass, literally.
 

[nlsquare]

I just reordered the motodynamic backlight. Does anyone know where to get some cheap foot pegs... i mean... they're foot pegs, I won't spend a lot of them. Preferably from a Canadian website?
 

[leonnerd]

Glad you are OK. These things happen. I hope it doesn't cost you much to fix the bike.

[Beemer]

You have my sympathies and I don't know if you're looking for advice (can't hurt) but if your front end ever comes up too high ever again just let off the gas and tap your rear brake pedal enough to stop from flipping backwards and bring the front end down. I had that happen the other day when getting on it real hard in 1st to get up to speed on a highway and it came way up quick (caught me off guard) but I didn't have to tap the brake, just got off the gas and it settled down. I know you didn't do it but it's best not to downshift in a turn, you do that before the turn. Oh yeah, sorry to say but your bars are probably bent.

[Beemer]

The hard part about learning is you have to make mistake in order to learn, especially on a bike. That is why you will hear start out on an old used bike. My first bike was the FZ and I dumped it the first week I had it ( nothing serious) but now I know why they say get a used bike first.

True that, but better yet, a used dirt bike. Learning to ride is safer in the dirt.

[yamahappy74]

one lesson I learned is that when you go down... the most horrible sight is your bike sliding down the street and that crashing noise. If nothing is broken, you don't give a shet about yourself and run to the bike hahha

That's exactly what happened when I destroyed my beloved R6. I'm sliding at speed on my back and screaming "NOOOOOO!!!" as I look at my bike sliding along toward the side of the road. I was so sad. I also had the wind knocked out of me, so when I tried to get up initially, I couldn't. 

[snowdriftless]

Glad to hear you are ok. Get a dedicated set of riding jeans. Keep your but rash free.

I do have riding jeans, the problem was that i was sliding feet first, so my riding jacket caught the worst of it but then it slid up my body exposing my lower back to the asphalt

Hmm, My riding jacket has loops in the back that you put around your belt to make sure that this doesn't happen. I haven't tested them and don't know if they would work as intended.

[aeisan]

I just reordered the motodynamic backlight. Does anyone know where to get some cheap foot pegs... i mean... they're foot pegs, I won't spend a lot of them. Preferably from a Canadian website?

Not cheap, but in CA...  http://www.motostarz.ca/filter-by-bike/yamaha/fz-07-mt-07.html?sub_category=1139 
Does Amazon ship to CA?  If so, that's where I would look for cheap ones.  

[jake]

The hard part about learning is you have to make mistake in order to learn, especially on a bike. That is why you will hear start out on an old used bike. My first bike was the FZ and I dumped it the first week I had it ( nothing serious) but now I know why they say get a used bike first.

Yeah but when i looked at prices for used bike... say... a suzuki gladius and the likes... the difference was like 2000$. So i went with the FZ 

I picked up my Buell for 2500 in good working order. So I'd say you didn't look too hard...not judging you heck my first bike was the FZ too.  Any accident you walk away from is a good one. 

[sorkyah]

I just reordered the motodynamic backlight. Does anyone know where to get some cheap foot pegs... i mean... they're foot pegs, I won't spend a lot of them. Preferably from a Canadian website?

The dealership sells em for $8 a piece here in phoenix arizona, the r3 pegs are 12 a piece. Not sure what the conversion rate is for CAD

[rowdy]

Glad you and the bike are relatively unscathed. Thanks for posting... as a nice reminder...

[nlsquare]

Glad you are OK. These things happen. I hope it doesn't cost you much to fix the bike.

Yeah I hope so too... 

You have my sympathies and I don't know if you're looking for advice (can't hurt) but if your front end ever comes up too high ever again just let off the gas and tap your rear brake pedal enough to stop from flipping backwards and bring the front end down. I had that happen the other day when getting on it real hard in 1st to get up to speed on a highway and it came way up quick (caught me off guard) but I didn't have to tap the brake, just got off the gas and it settled down. I know you didn't do it but it's best not to downshift in a turn, you do that before the turn. Oh yeah, sorry to say but your bars are probably bent.

All advices are more than welcome. Yeah I wasn't ready for it so i was no where mentally to tap on the rear brake. It pushed me back suddenly so my hand stayed on the throttle, OLE! And I did downshifted before the turn. I just thought that I had made the turn on 2nd gear but instead I was on 1st 

I do have riding jeans, the problem was that i was sliding feet first, so my riding jacket caught the worst of it but then it slid up my body exposing my lower back to the asphalt

Hmm, My riding jacket has loops in the back that you put around your belt to make sure that this doesn't happen. I haven't tested them and don't know if they would work as intended.

Yeah I'm looking for a scorpion pants to go with my jacket so I can zip them together. I'll keep my riding jeans for non-highway rides 

I just reordered the motodynamic backlight. Does anyone know where to get some cheap foot pegs... i mean... they're foot pegs, I won't spend a lot of them. Preferably from a Canadian website?

Not cheap, but in CA...  http://www.motostarz.ca/filter-by-bike/yamaha/fz-07-mt-07.html?sub_category=1139 
Does Amazon ship to CA?  If so, that's where I would look for cheap ones.  

Definitely not cheap lol. I've bought from motorstarz before. And as for Amazon, there's a .ca so... it's covered 

Glad you and the bike are relatively unscathed. Thanks for posting... as a nice reminder...

Always glad to share my fails... I still hope it was just a horrible nightmare every time I have to change my gauzes