'97 VFR down...and back up again

Hit a pothole @ 30mph. I felt the wheel break to the right and stupidly hit the front brake. The bike nose dived and threw me into the pavement. Broken collarbone, five broken ribs, punctured lung and bruised kidney. I rode the bike home and had a neighbor give me a ride to the hospital for a two day visit. Had to throw away my Joe Rocket jacket, Honda boots, Alpinestar gloves, and my Shark carbon fiber helmet. The bike is pretty good. The only damage was to the left side front and side fairing. The back passenger peg saved the aft part of the bike from damage. The frame is straight and the engine and steering feel tight.

2 1/2 months later and the doc says I'm all healed up now and I feel great. Not bad for being 61, I think. Took the bike out to the twistys & it performed perfectly. Gotta admit tho it might take me a while to build myself back up to the level of wild abandonment I had before! Needless to say, I'll be in the market for two pieces of plastic...Has anyone tried this out?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-VFR-7...Parts_Accessories&hash=item2595b90e5f&vxp=mtr

 

Hey Kenwood. Very sorry to hear about your crash and injuries, but glad you are up and back on the bike. I have no experience with the company you mentioned but have to admit I like the idea of a one piece upper.

 

yikes! a punctured lung is no joke. Glad to see you're back in the saddle. It's always tough "shaking off" a bad crash injury. Go slow, remember your basics because the last thing you want to do is ride in fear of the next (possible) crash. But at 61, I probably don't need me to tell you that. :smile:

As for the fairings, I haven't heard of that company. description sounds nice. One of their reviews in their ratings is for the upper faring and is positive. personally, I've never been a fan of fiberglass for long term use. Mainly due to fatigue fractures at the corners and holes. if you can, I'd hold out for some decent OEM stuff. Although that's kinda like showing up for work and the girls in the office deciding we're going to have naked Wednesdays from now on. That is to say, rare. And potentially expensive.

 

Sorry to hear about your off, good that you are still with us and riding.

 

Hi Kenwood - Glad to hear you're back in the saddle. How bad are the original parts? Got pix? ABS can be structurally repaired. Then it's a matter of getting them painted. Urethane Supply sells PlastiFix. You can do repairs and fill missing areas of the fairing. There is a way to mold and pour broken off tabs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4RECGjEOnE&list=PLD652F25522019B75&index=19
Bill

 

Quite sad, I came off in a very similar way on the exact date you made this post. Got away with a few scrapes and bruised ribs. Also got back on to ride it home. My baby is in for repairs at the moment. Strangely i only had to get rid of my gloves, my leather were fixed with a bit of dubbin, helmet didn't even touch the ground and i came off at about 60km/h

 

Glad to hear you're OK 333 (Is that half of 666?). My gear was close to $1,000 to replace, but it did its job, I'm still pretty! Ha! I'm gonna try Guaire's thing and see if I can repair the damage myself. Strange thing is, my VFR is running smoother and is getting better gas mileage! I don't recommend this as a tune up process, but hey...it worked!

I'll put pics up this week.

 

First off, Kenwood, I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune, man, but I'm glad you're recovered and back on the bike!

+1 on Plastifix. I can vouch for this product first hand. A while back I picked this up and re-created some missing tabs on my cowl, which turned out great! They have some pretty clear and informative videos online as well on how to go about repairing fairings, whether you've got cracks or missing chunks or cracks.

Depending on the damage, you might want to look into Plastifix.

 

Just found out my bike is going to take another week and a half or so, which i think is ridiculous. Its already been there almost 2 weeks and the guy says he hopes he can get it in to paint the panels next week.. I'm considering just asking him to get the panels ready for paint, and doing the paint myself. All this waiting is killing me, i should be able to do the paint in about 3 days or maybe just vinyl wrap the bike.. Any thoughts on that?

As soon as i get my bike back and repaired I'll post before and after pictures