I was momentarily sliding along with the bike, with my leg stuck underneath it, at which point the first thing on my mind was "TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF" - unfortunately the carby Rex doesn't turn itself off when it falls over. I turned it off before we stopped moving so was pretty chuffed. At which point I realised I was a)stuck under it and b) pretty shaken. It took what seemed a while before a gentlemen from across the road came running over, none of the people immediately in front of me got out of their cars to help. He got the bike up enough so I could get out and tried to lift it up but didn't succeed. I told him it's all good and lifted it myself. We got it up onto an island so I could check out the damage (after collecting my precious horn off the road).
I looked back at where I crashed and I didn't realise it before but I managed to hit the shit carded rainbow coloured stuff, I was in the outside wheel track of the inside lane, unfortunately the shit was all over the lane. Felt pretty shit about coming off thanks to the spill but I guess having a stack was bound to happen one time or another. I'm thankful I wasn't going faster and ended up in someone's bonnet.
Bike is so-so. Mechanically fine as I rode it home, however cosmetically a bit worse for wear. Horn snapped off, blinkers and headlight don't work. Handle bars are straight but the right mount which comes through the triple clamp is angled forward so the bars are off. Scratches on the exhaust. Scratches on the right hand engine casing which stand out like a fucking sore thumb as the thing is black. A couple of very small scratches on the radiator - nothing really. The right hand dial cover of the instrument cluster has scratches but is still black so am not bitching. The right hand grip and edge of the throttle is scratched but nothing severe - grip change sorts out the whole problem.
The old man is coming over tomorrow to see if we can sort out the bars and the electrics. If we can get it sorted it saves me taking it to my mechanic. The exhaust will probably get sanded and polished to pretty it back up to it's shiny state, easy enough as only the mount (can to mid pipe) needs doing. The engine case will probably be left as is, or alternatively the grills on the part that hit will be ground back and it will just get repainted black. Radiator will be left as is as I don't particularly have a problem with it. There are also 2 small dents on the right side of the tank which I had a huge fit over, they are hardly noticeable but I am pedantic so it'll take a while to get over. The 'Kawasaki' writing on the right hand side also has scratches across a few letters so will see what I can polish out and whatever remains is going to stay that way.
Lesson to take away from this: I will never again use my pride and joy as a daily commuter. The Rex is still going to be a mon-fri bike and do weekend duties. When I hit 25 I plan to keep the Rex for mon-fri and get something sporty that will just be a weekend bike and won't be released from the garage unless the weather is perfect and there is not a single cloud in the sky. The bike is insured, however the excess is $750 and I'm pretty sure I can get her sorted out for less than that.
