So it was bound to happen. It was raining out off and one all morning. Classes were done for the day. I put on all my gear- jacket, pants, boots, gloves and helmet. I got on my bike and headed for the freeway. The road seemed dry, but still I was cautious. The on-ramp to the highway 280 begins with a tighter than 90 degrees turn to the left.I took it slow and easy until I cleared the turn, then as the ramp curved to the left and climbed up to the freeway I rolled the throttle on responsibly. Well, even though the pavement didn't seem wet (maybe a little damp), the two days of rain probably washed a lot of oil to the surface. I had thought that the oil would've been gone by now, but things took a turn for the worst.
Just as I started to get on the gas, the rear tire began to spin and the back of the bike started to whip around. I cut the throttle and tried to do a correction, but the bike fishtailed and high-sided me off the bike! I landed on my stomach and slid to a stop. The bike slid on it's left side and stopped in the middle of the on-ramp. I ran over to the bike to pick it up. Luckily there weren't any cars right behind me. But fortunately, the first car to come up behind me was my classmate, JP! I rolled the bike to the side of the road and gave it a quick assessment. The front signal had been ground off. My CRG clutch lever got the ball ground a little, as well as the left fairing. My Givi case got some abrasions too. But my Woodcraft rearset took a beating! Half of the peg had been ground off, the toe peg got way ground off and the shift arm was bent back. (I later found that the left plate was distorted too! I must say that I'm pretty disappointed with how little an accident could totally destroy that rearset!) As for me, I was intact. My helmet didn't even hit the ground. I got some light abrasions on my Joe Rocket cordura suit and my BRAND NEW gloves (only used them twice!) got wasted! but they did their job. By looking at the markings on the pavement, I would say that the bike probably slid about 25 yards before coming to a stop- and that's going uphill! I would guess that I went down at about 30-35 MPH.
I tried to start the bike, but the carbs were flooded, so repeated tries eventually killed my battery. I put a lock on the front wheel. JP was able to give me a ride to the nearest AutoZone, where I picked up some jumper cables and an allen wrench set. Before heading back to the bike, I took JP out for lunch, since he was so generous in giving me a hand.
We headed back to the bike, where we successfully jumped the bike and got the motor warmed up. The foot controls on the left side were a little mangled, but it was ridable. My right ankle was starting to get sore and stiff, but I was able to ride home.
After looking over my bike, it's going to be okay. It's probably going to cost a couple of hundred dollars in replacement parts (not including the road rash on the fairing), plus a new pair of gloves. I'm glad that all my safety equipment kept me safe. I will definitely have to be more careful when riding during the rainy season- I totally misjudged the wetness on the road, the incline of the on-ramp, the torque of my motor. Will it stop me from commuting in the rain? I doubt it. I just need more practice.
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