Tomorrow will be two weeks since an insurance commercial played out in my garage.

Was walking around the lift table the Ninja is usually parked on, and with my back to it, tripped on a coiled up garden hose, partially re-oriented myself but slammed SIDEWAYS into the tail end of the bike HARD, coming from the left.

Bike always has a hockey puck under the side stand (to make spool stand easier to hook up) with bars pointed straight so it didn't need much encouragement to tip over to the right. It did that while I made a valiant but useless attempt to grab it, hit my 700+ lb Yamaha cruiser, which always has a 2x4 under the stand to avoid scratching the garage floor and bars pointed straight. It also immediately tipped over and the right mirror landed on the left edge of the left headlight of my car which was parked next to it.

DAMMIT. One of those "this can't possibly happen in real life" insurance commercials had just played out right before my eyes. Think CP3 with a deer and bowling balls in his garage.

Aftermath: Ninja laid flat on the floor in the spot vacated by the Yamaha while latter laid on the car's headlight; never having hit the floor. Took some time to navigate around the puzzle pieces that were now on my garage floor, moving them one by one until the bikes could be lifted up. Wife was an immense help while the kids (11 and 8) watched with a look of abject terror in their eyes.

Got the Yamaha up first. The thing didn't a have a scratch anywhere on it. The right mirror shattered and snapped clean off the base immediately upon impact, which then proceeded to hold all 700+ LBS of weight by itself without even bending!

Car's headlight held all that weight and only resulted in a shallow dent and deep scratch in the plexiglass front. No paint or bumper damage.

Lifted the Ninja. It was damaged on the right:

- All 3 fairings scratched.
- Blinker lens scratched.
- Windscreen scuffed badly; likely from contacting the Yamaha's handlebar end.
- Light, localized scuffs on the right end weight and brake lever. No bends in the lever.
- Right mirror scratched badly by the floor.
- Top/front fairing mostly spared except for light scuffs where the right mirror folded over and made contact.
- Bottom fairing took the most damage. Deep scratches from when bike had to be dragged across the floor a bit while we made room for Yamaha to stand up. Plus the initial impact cracked it when it made contact with the clutch cover.
- No other cracks.
- Light scuffs on clutch cover and a tiny, shallow gouge close to the sight window.
- Gas tank essentially DESTROYED. I can only assume it landed on the left foot peg of the Yamaha which has a sharp, pointed end. The right side, close to the fuel filler cap had a baseball-sized dent and two small but deep dents so sharp that I thought the tank must've punctured (it didn't). Those two were likely delivered by the Yamaha's foot peg.
- My Akra slip on mostly survived; don't know how. I thought bike landed directly on there but it didn't. The carbon heat shield and the steel bracket under it took almost all the damage. Heat shield has micro cracks when you look from behind and some scuffs on the front. The shield's mounting point on the link pipe (connecting headers to slip on) bent. No cracks in the pipe. Carbon end cap also got a small gouge from where it hit the bike. the exhaust mounting bracket on the bike not bent.

Irony: I have had a frame slider kit sitting the garage for 6+ months. Didn't get around to it.

Filed my online insurance claim within an hour of the incident.

Sent a frantic PM to Rook the next morning to ask about some parts I was seeing on the Kawasaki microfiche for the tank and wasn't sure if they come pre-installed on a new tank or needed in addition. He responded quickly and I finished building out my part list for the bike. Thank you Rook!

Ordered everything from the local dealer a few hours later. He sympathized with my predicament and beat even the lowest Partzilla price by several hundred $s. Yesterday evening, everything EXCEPT the middle fairing (the one we remove for battery access) arrived. That one fairing is on a 4+ wk back order and won't come until early August. I can live with that.

OEM windscreen is on an even worse back order so I decided to upgrade to the Zero Gravity light smoke double bubble and ordered it several days ago. It should be here tomorrow.

The 3 Akra parts are hard to come by. I wrote to them and they say they have all 3 available and any dealer can order them, but my search so far has not been successful. I found a brand new end cap on eBay from an Italian dealership and they are sending it. The hunt for a link pipe and heat shield is on. A local dealer plus Revzilla are looking into it.

Insurance will cover all of it. Dealership did a full write-up and estimate for them last weekend. I was in NO mood to wait for that, hence why I had ordered everything well in advance. Luckily I got my list correct and didn't have to order anything additional after the inspection. With COVID, any shipments that have to come from Japan are taking 3+ months, per the dealer, and I didn't want to be stuck. The gas tank, for example, was one of only 2 Kawasaki had got left in their US warehouses, so very glad I got it.

Bike rides as if nothing happened; just as I expected it would. It had a full tank at the time so now I am trying to use up as much as I can so it will be ready for a tank swap. Hoping to have it all swapped and good to go by tomorrow night!

* Last updated by: ManiZ on 6/25/2020 @ 5:39 PM *

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WOW.Bummer man.So sad to hear this.I know the feeling though.Terrible.Glad ya handled it so well...props to ya!Doesn't take much when they're up on a wood stand block.

Thanks. This was a much-needed learning opportunity. Things could have been a lot worse. Kids are often with me in the garage; they are often there without me too, running around. Bikes have no business standing as upright as I keep them. That will not happen again. Nor will they stand unsecured like that ever again.

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That sucks but good to hear the insurance is working with you. When they dont and tell you the vehicle it is totaled because a few parts add up to more than the low book value it really sucks

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Irony: I have had a frame slider kit sitting the garage for 6+ months. Didn't get around to it.

That is ironic because a garage tipover is about the only thing those are good for as you probably know. They often cause frame damage in a real crash and that totals the bike.

Sent a frantic PM to Rook the next morning to ask about some parts I was seeing on the Kawasaki microfiche for the tank and wasn't sure if they come pre-installed on a new tank or needed in addition. He responded quickly and I finished building out my part list for the bike. Thank you Rook!

---I didn't even know you had a tip over. Well join the club. I just did some body filler and spraypainted the bottom surface of my mirror. Krylon Fusion matt black matches perfectly. Takes a few eeks for teh gloss t dull down but you'll never know after that.

With COVID, any shipments that have to come from Japan are taking 3+ months, per the dealer, and I didn't want to be stuck.

I know. My Ti Perch pivots were ordered a month and a half ago. Still waiting.

Glad you got that all out of the way Mani.. You took care of a lifetimes worth of mishaps all at once.

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I'm almost caught up to you Mani. I dropped both my bikes. The busa twice! Mighty spensive with only liability.

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Dropping bikes sure does teach you to make damn sure they won't fall after you get off them. DAMN sure!

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I hear you Rook. My wife dropped my cruiser (same Yamaha I still have) while trying to move it in the garage. That was 9 years ago when it was also about as new as my Ninja is now. Never happened since by either of us. 6 or so years ago, I also almost dropped it the way you describe...after getting off it (forgot to put the stand down) but caught it mid-fall and brought it back up. That too has never happened since on any bike.

I was telling my insurance agent as well that in 10 years of riding 40K miles on 3 bikes, I have never once had an on-bike mishap. And here, while walking around the garage in my shorts and flip flops, I did on TWO bikes AND a car simultaneously. Pfffft.

Things break; they can be fixed as new. People shouldn't break; we are sometimes beyond fixing.

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Have not had the change to tear into the bike yet; most likely tomorrow. However, looking at the schematic again, I already know I missed getting something. There is a chrome heat shield or fire-retardant pad of some kind under the entire length/width of the gas tank and I did not order that...crap. Does anyone know if that one is possible to transfer between tanks? Or is the adhesive applied to every inch of it and thus not removable without damage?

On a positive note, local bike accessory shop here in Denver was able to order the Akra mid-pipe and heat shield. They say Akra has to build the mid-pipe; they don't make extras when they build the full kits. So it will take 2 months to be built and shipped from overseas. Heat shield is available but will come with the pipe. Oh well. My dented pipe will do fine until then.

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There is a chrome heat shield or fire-retardant pad of some kind under the entire length/width of the gas tank and I did not order that...crap. Does anyone know if that one is possible to transfer between tanks? Or is the adhesive applied to every inch of it and thus not removable without damage?

The Hayabusa has that foil pad under the gas tank too but the busa engine is right under the gas tank with just a plastic airbox between. Since the 14 has the airbox/frame arch over the motor, I'll bet you can get by without the reflector pad. The gen1 has a rubber blanket over the airbox like the one over the motor. I've run without either of those blankets for years and no diff. I would try it without and see how it works. Ask a Gen2 guy but I don't see why it would matter much. If it does, it can't hurt to try ripping the old one off. Rubber cement thinner (Bestine) disolves self adhesive very well. It's highly flamable so take appropriate precautions, I probably wouldn't ride with that on the bike until it dried out somewhere safe for a few weeks. Bestine evaporates like acetone so it will be dry in minutes but you never know about residual vapors floating around.

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Hey Rook. That's a good point; our engine isn't immediately under the gas tank. After I posted above, I found out the pad in question is also on an extended back order w/ Kawasaki. But a company called DEI makes "Cool Tape" which is supposed to be a very effective heat repellent under bike tanks. I ordered a roll and will use it instead of OEM. It'll fit better too.

I am still positive that when I start replacing parts tomorrow, there will be other stuff I'll discover I didn't know to order.

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