Two weeks in the life of...

[acalliste]

As some of you may know, I bought an '07 GSX-R750 last month.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/7ca11b78.jpg


One day short of having it for 2 weeks, a major catastrophy took place when it fell off the lift from two feet up, in my garage, the day before a track day. :(

It did a lot of damage, but the major things were, a snapped clip-on & mirror, bent sub-frame, smashed right tail piece, dangling turn signal, dented tank, broken shroud (the plastic piece on the front of the tank. There were other pieces that were marred a bit, but not broken.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/mar28/e6cf68ef.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/mar28/0b6fa486.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/mar28/8f8a68f7.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/mar28/bc448c9b.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/mar28/d37e99cc.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/mar28/900215ff.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/mar28/5c8c1dcf.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/mar28/72e9f73f.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/mar28/900215ff.jpg

[acalliste]

I spent the entire weekend trying not to puke or kill myself. Also worried about whether insurance would cover it, but the following Monday they came and did the estimate then said they would cover it, thank goodness.

So since then I've been ebaying parts like a madwoman (since I had a just switched to a $1k deductable three days before) and getting the rest ordered from Suzuki. My SO patched it up enough for me to ride (new Vortex clip-ons and a lot of duct tape). But I didn't do much riding while it was in that condition.


http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/rebuild/3dab5ee1.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/rebuild/9e04c7e2.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/rebuild/52909d2a.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/rebuild/2b7106f4.jpg

The lever didn't break, the pic above is to show the Vortex clip-ons. I just wanted shorty levers, so I replaced that while I was at it... which leads me to...

MODS!!

[seamonkeyaj]

:cray: Oh, that is not fun at all!!!! How dare gravity exert her evil influence and mar such a beautiful machine?!?! :(

[acalliste]

While it was down I decided to go ahead and do some mods to make myself feel better. So I got the ASV shorty levers, a Yoshi R-55 slip-on, black vortex rearsets, SS brake lines and a power commander.

The tank, shroud and middle tailsection came in the wrong color blue, so I'm still waiting on those, but the side pieces of the tail came from ebay and I got a friend who works at a body shop to paint them for me. He did an outstanding job!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/rebuild/b8c425ee.jpg

My SO sanded and repainted the right frame slider & bar-end weight. And also put my functioning turn-signal in the mirror we ebayed and reassembled my bike, as well as installed the extra stuff I got.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/rebuild/a26c334c.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/rebuild/cfaadd96.jpg

The bike was back together enough for me to feel comfortable going for a 300 mile ride yesterday and it felt so, so good to be back on two wheels! I don't know how you northern people do it. Two weeks of no riding nearly killed me.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/rebuild/8f097bd4.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/rebuild/5f544e98.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/08APR13/7226917b.jpg

[DJ Nathan V]

I was about to post up about the Vortex clipons when I read you got them. Good stuff. :) If you're going to track it A LOT look into vortex rearets and woodcraft case covers. Also making sure the suspension is set up for your height and weight makes a big difference.



Edit: As I was typing you were typing to say you got the rearsets too. Excellent. :)

[acalliste]

:cray: Oh, that is not fun at all!!!! How dare gravity exert her evil influence and mar such a beautiful machine?!?! :(


I know! Esp right before a track day I JUST paid for like 30 minutes before! Someone was trying to tell me something. :glare:

[acalliste]

I was about to post up about the Vortex clipons when I read you got them. Good stuff. :) If you're going to track it A LOT look into vortex rearets and woodcraft case covers. Also making sure the suspension is set up for your height and weight makes a big difference.



Edit: As I was typing you were typing to say you got the rearsets too. Excellent. :)



Yep! I already planned on getting them. I hate the stock ones. I need to get the suspension adjusted next. But my weight is pretty close to what the stock suspension is for I think, so I can probably get away with the stock spring.

[seamonkeyaj]

She's lookin good again, acalliste! :hugs: for ya!

[acalliste]

She's lookin good again, acalliste! :hugs: for ya!


Thanks, I needed a hug bad last week, and esp when my tank came in the wrong color. I was literally curled up in the fetal position on my bed, crying hysterically. Probably mainly due to the stress from not being able to ride, and that was just the last straw. :ohmy:

Then I decided just to ride it with the dented tank and that made everything better. :D

[PlayfulGod]

how is the bike secure to the lift it fell off of? What have you done to make it doesnt happen again?

bike n mods look great too :drinks:

[DJ Nathan V]

Yep! I already planned on getting them. I hate the stock ones. I need to get the suspension adjusted next. But my weight is pretty close to what the stock suspension is for I think, so I can probably get away with the stock spring.

It's not the spring... it's sag, preload, rebound dampening.... ;) There's a lot to a good suspension tune.

[acalliste]

how is the bike secure to the lift it fell off of? What have you done to make it doesnt happen again?

bike n mods look great too :drinks:

Jeez, you sound like the business unit & the people in the White Tower in my company. "How do we make sure this doesn't happen again?" Answer: Stop being human so no mistakes are ever made. :forque:

There was a bar that slides under the lift to stabilize it that wasn't pushed through all the way. This caused the lift to twist and lean to the right, then gravity took over and the bike flipped off. If the bike had been strapped to the lift, it would have taken the whole lift with it, but then the bike would have fallen over instead of flipped and smashed the right side, including the engine into the workbench next to it. All things considered, I lucked out that it flipped.

[acalliste]

It's not the spring... it's sag, preload, rebound dampening.... ;) There's a lot to a good suspension tune.


Yes, I know. :) That's what I plan on doing, as I said. What I don't think I need to do is replace anything.

[Tweety]

Acalliste
Sorry to hear what happend, glad you got it all fixxed up.

Hope to see you this weekend.

[Britishsteele]

I feel your pain. I know what it's like to be without a bike. I had only had my Triumph for a week. We were going to a rally and I was so excited. I had turned my handlebars too far to the left and pulled my feet up to soon and down the bike went...broke off the shifter lever...it was a pain to fix. Luckilly, i didn't have to go into the transmission like the dealer said i would.

It was my own stupid fault....and, a hard lesson to learn...bike was out for 3 weeks!!!

Glad to here you got yours up and running again. Congrats! She looks fantastic!

[timmay]

Lookin good, atleast you got it back together in a timely mannor. Ive had my K7 be down for almost a month now. Just ordered my parts Friday, so hopefully they will get here this week.

[acalliste]

Acalliste
Sorry to hear what happend, glad you got it all fixxed up.

Hope to see you this weekend.


I should be there! Even if I have to ride my SO's track bike, I'll be there! :D

[acalliste]

I feel your pain. I know what it's like to be without a bike. I had only had my Triumph for a week. We were going to a rally and I was so excited. I had turned my handlebars too far to the left and pulled my feet up to soon and down the bike went...broke off the shifter lever...it was a pain to fix. Luckilly, i didn't have to go into the transmission like the dealer said i would.

It was my own stupid fault....and, a hard lesson to learn...bike was out for 3 weeks!!!

Glad to here you got yours up and running again. Congrats! She looks fantastic!


Thanks!

Nothing is worse than seeing your bike broken on the ground, knowing you put it there. Self-inflicted agony!

[acalliste]

Lookin good, atleast you got it back together in a timely mannor. Ive had my K7 be down for almost a month now. Just ordered my parts Friday, so hopefully they will get here this week.



I hope you get it running soon!

[Dzazter]

Sorry for the mishap. I was gonna tell ya when I saw the pic of your ride on another thread... that is one outstanding looking gixxer. Very nice job patchin it up!

[acalliste]

Thanks! :D

[acalliste]

Holy shit! We installed the power commander Sunday evening, but didn't get a chance to map it. I rode it a little to see what difference it made, and it really felt much worse. But with the right map... different story!

Here's a quick run down of the what's been done and how I felt about it so far:

-Completely stock it felt ok.

-Then with the slip-on & the K&N air filter, it felt pretty damn good. (though this might be merely b/c I put these two things on as soon as the bike was broken in, around the 500 mile mark and was able to get on it more at that point).

-With the PC, but without changing the map, it sucked ( the PC came with a map for an 04-05 gsxr750). It didn't feel like it was pulling as hard, and the throttle was like an on-off switch the first little bit of opening it. Not smooth at all, much worse than it was before putting the PC on.

- Loaded the correct map to it, and Wow! I took it out for a test ride this evening and came back with a huge perma-grin plastered on my face. :jump::yahoo: Pulls strong again, more so actually, and best of all the throttle is way smoother than it was. That initial choppiness is gone. I was even able to rev-match smoothly, something I could rarely do with either the 600 or this bike the way it was. This is with the map for the stock exhaust & either stock or aftermartket air filter. They didn't offer a map for my slip-on.

Needless to say, I'm pleased. I was wondering if the power commander was going to be worth the expense, but now I'm pretty sure it is. :D :thumbup:


I think I'm going to download the maps for the slip-ons they do cover and try those out and see what kind of difference they make.

[DJ Nathan V]

Holy shit! We installed the power commander Sunday evening, but didn't get a chance to map it. I rode it a little to see what difference it made, and it really felt much worse. But with the right map... different story!

Here's a quick run down of the what's been done and how I felt about it so far:

-Completely stock it felt ok.

-Then with the slip-on & the K&N air filter, it felt pretty damn good. (though this might be merely b/c I put these two things on as soon as the bike was broken in, around the 500 mile mark and was able to get on it more at that point).

-With the PC, but without changing the map, it sucked ( the PC came with a map for an 04-05 gsxr750). It didn't feel like it was pulling as hard, and the throttle was like an on-off switch the first little bit of opening it. Not smooth at all, much worse than it was before putting the PC on.

- Loaded the correct map to it, and Wow! I took it out for a test ride this evening and came back with a huge perma-grin plastered on my face. :jump::yahoo: Pulls strong again, more so actually, and best of all the throttle is way smoother than it was. That initial choppiness is gone. I was even able to rev-match smoothly, something I could rarely do with either the 600 or this bike the way it was. This is with the map for the stock exhaust & either stock or aftermartket air filter. They didn't offer a map for my slip-on.

Needless to say, I'm pleased. I was wondering if the power commander was going to be worth the expense, but now I'm pretty sure it is. :D :thumbup:


I think I'm going to download the maps for the slip-ons they do cover and try those out and see what kind of difference they make.

It's worth the $300 or so to take it to a dyno and have a custom map made.... ;) Saves the hassle of looking for a matching map online when you can just get your own.

[acalliste]

I will probably do that in the near future. But for now I just had to get a map in it that worked better than what came in it. The dealer I bought it from doesn't stock one for each model. They stock a few that will fit multiple bikes (connection-wise) but that means you are getting one that probably doesn't have the map in it for your model. So the one I got had an '05 gsxr750 map in it and it sucked bigtime.

Getting the correct map was no big deal at all. I just downloaded it, hooked my laptop up to the PC, opened and sent the map to it. It was just that easy.

But I agree, a custom map would be better. I'll get to it eventually. :)

[acalliste]

Finally got the right color tank & shroud in, and put that on. As well as the shorty clutch lever (which took 3 weeks to get here).

So, a month later, it's finally all back together and better than before.


http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/cd2f5911.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/8ba6cdbc.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/dc509c9e.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/4afae31f.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/3429b36f.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/6fe0955c.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/d1447294.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/7a780193.jpg

[acalliste]

Total list of mods so far:

Metzeler M3 Sportec tires
Frame sliders
Rear stand spools
Suspension set up
ASV shorty levers
Galfer SS fr brake lines
Vortex clip-ons (needed to replace broken stock clip-on)
Vortex rearsets
Yoshi R-55 slip-on
PCIII USB
K&N air filter

[denverdesmo]

That bike has a beautiful clean line to it, love the tail. Sorry to hear about your tipover, but it sure looks good now!

[Gix750]

That looks great. How are the vortex rearsets? And what diffrence are they to the stock ones?

[acalliste]

Aftermarket rearsets are usually adjustable whereas stock ones are not (though I think this bike had a few adjustment options with the stock ones, but not as many different positions as the Vortex rearsets). The pegs do not fold up, they are rounded at the end and have a lot more bite, so your boots hold on better.

The levers also feel better. The shifter lever in particular for both sets of aftermarket rearsets I've used have a crisper more definite feel to them.

And they look a lot nicer.

[acalliste]

That bike has a beautiful clean line to it, love the tail. Sorry to hear about your tipover, but it sure looks good now!


Thanks! :) I love the tail on this bike too. Esp the clean, painted undertail.

[acalliste]

Ok, so when the weather was still cold, the bike ran beautifully. But as soon as it got hot and humid, it started running like sh!t. So I took it to Dynoworks to get a custom map and it's running really well again.

Came out at 127.44 HP:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/acalliste/gsxr750/6e2d0f83.jpg