philipviana
Member
I crashed my RC at Thunder Hill in California last weekend making a rookie mistake. M body position wasn't great and I was leaning the bike over too much. When my foot peg scraped the ground, I got scared and overreacted by standing the bike up. I both wheels slid and before I knew it I was on the ground and my bike was in the grass. At first, things were fine. After about 5 minutes, the bike began smoking and then caught fire. Here's a photo album I posted on reddit / imgur.
No one is quite sure how the bike caught fire. First off, I know that I ran away from the bike and forgot to hit the engine cut off switch. Some people were telling me that shouldn't matter since most new bikes have auto-off sensors that kill the engine when the bike is tipped over. There was some speculation that the sensor didnt work on my bike, but I'm not so sure, since I have tipped the bike over (in my driveway) before and the engine turned off immediately. Another possibility is that hot engine parts pressed against dry grass on a hot day just happened to catch fire on their own.
I'm wondering if I replace this with another rc390. I love the bike so much, and feel like I could enjoy years of riding on the rc390 before I get my first 600cc bike. I think I am (understandably) a little hesitant to get another, mainly on the basis of reliability. One other thing is that I am a tall guy (6'-2") and I look large on the bike in videos and photos, so I'm wondering if it's smarter to just get a 600 while I have the opportunity. I know I need to improve my body position and that I'll look more natural on the bike if I learn to keep my arms loose and get low to the bike, but I think it's a valid concern.
What do you guys think?
No one is quite sure how the bike caught fire. First off, I know that I ran away from the bike and forgot to hit the engine cut off switch. Some people were telling me that shouldn't matter since most new bikes have auto-off sensors that kill the engine when the bike is tipped over. There was some speculation that the sensor didnt work on my bike, but I'm not so sure, since I have tipped the bike over (in my driveway) before and the engine turned off immediately. Another possibility is that hot engine parts pressed against dry grass on a hot day just happened to catch fire on their own.
I'm wondering if I replace this with another rc390. I love the bike so much, and feel like I could enjoy years of riding on the rc390 before I get my first 600cc bike. I think I am (understandably) a little hesitant to get another, mainly on the basis of reliability. One other thing is that I am a tall guy (6'-2") and I look large on the bike in videos and photos, so I'm wondering if it's smarter to just get a 600 while I have the opportunity. I know I need to improve my body position and that I'll look more natural on the bike if I learn to keep my arms loose and get low to the bike, but I think it's a valid concern.
What do you guys think?