Bike caught on fire. A new chapter begins.

[BlaziN R1]

As you can tell by the title of the thread, my bike caught on fire and was destroyed several weeks ago. Below are a couple of pictures of the bike when I last rode it at Laguna Seca on October 6th and 7th. Yamaha Motor Corporation and Zoom Zoom Trackdays have been hosting annual trackdays for Yamaha dealers in the past out here in California, and have now opened up the event to general Yamaha motorcycle owners.

The bike ran flawlessly. It was one of my best times at Laguna Seca. The weather was absolutely perfect. It could not have been better. After the weekend, I put the bike away and didn't touch it.

A few weeks later, I decided to ride the bike to the Yamaha shop to put on my Marchesinis. I left the wheels at the shop so I can get some new tires. So I got the bike out, started her up, and left home. I warmed the bike up as usual. No big deal. I got about a half a mile away from the house and was about to get on the freeway when I noticed that my seat was unusually hot. I looked down at the bike and I saw flames coming out from underneath the gas tank! I pulled over immediately and got off the bike. I had no way of putting the fire out so I called 911 to get the fire department. Needless to say, the fire destroyed the bike in minutes.

What was extremely frustrating was that the 911 operator could not get a hold of the fire department for a while. I don't know if it's a cell phone issue with different area codes, or if the operators just don't have the right resources, but it took the lady on the phone 4 attempts to 4 different numbers to get a hold of the fire department.

When the fire department and everyone got to the scene, the bike was engulfed in flames. There was nothing to save. The fire was eventually put out. The fire was right in front of a Home Depot and drew quite a crowd. People were pulling into the parking lot to take pictures and video. It was absolutely brutal watching my bike literally burn to the ground. Below is a short list of some of the mods on the bike. I'm sure there are a few small items here and there that I forgot.

-Keihin 41mm flatslide FCR carbs
-Graves carbon fiber ram air box
-Graves smog block off plugs
-Arata full titanium exhaust
-Scotts steering damper
-CRG brake and clutch levers
-Goodridge Superbike brake lines
-Ohlins rear shock
-Galfer superbike front wave rotors
-Galfer rear wave rotor
-Renthal -1/+2 sprockets
-DID ZVM2 chain
-Puig double bubble windscreen
-2006 R1 forks, triple clamps, brake calipers, and master cylinder
-2004 R1 5 spoke wheels
-2002 R1 rear brake caliper
-Gregg's flushmounts
-Gregg's mirror block off plates
-CRG arrow bar end mirrors
-Gilles rearsets

It was a surreal experience. The loss didn't really hit me until the next day until I went out and looked at the empty spot where the bike once sat. I immediately began searching online for a replacement. After some searching, I came across an ad for a new 2012 GP edition R1 for a pretty decent price. After a few phone calls, the deal was done. I drove down to pick her up the following week and brought her home in the truck.

I am now a happy owner of a new 2012 GP edition R1 (#1010). I already have a parts on the bike. I put on the Akrapovic last night with a fender eliminator kit and integrated tail light. Luckily I still have my Marchesinis. I'll be throwing those on with an extra set of rotors that I have laying around. I'll update the thread with some pictures of the bike with the mods on her later.

I wanted to take the bike out to Laguna Seca today and tomorrow since Yamaha is having a friends and family trackday event at Laguna Seca where they have car and motorcycle sessions throughout the day. But due to the weather, it isn't worth going anymore. This bike will be primarily a trackbike, but I'm sure I won't be able to resist taking her out on a regular basis once the weather gets better.

[T.C.]

Well that sucks to hear about your old bike.
Congrats on the new toy, I hope she treats you better.

[Guate]

I guess your user name matches now enjoy the new bike.

[T.C.]

Originally Posted by Guate

I guess your user name matches now enjoy the new bike.

[smalltrack]

Originally Posted by Guate

I guess your user name matches now enjoy the new bike.

My first thought.

Sorry to hear OP, hope you enjoy the new bike.

[DerrickWade]

Thats a shame about the 99. That was a good looking machine. On the other hand, congrats on the 12.

[Stonewall]

Damn! Nice replacement though!

[TheForumGay]

Nice new bike!

[iGoldeneye]

The pic with the bike in flames made me cringe. Usually we see them crash then catch on fire, but to burst into flames really sucks. Luckily you weren't burned badly. At any rate, welcome to the CROSSPLANE side of things

[zx7marsh]

Sorry to see a classic go down in flame. Good luck with the new R1. Did you determine where the gas leak was?

[DouglasyzfR1]

Real sorry about having your bike destroyed in the fire. Glad you pulled over when you did though, who knows what could have happened.

[BlaziN R1]

Originally Posted by Guate

I guess your user name matches now enjoy the new bike.

My tires have never looked that "cooked" before.

[BlaziN R1]

Originally Posted by iGoldeneye

The pic with the bike in flames made me cringe. Usually we see them crash then catch on fire, but to burst into flames really sucks. Luckily you weren't burned badly. At any rate, welcome to the CROSSPLANE side of things

Agreed. Usually you see bikes catch on fire in a crash. Not while in operation.

Originally Posted by zx7marsh

Sorry to see a classic go down in flame. Good luck with the new R1. Did you determine where the gas leak was?

It's hard to say what the exact cause of the fire was. It could have been a number of things. But it was bizarre to say the least. The fire was so hot the the swingarm and subframe completely melted away...

[bacchus40]

Originally Posted by Guate

I guess your user name matches now enjoy the new bike.

congrats on the new bike.. shitty end to yer old girl... did you save anything of it? or was it all just a pile of melted goo...

[burn-z]

Wow...a member since 2002. If that screen name wasn't a prophecy I don't know what is. Sorry about your beautiful '99. You should be more than satisfied with the '12 though and you might want to think about changing your screen name though.

[SySt]

Originally Posted by burn-z

Wow...a member since 2002. If that screen name wasn't a prophecy I don't know what is. Sorry about your beautiful '99. You should be more than satisfied with the '12 though and you might want to think about changing your screen name though.

Haha, exactly what I was thinking.

Sorry to hear about the loss though. That was a very nice looking bike. I'm sure you will get over it pretty quick with your new R1 though. Still, it makes me feel uneasy not knowing what happened to cause the fire. I can't tell you how many times I have had my bike apart including taking the tank off and of course disconnecting the fuel line. I am always paranoid that I didn't reconnect the line and that it will pop off when i'm riding and cause a fire once it hits the hot motor/exhaust.

[MelvinAkshay]

go home ghostrider, you're drunk.

[BlaziN R1]

Originally Posted by bacchus40

congrats on the new bike.. shitty end to yer old girl... did you save anything of it? or was it all just a pile of melted goo...

It was pretty much a pile of melted goo.

Originally Posted by burn-z

Wow...a member since 2002. If that screen name wasn't a prophecy I don't know what is. Sorry about your beautiful '99. You should be more than satisfied with the '12 though and you might want to think about changing your screen name though.

Thank you. It was actually a 2000. Good call on the name change! Haha

Originally Posted by SySt

Haha, exactly what I was thinking.

Sorry to hear about the loss though. That was a very nice looking bike. I'm sure you will get over it pretty quick with your new R1 though. Still, it makes me feel uneasy not knowing what happened to cause the fire. I can't tell you how many times I have had my bike apart including taking the tank off and of course disconnecting the fuel line. I am always paranoid that I didn't reconnect the line and that it will pop off when i'm riding and cause a fire once it hits the hot motor/exhaust.

Thanks. Yeah I try to make sure all my work is done right. I don't like to do my job half ass. But the cause of the fire still eludes me. It will bug me for a while. But all of the evidence is melted away. Hope you never have to experience this!

Originally Posted by MelvinAkshay

go home ghostrider, you're drunk.

[KMac]

I would cry over that.

[R1SoDaRkLy]

yeah i would have been crying on the curb beside you, even if it was not my bike