Black Ice
 

Found myself in an inescapable situation the other night. Picked the right hand side of the two little ruts open between some remaining snow near the entrance of an underpass and ended up on ice that had formed at the end of this funnel (left hand rut was ice free!). Knew I was in trouble before hitting the ice so speed was scrubbed off considerably. Still, I got on top of some really rough ice and just felt the whole bike start to slide out to the right. Foot out in good enduro style was not very effective as my boot just slid along as well. So, bike goes down in slow motion and comes to a stop with all systems running (me and the bike) but a noticeable crak in the bottom fairing, a loose mirror and a left turn signal that worked intermittently. Got home and checked the damage to find that the turn signal lens was busted and the area was filled with ice. Pulled all that out and turn signal worked fine.
Now the major question i have is can the turn signal lens be replaced without having to replace the whole headlight fairing on an STS4????? Sure hope some of you have an alternative (out side of clear tape LOL) to replacing what seems to be a very expensive part..:puzzled:

They can be replaced separately!

Hope so. Didn't see that anywhere in the service manual, so i was pretty worried about flying bucks (yen actually). Thanks Rush, will look into it more this weekend.

just went to the Ducati parts list site and found the correct page showing the lens is removable.....

Hi Jim, sorry to hear about your accident. Looks like the icy weather is doing its best to rid the world of ST owners!

Just got back from the hospital, consultant says the fracture is healing nicely but he wouldn't be supprised if it was another six months before i can put any weight on my arm and i might never be able to straighten it fully. Bugga.

I once dropped my top fairing, it bounced on one side, spun, bounced on the other - popping both indicator pods off their support legs. Very unimpressed with myself - at they're fairly cheap to replace (or repair).

theres a pair of front indicators off an st2 on ebay at mo, might be worth checking out, though don`t know price of new

Paul, hope your doc is wrong and you get back to full use. Ice is a bugger! Had my footing go out on me on a steep traverse here in Japan. Full ice slide was at least 300 meters straight down and I said my Hail Mary's as I started sliding. Mountaineering skiing, so no ice axe with me, but a kind young pine tree stopped me about 10 meters down and only broke two of my ribs along with a punctured lower lip. Bravely got up and past the traverse, took a couple of aspirin, slapped on the skiis and had some of the most beautiful spools on pristine powder snow in a deserted forest. Guess I had to pay my dues before that!
Anyway, best of luck in getting full use back. I called the dealer today and a lens is about $32, so i will go for it. E-bay would be nice, but sending them to Japan would take time and money. I will pick up the lens tomorrow.
moo, ratch....cheers! appreciate the info.