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Today was my lucky day... NOT! Or maybe it actually was.
I told my wife this afternoon that I was going to ride over to ACE Hardware to get a little something that I needed. The ride over, no problems. When I came out, it was pouring rain. Went and got my rain gear off the bike and put it on. It had been raining there for about 15 minutes I was told, so I figured that roads were clear of crap so I mounted up and started on the 5 mile ride home. Traffic was heavy so I decided to take back streets to avoid it. I was over by our local university (still on wet pavement in a drizzle) doing about 20-25 mph when the car two cars ahead of me did a panic stop. The car behind him slammed on his brakes as well. I had been following allowing about a 4 second interval and had traffic behind me as well as traffic in the other side of the road coming toward me. I started to pull the front brake then BAM! I was down on my left side in a low side. The bike went one way while I went another. Thank God I had learned to ride on the dirt as I didn't go stiff and just flopped around on the road. All the traffic managed to avoid both me and the bike. I was a little addled when I got up but headed for the bike. A couple of college students came running over and helped me get the bike upright. I was going to restart the bike and ride it to the side of the road when I discovered the clutch lever was just flopping around from the cable. Managed to work the transmission and got it into neutral so we could push it out of the road. About then, I discovered I was hurt. Thought my left foot/ankle might be broken and my right hand was very swollen. Both were very painful. A gentleman about my age (older guy) came out of a house and helped me over to his porch. I told everyone I didn't need an ambulance and called my wife, AMA towing, and the police.
The officer came and took the accident report. He was obviously thrilled that I was wearing ATGATA. Said when he got the call, he expected to find another biker dead or severely injured. And here I was pretty much intact. Told him that I was glad for my gear and that all of it paid for itself today. Yes, I trashed my helmet, my raingear has road rash through it and my gloves are not accounted for (I think my right one came off in the accident but I remember taking the left one off after). My left boot looks like someone tried to rip the toe off of it and has road rash on the upper leather. But after going to the ER with my wife and getting X-rays I have no broken bones. It is all soft tissue injury. I expect I will be sore tomarrow (know my left foot and ankle are going to hurt and my right hand will still hurt as well). But miraculously I seem to be not otherwise injured.
Now to the bike... It was the broken clutch lever that I already mentioned. It has road rash to my left Givi hard bag. It has a bent mirror. My son says he found a small scratch to the left side paint although I couldn't find it after we got home. That is the extent of the damage. I had put frame sliders on the bike about 3 weeks ago and they did their job today. They kept the rest of the bike off of the pavement. Again, money well spent.
I expect that I will be hobbling around here for the next couple of weeks and I will have to wait until payday next Friday to put the bike back on the road but that is okay. I am one very, very lucky man. No one ran over me, no one ran over the bike. The bike is not hurt badly and best of all, I am not hurt badly.
If you live in a helmet optional state, just remember this post. I smacked my helmet pretty good today - ruined it. That would have been my head if I hadn't had it on. Without the rest of the gear, I would have been dealing with a lot of road rash. Without the boots I might have really screwed my left foot up. And so on...
Be safe out there people. Remember, the outcome of a motorcycle accident can mean a lot more than just skill - I have been riding for about 45 years. That gear serves a real purpose.
Thanks for reading,
Doug
I told my wife this afternoon that I was going to ride over to ACE Hardware to get a little something that I needed. The ride over, no problems. When I came out, it was pouring rain. Went and got my rain gear off the bike and put it on. It had been raining there for about 15 minutes I was told, so I figured that roads were clear of crap so I mounted up and started on the 5 mile ride home. Traffic was heavy so I decided to take back streets to avoid it. I was over by our local university (still on wet pavement in a drizzle) doing about 20-25 mph when the car two cars ahead of me did a panic stop. The car behind him slammed on his brakes as well. I had been following allowing about a 4 second interval and had traffic behind me as well as traffic in the other side of the road coming toward me. I started to pull the front brake then BAM! I was down on my left side in a low side. The bike went one way while I went another. Thank God I had learned to ride on the dirt as I didn't go stiff and just flopped around on the road. All the traffic managed to avoid both me and the bike. I was a little addled when I got up but headed for the bike. A couple of college students came running over and helped me get the bike upright. I was going to restart the bike and ride it to the side of the road when I discovered the clutch lever was just flopping around from the cable. Managed to work the transmission and got it into neutral so we could push it out of the road. About then, I discovered I was hurt. Thought my left foot/ankle might be broken and my right hand was very swollen. Both were very painful. A gentleman about my age (older guy) came out of a house and helped me over to his porch. I told everyone I didn't need an ambulance and called my wife, AMA towing, and the police.
The officer came and took the accident report. He was obviously thrilled that I was wearing ATGATA. Said when he got the call, he expected to find another biker dead or severely injured. And here I was pretty much intact. Told him that I was glad for my gear and that all of it paid for itself today. Yes, I trashed my helmet, my raingear has road rash through it and my gloves are not accounted for (I think my right one came off in the accident but I remember taking the left one off after). My left boot looks like someone tried to rip the toe off of it and has road rash on the upper leather. But after going to the ER with my wife and getting X-rays I have no broken bones. It is all soft tissue injury. I expect I will be sore tomarrow (know my left foot and ankle are going to hurt and my right hand will still hurt as well). But miraculously I seem to be not otherwise injured.
Now to the bike... It was the broken clutch lever that I already mentioned. It has road rash to my left Givi hard bag. It has a bent mirror. My son says he found a small scratch to the left side paint although I couldn't find it after we got home. That is the extent of the damage. I had put frame sliders on the bike about 3 weeks ago and they did their job today. They kept the rest of the bike off of the pavement. Again, money well spent.
I expect that I will be hobbling around here for the next couple of weeks and I will have to wait until payday next Friday to put the bike back on the road but that is okay. I am one very, very lucky man. No one ran over me, no one ran over the bike. The bike is not hurt badly and best of all, I am not hurt badly.
If you live in a helmet optional state, just remember this post. I smacked my helmet pretty good today - ruined it. That would have been my head if I hadn't had it on. Without the rest of the gear, I would have been dealing with a lot of road rash. Without the boots I might have really screwed my left foot up. And so on...
Be safe out there people. Remember, the outcome of a motorcycle accident can mean a lot more than just skill - I have been riding for about 45 years. That gear serves a real purpose.
Thanks for reading,
Doug
