i finally went down.

[ps2/bikevision]

Well i knew it would happen some day. i was headed up to michigan for the weekend on my FZR. i hate taking the main roads so i took back roads most of the way. i got about 4-5 miles from my buddies house when the road turned to gravel. i forgot this road wasent paved all the way down. so instead of turning around i just slowed down a bit and road on.    i really dont know how fast i was going but all of a sudden the front end started to shake side to side and i knew i was going down. i hit the ground on my knuckles and right front of my helmet, then tumbled a few times and came sliding to a stop about 200ft. from where i first hit. there was a guy that was just about to pull out of his drive way when i went by. he said it didnt look like i was going very fast, i dont know i wasent looking at my speed, i do know that i was in 5th and slowing.

i layed on the ground for about 5 min as he was on the phone with 911. it wasent so much the pain but the adrelin was flowing pretty good. after about 5min. i could start to feel my body and started to move. there was no pain in my neck or my back so i got up on my feet. i could feel the rash on my left knee, and my right hip. but other than that i seemed to be fine. i took of my helmet, jacket and gloves, and saw that they did a great job at protecting me. my visor was toast but the rest seemed to fair pretty well. no ambulance needed, but they were sending a cop out.

i started to look the bike over as it layed on its left side. the guy helped me pick it up and push it out of the road. i could smell gas but seen no oil coming out anywhere and the r1 tail i just put on didnt brake, just minor rash. both front and rear seat where down the road so i went and got them. no major damage to them. the only real damage was it bent my left handle bar slightly and broke my left mirror. i let the bike sit for a few min. and it fired right up. then a state trooper showed up, and since no one else was involved i got off without a ticket. and was able to ride the bike to my buddies house right down the road.

all in all i was really lucky, the bike shop my brother works for was having a yard sale sat. and i was able to pick up a new scorpion exo helmet for $150, mine was toast. they even had a front cowl for the bike which i needed still from the first crash (my step-bro's) for $20. so that worked out really well. if i haddent needed a new helmet i wouldnt of found it.

the only thing now is when i was headed home monday night i stoped for a bite to eat and i could smell rotten eggs. found that the battery was boiling over and was really hot. it wouldt start after that and had to have my dad bring his truck and tow it back home. whats messed up is i rode it all over this weekend after the crash putting almost 150 miles on it and didnt have a problem. the crash must of messed up the battery.

[69shovel]

i feel your pain......i layed down a dirtbike a couple of weeks ago wearing jeans a long sleeve shirt and no helmet. the bike wasn't messed up but my scabs from the road rash are just now going away. glad to hear you and the bike are alright.
-Jay

[haunter]

hope it heals up nice and quick!

[don_vanecek]

Motorcycles and gravel sends shivers up my spine every time I have to ride the two. Glad to hear your not any worse for the wear. I count my luckey stars everytime I go home and only have about two blocks of gravel to travel. When I first moved to my current location ten years ago I had over a mile and ahalf of gravel. Its terrible but I curse the road grader guy during the riding season when he regrades the road and makes it all, gravelly again (that word might not work in your scrable game),

[h2olawyer]

ps2 -

Glad you weren't injured more severely!  Hope your abrasions heal fast.  Good snag on the front cowling, too.  Helps to see the good things after an experience like that.

Anyone watch Feasting on Asphalt on the Food Network this Summer?  Host Alton Brown (of Good Eats) and his crew rode their BMWs across the country seeking good road food.  They even made some cowboy coffee on top of Pike's Peak (14,110 ft.)  Anyway, as the group was headed for a chuckwagon dinner experience near Las Vegas, Alton had a minor crash on a gravel road.  He ended up with a broken shoulder & some road rash on his R 1200.  (Probably $5000 to fix.  ::)  Makes me really appreciate the Vision's low replacement parts cost.)

H₂O

[louthepou]

Ps2, how many times do I have to tell you this - put knobbies on your FZR.

;D

Really bad jokes aside, glad you're able to type. (and eat, and talk, and go to the washroom on your own).

Makes you wonder why some folks still believe helmets don't do a dang difference...

Get well,

Lou

[ps2/bikevision]

thanks all. h20 yea i saw that one. i went down alot harder than him, i just got really lucky. the gear really saved me. if i hadnt been wearing a helmet i wouldnt have a face right now. and if i had been wearing riding pants i wouldnt have any rash. its not bad though. the spot on my knee and hip is only the size of a quater. and i had a couple scratches on my calf and wrists that i didnt know about till it started to scab up. i never even felt them even in the shower. i was a little sore the next day but its more like carpet burn now. not bad at all. i dont even feel it.

[Mutt]

Glad your alright PS2!  :) Were there any Miatas around?  :-\ You never know when one of them things are going to pop up!

You got that out of the way...now you can really ride the dragon hard!

I'm going to start looking for some new riding pants now that I've just about got my bike ready to go again. I've had starter issues again. One of the brushes ended up sticking in the housing. The spring was worn and there was lots of corrosion.

Mutt  :)

[Paul_Jungnitsch]

I did something similar a couple years ago pulling off the highway onto a gravel approach. Didn't realize the grader lifted his blade there before hitting the pavement and dropped half a foot of loose stuff, the Vision went down like a rock and I went over the handlebars and bouncing down the road in my 'stich. Amazing how fast it happens.

[Lucky]

So glad you came thru mostly unscathed!! Pauls 'stich has 'cred'! lol

[dj]

Glad to hear that you are okay and good find on the part you needed!

[kiawrench]

lol,, alton brown, sorry, it isnt funny no matter who drops a ride, but if he had taken an MSF, he would have remembered at thing or two
1. when traveling on a gravel road with a street bike(and it happens) do not criss cross the hump !!!!
2. do not load your bike unevenly ,as it will relate to balance issues when it will mean hurting yourself!!
3. do not , ever,, try to catch your falling bike with your hands when in motion( you will break bones, no way around it .

i watched that show twice,. and both times, they were loading off balance, or using the bikes for reason not intended,,,, good bike safety messages to viewers,,,, hmmm ?

ok, nuff soap boxing .. sorry.

  any way it goes, am sorry to hear of any biker that gets hurt on or with his ride, even the guy that was killed in florida on labor day when psyco billy lane ran into his moped head on .

  thing is,, stuff happens, dress for the wrech, hope for the best if it happens to you.

please wear helmets, even if we dont all agree on everything, i still feel like all of you are family, and hate to hear of injuries or worse due to no helmet.

[ps2/bikevision]

you got to admit though it was funny that the first thing he asked was "is the bunny alright" ;D ;D that cracked me up. the first thing i said was "hey can you turn my bike off so it doesent pump out all the gas" then i was like damn my a** hurts.  ;D