Crashed - there is always first time for everything

[duke]

I crashed this Saturday on the motorway near Faro (Algarve, Portugal).
Got cut up and had to emergency brake.
Harley Davidson Road King Classic (rented from Spain) is not exactly built for stopping.
I locked the front and the bike skidded sideways.
Must have hit the deck doing 90 - 100 Km/h.
The bike somehow got itself up and ended slamming itself in the central reservation 70 metres down the road.
I spun on the road (no exact recollection how, looking at the damage to my clothes and guessing).
I got lucky as I did not get run over by following traffic as there was enough time to run for cover.
Paramedics picked me up very quickly and then off to hospital where after X-ray and some bandages got discharged.
Now recovering at my brother´s place.

Outcome:
- slightly grazed left elbow (textile bike jacket sleeve must have gone up my arm and grazed through thinner area).
- some grazing on my lower back, left and right, jacket must have gone up on the right side and got some burn there.
- left foot - ground through the boot, minor grazing on the foot, more pain than damage.
- both ankles - sprained and painful, right one suffered more (lesson learned - never buy short boots, and those were not my usual full size riding pair I use in UK).

Parts list:
- textile jacket - write-off.
- gore-tex short boots- write-off.
- helmet - not a scratch (most likely have not touched anywhere), will continue using it.
- rucksack - write-off.
- jeans (draggin jeans) - some scratch marks, some of the decorative seams are gone, but structurally sound, the denim has not given way, let alone going down to the kevlar. Top marks - I bought these for this holiday.
- gloves - mostly OK, will live another day.
- HD Road King Classic - yet to be seen by me, the police tell me it is OK, bar the windshield grazed and left indicator broken. Crash bars probably need changing. I have insurance so need only to pay the excess.

And this was day two of my holiday

[towerworker]

Sorry to hear of your crash! Been there and done that. No T-shirt though. Glad you had no major injuries.

Hope all works out well. I guess HD's might be behind the R's somewhat in their braking capabilities. If you had been riding an R do you think things would have worked out differently?

Wayne

[mkmd555]

Sorry to hear your ordeal. In fact, it is sobering reminder for all of us to be mindful of our vulnerabilities as a biker.

I am glad that you did not get hurt.

I suggest reading some "Zen and the art of the motorcycle maint" while you recuperate

You must also start riding as soon as possible to avoid a stress reaction or the fear to settle in. It may help to ride the same place. Trust me, on this one, bec I happen to be a psychiatrist.
Get as much sleep as possible
Take care

M Khan

[KHaynes]

Sorry to read about this.
Worry only of your recovery both physical and mental.

[riceburner]

Sorry to hear it Duke - Hope you're not too stiff! (3rd day is the worst!!)

Hope the Hire place doesn't give you too much poo about it as well.

[digga]

Most sorry to hear of your 'off'
how did you come to be trying to braking so sharply anyway??
Must say you were very lucky, if this had been in the UK you would most likely end up squashed between a couple of hard things..i doubt if you would have been posting on here.

Think i need a pair of those 'Draggin' or similar

[fj_pastor]

Sorry to hear the accident.

If you are coming to the North of Spain drop me line. I will indicate you our best driving areas

Hope you recover soon !!!!

[scottybooj]

wow...sorry to hear about your mishap. feel better and heal thyself.

I remember when I was in the Algarve how the driving of the locals left alot to be desired. go enjoy the lovely beaches and recuperate!

[TonyT607]

Duke glad to hear you're ok....when I took my family to the Algarve we were warned by our neighbors in the UK how the Portuguese were the worst drivers in Europe ! Could have been worse...
Take care and ride safe,

[Canyon Runner]

So sorry to hear of the mishap, but so glad to hear that the damage is relatively minor. Heal well!

Just as a two cents worth kind of comment.... You mention that the helmet doesn't have a scratch and you will use it again.... I wonder if that migth be worth a bit more investigation.

My understanding of the internal structure of these devices is that, by design, the materials are made to "fail" in a very specific engineered way in order to protect the head from a crash scenario. Further, I have been told that it does not take much to compromise these materials (the old "don't drop your helmet, and if you do replace the safety systems" conversation).

Your post puts you hitting the deck at around 90 km/hr. My gut feeling is that the slide, even without a big impact, probably rattled that lid around a good bit. I think it might be worth at least checking to make sure that some part of the internal helmet safety system didn't do what it was designed to do... which would mean that it would be better to replace it (or perhaps any compromised aspect of it) before getting back on the road.

Anyway, I tend to be on the cautious side, I guess, but I thought I would at least bring it up... always better to err on the side of safe, in my opinion.

So glad to hear you are OK!

Cheers!

[duke]

To all of you - thanks for your words of support.

I am feeling better on the inside, than on outside.
Although I think I had it easy and lucky.
Swollen ankle and minor rash is small price to pay.

As per some of the questions - if I was on the Rockster I would have not been doing 120 km/h.
More like 90 Mph. So I would have not found myself in a tight spot.
Even if I was in the same situation I would have been able to kick down to 5th and just power out of the trouble.
Last and not least (no intention to start a flame war here) - ABS would have saved my bacon (my Rockster has it).

As for the helmet - I would have been the first to chuck it in the bin if I had any doubts.
I am self confessed manic paranoid for those things so if I give it good to go then it is really good to use.
The reason why it is spotless is most likely due to the fact I had rucksack on my back (soft items inside only).
It must have kept my head above surface level.


Can't wait to get well and start riding again as this year the only riding I have been doing is my daily commute to work.
Kent and Sussex ... here I come ...

[KHaynes]

It's also good that you're in reasonably good spirits. At least you're still here to complain about your aches.
For goodness sake, don't start another ABS discussion.