Total loss
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 2:42 pm
Just got word from my insurance adjuster that my 2002 black beauty is a total loss.
I wrecked on Sunday about 40 miles outside of San Diego on the back roads that I travel for fun all the time. This time not so much fun.
The day started out great and I was really in the zone. Not going fast, but very smooth and fluid which to me is way more fun. I had a big scare on a switchback that was covered with oil which I was able to skid through, but I had lost the zone.
After the oil I just didn't feel in sync. My helmet felt a bit uncomfortable and I was thinking that I'd write a letter to Motorcycle Consumer News, as they had a multi-piece article on the 'zone', asking how do you get back in the zone after you're out.
Anyway I decided to stop at a little convenience store for some water and to take a break, got back on the bike and 4 miles later was going around a decreasing radius corner around 40mph when an oncoming car crosssed the center line. I don't think they crossed it too bad, but I obviously overcorrected. All I remember was feeling the back tire skitter a bit and the next thing I was tumbling in the gravel/dirt on the shoulder of the road. The bike came to rest in a barbed-wire fence which was a good thing as it save the bike from going down into a deep ravine. Luckily I stopped sliding before the barbed wire.
Even more lucky I was able to get up and walk away. After getting home and to the E.R. the end results are: my ring finger is broken, ribs fractured and my left side is one big bloody bruise that hurts like hell, but my helmet did it's job and my jacket as well. I was wearing jeans, which got torn up a bit, but since it wasn't on asphalt I think I got lucky there. One thing that was a bit disturbing was that my First Gear Pilot jacket which has leather patches on elbows and shoulders and 330 Denier nylon on the arms and body got ripped up pretty good. The leather elbow patch/pad certainly helped my elbow, but ended up ripping off the jacket. I also got some holes in the arm and back. I thought that this nylon was as tough as leather. I can't imagine how it would have handled asphalt.
The tow truck had to drag the bike out of the ditch and onto the bed as the front wheel had come out of the forks and the rotors were bent so the wheel wouldn't turn. I also couldn't get it out of gear so the rear was stuck as well. Pretty sickening to see your baby being dragged back across the dirt into the back of the truck. There were other bike parts in the same area that my bike came to rest so I guess it's a tougher corner than I gave it credit. Also, from the time that I was in the wreck until I got back to the bike, maybe 90 minutes, someone took my seat, my tire repair kit and the headlight assembly. Go figure.
I think my being a bit distracted by my helment and not being in the 'zone' as well as my lack of riding consistently over the last couple of years definitely played a part in my not handling the situation better. What you don't practice you can't execute. I wish there was someone riding with me that could tell me exactly what I did wrong, but can only think that I came in a little too hot for the decreasing radius corner and once I pushed it to the outside I couldn't/didn't lean enough to make the corner and the rear end stepped out and hit the dirt at the edge of the road. And that was all she wrote.
Overall feeling pretty damn lucky. This was my first wreck in 15+ years of riding and over 100,000 miles. My wife handled this really well considering her father was killed on a bike 10 years ago in the same general area. I mean it's pretty tough to yell at someone that walks away from a wreck. We haven't really talked about me getting a new bike, but I'm sure we will.
I think I still need time to let this all set in before I make any grand decisions. On one hand if this didn't happen I'd be out there again this weekend. On the other hand I need to consider my 5 year old daugher's comment when I got back to the house, "daddy, I'm glad you came home." I don't think she realizes how that hits me on so many levels.
Thanks for letting me share. I've been a member of this board for some time and although i don't post all that often I consider you all family.
Keep the shiny side up,
Eric
I wrecked on Sunday about 40 miles outside of San Diego on the back roads that I travel for fun all the time. This time not so much fun.
The day started out great and I was really in the zone. Not going fast, but very smooth and fluid which to me is way more fun. I had a big scare on a switchback that was covered with oil which I was able to skid through, but I had lost the zone.
After the oil I just didn't feel in sync. My helmet felt a bit uncomfortable and I was thinking that I'd write a letter to Motorcycle Consumer News, as they had a multi-piece article on the 'zone', asking how do you get back in the zone after you're out.
Anyway I decided to stop at a little convenience store for some water and to take a break, got back on the bike and 4 miles later was going around a decreasing radius corner around 40mph when an oncoming car crosssed the center line. I don't think they crossed it too bad, but I obviously overcorrected. All I remember was feeling the back tire skitter a bit and the next thing I was tumbling in the gravel/dirt on the shoulder of the road. The bike came to rest in a barbed-wire fence which was a good thing as it save the bike from going down into a deep ravine. Luckily I stopped sliding before the barbed wire.
Even more lucky I was able to get up and walk away. After getting home and to the E.R. the end results are: my ring finger is broken, ribs fractured and my left side is one big bloody bruise that hurts like hell, but my helmet did it's job and my jacket as well. I was wearing jeans, which got torn up a bit, but since it wasn't on asphalt I think I got lucky there. One thing that was a bit disturbing was that my First Gear Pilot jacket which has leather patches on elbows and shoulders and 330 Denier nylon on the arms and body got ripped up pretty good. The leather elbow patch/pad certainly helped my elbow, but ended up ripping off the jacket. I also got some holes in the arm and back. I thought that this nylon was as tough as leather. I can't imagine how it would have handled asphalt.
The tow truck had to drag the bike out of the ditch and onto the bed as the front wheel had come out of the forks and the rotors were bent so the wheel wouldn't turn. I also couldn't get it out of gear so the rear was stuck as well. Pretty sickening to see your baby being dragged back across the dirt into the back of the truck. There were other bike parts in the same area that my bike came to rest so I guess it's a tougher corner than I gave it credit. Also, from the time that I was in the wreck until I got back to the bike, maybe 90 minutes, someone took my seat, my tire repair kit and the headlight assembly. Go figure.
I think my being a bit distracted by my helment and not being in the 'zone' as well as my lack of riding consistently over the last couple of years definitely played a part in my not handling the situation better. What you don't practice you can't execute. I wish there was someone riding with me that could tell me exactly what I did wrong, but can only think that I came in a little too hot for the decreasing radius corner and once I pushed it to the outside I couldn't/didn't lean enough to make the corner and the rear end stepped out and hit the dirt at the edge of the road. And that was all she wrote.
Overall feeling pretty damn lucky. This was my first wreck in 15+ years of riding and over 100,000 miles. My wife handled this really well considering her father was killed on a bike 10 years ago in the same general area. I mean it's pretty tough to yell at someone that walks away from a wreck. We haven't really talked about me getting a new bike, but I'm sure we will.
I think I still need time to let this all set in before I make any grand decisions. On one hand if this didn't happen I'd be out there again this weekend. On the other hand I need to consider my 5 year old daugher's comment when I got back to the house, "daddy, I'm glad you came home." I don't think she realizes how that hits me on so many levels.
Thanks for letting me share. I've been a member of this board for some time and although i don't post all that often I consider you all family.
Keep the shiny side up,
Eric
