Friday, June 7, 2013

    Well hello again! It has been awhile since my last post. but hopefully I can get back into things here. A reason for my extended absence, is last October 16th, 2012, I had a pretty bad crash on the freeway here in Phoenix. Overall I held up fairly well all considered. I credit this to wearing my gear! I did not get away though without injury however.
       I ended up shattering my right tibia, and got 6 broken ribs as an award. This could have been much worse though, as demonstrated by my helmet. The face shield? Gone don't know where it went. The chin bar? New flat spot. Top right vent? Ground off  down to deep core of shell. That could have been my melon, but I am glad to report the money maker is all well. My jacket and gloves took the abuse and only some friction burns on me to show for it. Pants? Well they used scissors to cut those off but since all my skin was still in place I say they did well for sliding down the freeway. And the boots just had some buckle grind. All of the gear did what it was supposed to do. Now landing on the backpack I was wearing is what broke the ribs, and trying to pole vault off my right leg while holding on to an 800 pound motorcycle tends not to work out so well.

     Now I would like to be able to say this occurred  because I was cut off, or someone came into my lane etc. but it was none of the above. it was 100% rider error. basically in a nutshell I did not adjust my following distance appropriate for the speed I was approaching, leaving me too short of a distance to brake appropriately. This was because we were going from an HOV lane ending and becoming a standard lane, and when I head checked to right to see if anyone would try to come over like they do most days, I did not notice my lane was speeding up. and as we did I did not back off to give me more braking distance. So When I looked forward again and saw the noses of the truck in front of me and the care in front of it take a hard dive forward, I got on my brakes. When I did it was a bit aggressive and I locked the rear. Now since rear was locked I kept it locked as you should, however, it started tracking to left so I could not swerve to avoid impact, so I was committed to the path of travel. As I kept applying the front brake as well, it got to the point where I was getting closer to truck, and I squeezed that right hand a little to much and the front brake locked to which is bad news. So at the angle I was, it it flipped and I low sided hard as my right foot came off the floorboard. The rest is just a ride in the bright red van and a 4 day hospital stay, and a piece of steel and some screws in my bones to remember the occasion by.
    So if you take anything away from this it is the following... Head and eyes up and forward at all times. Make head checks quick, just long enough to get traffic orientation around you, and always give yourself more braking room then you think you need. Does that mean someone will pull in that space while riding? Yes probably, but just back off that car as well. arriving 2-3 min later is a much better option then a few days n the hospital, or worse.
     Now it is June, and I have been up and riding again for the last month. My VTX1300R was totaled, but I still have my 2012 KLR650, so that is my rider now, and It is a lot of fun being all bouncy and go anyplace stance. So I am back in action, and will be reporting on summer rides here in Arizona as I experience them.
Until next time ride safe, ride often, see you on the road.

2 comments:

  1. Ouch! Glad that you are better though and escaped relatively unscathed. Any pictures of the totaled bike? Morbid, I know, but curious to see nevertheless.

    Keep the rubber where it belongs and have a safe and fun summer!

    ReplyDelete