i took a nasty spill...

[hydra]

hello folks,

25 years of riding and this marks the first serious motorcycle accident i've ever had. i cant believe how fast it happened and how fast my body was tumbling over and over....

so i was having a great day riding up and around hwy 1 north of the golden gate bridge. i rode up to peteluma, raced around a few of the roads once i got there, then i started back down hwy 1 to head back to san francisco. i stopped at point reyes for a quick espresso then i got back on road.

15 minutes later a bee suddenly gets caught inside my helmet! and the 2 seconds (or less) i took to process it, was enough for me to be unprepared for the slight turn in the road. i didn't panic, i was just carrying too much speed before the turn. i was heading straight for the grassy shoulder and beyond the shoulder was a wall made of dirt and bushes that separated the property and the shoulder of the road. the grass was wet and mushy, and as soon as my tires made contact with the grass, i felt the front giving out. i knew i was losing control and i bailed to the left of the bike when i felt the front sliding to the right.

i hit the ground (really hard) and i tumbled sideways for a good 25 to 30 feet, maybe more i'm not sure. i think i tumbled about 8 to 10 times. i heard the bike tumbling close by and i felt it hit me at some point. when my body finally came to a stop, i just laid there in shock with the wind knocked out of me. a few minutes later, i struggled to get myself to a sitting position with a lot of pain on my side. my ankle was hurting but not nearly as much as my side and shoulder. a park ranger came very shortly after i got on my feet. and 5 minutes after that the ambulance came and i was off to Marin general hospital.

i ended up with 5 fractured ribs all on my left side and a sprained ankle. some minor cuts on my right hand where my glove came off mid-tumble. other than a few other sore places, that was the extent of my injuries. i was wearing full racing gear (2 piece) with boots and gloves which i think really helped to decrease my injuries. no pain in my head whatsoever, so my schuberth R1 really passed the test. i remember my head hitting the ground a few times, but no pain afterwards.

all in all, i just feel lucky i didn't hit any hard obstructions like a boulder or tree, etc. and the grass helped to cushion some of the impacts. i really don't know how fast i was going but my guess would be that i was going about 60mph or so just before the fu*king bee got into my helmet. the rock sustained a few minor injuries but she'll be okay. pix on the my next post...

all the best

[tobes]

Real sorry to hear that. But at least you're alive to tell the tale. Good for you for being geared up properly too. Amazing how something so random like that can F'up your whole day.

[MikeCam]

Fuggin' Bugs!

Holy Cow! So glad you are okay (relatively) for such a close call. Good reflexes and fitness go a long way in mitigating results.

Heal well and best good fortune.

M

[boxermania]

hydra.....I'm glad you are well.....I've had two encounters with the little rascals and remmebre them like yesterday. One was in Gran Cayman, I had rented a scooter with one of those open helmets and the bugger got between the elmet and my neck and had a field day......TG, I was of clear mind and endured the attack, because ther was barbed wire everywhere. The second time, I was riding with some friends down from Natchez and we had stopeed to gas up, no longer we get on the road before I get my visor down another of the pesky bugs gets between my cheeck and the helmet.....ouch, that hurt but I had the upper hand because she died in battle......of course I had also a price winning cheeck when I got home.

Heal soon and get back on the saddle.......

[riceburner]

Fuggin no Respect!

http://members.tripod.com/fredgassit/fred021.gif



Glad you're not too badly hurt!! Although I bet it hurts like a bitch!

Hope the bike is repairable!

[johnnyjs1]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Glad you are relatively ok. You'll be back up and riding in no time

[hydra]

hello people,

THANKS FOR THE WELL WISHES
well it looks like it will cost a lot more money to fix ME than it will to fix my bike! my friend came with me to the tow yard. we had to readjust the lower tree to straighten out my forks so he could ride it back for me. the headlight housing got banged up so i'll have to replace some of those part to get it aligned again. but it seems like the forks are still straight as well as the frame. this is at least from what we can tell. TG the remus pipes and exhaust survived the crash 'cause they were pretty pricey. the engine sounds okay to me too but tomasa said he felt some vibrations, he's owns 2 beemers but the 1st time he's ridden the rock, so i'm not sure if it's something to worry about until i ride it for myself. i think the handle bars will need to be replaced. but he didn't experience anything else being unbalanced about the ride. i think i can also salvage the windscreen which got bent back and has some scratches on it. other than that, the rest is cosmetics...wish me luck!

i thought there would be a lot more damage than that considering i heard it tumbling next to me a few times. in fact i landed only 4 feet away from the bike. so i think it must have flipped at least twice then slid the rest of the way. from where the skid marks were, it looks like we tumbled for at least 25 ft. well this is good news to me...

here's some pix i quickly took of some of the damage. it was all on the left side...

[hydra]

hydra.....I'm glad you are well.....I've had two encounters with the little rascals and remmebre them like yesterday. One was in Gran Cayman, I had rented a scooter with one of those open helmets and the bugger got between the elmet and my neck and had a field day......TG, I was of clear mind and endured the attack, because ther was barbed wire everywhere. The second time, I was riding with some friends down from Natchez and we had stopeed to gas up, no longer we get on the road before I get my visor down another of the pesky bugs gets between my cheeck and the helmet.....ouch, that hurt but I had the upper hand because she died in battle......of course I had also a price winning cheeck when I got home.

Heal soon and get back on the saddle.......

THANKS BOXERMANIA! oh man, you too??? and 2 of the buggers to boot! i don't know what happened to my critter when i crashed, he probably bailed just before i hit the ground or when my visor was forced open when i was tumbling. he didn't sting me, just distracted for that quick moment. but i guess i'd been running a quick pace and i was looking at the bee when i should have been setting up for the turn instead...

[Ves]

Bummer man. Broken ribs suck. Remember... laughing hurts... Heal up.

Bike doesn't look to bad.

[boxermania]

hydra

If your handle bar needs replacing, you might consider a Renthal bar, they have all types and shapes and are pretty inexpensive. They can be found at any serious bike shop.....you might even want to imrpove your riding position.

[taosports]

Glad to hear you're relatively OK Hydra. Thanks for posting about your mishap. We all learn from other's experiences.

I'm curious to just where you encountered the bee. I ride those roads often. Was it on Highway 1 south of Olema? Anywhere near Five Brooks Stables? You mentioned your speed at the time of your crash and I know that the stretch of road south of Olema has some great sweepers that can be ridden at speed. Anyway, just curious.

Heal quickly!

[hydra]

Bummer man. Broken ribs suck. Remember... laughing hurts... Heal up.

Bike doesn't look to bad.

thanks ves and the bike seems ok!

[hydra]

hydra

If your handle bar needs replacing, you might consider a Renthal bar, they have all types and shapes and are pretty inexpensive. They can be found at any serious bike shop.....you might even want to imrpove your riding position.

yes, i was thinking of replacing them anyway...

[hydra]

Glad to hear you're relatively OK Hydra. Thanks for posting about your mishap. We all learn from other's experiences.
I'm curious to just where you encountered the bee. I ride those roads often. Was it on Highway 1 south of Olema? Anywhere near Five Brooks Stables? You mentioned your speed at the time of your crash and I know that the stretch of road south of Olema has some great sweepers that can be ridden at speed. Anyway, just curious.

Heal quickly!

thanks taosports!
yes, that's exactly where i was. there's some great sweepers there for sure. it's the stretch with a few straights in between. i was coming off a straight and approaching a slight bend. no time to slow down or lean her over...

[Ves]

hydra

If your handle bar needs replacing, you might consider a Renthal bar, they have all types and shapes and are pretty inexpensive. They can be found at any serious bike shop.....you might even want to imrpove your riding position.

I have a set on mine, however, the heated grips will need some rewiring, and the stock bar end weight will not fit.

[zax1150]

Sorry to hear about your little misadventure ,
good to see you made it through without many permanent reminders

amazed you got off the bike though....I always ride'em into the ground, bike parts are cheaper than body parts

BTW: there is a chap over here making a copy of the stanton head guards


take it easy

[hydra]

Sorry to hear about your little misadventure ,
good to see you made it through without many permanent reminders
amazed you got off the bike though....I always ride'em into the ground, bike parts are cheaper than body parts
BTW: there is a chap over here making a copy of the stanton head guards

take it easy

thanks zax, yes, i'm lucky it was on the grass. i can't imagine what that would've felt like on the asphalt
hmmmm...did you say stanton gaurds

russ

[CorvuS]

Spectaculair story and really glad you were able to write it!

Hope you get well soon man

[ganesan8770]

Glad you are OK Bro, I know the feeling as I had a bad fall 2 years ago and my shoulders still ache every morning.
Thanks very much for sharing, take care and get well soon.

[hydra]

thanks corvus and ganesan8770! i'm lucky it wasn't worse. i'm healing more and more everyday.
the weather has been amazing in this part of the world since my crash and i'm really wishing i was back on my bike already!

i'm just about to hit 10K miles on the clock and i feel she's just breaking in. i just hope nothing major happened inside the engine that will reveal itself over time...
a guy from my insurance company came by yesterday to do his initial estimate on the bike.

-on closer inspection, it looks like the left fork tube might be damaged 'cause i can see where it hit into the telelever. there's an indentation where the fork hit it. does any one know how much force the telelever's can handle before they need replacing?
-also, i think i'll need to replace the bearings within the center of the triple tree where it connects to the front of the frame (i'm not sure what that area's called). i can feel it grinding at the end of it's travel when i turn it to the right.