Other than my getting-on-and-off-the-bike drops, I've only had one get-off. It was at night in the mountains west of Longmont, CO. Two friends and I had been to another friend's funeral after he had been killed in a motorcycle accident near Moab.
(He had come around a corner to see a Suburban doing a U-turn on a 2-lane road. He would have had room to go behind the Suburban, whose driver had stopped because he saw Paul. For some unknown reason Paul had only used his rear brake, leaving a streak of rubber nearly 150' long, then had high-sided and come straight down on his head and broken his neck, killing him instantly. He had on All the Gear. Sometimes it doesn't help.)
My wreck came at about 10PM. We were on the Peak-to-Peak Highway and had been in rain. My friends (one was the guy who had been with Paul when he died) were riding faster than I was comfortable with and I had slowed down to about 50-55. I went into a linked series of curves and when I got to the 3rd curve thought I was way too fast. Rather than leaning more, I tried trail-braking and the bike straightened and I went off the outside of the curve into pea-gravel. The bike flipped and after I was clear of it, hit a mailbox mounted on a sawed-off telephone pole and was totaled.
I was wearing my 'Stitch and a two-week old HJC modular helmet (plus boots and gloves). The first thing I remember is laying flat on my back with my hands folded on my chest. I remember wondering where I was and if I'd had a motorcycle crash. I wiggled my hands and feet and they moved and I went back to "sleep." The next thing I remember, one of my friends was standing over me and shouting my name. When I answered, he told me not to move and that he was going to the house where we were to borrow their phone. That time I didn't go back to sleep. Again I wiggled hands and feet and they worked. I moved my head a little and nothing hurt. Then I realized I didn't have my helmet on. I turned my head a bit more and it was sitting neatly on the ground with my gloves folded on top of it! I turned my head the other way and saw my totaled bike.
The homeowners had let Mike call the ambulance from their house and Mike and the woman came back out to me and again told me not to move. I told them that I had apparently taken off my helmet and that my extremities were moving OK, but we all agreed that I shouldn't be moving. An ambulance came quickly and got me onto a gurney (without a cervical collar!) and then waited for a better equipped and staffed ambulance to come. That crew took me to the hospital in Longmont. I had bruised ribs on my left side and a sore left knee (one that had been replaced twice). My 'Stitch had little damage except for where the EMT had cut the full-length zipper rather than listening to me and zipping both pulls to my neck.
My helmet was scraped deeply pretty much all over. My friend who had been with Paul took me to his house for the night. I slept 8 hours and was very dizzy when I sat up. My ribs stayed sore for about six weeks and for about a month I would be dizzy when I laid down at night. I had a huge bruise on my right buttock that never really hurt.
State Farm totaled my bike and refused to pay me for the 'Stitch or the helmet. But they paid me $1700 for my '99 Concours which had 115K miles on it and paid me full price for all the accessories I had on the bike. That all totaled $3700 and allowed me to replace the Connie with very little out-of-pocket expense. My 'Stitch repair cost me about $150, mostly for the zipper) and of course a new helmet cost me full price. I also got a $60 ticket for "failure to maintain control of my vehicle."
I bought a 2nd '99 Connie that had mostly the same equipment my totaled one did and was back riding within about 2 1/2 months. It took me that long to work up the nerve to ask Joanne if I could buy another bike! When I did, she told me to go ahead and get one because she couldn't stand me when I wasn't riding.
I'm a firm believer in ATGATT and still can't figure out why so many LEOs wear short sleeve shirts. My ex-wife and her partner crashed a Goldwing 3 days after our divorce was final. My ex- was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Connie, her partner was wearing a long-sleeved denim shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. They both had open-face helmets on. They crashed when they had a rear-tire blow-out at about 75mph on I-76. Carolyn had road rash on her right arm and left ankle that went almost to the bone. That was over 20 years ago and the scar on the forearm still hurts her some. Connie had much less road rash but received a lacerated liver and was in ICU for five days. I'm not sure protective gear would have kept that from happening.
(He had come around a corner to see a Suburban doing a U-turn on a 2-lane road. He would have had room to go behind the Suburban, whose driver had stopped because he saw Paul. For some unknown reason Paul had only used his rear brake, leaving a streak of rubber nearly 150' long, then had high-sided and come straight down on his head and broken his neck, killing him instantly. He had on All the Gear. Sometimes it doesn't help.)
My wreck came at about 10PM. We were on the Peak-to-Peak Highway and had been in rain. My friends (one was the guy who had been with Paul when he died) were riding faster than I was comfortable with and I had slowed down to about 50-55. I went into a linked series of curves and when I got to the 3rd curve thought I was way too fast. Rather than leaning more, I tried trail-braking and the bike straightened and I went off the outside of the curve into pea-gravel. The bike flipped and after I was clear of it, hit a mailbox mounted on a sawed-off telephone pole and was totaled.
I was wearing my 'Stitch and a two-week old HJC modular helmet (plus boots and gloves). The first thing I remember is laying flat on my back with my hands folded on my chest. I remember wondering where I was and if I'd had a motorcycle crash. I wiggled my hands and feet and they moved and I went back to "sleep." The next thing I remember, one of my friends was standing over me and shouting my name. When I answered, he told me not to move and that he was going to the house where we were to borrow their phone. That time I didn't go back to sleep. Again I wiggled hands and feet and they worked. I moved my head a little and nothing hurt. Then I realized I didn't have my helmet on. I turned my head a bit more and it was sitting neatly on the ground with my gloves folded on top of it! I turned my head the other way and saw my totaled bike.
The homeowners had let Mike call the ambulance from their house and Mike and the woman came back out to me and again told me not to move. I told them that I had apparently taken off my helmet and that my extremities were moving OK, but we all agreed that I shouldn't be moving. An ambulance came quickly and got me onto a gurney (without a cervical collar!) and then waited for a better equipped and staffed ambulance to come. That crew took me to the hospital in Longmont. I had bruised ribs on my left side and a sore left knee (one that had been replaced twice). My 'Stitch had little damage except for where the EMT had cut the full-length zipper rather than listening to me and zipping both pulls to my neck.
My helmet was scraped deeply pretty much all over. My friend who had been with Paul took me to his house for the night. I slept 8 hours and was very dizzy when I sat up. My ribs stayed sore for about six weeks and for about a month I would be dizzy when I laid down at night. I had a huge bruise on my right buttock that never really hurt.
State Farm totaled my bike and refused to pay me for the 'Stitch or the helmet. But they paid me $1700 for my '99 Concours which had 115K miles on it and paid me full price for all the accessories I had on the bike. That all totaled $3700 and allowed me to replace the Connie with very little out-of-pocket expense. My 'Stitch repair cost me about $150, mostly for the zipper) and of course a new helmet cost me full price. I also got a $60 ticket for "failure to maintain control of my vehicle."
I bought a 2nd '99 Connie that had mostly the same equipment my totaled one did and was back riding within about 2 1/2 months. It took me that long to work up the nerve to ask Joanne if I could buy another bike! When I did, she told me to go ahead and get one because she couldn't stand me when I wasn't riding.
I'm a firm believer in ATGATT and still can't figure out why so many LEOs wear short sleeve shirts. My ex-wife and her partner crashed a Goldwing 3 days after our divorce was final. My ex- was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Connie, her partner was wearing a long-sleeved denim shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. They both had open-face helmets on. They crashed when they had a rear-tire blow-out at about 75mph on I-76. Carolyn had road rash on her right arm and left ankle that went almost to the bone. That was over 20 years ago and the scar on the forearm still hurts her some. Connie had much less road rash but received a lacerated liver and was in ICU for five days. I'm not sure protective gear would have kept that from happening.
