Rt 311 kicked my butt

I been putting this off, but I guess since the pain meds have worn off, now is as good a time as any.

I'm OK, left upper ribs 3, 4 and 5 bent a little but not broken. Was fully geared and it did its job well.

Was on my way down to New Castle Sunday before last to make my second run up the mtn and pushing too hard. Entering a 20 mph leftie about 50 (I think), one cheek off the seat and head and shoulders tucked and leaned well in and thinking everything was good when hard parts started some serious dragging. I could plainly see that I was running out of road and figured I had no other choice if I wanted to avoid the precipitous dropoff and timber so I leaned in a little harder and low sided while still on the pavement.

I turned loose (like I had a choice in the matter) and smacked a one point landing on my left chest and was sliding on pavement and watching my bike slipping ahead of me. All in all, it didn't look too bad until the bike hit the gravel berm and stuff started digging in heavily causing the bike to flip and pancake onto the right side then slide some more. Bike slid about 50 feet on the gravel and another 15 in the gravel and came to rest right on the edge of the dropoff.

My highway pegs were folded along side the fairing and the Kuryakyn one inch out 2 inch up one inch out extension hit the pavement first and prevented me from leaning enough to negotiate the turn. There is not a mark on the peg slider. Last highway peg for me. Ymmv.

I slid about 50 feet on the pavement and stopped about 5 feet into the gravel and couldn't help but think that I should have been hurting way more as I scrambled to my feet. A guy and his wife who used to ride stopped and helped me get the bike upright and away from the cliff. Had to call home for help b/c the highway peg mounting plate sliced a coolant hose on the right side.

Bike in shop for estimate and awaiting adjuster's visit; looks mostly cosmetic but lots of it. I rode the KLR this Sunday and the ghost's in my head weren't too bad.

Here's some of the leftovers:

upper right panel



a little farther down on right



left slider and highway peg



right bag (excellent slider)



windscreen



this kinda bumped me in the *** as I exited the cockpit



jacket





ht2overpant



don't have a clue how this happened

Sorry to hear about your get-off but glad that you weren't hurt any worse. Heal fast man!

JW

spklbuk said:

I been putting this off, but I guess since the pain meds have worn off, now is as good a time as any. I'm OK, left upper ribs 3, 4 and 5 bent a little but not broken. Was fully geared and it did its job well.

Was on my way down to New Castle Sunday before last to make my second run up the mtn and pushing too hard. Entering a 20 mph leftie about 50 (I think), one cheek off the seat and head and shoulders tucked and leaned well in and thinking everything was good when hard parts started some serious dragging. I could plainly see that I was running out of road and figured I had no other choice if I wanted to avoid the precipitous dropoff and timber so I leaned in a little harder and low sided while still on the pavement.

I turned loose (like I had a choice in the matter) and smacked a one point landing on my left chest and was sliding on pavement and watching my bike slipping ahead of me. All in all, it didn't look too bad until the bike hit the gravel berm and stuff started digging in heavily causing the bike to flip and pancake onto the right side then slide some more. Bike slid about 50 feet on the gravel and another 15 in the gravel and came to rest right on the edge of the dropoff.

My highway pegs were folded along side the fairing and the Kuryakyn one inch out 2 inch up one inch out extension hit the pavement first and prevented me from leaning enough to negotiate the turn. There is not a mark on the peg slider. Last highway peg for me. Ymmv.

I slid about 50 feet on the pavement and stopped about 5 feet into the gravel and couldn't help but think that I should have been hurting way more as I scrambled to my feet. A guy and his wife who used to ride stopped and helped me get the bike upright and away from the cliff. Had to call home for help b/c the highway peg mounting plate sliced a coolant hose on the right side.

Bike in shop for estimate and awaiting adjuster's visit; looks mostly cosmetic but lots of it. I rode the KLR this Sunday and the ghost's in my head weren't too bad.

Here's some of the leftovers:

upper right panel

a little farther down on right

left slider and highway peg

right bag (excellent slider)

windscreen

this kinda bumped me in the *** as I exited the cockpit

jacket

ht2overpant

don't have a clue how this happened

Click to expand...

Geez, I'll bet you feel lucky, not going off that cliff. Glad you're ok, no broken bones is a nice bonus.

Wow, what's going on around here? This is, what, the third post of a crash in the last 24 hours? Knock it off people!

Glad you're okay, dude. Self-medicate to the fullest extent allowed by law.

DON"T DO THAT!!!!!

Taint that the place you warned us 'bout at EOM?

At least you know where to get some "Mountain water" to ease the pain

Glad you are alive and in one piece to tell the tale. So the hwy peg lessend your lean angle? Sorry about the bike man. I know what its like to wreck something new and expensive. Hope you get her fixed up and running agin.

That looks like Gaurld's rack with backrest - in the reclining position??

Jim,

What, you trying to upgrade to a black FJR? No, sorry to hear about this, but at least you'll be able to ride another day. I ran 311 with Haulin'Ashe, it's a great road that begs you to push...

Get well, you've got to get healthy so you can get EOM '08 set up...

Wayne

Jebus. Another one? Wait, pain meds?! *****.

Glad you're ok enough to let us know...

At some point in time, the words of "Sharp" (ffmedic on the "green board") repeatedly resonate through my "mature" cranial cavity. At WFO-2, lecturing us before the group ride, he said:

"Gentlemen, the FJR is a siren. It will sing a song to you that you can ride it faster and faster, It will promise you that you can take THAT corner faster than you think. It will have you riding faster and will be whispering in your ear, 'Faster!'. The problem is that the FJR is not a 400 lb sportbike but rather a 650 lb. sport-tourer with less cornering ground clearance than a sportbike. If you ride this bike like a sportbike, eventually it will have you write a check you cannot cash."

This from a man who crashed one of the first '03s to come into North America. I cannot tell you how many times I remind myself of his statements and use them as a mantra. Even when I forget, they force themselves to the forefront of my thoughts because of the depth of their wisdom.

I KNOW many of you are far better a riders than I will ever be, but PUH-LEEZE, as a group, can we slow down a couple of clicks?

splbuk and cdogman & kendra, I'm sorry for what you have experienced, glad you are recovering and not seriously hurt. While I hate to be on a soapbox, it is my hope that others will read this and take heed before someone gets seriously hurt.

Jim, get well soon,and fix that bike up better than before.

Chuck

spklbuk said:

My highway pegs were folded along side the fairing and the Kuryakyn one inch out 2 inch up one inch out extension hit the pavement first and prevented me from leaning enough to negotiate the turn. There is not a mark on the peg slider. Last highway peg for me. Ymmv.

Click to expand...

avoiding X/10ths off the track (on a 650 lbs sport-touring bike) isn't an option, eh?

glad you're still with us.

Glad your OK. Too bad you had to find the limits of the bike the hard way

And He walked away . . Always good to get back ridin' soon. Good to hear you are O.K.

You know better than to aim at those turkeys from a leftie. MOST glad you are mostly okay. I have an extra chest protector I'll send you if you want to get back in the saddle before those ribs heal.

Any way I can help with the bike just let me know.

Jeff

madmike2 said:

"Gentlemen, the FJR is a siren. It will sing a song to you that you can ride it faster and faster, It will promise you that you can take THAT corner faster than you think. It will have you riding faster and will be whispering in your ear, 'Faster!'. The problem is that the FJR is not a 400 lb sportbike but rather a 650 lb. sport-tourer with less cornering ground clearance than a sportbike. If you ride this bike like a sportbike, eventually it will have you write a check you cannot cash."

Click to expand...

A beautiful, eloquent, almost Shakespearean way of saying what I was thinking....

"Squidly is as squidly does."

Or in CenFla redneck speak "hey, ya'll......watch this!"

Glad you're okay, dood. Bikes are expensive hammers. Chip the face, break the handle, throw it away and get another one.

Glad you're Okay. Could have been a lot worse.

I'll reiterate what others have said.... The FJR is a great bike, but cornering clearance isn't great when you're pushing real hard. Anybody with Ohlins out there? Can you crank up the ride height and get significantly more clearance?

- Mark

I guess that's the Price you Pay for Playing Boy Racer on Public Roads.

First off, I'm really sorry to hear this happened. Your gear doesn't looks so bad for how you described it. Once again, I'm glad that most on this forum subscribe to ATGATT and have minimized their injuries. Hope you heal up quickly.

Second, I don't think it matters if it's and FJR, an R6, an FZ1, or a GSX1000, if you ride spiritedly, you run the risk of munching from time to time. It's not just ground clearance on the FJR, any of those bikes haul ***, and when you take tight corners, something can go wrong!

I think we just happen to have a closer knitt group, and we report these things regularly, because we want to warn our friends as we don't want them to go through the same thing.

Third, we have had quite a a rash of wrecks lately. Everyone just remember, it CAN happen to you. Please wear your full gear if you are going to push it.

Glad you are OK. Heal soon and well.

Slow down....would ya???

Take care.