Bad Day for Harley Riders in Orange Co. Calif.

[EXPDSGT]

The 51 yr. old male "veered off the road and hit a tree" on LiveOak Canyon Road. Unknown year Harley.

The 55 yr. old male "was thrown off his 2003 HD after he rear-ended a slower vehicle in the carpool lane".

The 56 yr. old male "was thrown off his 2004 HD after its footpeg and running board hit the concrete." ?????

This was reported in the Orange County Register. No other info in the artical.

It seems many olded men get the bug to "buy a Harley" and many have never ridden before and bad things happen. The artical had no info on the riding experience of the riders.

 

[Groo]

The 56 yr. old male "was thrown off his 2004 HD after its footpeg and running board hit the concrete." ?????

I.E.....

 

[TheAxeman]

Hate to hear news like that....There is going to be alot of heartache in California tonight for those families. The pic that Groo posted reminds me of a couple of weeks ago when my BMW driving brother rented a Harley for the day to come riding with me. It didn't take him very many miles to realize that he can't lay it over the same way he can his beemer. The bike had less than 60 miles on it and the running boards already had sizeable scrape marks on them....

 

[sparky3008]

When I saw Groo had already posted I was looking for his Helmet Comment.

Ha!

I really feel for these guys families. If these were inexperienced riders, I have to wonder if the fact that the bikes don't handle very well while cornering had anything to do with their demise.

A friend of mine who is a very good rider and came from dirt, sport and then to HD rides it to its limits and has scared himself dragging pegs more than a few times...

 

[EXPDSGT]

I personally know they do not stop very well -- nothing like my FJR

 

[conwest]

EXP. is right on: historically, Harleys have had lousy stopping (and slowing) power and, the handling is terrible. It`s an awful thing, going down and worse, when a family loses their father. Without knowing all the gruesome details it`s hard to lay blame. Even so, we all have to be carefull out there regardless of what we ride! :blink:

 

[twowheelnut]

Brakes are indeed, very wooden. So much so, that I came very close to slapping on a Brembo package on my Road King. Fortunately, I woke up from that bad dream. HD's are fine cruisers, but you can't override them - they don't forgive mistakes.

Condolences to the families.

 

[FlyingLow]

Damn. Live Oak Canyon Road. Just a few miles up the road from me, and one of the get-off roads from Cook's Corner, a biker bar and grill.

Car drivers buy it there all the time. Lot of ghosts on that road. Be careful on this one. It's a tight, windy, compressed 4 mile long Angeles Crest.

 

[Silver Penguin]

That's sad news. No matter what they rode, these were fellow bikers who presumably had loving families and friends who will miss them terribly.

Live Oak Canyon is one of my favorite roads. The twisties are not TOO tight but still fun. The trees form a canopy over the road in places, where the sun can peek through making pretty shadows.

My condolences to those three families.

Jill

 

[odot]

Chrissy?

 

[madmike2]

Jill, great to see you "out-and-about". How's the infamous patient?