Crashed FJR & "God really loves me"

[Clark Kent]

I was riding home from work last week, traveling through one of the canyon roads that connect my home and work. I had just gotten back to work the previous week from a five month disability leave for neck & back problems. Getting back to work and picking up where I left off was important to me. Riding my FJR after the five month time was good. I didn't feel that I was "rusty" from the lack of riding. I was wrong.
The canyon roads are often filled with many challenges. The sharp curves, gravel on the road, drivers that are filled with road rage, etc. Normally I ride through being "hyper alert", seeking out danger and avoiding it. On this day I noticed the road had the usual gravel obsticals on the roadway. I make a point of avoiding as much as I could. The curve ahead, I spot gravel and set my line around the outside. What I didn't realize is that I must have been traveling faster than I should. My turn was fairly tight but not scrapping the pegs. I broke one of the commandments of riding... my focus shifted to where I was headed - Off the road. In a brief moment I realized that I was going off the road. The decreasing radius turn, gravel, and my "rusty" riding skills led me to a place I have never been. Sliding off the roadway I hit several trees. I don't remeber being able to see much but I do recall hearing the sound of my FJR being torn apart. Very quickly it was over. I lay prone beside a pine tree. opening my eyes I could see branches filled with pine cones. My body hurt all over. My left leg and arm were in pain. I could barely move, so I lay there hoping someone would come to my aid. Time passed and eventually a motorist drove by and yelled that his cell phone didn't work in the canyon but he would get help. As I lay there I couldn't imagine what I just did. I felt like such an idiot. How the hell could I have done that? My FJR! I know it was damaged, but no idea of the extent. I hear vehicals approaching. Forest service personel, they tell me not to move. Lots of questions: Do you know where you are? Can you move your toes? Did you lose conscieneness? The CHP arrive. More questions... Have you been drinking? How fast were you going? I told the CHP officer that I wasn't drunk, just stupid. Over the next several hours, from the ambulance ride to ER, CT scans, xrays, etc. As I lay on the gurnny I see my son come into view. He holds my hand and asks if I'm ok. I'm lucky, I'm alive and know that things could have turned out much worse. The doctor finally comes back and informs me that nothing is broken. I have contusions (bruises) in many areas, but NOTHING BROKEN. I tell the doctor that since nothing is broken, I'll be dancing out of here! Over the next several hours I push myself to get off the bed so I can see how my leg feels. It was difficult to stand but I did. I think the doctors eyes were going to explode out of his head when he walked by seeing me standing up. After convincing the doctor that I was Ok, he discharged me and my wife drove me home.

The next day, while the pain was bad. All I was thinking about was my FJR... how is she? My wife drove me to the tow yard so that I could get my MC and get it into the repair shop. The owner of the tow asks me if I was the rider. He looked a bit shocked... and said to me "God loves you very much". I ask to see my bike and he points to where it is resting. I approach... the windscreen is gone, the mirrors are missing, the sides are scrapped to hell, the front end is smashed in, forks bent, front wheel forced back into the radiator, tweaked. I feel sick looking at it. My wife tells me I'm lucky. I tell her I know.

The FJR hit the trees and threw me over. A few bruises, that are healing... a FJR that could be repaired for $7000. I'm lucky to be alive. So what next? I don't think I will get the FJR fixed. I'm not sure what to do with the bike now. My wife thinks I should get a new red FJR. She says "it's only money". I guess she's right, it's only money and I'm pretty damn lucky. Would God still love me if I got the red one?

K9

GOD LOVES YOU. WHY DO YOU THINK HE TOOK THE BIKE OUT AND NOT YOU. YOU HAVE BEEN VERY GOOD AND HE WANTED YOU TO HAVE A RED BIKE.

Go for it! You do not want to get God mad!

CK

 

[Fore Stroke]

Yes, she does....and so does your awesome spouse.

When you're ready, ride again soon - and thanks for sharing your 'lessons.'

Don

 

[Fencer]

I approach... the windscreen is gone, the mirrors are missing, the sides are scrapped to hell, the front end is smashed in, forks bent, front wheel forced back into the radiator, tweaked. I feel sick looking at it. My wife tells me I'm lucky. I tell her I know.

But the real question is, "Is it a Ticker" :lol:

Glad your OK

 

[Rev Ed]

VERY glad to hear you're OK, K9.
By the way, I talked to God recently and while he's not a huge fan of red FJR's, he definitely loves everyone who rides one. For what it's worth, he seemed to be pretty excited about the '08 colors!

I have it on very good authority that God DOES love red--after all, Jesus' words are in red and why should the devil get all the good colors!

VERY Glad you're OK.

 

[rogerc]

I think your wife was messing with your pain pills.

Keep her on them until you get the red FJR home.

Glad you weren't hurt seriously.

For us OLD GUYS RULE group that would only be a week in bed.

Roger

OLD GUYS RULE

 

[DailyCommuter]

I can tell you I am glad you're O.K. I'm about 5 weeks out from a crash myself on an off ramp,(or off an off ramp depending on how you look at it), On my way to work on a Sunday morning, I took the same off ramp I always take the same way, maybe a little faster but not much, My big mistake was not staying comfortable during my hour and 20 minute ride to work. What happened was when I was approaching the off ramp, I think my foot spazzed a little and I downshifted an extra gear. When I let the clutch out my back tire locked up and I started skidding ad fishtailing toward the outer edge of the ramp. Amazingly I remembered in my MSF safety class a few years back that a rear tire skid is tricky, I held the skid on the tire with the rear brake to avoid a high side flip, and aimed for a very small clearing beyond the edge of the ramp. When I hit the curbing at the edge of ramp(cobbles, or granite curb ) Me and the bike went airborne. I pushed the bike away from me hard cuz I didn't want it killing me when we landed, when I hit the ground I rolled and flipped all around. I tried to sit up but I couldn't really so I started looking behind me for my bike, Suzuki Sv1000S. I spotted my tank bag about 20 feet away so I figured I better grab the cell phone, cuz I wasn't sure if anyone even saw me, Sunday AM is quiet on this stretch. As I was dragging my self on the ground toward the bag I hear this voice from behind me say, "hey buddy I don't know what's in that black bag that you think is so important, but help is on the way so lay still OK man." ,This guy saw the whole thing, he said I went about 60' in the air,(not up... just parallel with the ground). So I thanked him for stopping , he said he rode too. I said to him," do me a favor, grab that bag for me and get the key out of my bike if you can find it. I need that bag. Sure man whatever ya need. I got my helmet off, and my riding jacket, didn't want it to get cut off by EMS. Lit a smoke and looked at the guy there with me, and kinda winked at him, I guess I need a new bike huh!

The helmet I was wearing was an Arai Corsair rx-7 model, Tommy gun paint job on it. That helmet held up like a champ. Still using it, Need a new face shield and a good rub and buff and it was fine. My jacket was a Cortech brand, street jacket with shoulder and elbow armor, and back armor.

So what happened to me? Well aside from my right hand being a little scrapped up,(guess I lost a glove when I landed), and some knee and leg scrapes, I came out of it with a broken pelvis, but on the bright side I didn't need surgery to fix it, just a couple days in the hospital with some good meds, and now I got like 3 weeks left of physical therapy. I'm walking around pretty fine now, and don't have alot of pain, but on the brighter side. I got a good insurance payout on the bike, and bought my 07 fjr AE, about 2 weeks ago. I'm almost glad it happened. This bike rocks. No more kids bikes for me. People ask me all the time If I'm gonna quit riding

I just say," ever trip and fall down when you were walking or running?, did you quit?!?"

People who don't ride, don't understand, so don't tr to explain it. They don't get it.

Get the black cherry 07 you'll be glad you did. Hug the kids and kiss the wife!

my dad always told me when I was young...."experience is the best teacher, but it the most expensive too"

you gained valuable experience that day, (so did I) Just don't waste it...

Ride on and enjoy.

 

[rogdeb]

New FJR. Keep wife. Really glad you're not contemplating stopping (riding). Heal up fast, slow down.

Ditto, ditto

 

[TheBlueStreak]

Hey Dailycommutor,

I would get a new helmet as it sounds like form your descriuption of the damage it hit the deck. Helmetsa are one time use safety equipment.

Rob

 

[MikeYork5]

Glad to hear you're OK, sort of. Ya know, with the way things are going around here I think we ought to start a somewhat more Exclusive Club...... Called the FJR'ers Who Haven't Crashed Club.

 

[Joe]

Glad to hear your OK.

This may be a dumb question, but how is work

taking it. Sounds like you will be off a couple days?

Hope all works out OK for ya

 

[E1Allen]

Glad you are ok, only one thing to do, get up and ride some more.

 

[buckford]

Thanks goodness you're okay...I gotta go with silent on this one...I would be worried about frame bend/flex. It would suck to put all that money into it and it not track right. This isin't the type of bike you want steering problems on. Buy the new bike and in the meantime decide what to do with the wrecked one.

 

[waldmana]

God really was riding with you that day. So very happy you are ok. Get a new bike when you are better and we'll see you on the road.

 

[DrQ]

I was riding home from work last week, traveling through one of the canyon roads that connect my home and work. I had just gotten back to work the previous week from a five month disability leave for neck & back problems. Getting back to work and picking up where I left off was important to me. Riding my FJR after the five month time was good. I didn't feel that I was "rusty" from the lack of riding. I was wrong.
The canyon roads are often filled with many challenges. The sharp curves, gravel on the road, drivers that are filled with road rage, etc. Normally I ride through being "hyper alert", seeking out danger and avoiding it. On this day I noticed the road had the usual gravel obsticals on the roadway. I make a point of avoiding as much as I could. The curve ahead, I spot gravel and set my line around the outside. What I didn't realize is that I must have been traveling faster than I should. My turn was fairly tight but not scrapping the pegs. I broke one of the commandments of riding... my focus shifted to where I was headed - Off the road. In a brief moment I realized that I was going off the road. The decreasing radius turn, gravel, and my "rusty" riding skills led me to a place I have never been. Sliding off the roadway I hit several trees. I don't remeber being able to see much but I do recall hearing the sound of my FJR being torn apart. Very quickly it was over. I lay prone beside a pine tree. opening my eyes I could see branches filled with pine cones. My body hurt all over. My left leg and arm were in pain. I could barely move, so I lay there hoping someone would come to my aid. Time passed and eventually a motorist drove by and yelled that his cell phone didn't work in the canyon but he would get help. As I lay there I couldn't imagine what I just did. I felt like such an idiot. How the hell could I have done that? My FJR! I know it was damaged, but no idea of the extent. I hear vehicals approaching. Forest service personel, they tell me not to move. Lots of questions: Do you know where you are? Can you move your toes? Did you lose conscieneness? The CHP arrive. More questions... Have you been drinking? How fast were you going? I told the CHP officer that I wasn't drunk, just stupid. Over the next several hours, from the ambulance ride to ER, CT scans, xrays, etc. As I lay on the gurnny I see my son come into view. He holds my hand and asks if I'm ok. I'm lucky, I'm alive and know that things could have turned out much worse. The doctor finally comes back and informs me that nothing is broken. I have contusions (bruises) in many areas, but NOTHING BROKEN. I tell the doctor that since nothing is broken, I'll be dancing out of here! Over the next several hours I push myself to get off the bed so I can see how my leg feels. It was difficult to stand but I did. I think the doctors eyes were going to explode out of his head when he walked by seeing me standing up. After convincing the doctor that I was Ok, he discharged me and my wife drove me home.

The next day, while the pain was bad. All I was thinking about was my FJR... how is she? My wife drove me to the tow yard so that I could get my MC and get it into the repair shop. The owner of the tow asks me if I was the rider. He looked a bit shocked... and said to me "God loves you very much". I ask to see my bike and he points to where it is resting. I approach... the windscreen is gone, the mirrors are missing, the sides are scrapped to hell, the front end is smashed in, forks bent, front wheel forced back into the radiator, tweaked. I feel sick looking at it. My wife tells me I'm lucky. I tell her I know.

The FJR hit the trees and threw me over. A few bruises, that are healing... a FJR that could be repaired for $7000. I'm lucky to be alive. So what next? I don't think I will get the FJR fixed. I'm not sure what to do with the bike now. My wife thinks I should get a new red FJR. She says "it's only money". I guess she's right, it's only money and I'm pretty damn lucky. Would God still love me if I got the red one?

K9

Great Story. My wife would shoot me first (to prove that motorcycles seriously injure), then NEVER let me ride again!

 

[Windjammer]

Be sure to post up some pics of your new FJR...we'll be waiting!

**** that, tell us where you found your wife! :lol:

Glad to hear you weren't hurt too badly - heal up quick!!

 

[SecuLaw]

My wife thinks I should get a new red FJR. She says "it's only money". I guess she's right, it's only money and I'm pretty damn lucky. Would God still love me if I got the red one?
K9

Don't know about God but did your wife just up the amount on your life insurance policy?

 

[Dan23]

Sorry to hear of your get off; very glad to hear you survived it reasonably intact.

..The decreasing radius turn...

Discovering that a curve is decreasing radius while in that curve is just the sort of scenario that makes me ride the FJR keeping quite a bit more in reserve than on any other bike I've owned. The FJR's long wheelbase and high weight conspire to use up it's safety margin quickly.

 

[odot]

Glad to hear you're OK, sort of. Ya know, with the way things are going around here I think we ought to start a somewhat more Exclusive Club...... Called the FJR'ers Who Haven't Crashed Club.

Imagine the turnover from one club to the other?

 

[jmdaniel]

Yes, get a new FJR and marry your wife again.

 

[RonBB]

Glad you are OK. Totaled the 05 & bought an 07. So far so good. Ride safe. Ron