Kaelaria
Well-known member
Not me, my wife
We took a ride for a couple hours to visit the Ikea store in Orlando and were coming home westbound on I-4, getting on NB I-75. The exit/entrance ramp is a long gentle curve, two lane. We were in the outside lane, she was riding behind me against my direction to her, just in case something happens (so I can see it and react quickly since odds are something will happen to her before me). Not 5 min prior down the road I had directed her to lead but she refused.
Anyway, just into the curve she paniced/froze, thinking she was going in to hot (we weren't), and she trusted the wrong instincts, standing the bike up, grabbing the brakes and shooting right off the road. LUCKILY it was a fiarly long grassy embankment, that had muddy weedy parts at the bottom, and she hit it at a shallow angle slowing her down in a hurry when she hit. She then ran through some small mangrove like trees, knocking her off the bike and sending it several feet into them on it's side. She said she closed her eyes when she got into the trees and screamed, then opened her eyes to see she was sitting on her butt in a shrub.
Unfortunately with me being ahead, I didn't see her immediately go off, and only had a general idea of where she could be. My first thought was she didn't make the exit and continued down I-4 and I REALLY didn't want to think about the what-if, of her actually going off the road. There is no shoulder, and no where for me to stop turn around or ride back. I made a split second decision once I saw her missing to go southbound and had to do the long way round of 4 exits to get back. A guy who witnessed it cought up to me at the first exit I was getting off at and confirmed my fear, that she indeed did go off on the curve. Needless to say I made it back ASAP, not caring if I got a ticket for 150 in the process.
I rolled up to find a trooper, a couple cars and a semi pulled over, with a crowd down in the trees. As I rolled up I saw a guy standing give me the OK hand signal, and my heart began beating again. I ran down and talked to her, she was in shock, but nothing broken. EMS and a firecrew rolled up and got her to lay down and gave her a once over, treating several bad gashes. She already had a few really bad bumps showing, and was getting sore and swollen. 2:30 later the scene was cleaned up and the bike was on a flatbed going home.
Shes super sore today on a cocktail of anti-inflamtories, motrin, icepacks and TLC. The HD dealer has her Sportster, and after I washed it for 30 min, removed 20 lbs of foilage, mud and limbs from it, the damage looks expensive, but cosmetic. It was techincally rideable home, but she wasn't able, no how no way. I rode it to the dealer this morning and dropped it off.
The far road ranger truck is where she went off. The pic is after I pulled it out of the trees and where she landed, 2nd pic.
We took a ride for a couple hours to visit the Ikea store in Orlando and were coming home westbound on I-4, getting on NB I-75. The exit/entrance ramp is a long gentle curve, two lane. We were in the outside lane, she was riding behind me against my direction to her, just in case something happens (so I can see it and react quickly since odds are something will happen to her before me). Not 5 min prior down the road I had directed her to lead but she refused.
Anyway, just into the curve she paniced/froze, thinking she was going in to hot (we weren't), and she trusted the wrong instincts, standing the bike up, grabbing the brakes and shooting right off the road. LUCKILY it was a fiarly long grassy embankment, that had muddy weedy parts at the bottom, and she hit it at a shallow angle slowing her down in a hurry when she hit. She then ran through some small mangrove like trees, knocking her off the bike and sending it several feet into them on it's side. She said she closed her eyes when she got into the trees and screamed, then opened her eyes to see she was sitting on her butt in a shrub.
Unfortunately with me being ahead, I didn't see her immediately go off, and only had a general idea of where she could be. My first thought was she didn't make the exit and continued down I-4 and I REALLY didn't want to think about the what-if, of her actually going off the road. There is no shoulder, and no where for me to stop turn around or ride back. I made a split second decision once I saw her missing to go southbound and had to do the long way round of 4 exits to get back. A guy who witnessed it cought up to me at the first exit I was getting off at and confirmed my fear, that she indeed did go off on the curve. Needless to say I made it back ASAP, not caring if I got a ticket for 150 in the process.
I rolled up to find a trooper, a couple cars and a semi pulled over, with a crowd down in the trees. As I rolled up I saw a guy standing give me the OK hand signal, and my heart began beating again. I ran down and talked to her, she was in shock, but nothing broken. EMS and a firecrew rolled up and got her to lay down and gave her a once over, treating several bad gashes. She already had a few really bad bumps showing, and was getting sore and swollen. 2:30 later the scene was cleaned up and the bike was on a flatbed going home.
Shes super sore today on a cocktail of anti-inflamtories, motrin, icepacks and TLC. The HD dealer has her Sportster, and after I washed it for 30 min, removed 20 lbs of foilage, mud and limbs from it, the damage looks expensive, but cosmetic. It was techincally rideable home, but she wasn't able, no how no way. I rode it to the dealer this morning and dropped it off.
The far road ranger truck is where she went off. The pic is after I pulled it out of the trees and where she landed, 2nd pic.
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