FREEKING GRAVEL!!!!

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keithaba

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Location
Louisville, KY
Yesterday was beautiful, 78 degrees, sunny, and clear skies. Sara hasn't been feeling well, so we decided to get a little fresh air and go to a local park. About 5 minutes from our destination is a series of rather sharp curves, on a steep incline. I took my time going slow, being cautious with the blind curves, and the sometimes shady road conditions in this area.

I come around a blind corner and see some gravel spanning my entire lane. I don't have much time, so I steady the throttle, and take the turn wide, trying to minimize my lean angle.

The bike just shoots right out from underneath us, gone... In other crash situations, I sorta saw what led up to the crash, and can disect what happened, not this time. All I heard was Sara screaming.... I tucked in and started to slide, I could feel Sara sliding behind me, and seperating from me. Somehow I manage to turn my body towards hers and catch her arm as she reaching for me. We stop with her legs over an embankment with a relatively sharp drop.

As I pull her up, I ask her if she is o.k. A lady in the car behind us saw what happened, and had already called 911. As I am assessing her, she has no serious injuries. I hear the distinctive sound of a Harley approaching the bend. I popped up, and ran to the curve, I couldn't see the guy coming. I tried to warn him but couldn't see him before he entered the corner. He came into the corner slowly, and his bike just shoots right out. I watch him roll at least 5-6 times, back, face, back, face, back, face. I thought he was going to be seriously injurred, but he pops right up. No helmet, short sleave shirt, and jeans. His arms were rashed, his knees as well, I could not beleive he didn't hit his head. We righted his bike, and I went back over to Sara, whose second bout of screaming started as she witnessed this guy just crash like we did.

I am absolutely fine.... I have 1 scratch on my finger, and a nickel sized abrasion on my right leg. Sara, is o.k. but the road rash is a little rough on her knee. Her knee is pretty sore, but all the x-rays checked out fine, and nothing serious.

As for the bike, it ended up going over the embankment, down the ditch, and hit a tree... We had low sided, and the right side where it slid took almost no damage. Only the slider and the bag were screwed up. The left side, not so fortunate. The bike must have flipped when it went over the embankment. It crashed down on the left front.... again.... causing about equal damage to my first crash. I don't think I'm going to get to ride for a while...

I wish I had bought her some protective pants, I just never saw this hapening. A decent pair of pants with knee pads would have prevented her knee injuries.

Ride safe out there, gravel sucks...!!!

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You can see the gravel in this picture. You can't make out how there are at least 3-4 other marks that are obvious low sides. You can see lines in the concrete from other peoples sliders, as well as mine.

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My jacket.

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her jacket

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she got a little road rash on her hand, better gloves would have helped

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Ouch..ouch..ouch. Hope ya'll heal OK. Your kit looks to of done its job. As for the bike, its only money.

 
Been there, done that. My wife and I went down a couple of years ago while riding near our NC mountain house. Gravel all over the road....we went down so fast we didn't even know what happened. An episode like this tends to make you paranoid about crap on the road. I hope everything works out well for you guys.

 
WOW! That's twice now, glad you guys aren't too seriiously injured. Somethings in the air, I'm gonna be extra careful when I finally get back on the bike. Good luck, hope she heals quick, even though it sounds like the scars are more inside than outside for her! That gravel's a bitch, that's what helped me down.

 
Glad your both ok.
do you have insurance for this bike?
No.... This one means good by FJR for a while... :bye2:

Black Mamba: It is amazing how fast it happened. I think the added weight 2up cause the tire to skid out easier like that. Just different weight porportion than 1 up.

 
Glad y'all weren't badly hurt. Just how badly is your bike damaged? Thanks for the post and the excellent pictures.

You've just given me that extra nudge to order Nancy riding pants.

 
Damn, dude....That's just not good at all. Sorry to both of you. I hope your SO recovers enough to get back on some day, if or when you do.

No fun fixing a bike once, much less twice. You might want to take the Odot approach this time. :lol:

I wish I had bought her some protective pants, I just never saw this hapening. A decent pair of pants with knee pads would have prevented her knee injuries.
I was thinking about getting Eve some Draggin' Jeans, so she won't have to deal with the hassle of the heavy overpants, but they don't have padding, so I guess she'll just have to weigh the hassle against the safety and decide whether to tag along or not.

Left or right hander? Any idea how fast you were going when it went out from under you? I'm wondering if it would have been possible to stand the bike straight up and bet the farm on ABS....and looking at that strategy as an option in the future. Leaned over on gravel ain't much of an option.

[soapbox]Not to sound condescending, but this should be a testimony to all about proper apparel. From the looks of things, and how slow you say you were going, I'd say your gear was marginal at best. Would you like to wear the same stuff sliding on asphalt from 60 or 70mph? That jacket looks pretty rashed, and the last time I saw it, that leg looked a whole lot better. :chickawow:

And on that note, I'm working on a certain group buy that many of you should seriously consider. Details soon forthcoming.

Gear isn't the sexiest farkle, but more of a necessary evil, like insurance. Much better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Don't be the next rider to leave some skin behind![/soapbox]

Is that doo-rag Snell approved? At least he has confirmation that he doesn't need a helmet now. He might have been killed if he was wearing one....

[Hypocrisy]I rode (around town) all day yesterday in shorts, boots, gloves, t-shirt, and half helmet. It was a hoot! Glad I didn't crash! That might hurt....[/Hypocrisy]

 
Really sorry! BTDT also. In my case I was on a gravel road, knew of the hazards and still could not stop it from going down. Hope you both heal quickly and that you get back the bike back on the road soon.

Tony

 
Toe is absolutely right. I will ride again in the future, not really sure if she will ever take part again. When I do ride again, I will probably be looking at a roadcrafter.

The bike layed upide down in a ditch like that for at least 30 minutes. Some dude who has bikes, had already garaged the first guy's bike that crashed. He came back and pulled my bike out with his truck.

I don't think I was going more than 10-15 mph??? Not really sure, it happened so damn fast.

It was funny, on my way back, I'm looking for the spot, and I see an FJR. "That's an FJR," I say. "Wait, that's my FJR!"

If it wouldn't have went in the ditch, the bike would have been fine. Really minor damage from the low side, almost nothing on the fiaring.

*SKYWAY FRAME SLIDERS WORK* Just not so well in a ditch.

The right pipe hit a freeking tree. Hoping the pipe took all the force and not the swingarm.

Left side of the bike not so good. Front subframe... done... again!!!

Amazingly, the bike starts up without even choking, throttle fine, shifting fine, this bike is a TANK!

He was drinking a bud when I talked to him. I am nontheless bringing him a case of Bud when I go pick the bike up!!!

 
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Glad you're both in relatively good shape considering. Please don't give up too quick on fixing the bike. There sure is a lot of support here, as you know, so maybe you will get some help in your area from other fjr riders putting it back together. At the entrance to my subdivision, they cut through the road to lay a pipe down and then covered it back up w/o putting asphault back on top yet. It's been about a week. The first time turning in from the direction that put me on it quickly, slid out just enough to scare the crap out of me. Now it's in my mind every time. Need to call the municipality and complain a little and go there and sweep it up myself before someone else gets hurt.

 
That rash looks painful. Bet it was jeans that disappeared when they should have been protecting her. Hope she gets well soon. Nice to see the mesh held up as well as it did to this low-speed crash. Looks like new gear is on the shopping list. Any ideas where you'll make improvements next time?

 
I'm glad your both okay. It always really hits home when this happens 2-up. You're right about the gear, my pillion has to wear all the gear all the time...period. She has better gear than I do, it hurt the wallet but id rather spend the money than see something bad happen that could have possibly been prevented.

Was the gravel fine, like sand, or was it small rocks??

I cant believe right after you went down you watched another guy go down...thats a slippery corner.

Again...I'm glad youre both ok.

 
I'm glad your both okay. It always really hits home when this happens 2-up. You're right about the gear, my pillion has to wear all the gear all the time...period. She has better gear than I do, it hurt the wallet but id rather spend the money than see something bad happen that could have possibly been prevented.
Was the gravel fine, like sand, or was it small rocks??

I cant believe right after you went down you watched another guy go down...thats a slippery corner.

Again...I'm glad youre both ok.
Your absolutely right. That's what upsets me about this, she got hurt, and it probably could have been prevented.

It was small rocks and sand. There is a gravel and dirt driveway right in the middle of that corner. Rain washed the sand and rocks right into a bad spot.

It was not a tight corner at all either. The picture makes it look like a sharper turn than it really is. It was just soooo much gravel... While our crashes were very similar, the way we went down was different. We slid, he rolled.

 
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