i cheated death

[dean]

on wednesday it was 27 degrees F out, but i rode the fjr in to work anyway. i was on an interstate (i-275 westbound in norhern kentucky/cincinnati), and just in the middle of a long, gentle sweeping right hand curve, a semi on my right that i was riding past decided he needed to be not in my lane, but the lane to my left, two lanes over from him. at apprx 65 mph (seriously, was too cold to go faster) his trailer came crashing onto my right hand, the bottom corner of the trailer slicing down onto my hand pinning it down. my shoulder was literally leaned against his trailer as bike and i were leaning into the right hand sweeper, as he was changing lanes to the left, the two vehicles battling for a lane i couldn 't win. his trailer continued to pin and push me into the left lanes, me and bike against trailer, probably 500 feet until i could slow down and he passed. i pulled over, saw the damage to my hand inside my glove, and was pretty sure it was going to be a mangled sinewy mess. he pulled over about 3/4ths mile up on i-275, flashers on for about a minute, and pulled away. had i been 5 feet further up, i would have been in the space between the cab and the trailer. close your eyes and picture that scenario: i'm leaned over to the right making a gentle arcing right hand turn, semi is making a quick left hand maneuver to change lanes, and i'm in that open area between his cab and his trailer. i would have had nothing to lean against, nothing to keep me upright. it would have been very, very bad. had i been five feet further back he would have clipped my front tire, sending me into a full-on test mode of my gear aerostich. so like i said, the Hand of God came to my aid. i cheated death. ( :

my injuries? two nasty gashes on my right hand, about 10 stitches. a tetanus shot. a nasty antibiotic shot in my quadriceps muscle that felt like someone hit me with a sledgehammer. heated right hand glove torn and bloodied to shite. right grip with lots of blood and a little gash on it. wednesday was a great day! ( :

i have pics, will try to post them...

 

[SacramentoMike]

Wow. I suppose you were too shaken to go talk to him? Did you just ride on to work? To the ER? How close did you come to going down, and what damage to the bike if any? That's a very scary story; glad you could tell it. Hope you recover well enough to begin typing with both hands soon (so you can make capital letters again). :lol:

 

[dean]

i don't like having to put pics up on a photo account just so i can post them here, so instead here are links to the fj forum where i've posted the pics.

first pic is damage to glove; second pic is 4 hours after injury in e.r. before getting cleaned up. note the amount of fresh blood still going on, despite 4 hours later. third pic is after the Licocaine shots, post cleaning/scrubbing, but before the stitches.

https://fjowners.com/gallery/4/14_03_04_13_1_31_33_0.jpeg

https://fjowners.com/gallery/4/14_03_04_13_1_31_33_1.jpeg

https://fjowners.com/gallery/4/14_03_04_13_1_31_34_2.jpeg

 

[dean]

mike, the driver pulled over probably 3/4th's of a mile up from me, obviously too far for him to back up, and i was in no condition to drive up to him. i made some bad decisions, i should have called 911 and just waited. then when i didn't do that, i should have turned around and headed home. instead i went on to work, thinking i'd assess from there. of course, they said no way was i going to stay at work with my hand in that condition, so then i had to ride the bike home. didn't _have_ to ride bike home, but that was the most efficient course of action. i was doing the better part of 90 mph up the interstate and blew by a kentucky state trooper running radar in the high speed emergency lane. as soon as i saw him apply his rear brake to shift from park to D, i pulled over so quickly he just drove up the emergency lane. he'd heard from other local units of a 911 call of a motorcycle "accident" earlier in the morning, so when i showed him my condition he was very cool and said get the hell to the e.r. pronto.

as far as how close to going down, the wall of the trailer was my saving grace. it kept me upright, despite drastically changing my course of direction. picture in your head a bear cub wanting to run to the right. and then mama bear runs up to the side and redirects the cub to the left just by staying next to it and continually pushing it in the other direction. that was what it was like. again, had i been in that area between the cab and the trailer, it would have been a very bad day.

i had the fz1 mirrors on, so the right mirror just folded up like it is supposed to do. the only damage that i can tell is a 1/4" cut to the right grip, and lots of blood, including some pooled blood on the grip.

this was without a doubt the widest margin of "how close i came to death, yet look at how little anything bad happened to me".

 

[garyahouse]

Good thing the weather required those heavy gloves. If it had that been your bare hand...

Also, had you been going faster than the truck, your momentum would have caused the handlebars to turn to the right, causing your front tire to veer to the right and... It could have been so much worse. You said,"the Hand of God came to your aid." Yup. The joy of living by faith is that you don't have to die without it. You have a lot to be thankful for. When ya show up at church on Sunday, make sure to share your story.

Gary

darksider #44

MAYBE GET YOURSELF A SET OF CLEARWATER LIGHTS?

 

[hppants]

Amazing story. Glad you not injured worst. Hope your recovery is quick and easy.

 

[steveoreno]

Glad you are ok. I have family in Cincy and hate riding on the I-States during rush hour there. We are always invisible to the cagers.

 

[VTFJR13]

Wow! I so glad you ok Dean. It is getting very dangerous out there for us motorcyclist. So many distracted drivers today. again I'm so glad you only suffered minor injuries.

 

[Falko]

wow, few stitches is better than many alternatives to that one.

 

[TomInPA]

Scary indeed, and a fortunate outcome. A good reminder to keep plenty of clearance on the 18 wheelers. They have very limited rear vision to the left when on a right-hand curve. Terrible choice of location for a lane change.

 

[puppychow]

My God! Couldn't bring myself to look at the pics! The story painted a visual scary enough. Glad you are not any worse off and most of all glad you are alive and mostly in one piece! Fare better and heal fast!

 

[dean]

gary, i always wear gloves, regardless of weather. one of the best pieces of advice i've ever heard was given in a post to the yamaha fj1100/1200 group by a seasoned veteran, andy the pugh. he said no matter what you do, always wear gloves. when you go down, you will instinctiviely reach out with your hands. and if you don't have protection, you will be screwed. you can't eat, you can't drink, you can't wipe your ass.

i always wear gloves. ( :

Good thing the weather required those heavy gloves. If it had that been your bare hand...Also, had you been going faster than the truck, your momentum would have caused the handlebars to turn to the right, causing your front tire to veer to the right and... It could have been so much worse. You said,"the Hand of God came to your aid." Yup. The joy of living by faith is that you don't have to die without it. You have a lot to be thankful for. When ya show up at church on Sunday, make sure to share your story.

Gary

darksider #44

MAYBE GET YOURSELF A SET OF CLEARWATER LIGHTS?

 

[dean]

tom, he was in a lane that was merging off the current interstate onto another one, and he realized it too late, causing his reaction. there was no "choice" on his part, he did an "oh shit i gotta get over now" move. so yeah, terrible choice to change lanes without looking.

Scary indeed, and a fortunate outcome. A good reminder to keep plenty of clearance on the 18 wheelers. They have very limited rear vision to the left when on a right-hand curve. Terrible choice of location for a lane change.

 

[Burnspot]

Former commercial driver here... That's some scary stuff! Good thing luck was on your side and you were able to ride away! It's too bad you couldn't get any information on the truck.

I tend to not waste any time around big rigs if I can help it...too many potentials.

 

[bgross]

Thanks for sharing your story - glad it had a 'shiney-side-up' stop.

I'm always pleased when The Divine Spectator's need for entertainment is satisfied without loss of life or limb, especially my own and my friends.

I imagine that hand is going to have your attention for a few days. Eat your Grunt Candy and heal quickly!

 

[rogdeb]

Helluva story !!!! So glad the outcome was ............. a lot better than it could have been. Just looked at the photo links ..... yeeeeew !!

 

[dcarver]

Contact the carrier if you caught the name?

Very good to read your ok, OK in the big pix.

Did you have a flash of anger?

 

[Bounce]

Another reminder not to hang out in "The No Zone". Glad you survived.

Personally, I consider anything from 100 yards back to 100 front to be my NO ZONE.

 

[dean]

Wow! I so glad you ok Dean. It is getting very dangerous out there for us motorcyclist. So many distracted drivers today. again I'm so glad you only suffered minor injuries.

thx EN (i assume that's you?). see you at the ECSFJ rally?