Motoport testimonial (aka Hudson fall down, go boom.)

[Hudson]

I had a nasty get-off Sunday. Went down about 60 mph on a busy interstate (I90) during the weekend rush home, and slid a good while with a few tumbles mixed in for good measure. Could've been much worse, but I credit Motoport and a bit of luck for the outcome.

I was a safe pace riding behind an ambulance (it didn't have emergency lights on), in the slow lane, just about to exit, when for reason unknown the ambulance drifted into the shoulder a good 3 feet. Either something fell off the ambulance or he drove over some road debris, about the size of a bowling ball sawed in half, which went shooting out of his rear tire and impacted my front tire, causing the tire to blow. It was like one of those skeet shooters: perfectly aimed at the tire. No time to react or really think, it happened super quick, and wham, I was down in an instant on the right side sliding and tumbling.

About all I could think of is that I hoped the cars around me were not going to hit me. Two cars behind was a large tour bus, and they were able to slow down and avoid impact with me or anyone else. The ambulance driver saw my crash in his rear view mirror as he was correcting his drift, and he did come to a stop, and he and his rider came over to help. I was on my feet quickly, mostly to get out of the way of traffic.

I've been a Motorport advocate for a while, ever since I got their gear some years ago, and if the pics below don't convince you, I am not sure what will. The surface was really rough, not smooth but the rough asphalt chewed up by trucks and winter tire studs. This is what the gear looked like (I had on Motoport stretch Kevlar, the pants and the Marathon jacket, plus their gloves, and a set of Alpinestar goretex boots.

I spent just a little time on the side of my helmet, evidently.

Boots did their job, ankle was protected and note the feet.

The jacket was in amazing shape, and didn't ride up as I was sliding. Note the right shoulder where I first impacted, and the right wrist area.

Closeup of the shoulder:

 

[lonerider]

Damn, that could have been much worse and likely would have been without the gear on. Hope you weren't injured?

 

[HotRodZilla]

Dammit! Ouch! Glad you weren't hurt. Which bike were you on??

I'm glad your gear worked. That would have been terrible had you been wearing a t-shirt and do-rag. I'm guessing you'll need to throw away your shorts! Lol.

 

[Dr. Rich]

Glad you're OK.... Gear can be replaced... I didn't know that anyone in the PNW even knew what the slow lane was????

 

[Hudson]

Closeup of the wrist area:

Right rear of the jacket:

The pants took the brunt of the crash, especially the knee and the butt. I am guessing I hit on both the knee and shoulder, and slid on my butt once I tumbled?

The knee looks worse than it was - behind it is a perfectly good set of tri-armor that had no abrasion, which means the stretch kevlar held up.

Rear right leg got some abrasion too:

As did the butt of the pants, which has no armor underneath (but adjacent sacrum armor)

My one mistake was not wearing a sufficient base layer underneath. I had on gym shorts and a thin tee-shirt underneath, which meant a bit of friction/heat rash from the heat generated from the slide. If I had been wearing a base layer, like LD rdyer or similar, I'd be free of any rash. Here is the mesh layer underneath the right knee:

Shot of the knee armor: note it has not abrasion, meaning the Kevlar did its job.

Here's what my knees looked like:

 

[SacramentoMike]

Wow, Dave. Just what I was talking about yesterday in Hans' thread. You just never know where the next threat will come from. You can only try to be prepared. Glad YOU were.

 

[El Toro Joe]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune...glad to see how well your gear held up. I love my Motoport gear...but have not tested it yet.

 

[dcarver]

STOP THAT CRASHING CRAP RIGHT NOW!

...and please tell me it wasn't my KTM you just crashed out...

Dave, glad you're OK. I'm actually surprised you got any rash at all. I wonder if the non-stretch kevlar would have held up better?

What do you think?

D

 

[BkerChuck]

Damn! Glad to hear and see that you're okay. That gear did a quite impressive job given the description of the accident. Money well spent.

Heal up!

 

[08FJR4ME]

Dam lucky, glad your o.k. !!!!

How did the bike turn out. Total loss? I hope I never get to test my stitch.

Rest up,

Dave

 

[FjrVfr]

Damn it man, that's scary. I'm glad you're okay. My knee looked about the same when I tested my Motoport pants (also stretch) and I was wearing a thin base layer.

Do you know if the ambulance driver was able to answer that important text?

 

[TripperMike]

Don't you folks know that wearing all that gear is so not cool. And them helmets are so heavy and impair a rider's peripheral vision.

Just goes to show you, better to be uncool and healthy than cool and in great agony.

Happy to read you came through that unscathed Hudson. And SacMike is so right about not knowing where that threat may come from.

 

[ionbeam]

All that expensive riding gear is worthless. Until you fall down, then it's priceless.

Really glad to see that you managed to miss all the things that could have gone wrong! Hopefully a pair of quite painful burned knees is the extent of your personal damage. Everyone is interested in which motorcycle will need replacing. Heal quick! (I see your legs have the Bungie color palette

)

The ambulance driver owes ya. Did you name him in a police accident report?

 

[Top_Speed1]

Wowza, glad you came out in pretty good shape, a 60mph slider is pretty dramatic. Gear looks better than I would of thought.

Glad to have ya still here

 

[Bungie]

Glad to see you came through the ordeal with nothing more than a couple of burns and bruises Hudson. I've worn Motoport for a few years now; except for the bulk and the abrasiveness of it, love it. Your living proof why we continue to wear it.

BTW, what's your secret for tanning your legs like that?

 

[Hudson]

Here's a shot of the gloves: palms and lower thumb were worn, but not worn through.

The bike was (long sigh) the new to me MV Agusta. Not sure it is totalled (I really haven't brought myself to looking at it yet), and not posting pics yet (or in this thread) because I want this thread to be about the importance of good gear.

I was happy the ambulance driver stopped (as did the driver behind me). We took a police report, but officer said it was roadside debris which is no fault - notwithstanding the fact that said debris would'nt have been a factor unless said ambulance driver had stayed in his lane and not drifted over. He seemed really nervous and was very evasive - actually asked me "what happened dude?" I was pretty curt with him: "What happened was you drifted three feet onto the shoulder, kicked up something that hit my tire, and caused me to go down. What were you thinking?" His response pissed me off even more " I don't recall that". Bullshit. Guy behind me that stopped backed up my observations, which is why the officer took pains to tell me it was a no-fault situation (unless something had fallen off the ambulance).

I should be more pissed, but insurance will kick in and I am well covered. What matters is what everyone here said: I am not more seriously injured.

I talked with Motoport yesterday (mostly to thank Wayne for his gear). He told me the rash was heat transfer, which is why he recommends wearing some kind of base layer (like LD rider stuff) instead of just shorts and a thin t-shirt.

I'll say it again - this would have been far far worse but for really excellent gear, some quick thinking drivers behind me, and an unknown quantity of luck.

Shoulder remains really sore and stiff, but let's see what a few days of rest, muscle relaxer, and stretching will do.

I may post pics of the MV or I may not, but I will say - before you go paying another $600-1000k or more to upgrade your (seat/ driving lights/ shocks/ bags) spend the money on quality first rate gear. Without this stuff, I'd be picking rocks out of my skin and possibly setting a bone or two in place.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Glad you are OK, makes me think hard about upping my Gear Game, looked at Klim this morning.

 

[stevec677]

Wow!!!! I'm glad your ok and really impressed at how your gear held up. What kind of gloves are those? Heal up quick.

 

[Big Sky]

I like this very much:

"I may post pics of the MV or I may not, but I will say - before you go paying another $600-1000k or more to upgrade your (seat/ driving lights/ shocks/ bags) spend the money on quality first rate gear. Without this stuff, I'd be picking rocks out of my skin and possibly setting a bone or two in place."

You and your crash are worthy testament.

I have the same Alpine Stars boot and am glad to see they held up pretty well, despite no real armor in them. Some of your rash may have been abrasion from the textile inside the pants. Still, pretty minor considering what could have been. You dodged many bullets, so to speak. Sometimes shit beyond our control happens. You were as ready as can be.