Ride report. Crashed.

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Crashing sucks, but glad you're alright. Bones heal given enough time. And you know, the amount of time increases as we get older. And bikes can be replaced.

I tell ya... I don't care how many times I've been down a road, I *try* to not ride beyond what I'm able to see or quicker than I'm able to react.

Anyway, get yourself healed and go from there.

 
I hate tar snakes, they always make me pucker. Sorry to hear about the wreck, but very glad you walked away. +1 for ATGAT!. Definitely listen to the spouse's concerns, and evaluate how or if you want to continue riding. I'm exceedingly blessed that my bride loves riding on the FJR with me, but if she didn't and all my riding was solo, I would definitely have to think about my longer trips and how she would react to any 'incident' I had along the way. Of course, there are many ways to mitigate both the risks of riding and the trepidation of a spouse. Find what works best for you both.

 
Quite a story .... could have been worse but glad it wasn't. Listen to wifey for a while, take time to heal well .............. then go buy the next FJR -- or whatever bike.

 
We have tons of tar snakes here in Oregon. The are even worse on a hot day. Glad you are able to walk away from this. Smart riders gear up! You will be back in the saddle soon.

 
Sorry to read about your crash. The road where it happened is Grant Road 20. The west end of 20 is probably the slickest road I have ever ridden on when there are no clouds and the temperatures get above 90 degrees. The pavement has too much tar compound and it literally comes to the surface in the form of tiny tar balls. There isn't any way to safely ride around a corner except to slow down enough that leaning is not required. I keep hoping that they will resurface the west end with something that is motorcycle friendly but there probably is not a lot of incentive for the locals to do that since so many sport bike riders choose to ride that road at excessive and sometimes lethal speeds.

 
Its never good to hear about crashes but in this case not so bad since you're still in one piece. I had a 50 mph get off after hitting a left turning (unintentional, hit from behind) chevy cavalier that resulted in my fractured left scapular. The injury healed OK but did require many weeks of physical therapy to get my range of motion back. Do what the doctors and nurses tell you!

I didn't ride for 2-3 months after that. I didn't feel confident enough with the strength of my shoulder. Plus I was having bad dreams about wayward Chevys.

Hope your healing goes well.

 
Good you're OK, sucks losing the bike though. Others here, me included, have had wrecks that make you ponder mortality. If you find the fun outweighs the risk you're not alone.

 
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Good write up, very honest report. ATGATT baby! Saved my ass when a deer totaled my Feejeer last year. Sucks losing a good bike to a crash.

Heal fast!

Going to buy another FJR? Some folks think that 13 is mighty nice
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Thanks guys for the words of encouragement. I will be on a bike as soon as I can. I bought that baby brand new and was proud to put 33k on it. She treated me well. My wife is glad I am ok and misses the bike too. (We will ask her again when I start looking at new bikes). We had quite a few rides planed for the fall but guess those can wait. It's hard going to the shop and seeing it all torn down. Even harder coming home to an empty garage. Oh well it could have been worse.

 
Yep my experience on the tar road, NFR 20 in Oregon, was similar to yours. Lucky for me I avoided crashing. Like you the front end was moving around pretty good. At one point I stopped check out the road by putting my foot down and moving it around. Slippery and gooey surface with tar blooms everywhere. Nice road but don't try to ride it like any other road in the area.

Nice to hear you only have minor injuries. Get well soon.

 
Could have turned out much worse, glad you came through it with only minor injuries. Bikes can be replaced...heal quick and begin the search! I've never been fond of the bottom part of Grant 20 just for this reason, seems its always slippery, dirty and has critters all over it.

--G

 
Another good ATGATT story. It sucks that the bike didn't fare very well, but that is replaceable. Heal well (physically and emotionally).

 
FWIW, looking at those pictures in your blog, those are not tar snakes, just a shitload of tar that was laid down on top of the road for who knows what reason. Tar snakes are the gooey tar sealer they shoot into the cracks in the roadways to prevent water from getting under it after it has already cracked. They are bad enough, especially when the ribbons of tar run in the same direction as the road but that wide sheet of tar looks downright awful. Seems they were not thinking about motorcycles riding down that road too much.

Glad you are OK.

 
I'm glad to hear you're ok. Tar snakes suck. My wife and I hit one a few weeks ago that gave us quite a wobble. Luckily I recovers and rode on, albeit a little slower!

Heal well.

 
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