Lucky low side going 65 story
04-16-2015, 07:33 PM
#1
Junior Member
Squid
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Austin, Tx
Posts: 24
Lucky low side going 65 story
This is just my recount of what happened when I went down. seemed to be an interesting story to me figured I would share with the community.
Well I was riding home with a friend last friday the 10th. The only day I forgot to wear my jacket since getting my bike and had the girlfriend blowing up my phone all day because i promised i would always wear it. I had this bad feeling that something would happen all day even had ppl jinxing me talking about wrecking.
65mph on the interstate right when rush hour traffic starts. I do a head check to switch lanes and when I look back what do I see? the brand new camaro that i had been trailing with a lot of space had nailed its brakes hard enough to leave a skid. Only been riding for a few months took the safety class and all but make the worst knee jerk mistake ever and nail the front brake.
Its like a black out moment I grabbed the brake hard doesnt seem to skid at all then wake up hitting the ground. I tense up my body to start sliding and bracing myself trying to stop the skid but that hurts so i cross my arms and roll.
I open my eyes and see a blur of front and rear bumpers as im rolling, cars swerving and stopping. It was close to a 40yrd skid for the SH that went in the other lane. I finally stop rolling and the adrenaline kicks in. I jump up realize i hurt my ankle but cant really feel it just pressure like its gone numb.
I walk over to the SH and pick it up like its nothing. The friend that was riding with me said he was running back to help me get out of the street and I just Hulked the bike up and started walking like nothing happened.
When i get to the shoulder I find a man waiting for me already on the phone with 911. He was an off duty cop and the first thing he asks me is how the hell im walking and if i need EMS.
I declined medical attention and start looking over my bike to see what the damage was. The shifter was bent back so much it couldnt be moved so I pull on it to bend it back out enough to be able to get into gear. all i could think about was getting the hell off the highway.
The SH starts right back up and starts idling just fine but before I can hop on i notice this cold feeling on my arms and legs and see that ive got blood dripping from my knees and elbows. I do a quick check and realize its just some deep scrapes nothing too bad. I just want to get home so I hop on the bike go to put it in gear and realize the clutch lever had completely busted off.
Called a buddy with a truck to come get me had to ride in the back holding the bike up the whole time because he didnt have straps just to get home.
I got some liquid courage and cleaned all the wounds then bandaged myself up. My mother was an RN and home wound care nurse so I picked up a few things when i was younger.
Taking stock of everything I walked away from a 65mph wreck with a twisted ankle, busted knees, busted elbows, and bruised pride. Also when i woke up the next day my entire body hurt but i was told when i hit the ground i bounced so lets chalk it up to blunt force trauma.
The Superhawk suffered a bent shift lever, scratched up fairings but they already looked bad, and a broken clutch lever. Also the frame slider took one hell of a hit I already ordered new ones because damn did they save the bike.
Well I was riding home with a friend last friday the 10th. The only day I forgot to wear my jacket since getting my bike and had the girlfriend blowing up my phone all day because i promised i would always wear it. I had this bad feeling that something would happen all day even had ppl jinxing me talking about wrecking.
65mph on the interstate right when rush hour traffic starts. I do a head check to switch lanes and when I look back what do I see? the brand new camaro that i had been trailing with a lot of space had nailed its brakes hard enough to leave a skid. Only been riding for a few months took the safety class and all but make the worst knee jerk mistake ever and nail the front brake.
Its like a black out moment I grabbed the brake hard doesnt seem to skid at all then wake up hitting the ground. I tense up my body to start sliding and bracing myself trying to stop the skid but that hurts so i cross my arms and roll.
I open my eyes and see a blur of front and rear bumpers as im rolling, cars swerving and stopping. It was close to a 40yrd skid for the SH that went in the other lane. I finally stop rolling and the adrenaline kicks in. I jump up realize i hurt my ankle but cant really feel it just pressure like its gone numb.
I walk over to the SH and pick it up like its nothing. The friend that was riding with me said he was running back to help me get out of the street and I just Hulked the bike up and started walking like nothing happened.
When i get to the shoulder I find a man waiting for me already on the phone with 911. He was an off duty cop and the first thing he asks me is how the hell im walking and if i need EMS.
I declined medical attention and start looking over my bike to see what the damage was. The shifter was bent back so much it couldnt be moved so I pull on it to bend it back out enough to be able to get into gear. all i could think about was getting the hell off the highway.
The SH starts right back up and starts idling just fine but before I can hop on i notice this cold feeling on my arms and legs and see that ive got blood dripping from my knees and elbows. I do a quick check and realize its just some deep scrapes nothing too bad. I just want to get home so I hop on the bike go to put it in gear and realize the clutch lever had completely busted off.
Called a buddy with a truck to come get me had to ride in the back holding the bike up the whole time because he didnt have straps just to get home.
I got some liquid courage and cleaned all the wounds then bandaged myself up. My mother was an RN and home wound care nurse so I picked up a few things when i was younger.
Taking stock of everything I walked away from a 65mph wreck with a twisted ankle, busted knees, busted elbows, and bruised pride. Also when i woke up the next day my entire body hurt but i was told when i hit the ground i bounced so lets chalk it up to blunt force trauma.
The Superhawk suffered a bent shift lever, scratched up fairings but they already looked bad, and a broken clutch lever. Also the frame slider took one hell of a hit I already ordered new ones because damn did they save the bike.
04-16-2015, 08:00 PM
#2
Rex Kramer-Thrill Seeker
SuperBike
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Brookfield, WI
Posts: 2,312
Holy crap! Glad you made it out in decent condition. The bike can be repaired.
So, you hit the front brake to hard and the front end washed out on ya?
You think going down at 65mph hurts. Try 110mph.
So, you hit the front brake to hard and the front end washed out on ya?
You think going down at 65mph hurts. Try 110mph.
04-16-2015, 08:42 PM
#4
Rex Kramer-Thrill Seeker
SuperBike
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Brookfield, WI
Posts: 2,312
This is something I wrote back in '04 after a surgery. For some reason, I saved all this and just recently found it.
So you want to hear about the accident? Well, I am typing with one hand and I'm really bored, so I'll tell you a little about it. My mind is a little clouded from pain killers, so I hope it makes sense.
It all started on 9/19/99. It was a pretty warm day out so I didn't feel like wearing my leathers, but I did wear my helmet (thank God for that). Two of my buddies and I went riding out to Lake Geneva, WI, about 45 minutes from where I live. We cruzed around the town and then went to a few odd shops. We ate lunch and upon exiting the restaurant we noticed that the sky has turned black with storm clouds. We decide to head out and back home as soon as possible. We hop on our bikes and jet out of town. I was about ½ mile or so from the onramp to the highway that takes us the fast way home, when I decided to have a little fun before the roads got wet. I was riding my '87 Honda Sabre V-65 1100cc motorcycle. This sucker dynoed at 125hp & 127 ft.lbs. at the wheel. Well, I was going about 40-45 mph, when I decided to rev it up and drop it into second gear and pop the clutch, like I've done many times before. I do this and it results in a nice wheelie, which gently lays back down and then I top off second gear. When I pop it into third gear, things really start to go wrong. About 2 seconds into third gear, the front end started shaking, and then it started shaking really bad, then I started to get tank slap (steering was going from lock to lock, left to right) violently! I didn't know this at the time, but my buddies that were behind me said that the bikes front and rear tire were coming off the ground, going from the left to the right. It was bad. What I knew at the time was, the only way to get yourself out of tank slap is to give it throttle and get the weight off the front tire, so you can get control of it, but I was already at full throttle. Just then, the bike threw my *** up and off the seat and somehow caught my legs and whipped me to the right and slammed me into the ground. This is where I broke my right collar bone. I knocked the back right side of my helmet on the ground during the fall. I spun around 360 degrees and slid on my feet with arms extended to the sides surfing style. I guess the many years of inline skating and snowboarding paid off here. I was going so fast that just pitching my hands in the air helped to sturdy myself. I then came to a stop and stood up and watched my bike slide on the ground for what seemed like eternity. I watched the bike hit an expansion crack and the headlight exploded. Then it hit a pot hole and the gauge cluster exploded into little plastic bits. All the time it was sliding, the foot pegs, which were made from magnesium, were grinding into the pavement, making for a fantastic shower of white sparks. The bike came to a rest in the opposite lane, luckily with no traffic in sight. I ran to my bike and tried to right it. I grabbed a hold of the bike and tried to lift, but my hand stayed with the bike and my body stood up. I think this is the point at which I realized a bone was broken and something wasn't quite right. My buddies escorted me to the side of the road and made sure I was okay, then they picked up the bike and the little bits of it that were scattered over the road. When the cops showed up, they said they rode sport bikes and have done stupid things also, but not with results as this. I received no tickets. They measured the bike sliding 522 feet. The instrument cluster read 90 mph when they found it. They say I fell doing a little over 110 mph. Had I not been wearing a helmet, I'm convinced I wouldn't be here typing this. So, I got a broken collar bone and road rash on the back of my shoulder as a result of the fall.
Here is what happened in order after the crash, but I'll keep it short. Well, I was put in a figure eight sling to help my collar bone to heal, but for some odd reason it didn't. So, after a little while, a doctor we'll call him Doctor Crap For Brains, decided that he would install a plate on top of the collar bone, held in place by six screws. This worked well and I was feeling fine, for the time being. Months later, I started to get weird feelings, like seeing stuff (stars and black dots) and my right arm was getting numb. Little did I know that these are the signs of little tiny strokes. From what I know, one of the six screws holding that plate in place on my collar bone went through the bone a little to far and was smashing an artery between the tip of the screw and my top rib every time I moved my arm. It was causing blood clots to form inside the artery which traveled to my brain. Eventually I had a stroke. It destroyed a silver dollar size section of my brain. When I went to the hospital to get it fixed, I was told they were going to fix the artery by cleaning it out with this balloon thing and remove the plate and screws, since the collar bone was now healed. I was told the surgery was going to take an hour, tops.
8 hours later, I wake up with a tube and ball (a drain) hanging out my right shoulder, a catheter hanging out my ah, unit between my legs, my right inner thigh was hurting and I felt like a got run over by a dump truck. To this day, that was the absolute worst pain I have ever felt. Turns out the artery was so damaged that they need to do a bypass and removed a large vain from my leg and bypassed the artery over my collar bone.
Lots of suffering and rehab from that, but we'll fast forward to last week. I had to have a rib removed because when I lift my right arm up, a vein was getting pinched off and blood was able to get to my arm, but not out of it. So my arm would turn neat shades of blue and purple. This was bad, especially since I work in construction. It was performed by a top dog Doctor at a well know hospital in Milwaukee, WI. The surgery was a simple one I was told, but since my arm was so messed up before hand, it was very risky. I actually made history as the first person to do a certain type of CT scan at this hospital. Lots of Doctors visited to see who I was and what was happening to me. Lots of attention.
Anyhow, it worked out and I'm alive today to talk about it. There is A LOT more to this story, but I kept it kind of short so as not to turn into a freakin' book. Hopefully this is the last surgery I will have to go through because of this stupid bike accident.
It all started on 9/19/99. It was a pretty warm day out so I didn't feel like wearing my leathers, but I did wear my helmet (thank God for that). Two of my buddies and I went riding out to Lake Geneva, WI, about 45 minutes from where I live. We cruzed around the town and then went to a few odd shops. We ate lunch and upon exiting the restaurant we noticed that the sky has turned black with storm clouds. We decide to head out and back home as soon as possible. We hop on our bikes and jet out of town. I was about ½ mile or so from the onramp to the highway that takes us the fast way home, when I decided to have a little fun before the roads got wet. I was riding my '87 Honda Sabre V-65 1100cc motorcycle. This sucker dynoed at 125hp & 127 ft.lbs. at the wheel. Well, I was going about 40-45 mph, when I decided to rev it up and drop it into second gear and pop the clutch, like I've done many times before. I do this and it results in a nice wheelie, which gently lays back down and then I top off second gear. When I pop it into third gear, things really start to go wrong. About 2 seconds into third gear, the front end started shaking, and then it started shaking really bad, then I started to get tank slap (steering was going from lock to lock, left to right) violently! I didn't know this at the time, but my buddies that were behind me said that the bikes front and rear tire were coming off the ground, going from the left to the right. It was bad. What I knew at the time was, the only way to get yourself out of tank slap is to give it throttle and get the weight off the front tire, so you can get control of it, but I was already at full throttle. Just then, the bike threw my *** up and off the seat and somehow caught my legs and whipped me to the right and slammed me into the ground. This is where I broke my right collar bone. I knocked the back right side of my helmet on the ground during the fall. I spun around 360 degrees and slid on my feet with arms extended to the sides surfing style. I guess the many years of inline skating and snowboarding paid off here. I was going so fast that just pitching my hands in the air helped to sturdy myself. I then came to a stop and stood up and watched my bike slide on the ground for what seemed like eternity. I watched the bike hit an expansion crack and the headlight exploded. Then it hit a pot hole and the gauge cluster exploded into little plastic bits. All the time it was sliding, the foot pegs, which were made from magnesium, were grinding into the pavement, making for a fantastic shower of white sparks. The bike came to a rest in the opposite lane, luckily with no traffic in sight. I ran to my bike and tried to right it. I grabbed a hold of the bike and tried to lift, but my hand stayed with the bike and my body stood up. I think this is the point at which I realized a bone was broken and something wasn't quite right. My buddies escorted me to the side of the road and made sure I was okay, then they picked up the bike and the little bits of it that were scattered over the road. When the cops showed up, they said they rode sport bikes and have done stupid things also, but not with results as this. I received no tickets. They measured the bike sliding 522 feet. The instrument cluster read 90 mph when they found it. They say I fell doing a little over 110 mph. Had I not been wearing a helmet, I'm convinced I wouldn't be here typing this. So, I got a broken collar bone and road rash on the back of my shoulder as a result of the fall.
Here is what happened in order after the crash, but I'll keep it short. Well, I was put in a figure eight sling to help my collar bone to heal, but for some odd reason it didn't. So, after a little while, a doctor we'll call him Doctor Crap For Brains, decided that he would install a plate on top of the collar bone, held in place by six screws. This worked well and I was feeling fine, for the time being. Months later, I started to get weird feelings, like seeing stuff (stars and black dots) and my right arm was getting numb. Little did I know that these are the signs of little tiny strokes. From what I know, one of the six screws holding that plate in place on my collar bone went through the bone a little to far and was smashing an artery between the tip of the screw and my top rib every time I moved my arm. It was causing blood clots to form inside the artery which traveled to my brain. Eventually I had a stroke. It destroyed a silver dollar size section of my brain. When I went to the hospital to get it fixed, I was told they were going to fix the artery by cleaning it out with this balloon thing and remove the plate and screws, since the collar bone was now healed. I was told the surgery was going to take an hour, tops.
8 hours later, I wake up with a tube and ball (a drain) hanging out my right shoulder, a catheter hanging out my ah, unit between my legs, my right inner thigh was hurting and I felt like a got run over by a dump truck. To this day, that was the absolute worst pain I have ever felt. Turns out the artery was so damaged that they need to do a bypass and removed a large vain from my leg and bypassed the artery over my collar bone.
Lots of suffering and rehab from that, but we'll fast forward to last week. I had to have a rib removed because when I lift my right arm up, a vein was getting pinched off and blood was able to get to my arm, but not out of it. So my arm would turn neat shades of blue and purple. This was bad, especially since I work in construction. It was performed by a top dog Doctor at a well know hospital in Milwaukee, WI. The surgery was a simple one I was told, but since my arm was so messed up before hand, it was very risky. I actually made history as the first person to do a certain type of CT scan at this hospital. Lots of Doctors visited to see who I was and what was happening to me. Lots of attention.
Anyhow, it worked out and I'm alive today to talk about it. There is A LOT more to this story, but I kept it kind of short so as not to turn into a freakin' book. Hopefully this is the last surgery I will have to go through because of this stupid bike accident.
Last edited by CruxGNZ; 04-16-2015 at 08:50 PM.
04-16-2015, 08:56 PM
#5
Senior Member
Back Marker
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Champions Gate, FL.
Posts: 191
Glad you weren't hurt seriously, or ran over by a passing motorist. We all have our horror stories, concerning a fall or accident, and the lucky ones are those who are left alive to tell what happened. Never ride without my gear, but here in Florida you constantly see no helmet, jacket, or coverage. Many pay the price. I can't tell you how many times I listened to that guardian angel, and took a certain route, slowed down - or speed up, or pulled over and got off the Hawk for a few minutes in order to catch my bearings. It has gotten me this far. Ride on!
04-16-2015, 09:04 PM
#6
Junior Member
Squid
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Austin, Tx
Posts: 24
its the same in texas ppl that dont ride just dont seem to care at all. Actually overheard one girl at work talking about how stupid bikers are and saying she brake checks them whenever she sees them.... I set her straight real quick because a lot of ppl that I work with ride to work daily and that was just the dumbest statement ever. ppl that dont ride just dont understand the choice we make every time we start our bikes.
04-16-2015, 10:43 PM
#7
Senior Member
MotoGP
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: NYC
Posts: 5,033
Wow, that's weird. Was just having a conversation with another biker about how people just don't get it. They are surrounded by steel, us by only our awareness.
One article I read suggested that every new driver getting a license should be made to ride on the back of a bike in traffic to help them understand what its like.
As it stands, you have to do the thinking for yourself and every other driver on the road.
One article I read suggested that every new driver getting a license should be made to ride on the back of a bike in traffic to help them understand what its like.
As it stands, you have to do the thinking for yourself and every other driver on the road.
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