Dressing to Crash?

[john meyer]

Riding motorcycles from the age of 12 I have considered myself fairly fortunate in the crashing department. Aside from the occasional dirt bike mishap, my exploits on a street ride have been accident free. Averaging about 12K miles a year on a bike I consider this quite a accomplishment at 54 years of age. That was until a recent Sunday ride early October in the sun drenched hills of Northern California.

I rolled my 2009 K1300GT “Dieter” out of the garage at 7am for the annual 5 passes ride with my local Club (River City Beemers BMW MOA club #210). This ride takes in some of the finest mountain roads around the Lake Tahoe region. After a spirited morning of tight twisties and beautiful views the group settled in for lunch. After lunch I excused myself from the group to return home to complete a list of “honey do’s” that I had forsaken and promised my wife I would get done.

I ended up on Highway 80 west, a miserable piece of freeway slab always packed with hurried weekend travelers returning from the mountains back to the city. This was for a only short stretch to get to a lesser traveled route home. Cruising in the fast lane at 65 mph I noticed a dark SUV approaching fast in my rear view. I signaled to move over and was almost in the other lane when the SUV sped passed me and clipped my left rear hard case.

What happen next was a bit surreal but as I and my bike hit the pavement hard on the right side “Dieter” slid a little faster than I and we separated. I later found out I had traveled about 90 feet and my mechanical friend had flipped over and cheese grated the other side for an additional 50 ft.

When coming to rest, my main concern was not to get ran over by the following traffic as I wasn’t sure where I ended up. To my amazement I jumped up completely lucid with all parts in place. I then realized I was off the road on the shoulder already and turned to see my bike. By that time a motorist had pulled over and was running up to me with a startled look like he was looking at a ghost. I assured him I was really alright and felt 100%. Actually with the adrenaline rushing through me I felt like superman. My new good samaritan friend helped me quickly to move the bike out of the road as I was worried about it being hit by a car.

The vehicle that hit me had been long gone at this point and all I could do was relate all this to the Highway Patrol in a accident report.

I finally had a chance to take inventory of my condition and saw my riding pants and jacket in tatters. With the exception of a small road rash on my leg and posterior I was unscathed. I couldn’t believe it. Later that day and the next is when the bruising showed up, but nothing much more than rough football game from my college days.

As far as getting back on the horse..... My new bike is on order and am already missing the road.

I think my motivation for telling this story was to affirm that wearing right gear can possibly save a life and at least save you undue pain and suffering. I hope this gives someone deciding to hop on their bike with a t-shirt and shorts, a survivors viewpoint.

Was It the bike I was riding, the gear, or just plain ol’ good luck that kept me riding for another day. I think it’s a little bit of all that.

 

John Meyer

BMW MOA #132457

 

Pics - http://gallery.me.com/johngvca#100166

 

[Firefight911]

Glad you're ok John. Bummer day for sure. All good food for thought.

 

Samebikee on order or will we be seeing you beta the 16?

[Svensk]

Wow! Also glad you're OK.

 

Your helmet looks like you slid face down and back down on the pavement. Do you recall any conscious efforts to roll over or slide feet first during the get off?

[SageRider]

Glad you're OK, and your gesr did it's job!

[Twisties]

Wow, scary for sure. Glad it all worked out for you.

 

 

May I ask what brand of pants and jacket?

[cali_beemer]

Wow, glag to hear your okay. Clothes and bikes can be replaced but body parts are a bit more difficult. That section of 80 is ugly and I try to avoid it whenever possible. I fully understand how the drivers coming down the hill can be. So is the bike considered totaled? It didnt look that bad in the pictures but ya never know what parts bent.

[notacop]

Glad you are well. May the perpetrator suffer a long agonizing death. May have been on the phone and never noticed you?

[ryan_a1982]

John,

 

Glad to hear you are ok! I almost had the same thing happen to me on Highway 50 in Sacramento last week. A BMW car passed me doing about 120 mph and I swear I almost felt the mirror hit my elbow. Shook me up for a couple days.

 

I am glad you are doing well!

 

 

 

[lawnchairboy]

hope they catch the worthless bastard. glad you made it.

[Kathy R]

So glad you had a good outcome!

I prefer the genteel phrase: Dressing for the fast get off

[Angel]

Geez! glad your OK man.

+1 on hoping they catch that worthless bastard

[KeithS]

Thanks for sharing, especially the pix. I am hit and miss when it comes to wearing my overpants. Your picture shows that I need to be wearing them every ride.

[norah]

hope they catch the worthless bastard. glad you made it.

 

+1....what a story. Those things always run in the back of my mind. I tell people that I'm not worried about me...it's always the other guy that will take you out. Hope they catch him/her/them. BTW I never even go to the store without full gear on. You just never know.

[Firefight911]

I never even go to the store without full gear on. You just never know who else is going to freeze at the sight of me and cause a collision. H with an OT.

 

Fixed it for ya Norah!

 

Jamie made me do it!

[russell_bynum]

I never even go to the store without full gear on. You just never know who else is going to freeze at the sight of me and cause a collision. H with an OT.

 

Fixed it for ya Norah!

 

Jamie made me do it!

 

 

Respect the Queen of Lean.

[norah]

Thanks to Jamie (and Phil) for making an old lady smile.....and hi to you Russell . Just to get back on track I'm glad your okay John and again I hope whoever did that has a whole lot of bad karma that comes their way......

[EddyQ]

Glad you came out so well John.

Thanks for sharing that story. I have quite a few of those roads/freeways that I ride often. I got passed the other day by someone from behind who was in my lane as I was turning. It wasn't a freeway, but it was scary.

[dba]

Frightening how fast these things can happen. Glad you're feeling better.

[Bullett]

Glad to hear you are OK and your gear did it's job.

[AdventurePoser]

John,

 

Sure glad you are ok. You can always get another bike-body parts are tuff to replace!

 

Cheers,

Steve in So Cal

[john meyer]

Thanks, everybody for the thoughts!

 

Just back from a dirt biking vacation.

 

Phil, to answer your question, I am first in line for a 1600 GT, a red one loaded, at Ozzie's. Meanwhile I'll ride the 04 R1150R and have an extra 04 FJR 1300 in the garage to use.

 

Svenk - re the tumble, It was a hit on the face, rolling, then sliding mostly on the right side.

 

 

[john meyer]

"Frank Thomas" jacket and pants.

[john meyer]

Wow, glag to hear your okay. Clothes and bikes can be replaced but body parts are a bit more difficult. That section of 80 is ugly and I try to avoid it whenever possible. I fully understand how the drivers coming down the hill can be. So is the bike considered totaled? It didnt look that bad in the pictures but ya never know what parts bent.

 

 

Hey its a Beemer where one side panel costs a weeks pay!

Actually it was totaled - the bent rear tail section and the hit on the final drive took it over the 80% value vs damage formula that most Insurance carriers use.

[VinnyR11]

Thanks for the post and glad you're OK.

 

Stories like this really help me stay in the ATGATT mindset.

[Pizzleini the 1/2 Squid]

Glad to know you're ok. I've had a 2 spills. I was on my way home from a ride in the Texas hill country. 2 miles away from home a girl(no signal, no look, then she pumped brakes) cut me off and I went down. I had on gear. But at that time I didn't own riding pants. I had an abrasion on my knee and that was it. Trashed my gloves and jacket. My helmet saved my chin. After that I invested in some riding pants.

 

Torey XX

 

After having lunch with Whip, Richard, Gary, (and more new friends than I can shake a stick at) I gassed up the GSXR and fell in stagger formation with the GS's. 19.3 miles outta Escalante a car was driving terribly slow with a van stuck behind it. We decide to pass. Just as Gary was passing the van, the car suddenly turns left into Gary's way(no signal, no look, he didn't even hit the brakes)! Gary had to hit brakes. I was fully committed to passing and with the sudden turn of the car: Gary was in my cross-hairs. I was on 1 wheel before you knew it. Needless to say the bike had to be repaired. But Pizzleini the 1/2 Squid escaped with minor wrist pain. I'm a true believer in gear. I honestly know that my gear saved me from having much worse injuries.