My girlfriend and I were coming home and about half a mile from my house, I gunned it out of the corner. Long story short, I hit a manhole while getting hard on the brakes and probably slid out at 30 mph.

Stupid thing was that I purposefully forgot my jacket.

Glove and boots saved my hands and feet. Girlfriend's Converse-like sneakers were ruined.

I got some pretty bad road rash on my left elbow and knee and sprained knee, she has a pretty bad sprained knee.

I managed to walk it back about half a mile from my house while these very friendly guys came out to check if we were alright and helped out by taking my girlfriend on the back of his truck. Adrenaline still running, I managed to walk my motorcycle back half a mile and now I'm feeling it. Plastic all scratched, shifter is bent out of shape, and left turn signal was broken. It ran fine when I tried to start it up today.

I learned my lesson, and I'm glad we didn't get hurt more than we did. Now I know that I must always wear a jacket and the knee gets hit hardest in such a fall (I refused to buy motorcycle pants). I need to not have so much fun on my motorcycle, especially with a passenger on uneven streets.

glad youre okay!!

the knee is definitely the spot that almost always takes the hardest hit.. i went down last sunday [the 9th] and my knee is still bruised as hell. my jacket seriously SAVED my arms.. and if i would have been wearing gloves [the ones in the picture] i would have NO road rash and just a banged up knee. i learned my lesson, and i will never go without my jacket [picture included][no matter how hot it is].. especially since it has the zip out liner:thumbup:

ATGATT.

O, that sucks! I hope you and your friend heal up soon!

Road rash on my arms wasn't pleasant at all by any means, not as bad as the knee, but jacket would've completely saved it. Rather have a tailor patch it up than the nurse patch my arm up.

My knee is sprained pretty badly and I feel very disabled. She has absolutely no road rash at all but a pretty badly sprained knee. X-ray showed nothing funny with the bones, so that's all good. I'll stay off my bike for a week to give me time to heal up and reflect, but definitely jumping right on.

Gloves saved both our hands, as it was my philosophy before the crash of "head and hands make the money." Our gloves have some major scuffs and hers almost went through. Mine are probably still serviceable.

From now on, I'm always going to wear a jacket and knee pads. Do you know of any comfortable knee pads that would fit under jeans?

It could have been far worse. I'm glad that you don't seem to have any serious injuries, painful though they may be. Good thing it happened so close to home. Please learn from this and consider purchasing and using more gear. I hope the passenger will consider the same!

Wow, glad you guys are okay! Hope there's no lasting effects to your passenger.

There's pants that slip over your regular pants and one's that look like jeans too. No reason to stop having fun on your bike but lots of reason to keep your lady's legs from looking like hamburger someday when another manhole rears it's evil head.

To each their own but why the aversion to the pants? Just hate what they look like or comfort?

Maybe get your lovely lady to buy some at least, and when you see how hot she looks in gear, you'll get some yourself..rowr, rowr! Nice boots too.:p

Good gear means more fun, don't let your clothing ruin your riding fun.

Heal up and ride safe!

Just saw your question about knee pads. Some motocross knee pads are pretty snug but they need to stay in place when you slid across the pavement. That's what I would worry about.

How about leathers that look like jeans? That would at least be a bit more protection and most have double thickness at the important bits.

I'm definitely going to get some protective stuff for the knees. It's just that I would only be able to afford one pair and end up wearing the same pair of pants and jackets every day. It would be better to have good knee pads that I could wear under loose-fitting jeans. Sure I would ruin a pair every time I fall, but at least there would be no injuries.

It's always a good thing to come away with minimal injuries after being involved in a crash. Best wishes for a speedy recovery for both you and your friend. Take heed and get some more gear. http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=58451&highlight=leg+injuries

I'm definitely going to get some protective stuff for the knees. It's just that I would only be able to afford one pair and end up wearing the same pair of pants and jackets every day. It would be better to have good knee pads that I could wear under loose-fitting jeans. Sure I would ruin a pair every time I fall, but at least there would be no injuries.

I got a pair of Icon kneepads...they are kind of bulky and even though they stay on while riding, I wonder if this would be the case in a slide...probably good for impact only and your pants would take the bulk of the slide if they are designed for it. Hip protection with tailbone, really great boots with ankle protection, knee pads and chest protector should help a bit. I kind of feel like bionic commando with most of this stuff on.:o

Pics of the wreckage?

Glad to hear you both are alright.

screw the wreck, pics of the girl!

p.s. they make moto jeans that look like a normal set of jeans for those people like yourself who are too concerned about their appearance to take proper precautions.

You're hurt and the friend is hurt and lucky. I don't get the gunning it hard to braking it hard, talk to your experienced friends. Bless and keep you and your woman bro. I'm looking at my elbow road rash scar right now, peace out.

I always ride around with my moto knee-pads (since I wear jeans. Only drive to and from school so 35mph max). Yeah I'm the only person at UC Santa Cruz that wears knee pads, or even any gear besides a helmet and gloves. So what. I have piece of mind and could care less how I "look" :D

The bike's in the shop right now. It needs a new $10 shifter bolt and the front blinkers to be fixed. Besides, it's due for the 7,500-mile valve service, so they're going to work on that, too. I'm waiting for the parts to come in and should be back on it by the middle of this week. The bodywork is scratched, cracked, and slightly misaligned, but I will live with it.

I'm going to look into kneepads and motorcycle jeans.

If anything, I'm going to change how I ride with the streets more than anything. And nothing longer than the commute to campus with the passenger.

WARNING:.....:soapbox:

What I don't get here is so many people mentioning that 'short ride' or the 'slow riding' as though that has anything to do with safety. Don't any of us remember the lessons from our MC courses?

Some weirdly high number of accidents happen five minutes from home because people throw caution out the window when "they're just going to the corner store, school, job etc."

The guy in gear going to school five minutes away is not listed in the stats because if he lowsided on his way he probably got up, got on his bike and continued to school. Proper gear won't save you when stuff happens but at least give yourself a chance! Eliminate the known risks at least?

Gear up and you will look like you know what you're doing.
Gear up and you'll look like you have a motorcycle and not a scooter.
Gear up and you'll never ride without the proper mindset (gear takes time).

Does anyone ever notice that the most masterfully skilled and experienced riders wear gear all the time?

Come on people, we have the best forum with the nuttiest and most friendly people here...now that I've found you all, I don't want to lose any of you!!

And guys with proper MC pants...you get to do a legal strip tease everyday before class, come'on that's gotta be some incentive? :eyebrows:

Look at this guy, no helmet, jacket or gloves...nasty!
:madtyping:

Whew, okay, help me down off my soapbox, these track boots are slippery on wood.

The bike's in the shop right now. It needs a new $10 shifter bolt and the front blinkers to be fixed. Besides, it's due for the 7,500-mile valve service, so they're going to work on that, too. I'm waiting for the parts to come in and should be back on it by the middle of this week. The bodywork is scratched, cracked, and slightly misaligned, but I will live with it.

I'm going to look into kneepads and motorcycle jeans.

If anything, I'm going to change how I ride with the streets more than anything. And nothing longer than the commute to campus with the passenger.

That's the right answer, young grasshopper...:bow:

“I gunned it out of the corner.”
Therein is the lesson don’t show off with a passenger on board, as for only short journeys with one well that’s up to you. I have ridden thousands of miles with a passenger with only one accident when another motorcyclist dropped his bike in my path leaving me nowhere to go.:eek:
Steve

No decent motorcycle gear shop in town, so I got some comfortable kneepads that will take a low-speed lowside well enough, comfortable enough to walk around in, too.

And I stopped gunning the throttle on any street with less than a 45 mph speed limit. Can't trust these poorly paved streets anymore.

Sorry to hear about the wreck, but any time you can walk away from a motorcycle wreck is the best situation out of a ****** one. Hope you and your girlfriend heal up quick and can get back on the bike.

And remember that one time you figure you wont need that one peice of gear is the one time that you will :(

*Im really not trying to be a gear nazi though* :rolleyes:

First things first; glad you’re doing alright =)
Getting off is always painful, but at least one should be able to take some experience away from it.

My personally hard earned experience includes:
...that one time you figure you wont need that one peice of gear is the one time that you will :(


Always wore my helmet, jacket, gloves and boots, but one warm sunny day I decide to go with jeans instead of motorcycle pants…my knees served as great reminder of ATGATT for quite a while =P