30k miles and ouch!

[oblivion007]

So to start of... PICS! After that some details.

The rest of the images here Warning butt pics included
http://imgur.com/a/xpwWH

So... I was on an on ramp and there's a black truck way ahead of me getting ready to merge. He's moving, I'm catching pace with the highway. I take a look at him preparing his merge, it looks good so I start to prepare mine. Start matching speed with the traffic (it was pretty dense, I typically don't leave home as late as I did) and picking out where I want to merge into. Once I've matched speed and picked my spot I look back in front to realize he gave up his merging maneuver and is slowing down to a halt.

****. I'm doing 65 or so and have what I remember to be about a seconds worth of braking time. I make impact, my vision flies all over, and I realize shortly after I'm sliding on my helmet on the ground as I see the 18-wheeler I wanted to merge in front pass me by about 2 feet. All I can think is "hmm... I'm glad I'm not under those tires" (they were huge)

Adrenaline is rushing, I do a quick self-assessment on the ground about half a seconds worth and get up. Go to the truck guy, he gets out of his car I see he's okay and immediately change my attention to my bike. Stuffs all over the road, pick'er up and push it off the on ramp.

Border patrol comes over, then police, then ambulance and firefighters. I chose not to go to the hospital or take their damn towing service.

My riding sensei comes over and picks me up, we take the bike to his place where my ER6n waits, I patch myself up and get up and go to school/work.

The whole day I realize the adrenaline is still wearing down because every hour or so a new pain is popping up.

Anyways... that's it. I was surprisingly calm during the whole thing, wasn't mad at myself for making the mistake I made or mad at the driver for being one of those guys that he is. Looked at my bike, wasn't sad or feel any regret. It was an interesting feeling and my day still turned out great. Maybe its just I've had a great past few days.

e:\ just wanted to note that I started riding on April 11th of 2011, I'd say I've had a pretty good streak. Glad I could just walk away from this one.

[Sirref]

Damn, you made out a lot better than your bike there. potential track bike? just swap front forks and put race plastics on it? It's definitely totaled as a street bike though. for riding the same day, that's not an easy thing to do for a lot of people.

[oblivion007]

Originally Posted by Sirref

Damn, you made out a lot better than your bike there. potential track bike? just swap front forks and put race plastics on it? It's definitely totaled as a street bike though. for riding the same day, that's not an easy thing to do for a lot of people.

Yup... but not for a few years I'm thinking. I'm still a college student and forks would run me like $300 I think? I suppose I could do it after the summer. I got an internship lined up in Austin and if it pays as much as my Brownsville one I could splurge a little (edit:\ also I should look at the triple tree, one thing I noticed was I couldn't shift down and get it in neutral. :\ I'll have to look at that too.)

I haven't taken a good look at it but it looks like really the forks took the brunt of the impact. The rim looked true and I couldn't really get a look at the frame. I'll find out later this week when I'm done with class work.

Off to sleep it off now. Hope I'm not terribly sore tomorrow.

[csmith12]

Glad you are mostly good. People who can't merge suck, I have said it before.

Nose thing is most likely from the helmet coming down. Maybe it didn't fit right or was of age. Might want to look into that further. Your "heat rash" is most likely armor moving around, or again gear not fitting tightly enough to stay in place. Everything else seems par for course. Gear FTMFW!

I hope you got a good response from your lady friend.

[Sirref]

You'll be sore tomorrow, I can almost guarantee that. Yea if the forks took the brunt of it then they can absolutely be swapped out for a track build at some point.

BTW, buy a smaller helmet next time.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by oblivion007

Hope I'm not terribly sore tomorrow.

I have been lucky, only been sore after a crash 2 times. Once after a cage crash, another after a low speed down on a bike. In my near triple digit down, I was not sore at all.

I wish you the same luck.

[oblivion007]

Originally Posted by Sirref

You'll be sore tomorrow, I can almost guarantee that. Yea if the forks took the brunt of it then they can absolutely be swapped out for a track build at some point.

BTW, buy a smaller helmet next time.

Man... another size smaller? My HJC is an M and fits me well, then the helmet for this event I went down to a S with GMax based on head measurements. Its going to take some getting used to a XS. I'll try out some helmets at the bike shops around town sometime this week.

Nose thing is definitely from the helmet coming down. At first I thought it was from the breath guard but I figured it out when I put on my helmet on my way to school.

I'll have lunch or* something with her tomorrow, should be getting tons of attention. Awwww yeaaaa

[Sirref]

damn chris, that is lucky. I've been lucky that I've walked away from all of my incidents but one of them is still affecting my knee from time to time. cars hurt, a lot, and I consider myself lucky for that. I got a concussion from my cage crash @ 120+mph (street racing is bad for you mmm'kay) some rash from a lowside early on (hadn't invested in knee protection at that point but having the jacket made a massive difference) and a slightly messed up right knee from a kid who ran a stop sign.

don't consider all brands to be equal in sizing, there are different helmet shapes as well as general sizes. It's just as important to get a helmet that's the right shape as it is to have the right size. most helmets are a neutral shape to adhere to the majority of riders heads, but wearing a helmet that is blatantly wrong for your head can have results like what you've experienced even if it's the right size.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcyc...met-shapes.htm

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by oblivion007

Man... another size smaller?

Maybe, maybe not. Try different brands as their shell is different shapes. After a some time & break in, even a proper fitting helmet can "get loose".

[oblivion007]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Maybe, maybe not. Try different brands as their shell is different shapes. After a some time & break in, even a proper fitting helmet can "get loose".

Would be a good time to get me another passenger helmet. My last las had her own and kept it with her haha.

So I wake up today not sleeping much. Fell asleep about 6 hours ago. I had a salt bath for my swelled up heel/ankle and went to sleep with it elevated. Its not so swollen now but I still think I should get it x-rayed as its what hurts the most and I can't determine if its bone damage or tissue.

Damn foot still hurts a little, oh well.

edit: I'm not terribly sore!! Only just as sore as I was yesterday.

[rasta]

Major bummer dude . But thanks for the butt pic warning

I think this is what makes highway riding so dangerous. We need to constantly be scanning everywhere around us; sides, mirrors, blind spots, etc. Can't look away from ahead of us for too long, because someone can be stopping at any second.

My biggest worry on the highway (whether bike or cage), is someone stopping the same exact time I choose to check my mirror/blindspot before a lane change. One reason I HATE driving behind big vehicles, I have no field of view ahead of them.

[EternalNewb]

So glad you walked away from this, and handled it calmly. I hope you can make that 250 into a track bike, and that the injuries heal quickly.

[stegser]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Maybe, maybe not. Try different brands as their shell is different shapes. After a some time & break in, even a proper fitting helmet can "get loose".

Just like women

[rasta]

Originally Posted by csmith12

even a proper fitting helmet can "get loose".

This sentence will forever be immortalized down below...

[oblivion007]

Originally Posted by rasta

Major bummer dude . But thanks for the butt pic warning

No problem haha!

Originally Posted by EternalNewb

So glad you walked away from this, and handled it calmly. I hope you can make that 250 into a track bike, and that the injuries heal quickly.

Yup me too. Still surprised at my demeanor at the time and even now.

So I'm quite sore all around now... and my heel/ankles are still hurting a bunch. Got a pretty good limp going on.

Just realized that my butt injury must have come from my keys which I keep on a carabiner. The keys ended up getting some road rash too as well as my laptop. Luckily the laptop has a metal casing and so it survived the crash.

My noodles on the other hand though... didn't.

I get stegser's comment but why the immortalization rasta?

[subxero]

Agreed, people that fail to merge suck. my only at fault vehicle crash was partially due to this.

It is hard to be a safe driver and check your blind spots and look for a quick merge then, OH HEY!! this guy just decided to stop in the middle of a highway construction merge zone for no apparent reason…. awesomeness ensues as you unfortunately found out.

glad you got out of it mostly unscathed, bike can be replaced….do i smell R6 in your future?

[LittleRedNinjette]

Damn dude! You are one lucky guy!! Glade you're ok after that!

Originally Posted by stegser

Just like women

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by rasta

This sentence will forever be immortalized down below...

bwahahahahhahaha So shall it be.

[CaptainPlatypus]

Originally Posted by LittleRedNinjette

Damn dude! You are one lucky guy!! Glade you're ok after that!

Thank you, I didn't want to be the only one to say it.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by oblivion007

Yup... but not for a few years I'm thinking. I'm still a college student and forks would run me like $300 I think? I suppose I could do it after the summer. I got an internship lined up in Austin and if it pays as much as my Brownsville one I could splurge a little ..............

Very sorry to read and watch that, Adan !!!

Is there any compensation that you could get from insurance?

Is there anything that you would do different to avoid that accident now if facing the same situation?

[oblivion007]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Very sorry to read and watch that, Adan !!!

Is there any compensation that you could get from insurance?

Is there anything that you would do different to avoid that accident now if facing the same situation?

Meh, its not too bad. No compensation.

Different? Probably stop predicting what others will do and check things around me more frequently. For example on an on ramp look at the person in front of me, got a few seconds, check, can I merge? Check. Person in front of me still good? Check... back and forth quicker.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by oblivion007

Meh, its not too bad. No compensation.

Different? Probably stop predicting what others will do and check things around me more frequently. For example on an on ramp look at the person in front of me, got a few seconds, check, can I merge? Check. Person in front of me still good? Check... back and forth quicker.

Yes, the key is just glancing the mirror and quickly coming back to look forward while mentally processing what you saw.
If you check above your shoulder, your peripheral vision should cover some of the front still.

In my earlier years of riding I had two almost-splashing events that taught that any vehicle rolling ahead of you will not stop until the instant that you remove your vision from it.

At 60 mph, we are covering 88 feet per second !!!
Watch your mirrors for half a second and you have been riding blind over 44 feet of potential obstacles.

As this graphic shows, a huge percentage of motorcycle collisions are frontal; hence, our eyes should be looking ahead at all times.



Be well soon, my friend !!!

[LittleRedNinjette]

Originally Posted by CaptainPlatypus

Thank you, I didn't want to be the only one to say it.

[rasta]

Originally Posted by oblivion007

Meh, its not too bad. No compensation.

Different? Probably stop predicting what others will do and check things around me more frequently. For example on an on ramp look at the person in front of me, got a few seconds, check, can I merge? Check. Person in front of me still good? Check... back and forth quicker.

Sounds like a good plan . Constantly be scanning everything around you and don't glance anywhere but straight ahead for too long.

[greenaero]

Sorry to hear about your crash but I'm gald you were not as seriously injured as you could easily have been. I hope you have a speedy recovery .

Drivers can do some incredibly dumb stuff on occassion so it's important we always leave ourselves room to brake or manuever away from them. We have to be vigilant all the time to avoid the hazards that constantly surround us.

[oblivion007]

Okay guys so I just found out I'm a little more injured than I originally thought I was...

Warning, somewhat explicit? Meh

So when the crash happened there was a little dent on the tank... Well I must say what made that dent was my balls of iron as I flew over the handlebars.

And now they hurt

Everything else is getting better nicely. I'm walking better too. Still got a limp going on though.

[rasta]

Are you positive that dent was caused by your sac? Seems difficult

[oblivion007]

Originally Posted by rasta

Are you positive that dent was caused by your sac? Seems difficult

Quite positive! It was probably my belt
And thusly I am in paiiin!! Need to see a doc about this one...