Never underestimate Murphy!!
Well kiddies it finally happened, I had my first motorcycle wreck. Thankfully, all that was involved was: me, my bike, and a nice big divet in the street. No other vehicles, no other injuries. And yes, I have injuries. More on that later.
So before anyone either A) starts asking if I'm okay, or B) starts berating me for being crazy and riding a motorcycle; yes I am OKAY! I live, I breathe, I can walk, etc. I have a sprained left shoulder, scrapes on both knees, road rash about the size of my hand on my upper left thigh, and a scrape on my left elbow. Already been to the ER, got checked out and sent on my way with some painkillers and a sling. My shoulder only hurts if I move it. :P
The other part, well I've already been mentally chastising myself cause I was not in FULL gear at the time. So, let me explain.
It was HOT yesterday. I mean fucking hot, so I decided to be lazy and just wear jeans for pants instead of the riding pants with the padded knees and all that. I also did not wear my road warrior type gauntleted gloves, I just wore the thin mesh gloves, also because of the heat. I DID however, wear my boots, mesh jacket, and helmet (of course).
I was on my way to work, and was actually about 3 blocks from work when the accident happened. I do not have pics (yet) of the scene, but just after this one intersection (woodman/moorpark for those that know it) there is a huge "patched" area just south of the intersection that covers both the lanes (going south). Usually I'm in the righthand lane, where I can just manage to ride around this spot, but this day I was in the lefthand lane. I was first on the line, so when the light changed I scooted off like usual, and got to about 30-35 (as it is easy to accelerate on a bike) by the time I hit the "patch". A little too late, I realized there were two very large bumps in the "patch" area. So I jammed on the brakes as much as I dared, since I was too close to swerve out of the way, and in hindsight hitting the brakes was my mistake. But anyway, I went over the first bump (and we are talking speed bump type bumps here, a good 6" off the pavement) which popped my front wheel off the surface of the pavement, and I'm not exactly sure if it was because I was still holding the brake or the front tire changed direction, but when I hit the second bump is when I dumped it.
The bike shot off to the right, and I went to the left, so I guess technically I highsided the bike. I skidded along the street about 10 feet (on my chest/stomach), and kinda rolled out of it. I managed to get to my feet, go pick up my bike out of the right hand lane and walk it to the side of the street. Of course this is when I noticed that my left arm hurt abismally (left shoulder I would find out later) cause it hurt like a mf'er to lift it.
Several people stopped and asked if I was okay or needed an ambulance, and thankfully I did not need the 911 call. So traffic resumed while I caught my breath and waited for the flooded carbs on the bike to clear so I could start it up and limp over to my office, which was less than 1 mile away.
I have not had a chance to get pics of the street, or the bike, since it is slightly over 24 hours since the incident. The bike only suffered cosmetic damage (that I know of, will have to check and see if the alignment is off). A corner of the fairing got literally filed off (got the melted plastic), the rear left footpeg has a scuff on it (no biggie, its only rubber), and the clutch lever and the end of the left hand grip got a bit of a grinding. The lever did not bend or break, and also to my relief, it appears that the shifter lever did not suffer so much as a scuff...I was really afraid that it would have gotten bent or broken. The engine was untouched, and I did not see any marks/dents on the tank.
My clothes thankfully took the brunt of the damage, like they are supposed to, and I know that if I had been wearing my riding pants (LIKE I AM SUPPOSED TO!!!!) I probably would not have any scrapes on my legs. My jacket got chewed up as expected, but my jeans ended up just tearing like...well, fabric, so they were not much help. The biggest thing was the helmet. Thank goodness I was wearing that, or I might have pulled a Rothlesburger. If you don't know what I'm referring to, go to google and type in "motorcycle rothlesburger". There is a spot about the size of a quarter where my helmet scraped along the ground (around the chinguard area) and a fairly large scuff across the face shield. Pics to follow, but it is difficult to see the faceshield. If I *HAD NOT* been wearing my helm, the spot you will see on the helm would have been my CHIN!!! and I most likely would have broken my jaw, not to mention losing a good amount of skin from the slide. Yucky to think about!
Surprisingly, my hands hardly got a scratch. I say hardly cause I managed to bang my right thumb, but its already feeling better than yesterday.
So let me be the first to tell you: ALWAYS WEAR YOUR GEAR! NO MATTER HOW FUCKING HOT IT GETS!!!!
Safety gear really does make a difference. I doubt I would be able to sit here typing this up if I had been one of those numnutts that rides around with a tank top, shorts, sneakers, and a helmet on a bike twice as big as mine. Believe me I see enough of those guys EVERY DAY to remind me.
Now on to the pics.
Here is me after I got home.
Pics of the helmet. Pic1 Pic2 Pic3
Pics of the jacket. Pic1 Pic2 Pic3 Pic4
Pic of the jeans (and some road rash >.<) Pic
