Baggh
Active Member
Hey all,
Well you hear about the dangers of riding these things and see the accident horrors on youtube all the time... I was in an accident that should have left me unable to write this.
The road leading to my house has a speed limit of 55. Its a 2 lane road with intermittent broken lines enabling the passing slower vehicles. Many times there are vehicles going 30~45 on this road... and I pass them everytime (at the broken line areas). Tuesday evening on my way home from work there was a vehicle in front of me doing just that... going about 30 mph. It was a larger blach pickup or SUV... I dont remember. I went to pass it and BAM... in front of the SUV was a car, that I could not see, making a left hand turn into their driveway. I was going about 40 mph... I immediately hit the front\rear brakes. I did not lock them.. perhaps I should have tried but... I didn't.
Everything seemed as if it was moving in slo-mo... yet a 1,000 mph. On my way towards the vehicle's side all I was thinking was "Here we go... this is it... you hear about accidents all the time and you're about to be in one... please let this go well.. please let this go well... please let this go well..." BAM! I slammed into the drivers door... took the door mirror off with my right forearm\shoulder (before impact I braced myself like a Running Back bulldozing thru a defensive line for a goal line touchdown).
I flew over the hood (without touching it). While in the air the slo-mo continued... I remember thinking... "So far so good... I feel no pain... please let the landing go well... please let the landing go well... please let the landing go well... " BAM... about 20 ft. later I hit the ground and felt a pain in my right side ribs... not severe but I definitely knew I landed. I rolled a tad and immediately stood up. I quickly checked myself out... waved my right arm around in circles to check my ribs and such. I figured I might see or feel a broken bone... nothing. I just had a tad of blood on my right forearm from the doors mirror... nothing that would require stitches.
Everything seemed in tact.
I took my helmet off (thank goodness I don't buy into the whole "dew rag for a helmet" thing) and walked over the the car. The right side door was uber dented in as if a giant punched it. Door mirror was dangling. Everybody was ok.
Cops\ambulances\ etc etc showed up after about 5 minutes. I didn't have to go to the hospital.. I was fine.
Today: I am doing very well... I have a small amount of brush burn (not road rash cause I landed in the persons front lawn... thank God!), the right side of my ribs where they connect to my sternum hurts pretty good but not severe... my guess is that they are strained. My left wrist hurt pretty good... once again.. strained I guess but it feels MUCH better. Thats about it. I am pretty much 100% fine... and I can't believe it.
My bike is in the Harley shop already getting repaired. Geico insurance rules... the check is already at the shop and parts are ordered. My bike will have a cool facelift of sorts. I am getting the "straight bars" put on in place of the stock "clubmans". The clubmans are cool but not great for comfort. My 1125 was all black... I am getting the flyscreen, radiator shrouds, and Air box cover plastics in Red... that should look awesome. Other various parts are getting repalced. It will be back better than ever.
Interesting note... you may remember how i stated on these forums about my not-so-good experiences at the Harley Dealer closest to me. Well... the Geico rep asked me which shop I would like the bike taken to. I stated the rubbish shop cause its closest... but i said it not-so-convincing. The Geico rep picked up on my reservations and asked what other shop I had in mind. I mentioned the shop much further away where I bought the 1125. He said... "Good.. lets take it there.. the "other" shop is very hard to work with which makes it frustrating for me and the customer." I was blown away... the shop (with the chick that knows... umm.. nothing... that stares at her monitor all confused and such) has a bad rep with all around here... its not just me.
Soooo... the horror ended as a subtle lesson. Its a tough one cause after an acident you look for lessons. Some way to prevent these things from occurring again. 2 things I can draw from this... 1. practice MUCH more patience... I will continue to pass slower vehicles when legal BUT I will not "think" I will 110% "know" the coast is clear and 2... I will ride practicing a bit more patience and try not to get soooo worked up about other drivers (you know the ones... the ones that don't use turn signals.. go super slow... etc). I am guilty of becoming frustrated with drivers with zero awareness. Getting worked up does us riders no good... it just meeses up our own concentration and awareness.
Once again... every night I thank God I'm ok... this could have been a really life altering (or life losing) experience.
btw... I will most certainly continue riding and cannot wait to get my 1125 back... practicing my new outlook of riding.
It is a luxury to be able to ride these things.
stay safe out there
Well you hear about the dangers of riding these things and see the accident horrors on youtube all the time... I was in an accident that should have left me unable to write this.
The road leading to my house has a speed limit of 55. Its a 2 lane road with intermittent broken lines enabling the passing slower vehicles. Many times there are vehicles going 30~45 on this road... and I pass them everytime (at the broken line areas). Tuesday evening on my way home from work there was a vehicle in front of me doing just that... going about 30 mph. It was a larger blach pickup or SUV... I dont remember. I went to pass it and BAM... in front of the SUV was a car, that I could not see, making a left hand turn into their driveway. I was going about 40 mph... I immediately hit the front\rear brakes. I did not lock them.. perhaps I should have tried but... I didn't.
Everything seemed as if it was moving in slo-mo... yet a 1,000 mph. On my way towards the vehicle's side all I was thinking was "Here we go... this is it... you hear about accidents all the time and you're about to be in one... please let this go well.. please let this go well... please let this go well..." BAM! I slammed into the drivers door... took the door mirror off with my right forearm\shoulder (before impact I braced myself like a Running Back bulldozing thru a defensive line for a goal line touchdown).
I flew over the hood (without touching it). While in the air the slo-mo continued... I remember thinking... "So far so good... I feel no pain... please let the landing go well... please let the landing go well... please let the landing go well... " BAM... about 20 ft. later I hit the ground and felt a pain in my right side ribs... not severe but I definitely knew I landed. I rolled a tad and immediately stood up. I quickly checked myself out... waved my right arm around in circles to check my ribs and such. I figured I might see or feel a broken bone... nothing. I just had a tad of blood on my right forearm from the doors mirror... nothing that would require stitches.
Everything seemed in tact.
I took my helmet off (thank goodness I don't buy into the whole "dew rag for a helmet" thing) and walked over the the car. The right side door was uber dented in as if a giant punched it. Door mirror was dangling. Everybody was ok.
Cops\ambulances\ etc etc showed up after about 5 minutes. I didn't have to go to the hospital.. I was fine.
Today: I am doing very well... I have a small amount of brush burn (not road rash cause I landed in the persons front lawn... thank God!), the right side of my ribs where they connect to my sternum hurts pretty good but not severe... my guess is that they are strained. My left wrist hurt pretty good... once again.. strained I guess but it feels MUCH better. Thats about it. I am pretty much 100% fine... and I can't believe it.
My bike is in the Harley shop already getting repaired. Geico insurance rules... the check is already at the shop and parts are ordered. My bike will have a cool facelift of sorts. I am getting the "straight bars" put on in place of the stock "clubmans". The clubmans are cool but not great for comfort. My 1125 was all black... I am getting the flyscreen, radiator shrouds, and Air box cover plastics in Red... that should look awesome. Other various parts are getting repalced. It will be back better than ever.
Interesting note... you may remember how i stated on these forums about my not-so-good experiences at the Harley Dealer closest to me. Well... the Geico rep asked me which shop I would like the bike taken to. I stated the rubbish shop cause its closest... but i said it not-so-convincing. The Geico rep picked up on my reservations and asked what other shop I had in mind. I mentioned the shop much further away where I bought the 1125. He said... "Good.. lets take it there.. the "other" shop is very hard to work with which makes it frustrating for me and the customer." I was blown away... the shop (with the chick that knows... umm.. nothing... that stares at her monitor all confused and such) has a bad rep with all around here... its not just me.
Soooo... the horror ended as a subtle lesson. Its a tough one cause after an acident you look for lessons. Some way to prevent these things from occurring again. 2 things I can draw from this... 1. practice MUCH more patience... I will continue to pass slower vehicles when legal BUT I will not "think" I will 110% "know" the coast is clear and 2... I will ride practicing a bit more patience and try not to get soooo worked up about other drivers (you know the ones... the ones that don't use turn signals.. go super slow... etc). I am guilty of becoming frustrated with drivers with zero awareness. Getting worked up does us riders no good... it just meeses up our own concentration and awareness.
Once again... every night I thank God I'm ok... this could have been a really life altering (or life losing) experience.
btw... I will most certainly continue riding and cannot wait to get my 1125 back... practicing my new outlook of riding.
It is a luxury to be able to ride these things.
stay safe out there
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