I had my first motorcycle crash this morning :(
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:08 am
First, aside from some bumps and bruises I'm very happy to be OK! Stuff can be replaced, people cannot.
I got caught by the accordion effect from cars stopping for a car turning left about 5 cars in front of me right after 2 lanes merge into 1. I happened to glance off the road at the most inopportune time to see what was moving in the field next to me (a tractor.. go figure). when my eyes were back on the road I had about 10 feet to stop from about 30ish. I didn't have time to bail to the side of the car. I was hard on the brakes and my front wheel locked right before impact. I think I must have tried to bail right before or at impact because I didn't jam any fingers from being on the handle bar. The bike bounced off the bumper and rotated 90 deg such that I ended up between the bike and the car that I hit. Thankfully the car behind me didn't run over me. Also, amazingly I never completely fell to the ground and once I realized everything still worked I picked up my bike and got out of the road. In hind sight, I should have more thoroughly made sure I was ok before moving. Due to the adrenaline rush, I didn't realize how bad the bruise was on my leg.
I put a couple of scrapes and holes in the car's bumper. On my bike, the front fender folded straight up, the windshield is scratched and the mounting bracket bent up, Mirror is gone, some scuffs on the gas tank, my ammo can is slightly crumpled which protected the exhaust from getting more than a few scratches. Oh and the foot peg has a little mark from where it hit the asphalt. Seeing as how I have a nasty bruise on my one shin and a lesser bruise above my other knee, I believe that's where I hit the handle bars on impact. I also jammed my toe on something, thankfully I was wearing my steel toes.
Amazingly the front forks are not bent or don't appear to be. I was able to ride the remaining 1/4mi to work. I'll ride surface streets home just in case something I have not noticed is also broken.
I usually leave plenty of assured clear distance. However it's hard to at this location because traffic is heavy and funnels down from 2 lanes to 1. combine that with an unexpected stop for left turn and momentary lapse in attention and I got myself in a bad situation quick.
I got caught by the accordion effect from cars stopping for a car turning left about 5 cars in front of me right after 2 lanes merge into 1. I happened to glance off the road at the most inopportune time to see what was moving in the field next to me (a tractor.. go figure). when my eyes were back on the road I had about 10 feet to stop from about 30ish. I didn't have time to bail to the side of the car. I was hard on the brakes and my front wheel locked right before impact. I think I must have tried to bail right before or at impact because I didn't jam any fingers from being on the handle bar. The bike bounced off the bumper and rotated 90 deg such that I ended up between the bike and the car that I hit. Thankfully the car behind me didn't run over me. Also, amazingly I never completely fell to the ground and once I realized everything still worked I picked up my bike and got out of the road. In hind sight, I should have more thoroughly made sure I was ok before moving. Due to the adrenaline rush, I didn't realize how bad the bruise was on my leg.
I put a couple of scrapes and holes in the car's bumper. On my bike, the front fender folded straight up, the windshield is scratched and the mounting bracket bent up, Mirror is gone, some scuffs on the gas tank, my ammo can is slightly crumpled which protected the exhaust from getting more than a few scratches. Oh and the foot peg has a little mark from where it hit the asphalt. Seeing as how I have a nasty bruise on my one shin and a lesser bruise above my other knee, I believe that's where I hit the handle bars on impact. I also jammed my toe on something, thankfully I was wearing my steel toes.
Amazingly the front forks are not bent or don't appear to be. I was able to ride the remaining 1/4mi to work. I'll ride surface streets home just in case something I have not noticed is also broken.
I usually leave plenty of assured clear distance. However it's hard to at this location because traffic is heavy and funnels down from 2 lanes to 1. combine that with an unexpected stop for left turn and momentary lapse in attention and I got myself in a bad situation quick.