| Author | Message | ||
     Yui |
Well, it happens to everyone eventually, right? One of my buddies was showing me a road with some decent twisties. He's got a few years in the seat, while I have a rough 8 months, and only 3 on my Sunset Orange '07 XB12Ss. The road hadn't been too bad, just plenty of fun, quick turns at a reasonable 45mph. I was loosened up and having plenty of fun, when I saw brake lights and noticed my buddy adjust last minute to a turn, cutting wide and dragging his knee to get back inside...  Crap... Gravel...  I attempted to cut a little wider but lost my rear wheel in the mess and wound up jumping a ditch at 40, flying through the air into somebody's front yard and rolling down a hill. The guy I was riding with quickly turned around and after jumping off his CBR 929 ran over to ask me if anything was broken. Being a die hard Bueller, and a complete idiot, I stood there and started rattling off the parts I screwed up when she went down on her left side. Bent handle bars, busted left hand control group, shifter linkage, a missing rider foot peg, a cracked left seat subframe, check engine light is on, brake lights won't come on and "where the hell did my face shield go?"  After walking 20 feet to pick up the visor from my helmet I got on the bike, bent the handle bars up a bit, fired her up and rode her 8 miles home in first... It was the longest, most painful ride of my life.  Once I got home, we surveyed my damage. Multiple bruises on my left leg, some pulled muscles in my upper back, a little whiplash, a decent goose egg on the top of my head, and to top it all off, a piece of grass stuck in a nice cut on my chin from where my modular helmet hit the dirt and tried to pull my jaw bone off.  All this to say just a few things. 1. Thank GOD I'm still here. Had I died, my wife would've killed me. 2. Thank God I was smart enough to invest about $1000 in riding gear alone. 3. Thank God for blow torches and the fact that my handle bars are straight now.  4. Please, even though they are convenient, don't ever buy a modular helmet. Any faster, and my chin bar would have been in my mouth, replacing half my teeth. 5. If you don't have a good set of riding gear, INVEST!!! I have a $400 leather jacket with everything but back armor, which I will be investing in, Icon Automag pants, dedicated riding boots and gloves, and now a new Icon Alliance SS helmet. 40 pounds of leather saved my butt, quite literally. Other than a little trouble with heavy lifting and a couple bruises, all I did was spit some grass. I was only this lucky because I rode for the wreck, not for the fashion statement. I know that I am far from the first and certainly not the last guy to wreck his bike. The important thing is to get back on and keep riding, which is exactly what I'm doing. I got her back into riding shape after about $100. When my seat subframe finally comes in, you won't even be able to tell that she was down. If I had to wreck anything, I'm glad I did it on something that could take the abuse, get me home, and be ready to rock and roll again the next weekend. My ego still stings a little, but the pride of riding my Buell will patch that up in no time.  (Message edited by yui on April 02, 2009) | ||
| Rotzaruck |
OH MAN!! Great story, awful subject. So glad to see you're riding around counting your blessings. I've wondered about those modular helmets, sure would be nice sometimes. I think you've proved my doubts and dissuaded me from any more thinking. Rotzaruck! | ||
| Court |
I'm happy to read you are doing fine. Following Fran Crane's death I've always been leery of modular helmets. Anytime convenience, when it has to do with my motorcycle helmet, replaces protection it scares me. Modular helmets have improved. The best ones are but the best compromises. Never, except for the short ride home, ride a motorcycle with handlebars that have been bent. A hundred folks will pop up here with stories of bending their bars and I have several of my own. But once bars move they have lost forever their strength. They are also inexpensive and the act of replacing that has, on several occasions, allowed me to find things I'd screwed up and was not aware of. Glad you are doing well. | ||
| Jlnance |
I'm glad you came out with in pretty good shape. I'm in agreement with you about modular helmets. I wear glasses, so I really enjoy their convenience. But I dropped on on the chin bar once and it never really closed right again. I figured if that was enough to damage the latch, it wasn't really crash worthy. I have recently discovered the joys of chiropractors. If your neck is messed up, they can straighten it out. That was a rather amazing discovery for me. | ||
| Cadhopper |
Sorry to hear about the bike damage but I'm glad your OK. I have an extra set of XB12X foot pegs you can have if they will fit your bike. | ||
| Yui |
Thanks everybody for the showing of concern and support. I really do appreciate it. Cadhopper, thanks for the generous offer, but I have it covered already. The instant I had my riding buddy and my wife satisfied that I wasn't going to die or anything, I was on the Iron Machine and American Sport Bike websites, ordering all my parts. Save them for somebody else in need. And Court, no worries. New bars are on order from my dealership along with the left rail of my rear subframe. I haven't ridden more than has been absolutely necessary for work, as the bike is pretty much my most reliable mode of transportation. One question though guys. Do you think it would be a good idea to post a more in depth helmet comparison in general info to warn more people about modulars? I haven't seen a whole lot of people wearing them, but I've met a couple guys that swear by them. Putting out some info and a few pics could prove useful, but I don't want to do a write up that won't be useful. Sure does seem like just the little bit here got quite a response. | ||
| Xbmacon |
glad to hear everything is good. As for warning posts, the "apparel" section and the "riding skills" section would be good places to post a pic or two. Pics say a 1000 words. If you have seen ,I think its Froggy's, helmet pics. It makes you think hard about those guys who buy open face helmets. | ||
| Cadhopper |
Al and Joane at American Sport Bike are top notch people. I have not used Iron Machine, I'll have to check them out. Hope everything works out for you. |
