To post/or not

[flavor]

Stupid moves are not something you want to share but I figure my experince may help someone else so here goes.

I should mention I was traveling by myself.

I was on a cross country trip recently seeing many things such as Deal's gap, Arches, Mesa Verde, Brice Canyon, Zion etc. as a retirement gift to myself , and I got into an accident. I had seen many places, but while on my way to Glacier Park in MT I made a big mistake. I was following stop and go traffic on a state road that was a straight road where you could see for miles. Then traffic stopped I realized I was behind a truck painting the lines with 8 or 10 vehicles between me and the truck that was painting. I was on the crest of a hill looking down the road which looked clear. My side was a broken line and the oncoming line was solid. As I'm sitting there I realized I missed a turn. I decided to look down the road and make a u-turn. Then in the middle of the turn, I saw a car coming that wasn't more than 15 ft. from my bike and I was going to get hit broadside. I don't know why I didn't see him but I can only think of two possibilities. One was he was in a low spot in the road, as is common on the rural areas, or he turned out of a side road at the bottom of the road that the truck that was painting, let cross in front of him to come my direction. My rear highway bar and hard bag took most of the force. It amazing how fast you react but I got my right leg out before impact and I was standing was all was done. I didn't get hit real hard because the bike didn't move much afdter being hit.
My left ankle was sore and I don't know if I jammed it into the pavement or the bike hit it when it went down.

I've been driving cycles since the 70's and never made a judgement error like that. I still don't understand where he came from. Clean liscense no accidents since the 70's as well and easily over 200,000 miles on bikes.

On with the story.

Well the damage to the Toyota was a wiped out bumper and maybe a few other little things. Damage to the bike was new Roadhouse exhause bent, rear crash bar and hard bag wiped. Scratches on the left mirror, left front crash bar, clutch lever bent, left rear crash bar scratched, folded metal that right rear crash bar attaches to bent, handle for hard bag on left scratched.

Anyway the rear right crash bar did a great job anf everything major looks to be intact.

So now on with the aftermath. State trooper shows up along with the Fire Dept. The officer spends an hr or so with the other driver taking info and about 20 minutes with me. I was at fault because I made the u-turn and that was all the officer needed to know.While he was taking the info he gave me a 15 minute speech on how I could've gotton killed. What an insult to injury. We all know in an accident on motorcycle we could get killed. He wrote me a ticket for the u-turn noting I caused the accident.

When most everything was said and done my bike wouldn't start. The key wasn't turned off this whole time and it wasn't running. Just before this I had an oil change and had a phone number of the Kaw place and called him to ask about a cutoff. He told me to turn the key off and back on and that worked. It started. I originally called for a tow because I saw liquid on the ground so I thought there was more serious damage, but I believe that was gas because I has just filled up. I told the officer I'd drive it and he decided to follow me to make sure me and the bike was OK. The bike semed fine and he suggested I go to a repair shop to get it checked out. I told him I would buit when I was by myself I went through everything as best I could and came to the conclusion I'd try to make it to RI the way it was.

I drove another 75 miles or so and looked for a motel because it was staritng to get late as I don't like the idea of animals at dusk. I had already made a decision to go home because my ankle was sore and the right hard bag wouldn't close and a put a cord around it to keep it closed. When I got to the motel I took my boot off and my foot was black and blue on the top, bottom, sides and heel. It didn't feel too bad but if I needed to get it checked out I wanted to do that home in RI. and just get the bike home to take care of the necessary process to get it fixed. I rode 739 miles that next day, from MT to MN, over 600 miles the next two and 534 miles the last day. By the time I got home the foot was still swollen and now had a chance to get off of it. Now three days after getting home the swelling has gone down and much of the bruiising has gone away.

I contacted my company and brought the bike to my local repectable dealer and set up and appt. to have it gone through adn fixed. An adjuster is coming to the house in the next couple of days to look.

At this point I'm still disgusted and upset over my stupidity but I'm so confused where this car came from. I'm not giving up riding so you all know, but how still bothers me.

More to follow as things progress.

Oh yea. I never told my wife about my ankle until I got home because I didn't want her to worry.

[ringadingh]

We all do stupid things once in a while, and sometimes there is a cost attached. Your lucky that all you have is a sprained ankle. The bike can be repaired and youve grown a bit wiser. Over all telling your story here will help us all realize what can happen in a second.

[peterdarby]

Glad your all right. Ringadingh is right. Sometimes our brain just disengages. We can just try to keep it to a minimum and hope we get lucky when it happens. Last night I left first out of a light and couldn't see the lane lines very well. I was moving out slow thinking of where I wanted to go and didn't realize the lane lines were offset on the other side of the intersection. I ended up straddling two lanes with cars behind me wondering where I was going. As soon as I realized I was in trouble I accelerated out of the hole I had put myself in and got back to paying attention to what I was doing.

[cactusjack]

All I can say is wow, You are an ironman! Sorry about your bike and foot. I hope you heal up quickly and your bike is fixed soon.

You should really be more careful, YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN KILLED! ;D Take care!

[kawgirl]

Glad to hear you're okay. Like the others have said, we all make brain blooper mistakes. Been there, done that on the bike and off.

[flavor]

I'll say it now and for all future posts...thanks for the support.

[dantama]

Originally Posted by peterdarby

Glad your all right. Ringadingh is right. Sometimes our brain just disengages. We can just try to keep it to a minimum and hope we get lucky when it happens. .

I take some internal pride in always knowing where traffic is when I'm out riding, but there are some times where I get surprised by a vehicle being where I don't expect it. In those moments I'm thinking, "holy sh*t, were did that come from, and how did I get surprised by it?"

They have all happened in a non-threatening situation, but if it had been a deadly situation, I still wouldn't have known.

Sorry to hear about the rough ending to what must have been a great trip.

When I crashed mine on a dirt road, I got $8,000 in damage repairs, and used a couple of thousand for ebay and dealer parts, and pocketed the rest. Some of your parts might be found on ebay, but you'll get dealer prices from the insurance.

[Cajunrider]

Happy to hear that you are OK. On my way home from Tennessee, I came to a stop sign at a 4 way intersection and I did stop. I looked in both directions and saw a pickup coming from the right side and nothing on the left. I pulled out with the dumba$$ idea that it was a 4 way stop like the previous intersections. Guess what, it wasn't and the pickup had the right of way. Thank God he was turning right. I didn't know this because he didn't have his right turn signal on. My wife told me what I did after pulling out. Talk about a major brain fart! I could have killed both of us that quick. Take care of the ankle and I hope your repairs are quick.

[nomad561]

We can all learn from each others experience.
I would encourage everyone to post about any incidents that involve riding lessons learned

[pirate]

Wow, what an ordeal! I am glad to hear that you are ok, other than the foot. That's very impressive that you rode all that way home with your foot the way it was. I bet that was not the most comfortable ride you've ever had. Best wishes on a speedy recovery and on getting the bike fixed. Nomads must be tough bikes to take you home after getting hit like that!

[egetaseb]

I am glad that you are okay. I was also in an accident last year and it was 100% my fault. I was lucky to have survived but I learned a lot about safer riding from that accident. I am a much better rider now because I replay the scene all the time in my head and I see the mistakes I made and avoid those mistakes now.

[egetaseb]

I am glad that you are okay. I was also in an accident last year and it was 100% my fault. I was lucky to have survived but I learned a lot about safer riding from that accident. I am a much better rider now because I replay the scene all the time in my head and I see the mistakes I made and avoid those mistakes now.

[phenrichs]

Originally Posted by Ringadingh

We all do stupid things once in a while, and sometimes there is a cost attached.

You're exactly right.
My moto is "Stupid is expensive."

On a run with my old vmax once I had my wife on the back and a friend riding next to me on a HD heritage. He thought it was fast cause it had a stage 1 screamin eagle kit. Out in the middle of nowhere at a stop sign he nailed it and took off. Not to be outdone I nailed it and passed him up. I didn't realize the front tire was off the ground until I felt it make contact again. His eyes were huge, my wife never flinched so I assumed she didn't realize what had happened. At the next stop my buddy ran up with my wife standing there and had to describe in detail how far off the ground it was.

Long story short a week later I shelled out $700 for a factory Yamaha backrest for my wife.

Don't feel bad flavor, we all do it. I killed my Nomad in the parking lot of the dealer the day I took it home with my wife on back and the salesman standing right there.

I am a member of the Rolling Blunder.

[flavor]

Originally Posted by prairie cruiser

Wow, what an ordeal! I am glad to hear that you are ok, other than the foot. That's very impressive that you rode all that way home with your foot the way it was. I bet that was not the most comfortable ride you've ever had. Best wishes on a speedy recovery and on getting the bike fixed. Nomads must be tough bikes to take you home after getting hit like that!

I'm lucky it was the left foot and the bike has a heel shifter. Just had to watch take-offs and coming to a stop. Bike takes a lickin and keeps on tickin.

I also noticed the right shock is holding air but space btween the tightening bolt. Don't know if it's just a spacer or the shock until it gets broken down during repair.

[jastearns]

Glad to hear that you are alright.