I’ll start off with saying that if this were any other forum, I would probably not be posting this. I am surprised at how embarrassing it is to tell other people that I crashed my bike. It was a stupid lack of concentration that was 100% my fault and now I am paying the price.
This story starts off like any other. Beautiful 70 degree day, not a cloud in the sky, and to make things better, I got the day off of work. My plan was to ride the whole day and be back before sundown as I still only have my learners permit. Starting north from St. Paul I went up through rush city using county roads since my learners permit forbids me from riding on freeways. When I hit Rush City I decided to hook a right into Wisconsin because I heard they have some pretty nice curvy roads along the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers. As soon as I crossed the border I turned south on West River Road. It was a great road to ride on with turns and hills and very little traffic. This is where the trouble started.
First off, I was going way too fast. I was going at least 60-70mph on the straight-aways with the occasional blip up to 80. When I saw oncoming cars I’d slow down to 40 or 50mph which wasn’t that unreasonable on those stretches. And that’s when it finally happened. I on a straight stretch of road I saw this red pickup truck coming my way so I slowed down and moved over in my lane to give him some room but I banked to the right a little too aggressively and suddenly found myself veering off the road. As soon as I passed the truck I tried to crank the bike back to the center of my lane but by then it was too late. My front wheel came off the pavement and I stopped leaning to tried to straighten up to ride it out over the gravel/grass. I didn’t get far as you can imagine before the bike started bucking wildly. The bike tipped to the left and I got to see what hitting the pavement/gravel at 40-50 mph feels like. (here’s a hint, it hurts ) After grinding to a halt I sat up and checked out my injuries, to my surprise I was fine!
My gear was as follows:
Helmet: Scorpion exo-700 – not a scratch on it. Must have kept my head up.
Jacket: Bullet brand leather jacket- really scratched up elbows and stomach.
Gloves: Teknic Chicane full gauntlet gloves- completely shredded but my hands are fine
Legs: ICON knee/shin field armor over blue jeans- jeans are a little ratty but the ICON stuff saved my left knee from the impact of the road and being dragged underneath the motorcycle.
Boots: heavy leather work boots- toe is scratched but my ankles are fine.
The only real injury I have is the tip of my left index finger is pretty bruised from the sheer impact of hitting the ground at that speed. Over all I am extremely happy with how my gear preformed. This is a very clear cut example of how gear, even the cheaper stuff, can pay off big in the end.
Thinking back on it the major factors that contributed to my crash were:
Inexperience - If I had practiced evasive maneuvers at higher rates of speed I feel like I could have pulled out of it and avoided this whole situation
Speed- simply put, if I was going slower my brain would have been able to process that I was going off the road way sooner.
Fatigue- this was my third 100+ mile road trip in as many days. For my experience level, I think I was pushing it a little. I also would have been more on the ball when it comes avoiding obstacles
Inattentiveness- Of all the stupid ways to wreck your beloved bike, driving off a straight f**king road has to be in at least the top 3. Above all else, I should have been paying more attention. ‘nuff said.
In conclusion, I lucked out and escaped any injuries. I’ll have to pay out big in insurance, new gear and repairing the bike. But that’s fine if you ask me. And you can bet your ass that my next set of riding gear will be the best money can buy. I hope you guys can learn from my mistakes and avoid having to go through any of this yourself.
Any comments or criticisms are welcome.
