It happened 2 weekends ago late on a Saturday night. I was down to 7 and the only bike left in the footbrake class. Had a good launch and it was a very close race against the ole duster I was spotting. He must have had a better reaction time than me because I had to spray nos to catch him near the stripe. This is where the run went bad. Just as we crossed the finish (never did find out who really won) and I started to lift off the throttle the front slide to the right slamming the bars to the left. (Note: my GPR damper is set so stiff its hard to turn the bars) This happened so fast I had no time to try and save it. All I remember is me and the bike slamming hard left into the pavement at 110+mph. My protective gear saved me from more serious injury.

I tumbled nearly a dozen times down the track before coming to a stop. The entire time I could hear my bike sliding ahead of me down the track. No matter how hard I tried to get onto my back and just slide I continued to tumble. It was the most violent thing I have ever experienced in my life and all I could do was pray for it to stop. When I did finally come to a stop and was still aware of my surroundings I was so relieved. As I got to my feet a fellow racer who had run just in front of me came running up to me. He was scared to death because he had just witnessed my crash. He later told me that he assumed the worst and could not believe it as I stood up and he got closer to me. As a typical rider I was heading towards my bike that had slide nearly 100 yards farther down the track. After just a few steps I realized my right ankle was badly hurt and by now more people and ems were there and forced me to sit down on the guardrail. Besides the obvious pain in my right ankle and both hands it was now starting to set in that I had just crashed at 110+mph and was alive. I am so thankful that my wife who was at the track did not see the crash. She gets nervous during my runs and rarely watches them. This night she did not feel well and had fallen asleep in our suv. I immediately told the track worker to radio the tower to tell my wife over the pa system that I was ok.

By now I am hurting worse but getting more pissed than anything trying to figure out what the hell just happened. My nearly perfect 954 was prob destroyed considering how hard we hit and how far it slide down the track. The ems workers were asking me questions about myself and I was thinking about my bike.

We never determined the exact cause of the crash. To me I must have ran over some fluid to loose the front end so quickly. The other driver came up to me as ems was working on me and said he didn't see me go down but as he slowed my bike caught up to him and slide straight down the center of my lane. I too had tumbled straight down my lane never coming close to the other car or the guardrail. For this I am so thankful as it could have been much worse.

My injuries were sprained left little and ring fingers, cut on my right thumb where something cut my glove, bruised/cracked ribs on my leftside from landing on my arm and a broken talus bone in my right ankle. The ankle is the worst because I have to be in cast non-weight bearing for 2-3 months.

The bike took the crash much better than me. The stator case is rashed and cracked while the engine case behind it is just fine. The nose is slightly cracked with just a little rash on the edge, may have bent front support but not sure yet, left side fairing and tail have rash. Besides that no one would believe it went down at high speed and slide so far and has such little damage. I have spares for everything but the nose so bike will be ready long before I am.

This proves that wearing the right protective gear increases your chance of walking away from a crash. I hope no one reading this ever experiences what I did a few weeks ago. The first few days after the crash I questioned whether I would ever race again. After thinking about it I will be back at the track ready to race as soon as the cast is removed.

 

More pics

 

more pics

 

gloves

 

Bike

 

Glad you're okay, or alive anyway.

The damage looks minimal considering you were going 110. I expected to see a ball of twisted metal! Isn't it amazing that as your crashing, the first thing you think of is about the bike getting damaged? A least that's been my experience.

 

Firstly, I'm glad your ok and on the mend.

Secondly, what a great report - thanks for that. It was like being on the inside of the accident looking out.

Heal well.

Cheers, SB

 

Glad to see you're alright, Doc. I too have been in a tumble recently and the first thought seems to always be "How's my bike?!". It's amazing to see what gear is supposed to do. I wear my helmet 99% of the time (Required here in MA) and jacket/gloves about 80%. This post has motivated me to get some updated gear. Boots, pants, a jacket, gloves, and more. ATGATT is a life saver. Hope you have a speedy recovery!

 

Glad to hear your alive I've been in a couple accidents the only one I can think of that comes close is the time i totaled my cobra. I could only imagine what it's be like to relive that without the steel frame around me. You will be in our prayers as you heal.

 

Doc - I'm terribly sorry to hear about accident. I'm thankful you're alive, but it always sucks to hear one of our guys has gone down - even more so when it's that kind of mph... Like Demon said - considering the speed you were going, it's incredible that you're okay and that the bike is in as good of condition as it's in.

Hope you heal up quick. If I had any a spare nose, I'd hook you up. Hopefully, you can find a deal on a good one for cheap.