Well, it happened. My first crash on my beautiful, clean 600RR.........and in the stupidest way too.

My roommate (Hamster) and I were headed to White Sands (where they filmed scenes of Transformers) to take pictures of our bikes in the sunset (and a damn great one at that). We just went through the border-patrol check station, and the entrance to white sands was down the interstate about a half mile to the left.

I applied the brakes entering the long turning lane doing about 70 mph, and before I knew it, I was on the ground sliding. Just like that. No warning, no time to react, nothing. Just riding.....loose gravel......low-side. I can't explain to the people who have never low sided before how unbelievably quick a low-side happens......blink of an eye. There really is NOTHING you can do about it. I had no idea what the hell happened the first 30 feet of my slide. (I slid for about 60 feet from what we counted........the bike about 100 feet or so.)

So, while I was sliding, all I saw (once I realized what happened) is my bike, sliding further from me, seeing all the debris and loose gravel flying up from under it. The only thing I could think of at the time was "F**K! This is going to be expensive." After I stopped sliding (thanks to my elbow grinding me to a stop), I jumped up, and ran over to my bike. I was on the interstate, but there was no traffic coming. My roommate David (who is an EMT-I) jumped off his bike immediately and rushed over to my aid. I told him I was alright as I brushed myself off, looking for missing limbs. My leg hurt a bit, but it wasn't missing, so I didn't think anything of it. He told me as he saw me hit the ground (and he's ran MANY fatal motorcycle accidents before) that he was planning to stop, start CPR and call in a Medivac. He told me I hit the ground violently hard, and thought that I would be unconscious for sure.

So, we picked up my bike, started it up and rode into the White Sands Guest Building parking lot. I checked myself over thoroughly, and when I found that I only had some soreness and scrapes, I turned my attention over to my bike, which didn't look so good. The frame slider did it's job though (which I was VERY impressed with.) It saved my front Rizoma signal (but not the rear sadly ). F-ed up my license plate, scraped up my rear view mirror, scratched up my swingarm, ground down my rear cowl, and ground up my side fairing a bit. But it saved my engine crankcase cover and all the vital parts from any damage. I was VERY surprised to find my peg and shifter was completely untouched.

It rode fine though, and I checked everything over, tires, brakes, alignment (as best as I could), etc. and all seemed to be fine. Me (happy because I was still alive and not badly hurt) suggested we hurry into the park to take pictures. Just as I said that, a park ranger blocked off the entrance, saying they were closed. What luck.

As far as gear, I was wearing my Leather jacket (thank God), Boots, Gloves, Helmet, and a backpack. I slid on my side, so the backpack was untouched, as was my helmet (somehow). My jeans (just regular Anchor Blue Jeans) had a couple holes, but nothing major. My Boots took a lot of wear and protected the ball of my ankle. The jacket was the BIG factor though. Without it, I would have had to go to the hospital for sure. I ground down through the leather (as you can see in the pavement pics) to the hard plastic underneath. My arm, which I was pretty much sliding on, is untouched, though a little sore. Same goes for my upper leg, sore with a few scrapes, but nothing serious. I can honestly say that it could have turned out much worse, and I count my blessings for coming out in such good shape after this crash.

Here's some pics of the crash.





[IMG]http://i106.photobucket.com/

 

Jesus Fox, IDK what to say. Glad to hear that you're okay. I'd probally of said the same thing "Oh s**t, my bike!"...A few months ago when I was riding, there was a piece of a 2x4 that fell out the back of this guys truck and it went plowing through my right side fairing, knocked the coolant reservoir, etc...I was pissed at the guy yet I was more upset that my bike was "tore up". Anyways, the guy that I was with didn't realize what happened, so he kept of riding. He finally turned around and came back and just like everyone else that I told, everyone said the same thing "It could've been worse. At least you're okay." blah-blah-blah, yeah, maybe true, but the bike's more important to me.

Anyways, once again, it could've been worse (thank God you were wearing your gear!), but you're okay. I hope that you get the bike back togather. Good luck with everything!

 

Seem to have been a few accidents involving people on this forum over the past few weeks (me included) glad to hear you are ok, bike looks not to bad (mine was a total loss).
Take it easy for a few days, hope you and you bikeheal well

 

Sounds like the old "diesel on the road" trick, but whatever, back luck about the stack, glad your in a position to post about it, its been a while for me (& I'm touching everything wood in here including my head) . You live to ride another day, Good one
And your sunset shots of the bike are great.

 

Yeah, you're going to be a bit sore for a few days (take it from me, and I went down at about half that speed). Glad to hear you're ok though.

Damn! Is it me, or are there a lot of wrecks on the forum this season? I mean, I just climbed on board mid-summer but it seems really common! Either way, one wreck a year is enough for me to hear about. Actually, f_ck that; I don't want to hear about any! I really enjoy this place, and it realls sucks to hear about, knowing how much we all love our bikes (and value our lives, of course).

 

glad ur ok and had ur full gear on. thank god for sliders too since it looks like it saved you from a lot of damage. too bad white sands was closed when u got there.

 

Glad your ok man. Leather jackets are for the win, never leave home without it.

It's cool that your a good sport about the whole thing, and still captured the beautiful sunset.

 

Looks like most worked out in the end...some awesome sunset pics (with her good side). Glad to hear that everything didn't with the worse case senario, bike doesn't look too terrible at all and you were able to ride away from everything. Sounds like the best crash this year.

 

Gald to hear your ok man. Looks like the bike made it out ok to with just some minor damage. I hate to hear about wrecking on bikes. Every time I come home without a problem it was a damn good ride. Hope you get the bike fixed soon.

 

holy crap man i need frame sliders!! that is impressive. glad to hear your ok and you made it out alot cheaper than you thought while sliding.
take it easy
JonBrown