Crash and burn.

[Toecutter]

To make a long story short, today I was riding to school on my little GS500, and took a left turn at an intersection.  A combination of an oily spot and a worn back tire caused me to lose the back end at about 20-25 mph.  The back end caught traction again and I highsided. I'm mostly ok- I was able to get my bike off the road with a little help from a guy who then gave me a lift home.  That was pretty nice of him.  I probably should have gotten his name.  My bike sits with a broken headlight, rashed up cases, and a bent handlebar.  It turns on, but it won't start.  I suppose I have a project and an excuse to get those clubman bars I've been wanting.  Now, on with the pictures. Naturally the first thing I did upon getting home was take pictures and post them on an internet forum.

This is the left sleeve of my jacket (Joe Rocket Atomic textile), the elbow that hit hardest.  You'll notice that the jacket is relatively unscathed.  This is important.  


Here is my left elbow.  Notice that it's significantly more f%&ked up than my jacket.  All the armor and rocktex in the world doesn't help if it DOESN'T STAY IN PLACE.  I lost about 45lbs since I bought this jacket, and unfortunately, it didn't shrink with me.  Make sure your equipment fits properly, and WEAR IT.



The right side pocket of my jacket.  If my little cellphone only knew how close it was to disintegration...


My belly.  Apparently, at some point, I was sliding on my belly feetfirst.  Again, a poorly fitting jacket allowed more damage than was necessary.


Left knee.  Yes, I know the picture is titled rightknee.jpg.  Excuse me.  Luckily, My legs didn't take much damage despite my wearing just bluejeans.


A crappy picture of my helmet.  I initially hit on my forehead, and then slid on my face a bit, as you can see from the rash.  It wasn't damaged too badly, but then I wasn't going that fast.  Had I been wearing a beanie or no helmet, I would be looking forward to some plastic surgury.


Damnit, I JUST bought these shoes.  I landed on hardest on my left side, and this is my left shoe.  Notice that the damage is on the INSTEP of the shoe.  That would explain why my foot is a little sore.  


Well, aside from a hole in my backpack, that's about the worst of my injuries.  I'll update with pictures of the bike when I figure out how to get it into the back of my pickup.  I'm hoping my foot feels better by 1:00, because I have to get to an exam, and my truck is a stick.  I'll update later, but I think I'd like to chill out a bit and take stock of the situation.  Ride safe, guys.  Wear your gear.  Even my stuff that didn't quite fit did its job.

[Pkaaso]

Yo Toe!

Glad you hear you made through OK.  I hope you have a speedy recovery.  I've  come close to that same scenario a few times.  A little oil in a left or a slick painted line on a right.  

I agree on the gear.  You never know when.

Hope you get your bike fixed quickly and it turns out better than before.

Paul

[Rashad]

Ouch man! Get better asap!

On a lighter note, good to see you have your humour still... "naturally the first thing i did was post pictures on an internet forum"...LOL!

Gs owners are the comedians of the cycle world.

[snapper]

Man I have that jacket too.. and I can see how that could happen.  It only fits well with plenty of layers.  Was thinking of how I can alter it to fit a bit better.  I will be working on that sooner now!

Glab to hear that you are relatively ok.  
Fix up the bike and get back on it!

[firedan]

I'll have to show my wife this and see if she still wants me to go on a diet .  Lets see, new coat and pants, this could be expensive.

[JohNLA]

Ouch
heel soon

[Cris]

Whoa. Darned oil slicks! ***:x ***
Glad you didn't sustain any serious injuries. Get better soon!

[scratch]

Glad you survived. Hope you heal quickly. And thank you for the gear crash test results. Good info. That's why racer's call their leathers their 'second skin', because their race leathers fit so tight. If you can push/pull/twist clothing on your body, in a crash, the loose clothing will pull on your skin and give you, ableit less, 'road rash'. Unfortuneately, baggy clothing is the in-style, currently.

[mrslush50]

I had been wearing my Meotor 4.0 Jacket with the sleaves at their loosest setting.  I'll think I'll start tighting them up again.

[dmp221]

took a left turn at an intersection.  A combination of an oily spot and a worn back tire caused me to lose the back end at about 20-25 mph.  ]

I'm glad this was not more serious...so, were you in the process of  making the left, or was the turn completed and you were accelerating out of it when the oil disaster happened?  Just curious about these things.

[TheGoodGuy]

glad your okay,

I got to start cooling it on my bike, my tyres are balding in teh back a bit.

[Toecutter]

took a left turn at an intersection.  A combination of an oily spot and a worn back tire caused me to lose the back end at about 20-25 mph.  ]

I'm glad this was not more serious...so, were you in the process of  making the left, or was the turn completed and you were accelerating out of it when the oil disaster happened?  Just curious about these things.

I was on the throttle accelerating through the turn when I hit the oil.  The rest is history.  
I went to take inventory of the damage to my bike today, and I'm pretty sure the starting issue is because of the clutch lever interlock.  No biggie.  I think I'm going to order some clubman bars tonight and then replace my leaky clutch case gasket tomorrow to keep busy.  There's a bit of rash on the tank, and the left side plastic is cracked.  I'll probably try to glue the plastic and then repaint everything eventually.  I'm considering going with a Buell Blast fairing and a dual headlight, but I'll have to do so shopping around.  Fixing the bike might be as much fun as riding it!  

Doctor says that it's just a contusion in my left foot, so that should be ship-shape in a few days.  I've gotten worse road rash on rollerskates.  

All in all, I'd say I had a lucky first crash.  

Thanks for your replies.  Keep the shiny side up!

[JohNLA]

So now, I want to know about your name?

[Jared]

John---I'd lay odds he's a Mad Max (The Road Warrior) movie-fan....

[Linh]

Looks painful, but glad it wasn't more serious (broken bones, etc).

Puts things in perspective seeing results of a 20/25 mph crash.  Damned oil slicks!

[Toecutter]

Got the bike back home yesterday.  Everything is mostly ok, but the front wheel isn't centered in the fender, which leads me to think that the fork is indeed bent.  I'm hoping it just twisted a little in the triple clamp or something, but I won't get my hopes up.  Well, if I'm going to replace the fork, I might as well go all out.  Gixxer fork time.  This is going to be fun.

[JBix]

Gixxer fork time.  This is going to be fun.

Oh yeah!  That's the way to look at it!    

[Fastdog]

Dang!   Glad you're okay; guess you'll be feeling it for a while huh?  

[Rema1000]

That's why racer's call their leathers their 'second skin', because their race leathers fit so tight. If you can push/pull/twist clothing on your body, in a crash, the loose clothing will pull on your skin and give you, ableit less, 'road rash'. Unfortuneately, baggy clothing is the in-style, currently.

Hm, maybe I should rethink getting an Aerostich?  Those suits don't look particularly snug.

[Blueknyt]

ah toe, sorry for your pain heal up soon, but dont jump to conclusions on the fork thing, pull the fender off and then look, the fender may be tweaked, ABS doesnt spring all the way back try puttings a T square across the forks and see how far the tire is aimed.