Had a nice little crash.... WARNING, blood: discretion is advised. Pic Heavy

[Bluesmudge]

I hate making a crash post, but I feel its kind of necessary.
So I was driving around the side streets of the Mt. Baker neighborhood in Seattle Washington. I got to this part on a residential road where it splits into a high and a low. Its not exactly a one way, but generally cars drive on the correct side (first mistake I made was assuming nobody would be coming at me on the right side). The road takes a steep incline to the lower side, so low you can't see anyone coming for a few hundred yards until you crest the hill. They always teach you to slow down as you come to a hill crest, I didn't. As I came over the top a large pickup was speeding towards me. Totally caught off guard I slammed on the front brake, lost the front end and next thing I knew I was on the ground a few feet away from the truck. We were both equally at fault. Both were going over the speed limit, it was just super unfortunate I ended up on the asphalt. I'm sure if I had been easier on the brakes I could have stopped in time. Swerving would have put me in the back of a parked truck.
It was the absolute worst time for it to happen. Cresting the hill probably lightened the front end, meaning less traction for a panic stop. Let me know if I'm wrong about this.
I was able to start the bike easily and ride home.

So. What I learned:
-Actually slow down before cresting a hill -- no matter what!
-People drive crazy in residential areas, they never expect anyone else to be driving there. I see this all the time, I've had other close calls because of it and its what the driver of the truck told me.
-This one I already knew, but I've now experienced it first hand. Jeans do not hold up in a crash! Even at only ~30 mph they disintegrated at my knee. All body parts covered in leather faired much better.

Here are some pictures of my gear, my bike and my knee. Luckily I have right side fairings on order already from a crash many months ago. Convenient I guess 

[ineedanap]

glad you're ok other than the knee.

[streetfighter]

ouch man thank god it wasnt any worse  

[Bluehaze]

holy crap..isnt this the second one?  man you are one lucky guy.   i am glad you are ok.

[cafeboy]

  glad you're ok

[Bluesmudge]

holy crap..isnt this the second one?  man you are one lucky guy.   i am glad you are ok.

Thanks,
Its hard to say if its luck, lack of luck or just my own damn fault.

[fred]

Ouch! I hope you feel better soon. That doesn't look like fun at all. Hopefully this post will inspire you and others to wear full gear, even if you're just tooling around the neighborhood. Where I live, people are always driving at twice the speed limit or more and flying around blind turns on pretty narrow streets. I wouldn't dream of going out there without all my gear on...

I think I remember seeing you talking about a crash before. That tank bra is what catches my eye. Doesn't that make two crashes in under a year? I'm glad your OK, but that's not sounding like the greatest of records to me... I'm not trying to get on your case or be a jerk, but if I were you, I'd think seriously about what is going on.

[Infinite Dimentia]

yer lucky the knee is the only injury you got!  Glad you faired out alright overall.

Another lesson you could take from this is..... duuude.... get some damn frame sliders on that poor girl!  woulda saved you a helluva lotta plastic damage.

[Bluesmudge]

Ouch! I hope you feel better soon. That doesn't look like fun at all. Hopefully this post will inspire you and others to wear full gear, even if you're just tooling around the neighborhood. Where I live, people are always driving at twice the speed limit or more and flying around blind turns on pretty narrow streets. I wouldn't dream of going out there without all my gear on...

I think I remember seeing you talking about a crash before. That tank bra is what catches my eye. Doesn't that make two crashes in under a year? I'm glad your OK, but that's not sounding like the greatest of records to me... I'm not trying to get on your case or be a jerk, but if I were you, I'd think seriously about what is going on.

Thanks for being honest fred. I do need to rethink my riding habits and probably get out to a track day or two to get the spirited riding out of my system, but I believe this crash was just real bad luck and could have been a lot worse. I'm only 18 so unfortunately I can be a dumb kid sometimes but I'm slowly learning just how dangerous motorcycling is...the hard way.

[fred]

Ouch! I hope you feel better soon. That doesn't look like fun at all. Hopefully this post will inspire you and others to wear full gear, even if you're just tooling around the neighborhood. Where I live, people are always driving at twice the speed limit or more and flying around blind turns on pretty narrow streets. I wouldn't dream of going out there without all my gear on...

I think I remember seeing you talking about a crash before. That tank bra is what catches my eye. Doesn't that make two crashes in under a year? I'm glad your OK, but that's not sounding like the greatest of records to me... I'm not trying to get on your case or be a jerk, but if I were you, I'd think seriously about what is going on.

Thanks for being honest fred. I do need to rethink my riding habits and probably get out to a track day or two to get the spirited riding out of my system, but I believe this crash was just real bad luck and could have been a lot worse. I'm only 18 so unfortunately I can be a dumb kid sometimes but I'm slowly learning just how dangerous motorcycling is...the hard way.

I'm glad you took that the right way. I'm just trying to help you learn faster so you don't get hurt. It wasn't too long ago that I was 18 and I sure did my fair share of stupid things, although I didn't own a motorcycle at the time...

Track days are probably a good idea. Go to one with instructors who will teach you handy things like maximum breaking and how to turn most effectively. Also, by going to the track, you'll be forced to buy a full compliment of gear that you should then wear all the time you're riding. Eventually you'll get to the point where you'll feel totally naked when missing even the smallest piece of gear while riding, which will be a good thing. Sometimes I ride my bike the 20 feet from where I park at work to the inside of the shop so I can work on it and even riding that tiny distance with no gear always makes me feel like I'm doing something totally wrong.

[tripleb]

ouch, glad you're ok.

[jtolentino637]

knee pads are only 20 bucks from cycle gear. it saved my knee on a fall this past sunday.

[qwertydude]

Track day advice doesn't cover everyday info, yes slow down when cresting a hill so you can maintain traction. But what makes more sense (since tracks don't have opposing traffic) and the way I ride is if you can't see past the turn don't go any faster than you would were you in a car because there are other cars around there. Can't assume you're the only one on the road ever, or that road conditions are the same past the turn as before. I've went round turns and and hills enough times to know there could just as easily be a car in the wrong lane, a pile of wet leaves (even in the middle of a desert I've encountered wet leaves), gravel, pot holes in your line and other road hazards. Put it simply tracks are much safer than curvy back roads, so you've got to be even more careful in real life than on a track.

[dorris1988]

glad your alright mate. as everyones saying id invest in some good gear. ive got the full works. bottoms with knee protectors. jacket with back support and elbow and shoulder protection. boots gloves etc etc. yeah sometimes it may be hot and not be as cool as your mates when they are in shorts and tshirt driving their bikes but for starters when you come off.. you will keep your skin unlike them. you will find you will get more respect from bikers(im only 20 and even really experienced bikers tell me ive got my head screwed on). dont get me wrong i i dont drive my suzy like a granny but at the same time if i dont know what is ahead or what im up against i will take care and be extra cautious. you can drive fast any time. but if you can see what is in front then dont do it. not having a dig mate. i know loads of people who ride bikes and its all preference on how you drive and what you wear. this is just from my year and a half of biking(so im a new newbie) =). and dont laugh but i even wore boots when i had my scooter for a month or two. haha =) and fred i totally know what you mean. i parked outside the cinema once and took all my gear off and the parking attendent told me to move my bike literally 10 yards so i put my helmet on and drove it... it wasnt illegal but i did feel so uncomfortable driving like that.

[Toogoofy317]

Ouch man that sucks. But, two wrecks in a year is a bit much. I'm coming up on my one year annivesary of my last stupid moment that cost me. First, I had all of my gear on except for the one piece I needed boots. Tennis shoes do not help when dropping a four hundred pound bike on your Ankle! My goodness Good Friday is the first anniversay of crushing my ankle. Don't think I'm gonna ride LOL.

That rash looks mighty deep you probably should head to your PCP so they can irrigate and clean it out really well. If it heals over with debris the infection can turn to gangrene NOT GOOD!

I've learned one of the scariest places to ride is in subdivisions and residential areas! In my best friend's subdivision I don't know how many times I've almost been creamed because cars and esp. SUVs believe they can take a wide lazy turn or roll-through the stop sign! It's not busy why should they follow the rules seems to be the mentality! My worst incident was when I worked at Lock Heed Martin there is a really nice curve leaving the complex and is one way. It is blind which shouldn't be a problem cause it is a one way road or so I thought. One night I was leaving work and wanted to "enjoy" the curb right as I got to the Apex there was a SUV! Needless to say I bout kraped my pants somehow made it to the outside of the curb. Since, I was still in my secuirty uniform I banged a "U" and went after them. Turned out to be the Florida garden variety Touron that had no clue. He tried to blame me for him going down a one way road the wrong way!  Was praying he was an employee so I could have got him in trouble. but, I just had this feeling he didn't learn and will do it again and maybe kill someone!

Heal up and get some gear!
Mary

[Bluesmudge]

I cleaned it out real good, took a long bath, scrubbed the wounds with soap and water. Then hydrogen peroxide, bactine and some neosporin on gauze and wrapped it up. Going to clean it out each of the next few days. Surprisingly it doesn't hurt very much.
Overall this isn't all that bad and I would have been absolutely fine if I was wearing all my gear. I think a lot of people neglect wearing proper riding pants because they are the biggest hassle. Get some and actually wear them! I have a really nice set, but they did me no good being on a hanger when I went down.

[fred]

Yeah, putting on riding pants can be a pain, but you found out the hard way how much it hurts when you haven't got them... I normally wear a riding suit when I'm heading to work. It has both the advantage of having a huge zipper from ankle to collar so I can step out of it quickly when I get there and, since it doesn't have a zipper around the waist, it has added strength. With the riding suit I'm confident that everything is going to stay in place during a crash. It wasn't cheap, but I wear it every day and it is cheaper than skin grafts will ever be...

[drincruz]

-People drive crazy in residential areas, they never expect anyone else to be driving there. I see this all the time, I've had other close calls because of it and its what the driver of the truck told me.
-This one I already knew, but I've now experienced it first hand. Jeans do not hold up in a crash! Even at only ~30 mph they disintegrated at my knee. All body parts covered in leather faired much better.

yea, people DO  drive crazy in residential areas! i've noticed that most of the time it's those teenyboppers that just got their licenses and want to be "fast and furious" (sorry, just saw a commercial this morning for the movie, NO i'm not gonna watch it).

jeans, aren't exactly quite durable against asphalt. but looks like your leather jacket  held up well. good job on having your leather jacket vs. a cordura or mesh jacket.

looks like you're not too bad. so glad you came out safe. 

cheers!

[The Buddha]

Yeow - glad to hear you made it out OK with just rash, and so did the bike.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Pigeonroost]

Show me a kid without bruises or scars and I'll show ya a sissy.   

prs