"A fool is wise in his own eyes." Yes, I often am sure that I know everything about riding motorcycles, but today I was humbled once more. I was riding back from Franklin, TN (just south of Nashville), where my daughter, son-in-law, and three grandsons live, to my home in Cleveland, TN (just north and east of Chattanooga). The ride is about 170 miles. I always take the back roads, which include some great twisties going up and coming down the Plateau. I was on a gently rolling straight with no side roads or traffic, going in the lower 80 mph range (speedo in the 90s). Great weather, but a pretty strong head wind hitting the front right of my GS. All of a sudden my tank bag slipped off and was dangling by the power cord to my Garmin. The bag was flopping around as I hit the brakes and pulled to the right. Then, a part of the bag got caught in the chain--instant wheel lock. I skidded almost to a stop, but there was no shoulder on the road--just a shallow ditch about a foot deep and several feet wide. The bike fell on its right side as I tumbled off. Broke the right mirror and jammed the right turn signal into the fairing. Someone came along and helped me get Suzy (my GS500f) back on two wheels--difficult footing in the slippery, weedy ditch. I can only imagine what the story would have been if I had been in the center lane of an Interstate. Lesson: put a strap on my tank bag and make sure that nothing can get into the chain. I also need to remember that even though I have been riding for well over a half century, I do not know everything and should be more careful about lots of things.
idc about the bike, how's your body?
Per-warning, take some anti inflammatory if you can TODAY. your hips gonna hurt TOMORROW.
I presume since you where all packed up you probably ride with a helmet at least? either way, take it from a "youngster" with a few motorcycle tumbles. sub 60mph. anti inflammatory and maybe some muscle relaxers if you don't got road rash. always scrub road rash the day of.. sooner the better, it hurts less. :D
Geez AJ..... glad to at least hear you're telling this story yourself.
I've been lucky (or overly cautious....), and never kissed the pavement. So hopefully you heal up quick, and get many more years on 2 wheels.
Quote from: Big Rich on October 22, 2017, 06:08:39 PM
I've been lucky (or overly cautious....), and never kissed the pavement.
I ride like I stole it, so I often have crashed like I stole it... :D
dumb catches us all no matter how fast we go.
However my last one I still blame shinko tires....
Sorry to hear that squire, but get straight back on 'n' ride again asap... your head needs it...
:icon_sad:
Greetings fellow east tn'er i believe there are 2 types of rider. those who have fallen and those who have not....yet. glad things worked out for the better thojugh. i learned an older trick for tankk bags. take those STRONG magnets from a computer hdd those lil things will hold a bag in place. jujst keep phones and gps' away from them. and i second an anti inflammatory .
Aaron
Good advice on the anti inflammatory--I'm going to take some right now. I always wear a full helmet, gloves, leather jacket--I've had lots of road rash from my even more stupid days. My body feels OK now, but the pills should help for the morning. Thanks for your good wishes.
Trying to wrap my head around how a part of the tank-bag got caught in the chain. Loose strap or something?
The only time I've had a tank-bag come off the tank was when I overstuffed one and it wasn't getting good solid magnetic contact and I didn't realize it. Going shy of 100mph on the interstate and a gust of wind got it. It actually pushed it onto the inside of my elbow which caused me to swerve slightly, but not enough to cause any issues, but it also meant I was able to catch it really easily. Luckily it happened on a straight, and I'm comfortable enough on the bike to ride no-hands for a short time, so I just let go of the bars, picked the bag up, placed it down where it needed to be, grabbed the bars again, and this time I leaned forward and lied down on the bag. I made sure to repack for the ride home.
I wonder if it even would have happened it I had any sort of a fairing or even a windscreen on my bike... Either way, lesson learned, don't exceed bag capacity to the point of instability.
As someone who has been down before I'll echo JW and Yama on the anti-inflammatory. It may not hurt now but it sure will in the near future.
Plenty of rest, be sure you're good and healed before wrenching lest you aggravate a minor injury. I was fortunate enough to walk away with a sprained wrist as the worst of it, but in my haste to get the bike working again I know I re-injured it a time or two.
This gal is super glad you are OK!!
Thank you for sharing this story for others to read and learn from. I ride with my magnetic tank bag 99% of the time (although I almost never go those speeds) BUT anything can happen, at any time, ever... and that's the key point here.
I has a similar experience a few years ago. I had a tshirt wrapped up in a cargo net on the passenger pad of my SV. Of course it came loose while I was going about 65 on the interstate and found its way to the chain and got caught up in the front sprocket. The rear wheel only locked up for half a second before the shirt burned up/disintegrated but it was a terrifying half second. I take no credit for somehow staying upright. It was dumb luck that I didn't get hurt or wreck the bike. I managed to pick what was left of the shirt out of the sprockets and limp home with a dry and very noisy chain. No more cargo net after that.
Interstate + locked rear wheel = terror
I just received a right mirror through ebay. It is like new, so Suzy and I are happy. Next, I'll fix the fairing--when I first got the bike, I plastic welded some cracks from the PO. The job was easy and almost fun. I just have to remember not to kill myself with the fumes. My body is just fine--a little stiff the next day, but nothing serious. I think the anti-inflammatory helped. Thanks for the tip.
BTW I tried to find info. on flush mount turn signals, but there was not much that I could find on this site. Has anyone put flush mounts on a GS500f recently?
I too had a pucker moment at 70mph! I had my lunchbox with a strap didn't get it tucked up enough caught in the chain. Got a tank slapper while the rear sprocket ate my lunch. Was able to pull over no idea how I stayed up. Was a bit ticked my bike ate my lunch and left me hungry for the day!
Glad you are relatively well!
M
I HAD flush mount turn signals.
and there was some on the fairings on my bike already installed. I think they where all ebay specials, or like "bike master" or something along those lines. was held on by 3m double stick foam tape.
I've strayed from pre-made turn signals, I buy the cheapest ones I can find that have a decent enough housing [in the color and shape I want, clear/amber/smoked] and order some loose LED's of your color [such as this, amber would be your color.] I actually prefer the flat ones because they have a higher viewing angle, are a lot smaller, so you can pack like idk I usually try for like at least 6 of them in a single blinker. [example link below]
I also put some of that really shinny DUCT tape [the silvery stuff in the HVAC section of homedepot] inside the LED housing to help the light bounce around a little easier, I think it makes the final product brighter so the effort is worth it.
if you haven't got any LED's on your bike yet, you're probably gonna need the flasher relay mod too. it's the easiest way to go about it.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/through-hole/3mm-yellow-high-flux-led-70-degree-viewing-angle-5500-mcd/362/1309/
I'd also like to note. I know very little about electronics, I got the general basics but since there's so much information on LED's and how to make LED projects on the internet. It's, even for me! SUPER easy to build your own!
I only mention this because unless you're dropping like $100+ dollars on some good name brand LED OE blinkers, the cheapie ones are just not bright enough for me...
Super! Just the kind of information I'm looking for. Thanks