glad you're OK!

Where's the blood? 
Poke it with a stick or something. 


Glad it wasn't worse, fellow GSer. 

Glad you're okay, man!

Nasty case of 'road rash' you've got there!   Glad you're OK.  Have you got back into riding straight away?  Something like that can knock your confidence a bit.  I've only ever come off once - back in the early eighties.  I was doing about 50mph on a wet road when the back end started snaking from side to side - a 'tank slapper' I think it's called.  I was very lucky - the rear came 'round and the bike just slid away from underneath me.  The bike skittered down the road and I slid after it on my back.  All that was hurt was my pride - the bike wasn't in too bad a condition either and I rode it home.  But ever since then I'm must admit to being a little extra cautious in wet weather.  It's something that just stays with you, which can't be a bad thing really.  Apparently, most accidents happen with 5-10 minutes of home.  Probably because we relax and drop our guard.  Familiarity with local roads seems to make them appear safer.  I don't mean to be a kill-joy, but one can be just as easily sideswiped leaving one's driveway as when riding through a junction (intersection).  On my way home from work I occassionally take a shortcut down a lane that joins a road that is a favourite shortcut with car drivers.  When I reach the end of the lane I have to turn left onto the road that is popular with the cars.  Remembering that we drive on the left in the UK, when I turn left onto this road cars can appear at very fast speed from my right from around a completely blind bend just yards away.  I always look right for a long time (and listen) and keep taking quick snatched glances over my shoulder as I pull out.  This always leads to a very ungainly, wobbly, turn into the road and I always feel like a complete novice!  However, better to look a bit of a prat and live to ride another day than to concentrate on looking cool and getting splattered!!

Glad you're ok

bassman

Street crashes really do a number on you.
I was back on the bike today (in full gear, including ridings pants). Running like a champ as always, good 'ol GS. My knee hurts a lot, so does my arm where I got some burn from the inside of the jacket. I'm limping around but I can tell the wounds are very temporary. I also revisited the crash site and I think I'm going to avoid that street 100% from now on. Car or bike, it's an accident waiting to happen.

It's great to hear that you're doing better and you're taking action.

I have only been riding for a couple of months (about a thousand miles each month) and I ride with all my gear,  most  of the time. After your message, and my experience yesterday morning on the way to work - I'll ride with all my gear ALL of the time.

Like others have pointed out, the residential streets are the worst. The lackadaisical mentality of most drivers is a real risk generator. It's amplified when SUVs get thrown into the mix: safer on the inside is how they're marketed, but their deadlier for everyone on the outside.

Yesterday, riding on my way to work, I found that there is one creature more dangerous than the soccer-mom equipped SUV; it's the I-drive-these-things-once-a-year U-haul guy.

I was on a residential street riding at 30 mph and I saw a U-haul out of my left hand field of vision.  I could see the driver, and I could see that he was looking in both directions. I *assumed* he was looking at me too. But he was probably thinking... "I wonder if this big mother of a u-haul with all my furniture is going to jump across the road and make for an easy left-hand turn". I know this because he took that lumbering behemoth of a truck and eased into the roadway. He was moving so slow that I figured he must have seen me. After all, a second ago, he'd looked straight at me. But he kept coming. He hadn't noticed me, and his slow speed wasn't a recognition of my approach. I realize now that he simply didn't want to bump the back end of the truck on the curb as he pulled out of the driveway. As soon as he cleared that curb, he sped up; just as I pulled beside him in the "kill zone." I swerved right, as he compressed the lane with his elephant of a box-truck. The little bike path to the right (my escape route) saved me,  and I scooted past.

The caution I had seen from the driver as he pulled out of the driveway had to do with his lack of familiarity of the vehicle; it was not an acknowledgment of my approach.  I should have slowed and waited for the driver to make his move.

From this point forward, U-Hauls and Budget Rent-a-trucks have a special spot in my roadway scans. I'm also a born again supporter of residential bike paths.

Wow,man. Glad you're cool. The bike faired pretty well too. I have to say; I 've never seen a lowside without a bent/broken clutch/brake lever.

Glad to hear you're ok. Let me know if you need anything when your new stuff comes in, don't mind coming over and helping you install it all and what not.

If this has convinced even one person to put on their riding pants then I'll feel a lot better. Today I saw a guy riding an old Katana in shorts and I cringed, I almost yelled at him to put some pants on.

Quote from: average on April 10, 2009, 01:04:14 PM
I 've never seen a lowside without a bent/broken clutch/brake lever.

Both of my crashes have resulted in nothing but a rashed lever, in fact after this one the ball on the end is more than half worn away, but it works fine and I don't think I'll replace it anytime soon.

Quote from: Grommett2k on April 10, 2009, 01:10:32 PM
Glad to hear you're ok. Let me know if you need anything when your new stuff comes in, don't mind coming over and helping you install it all and what not.

Thank-you much for the offer! I would probably take you up on it if anything major had happened to the bike but its all pretty easy bolt on stuff. Although, I would like to know if its possible to remove and then reinstall those rivets where my exhaust was rashed. I'd like to pop it out and rotate the rash to face the bike and then sand/repaint the flange. I think it would look good as knew from just a foot or two away and shouldn't cost anything.

Glad you're back on the ol' horse.  One of the first things I did when I got my bike was to get knee/shin protection from CycleGear.  Well worth the $.  Then when I got sick of putting them on/off everyday I rode, I got a one piece riding suit with all the pads/armor.  I can jump in/out of it in a minute and feel well protected. 

Ouchies - glad you're (mostly) ok 

For those of you with full riding suits, what do you do with them when you get to your destination? I have a fairly large tank bag but its only just big enough to fit a jacket with the back protector removed.

With the one piece I always had a place to put it since I was headed for work.  Or if I'm headed out for an errand or leisurely ride it doesn't come off. Guess it depends on what you're planning to do.  Raises a good question.

Yeah, at my Job I have a very slim locker tall so it is just enough to put boots, pants, and jacket in. My helmet and tank bag get's put in the office I work in security  it better be safe in our office!

Most other places I just keep it on. I do have a two piece though so I can unzip the jacket form the pants and get a breeze!

mary

Quote from: Bluesmudge on April 11, 2009, 06:59:22 PM
For those of you with full riding suits, what do you do with them when you get to your destination? I have a fairly large tank bag but its only just big enough to fit a jacket with the back protector removed.

I'm mostly a commuter, so I wear my Rev'it Infinity suit pretty much every day of the week. When I get to work, I just toss it on a big wetsuit hangar and hang it off whatever is handy (for a long while that meant my co worker's hydraulically powered exoskeleton, but then I switched desks). I work in an office with lots of corners to stash stuff in, so it has never been a problem. When I'm running errands and stuff like that, I usually just pull the zipper half way down the suit and wear it walking around. I get the occasional "you look like a spaceman" comment, but no harm in that. When I go to the movies or a restaurant I'll take the top half of the suit off as I sit down, pretty much the same way I used to wear my wetsuit when walking from my car to the beach back when I surfed a lot. I'm actually in the process of obtaining a top rack and case for my GS so I can store stuff on my way to my destination and also so I can stuff my suit inside and lock it on the bike when I get there. I've also seen guys lock their jackets to their bikes by putting a cable lock through the sleeves, but I've always been wary of doing that..

Yeah, that's what I do. I have a thick python cable lock that I can put through a jacket and/or pants when I ride with my GF. She doesn't like to look like a biker once she gets off 

Sometimes I also just hide stuff under a bike cover when I go to school and assume nobody will be bothering to look under there.