The Lowside of the Road - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

donny662 · 04-24-2009, 12:40 AM

I had my first real crash this morning. I was on my way to work. The temperature was around freezing. Less than a mile from my house is a 90 degree right-hand curve.

Normally, I can go around the curve at 25-30mph even though I know there is sand over the road, often. The road at this point is in a swampy area, so when it rains, dirty water will often flow from the swamp on one side of the road to the other.

This morning, I come upon the curve while going about 25mph. I know have taken the curve faster on previous occasions and survived. I saw a patch of sand in the middle of my lane and in the middle of the curve; I thought, "that doesn't look too good, but I've been through worse on this road."

I was wrong. Almost instantly, my bike had been pulled out from under me and my right knee and forearm were sliding on the road. My head (helmet) hit the ground above my right eye, and I rolled over.

Seeing my bike slide across the opposite lane, coming slowly to a stop myself, the only thing I was thinking of was what an idiot I was(am). "It's 32 degrees out, the tires are cold, and this road always has sand on it: it was inevitable that you were going to lowside"

I stopped sliding. My bike stopped just off the road with its front wheel half submerged. I jumped up as fast as I could, quickly walked to my motorcycle, hit the kill switch, picked it up (300lb dirt bikes are awesome), tried to walk it back onto the road ("crap, it's still in gear"), pulled the clutch in, and got the bike on solid ground.

My first thought was, "wow, I just crashed. That's bada$$."

Then, I realized, "I just crashed. This is terrible."

I pulled off my helmet; I couldn't see through the visor anymore because of the fog.

Surveying the damage, I had mixed feelings. First, "The bike and I aren't really messed up (thanks to my gear), and this is an interesting new experience." Then, "I'm an idiot. I could have avoided this situation. I or someone else could have been seriously hurt. I could have gone through my whole life without this experience and have been better for it." This internal conflict has been going on all day, as well.

It took me a couple of minutes to conclude that I wasn't hurt and the bike was rideable and to calm down a bit. Then, I straightened the twisted triple trees and continued on my 20 mile ride to work. That may not have been the best idea because the condition of my helmet was suspect (I'm going to replace it, for sure), and my bike was really just as suspect. But, the commute calmed me down, and I was proud that I was able to not let this experience make me afraid of doing something I love.

The damage:

Ok, so there really isn't any damage visible in the picture. The axle and peg sliders and barkbusters did their job by taking all of the damage save for a few light scratches on the number plate. The bike definitely came out in great condition; it just has a few "battle scars".

I am so glad that I was wearing full gear. My helmet, jacket, and riding pants got scuffed up a little bit, but I was able to pull them off when I got to work and have a normal day.

It seems weird to think that this helmet is ruined, but there is no way to tell for sure the condition of the impact protecting material, so I have to replace it. I'm still going to keep this one for posterity. I hope I don't start a collection.