My Buddy Crashed

[jaydog19833]

First off I don't want anyone judging me or my friend with this occurrance.....bad things happen to even the most responsible riders.

So we have been riding for many hours and decide to wait at a Mobil station while a friend comes to meet us. It was 3 motorcycles, and 2 of us had passengers. Me on my bike and my friend on his 05 R6 were riding double. When we stopped it was on a quiet back road area and while we waited my friend to show up, my other friend wanted to prcatice a few wheelies. He has been learning how to do them. Well he went by twice in front of the station barely getting the front wheel up at all. After his second try I walked out to the road to wave him in because we didn't want to draw any more attention to ourselves. I waited a minute and he was still down the road....so I said F-it and walked back to my friends and started talking. A moment later he comes down the road......I'll try to write this like a novel to better escribe the event:

He slowly rounded the corner and opened up the throttle. The front wheel raised just a foot or so then proceeded to raise higher and higer towards the sky. In a moments notice and the blink of an eye I heard plastic rip into the pavement. Less than an instant later the tailpipe hit, lighting up the road like the 4th of July as the sparking machine ground down the steel off the back of the bike. I see my friend hanging onto the handlebars for his life only to fall face down on his chest and grind his body into the pavement. The bike then collapsed onto its right side with incredible force, whipping in a clockwise motion until it lay rest in a pile of debris on the sandy shoulder.
Before the incident....before he hit I was already running. As I approached all I could see in the night light was him laying face down and his bike laying mangled on its side; 70 yards from contact; its still burning headlight shining in my eyes. I kept yelling to my friend but there was no answer. I finally reached him yelling if he was OK. Finally he moves, slowly rolling onto his side. My other friend standing next to me says, "He's not wearing his gloves." At that comment my crashed friend turns his palms up exposing crimson red holes in his hands. His entire palm was torn away with the loose skin hanging lifeless. His fingertips were all shaved down 1/4 inch. We told him immediately to get to the side of the road and lay on his back. The next moment I'm running to Mobil to ask for any type of medical supplies......which the lady working the counter only had a wet handcloth. I returned with the cloth and cover up his wounds as best I can. A second later he mumbled, "My knee hurts." We ripped open his jeans (more than ther were already ripped) to expose 2 gray and yellow knee caps. This was no slide into first base. His right knee in particular was so large it looked like it would explode. Needless to say he was in shock. He wasn't showing signs of pain and was cold even though we was entirely covered up. Once we realized he was coming back to consciousness we immediately brought him to the hospital.
Despite the desctiption of his injuries he was going to be ok. We decided not to call an amblance but rather drove him there. Looking at his gear; he wore an Icon textile jacket with leather forearms. The jacket was SHREDDED like cheese all along his right arm.....the textile totally separated. All along the chest of the coat there were holes and tears. I remember when his body hit the pavement we thought he hit a bird but it was actually particles of cotton and textile blowing off his body. His helmet; particularly his visor was grinded down to the white. Heres the kicker. He always wore his leather riding gloves but just wasn't tonight because it was chilly and he let his female passenger wear them. Thank God she wasn't on with him but it just goes to figure the one time he didn't have gloves on he went down. If he hadn't been wearing a helmet he would be dead. If he wasn't wearing the jacket he would have been in a world of pain or even dead again.
After being drugged up and rolled into a emergency room the doctor was forced to use the plastic scrub brush on his raw and exposed skin. Despite the pain killers my friend still screamed having the dirt and road debris scrubbed out of his open wounds. He is now taking Vikatin like M&M's and still hurts too much to work or hang out.
His 2005 Yamaha R6 susained the most trouble. Despite the fact the tail section melted when it made contact with the road all the weight of the bike landed on the right hand side, tearing off the right clip on, ripping open the brake cables, severely twisting the subframe, blowing out the headlight, grinding off the muffler and breaking/scratching every piece of plastic on that side. His bike it totalled and his insurance doesn't cover "no-fault" accidents.
This whole story goes to show you what CAN happen with inexperienced riders trying stunts and the importance of wearing safety gear. His hands would have been fine if he wore his gloves. His knees would have still been hurt but its better to save your hands too.

I plan on getting some pics of his bike....and him if he doesn't mind. Either way he is in pain....physically and emotionally. He has a very expensive bike to pay for for not really having it anymore. Heres a pic of the bike before the accident though. (It's the black one).

[tlwisner]

I don't think anybody has to judge newbies on expensive new sportbikes. Gravity seems to take care of that. Over and over.

I am glad to hear that your friend was wearing some gear and that he should recover fully. It sounds like his Icon jacket may not have been as protective as it should have been. Your post has me considering heavier gloves.

Best wishes for your friend's speedy recovery.

[themeatmanlandry]

Owwwww! Your poor buddy! Rashed bike, rashed hands, busted-up knees . . . Ouch!

Here's to hoping he heals well and quick!!

[mikesvsix50]

Damn, that's how I bit it a week ago...lot's of Neosporin and scrubbing. Watch for infections. Glad he's alive.

[SuzukiGirl1]

Wow, that sucks! I'm sorry to hear about that. It's making me really want to find some pants that are comfortable that have knee protectors in them. That's the only thing that I don't have well-protected when I ride...and I don't want someone talking about my grey and yellow knee-caps sticking out!!!

Geeze, didn't the lady in the station even OFFER to call the ambulance?!?!?!

[87gsxrnut]

Yeah, that's why I wear LEATHERS. Glad he had on some gear at least.

- Nut

[stevie c]

Ouch, hope he gets better soon.
+1 on Nuts leather comment too.

[Clint]

Jaydog, your last "my buddy crashed" thread started out the same way, with you claiming it wasn't his fault, blah, blah, blah. I say it's bs. No responsible rider does what he did, nor does one ride with stunters in the first place.

Remember this? http://www.suzuki-bikes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6795

You need to stop defending idiocy. I feel for your friend, but sheesh! I just don't get it!

Oh, and your decision to drive him yourselves could have cost him paralysis or his life. Bad move.

[md2lgyk]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

Jaydog, your last "my buddy crashed" thread started out the same way, with you claiming it wasn't his fault, blah, blah, blah. I say it's bs. No responsible rider does what he did, nor does one ride with stunters in the first place.

Remember this? http://www.suzuki-bikes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6795

You need to stop defending idiocy. I feel for your friend, but sheesh! I just don't get it!

My sentiments exactly. What happened to him was his own fault.

[sparrow]

Jaydog, was your friend relatively new to riding or had just he just reached
the point where he was over-confident enough to try some wheelies? A new
R6 doesn't seem like a great bike to learn how to wheelie on. I imagine that
had to have been a major shock to him. Wonder if he'll continue riding after
something like that? I hope he heals up quick.

Thanks for posting the details, maybe it'll help shed some light on the downside
to stunting for other riders on the board.

[Miyamoto]

I leave you guys for a couple of months and see what you've gotten yourselves into.
Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

I wish your friend a speedy recovery too, man....but he was entirely at fault.

[themeatmanlandry]

'Sup miyamoto . . . long time no see. How's kicks?

[Scourge]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

Jaydog, your last "my buddy crashed" thread started out the same way, with you claiming it wasn't his fault, blah, blah, blah. I say it's bs. No responsible rider does what he did, nor does one ride with stunters in the first place.

Remember this? http://www.suzuki-bikes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6795

You need to stop defending idiocy. I feel for your friend, but sheesh! I just don't get it!

Oh, and your decision to drive him yourselves could have cost him paralysis or his life. Bad move.

WOW, I'm actually gonna agree with RR on something. Oh Happy Day, even if the occasion of the agreement is not.

When you take more risks, you gotta accept more responsibility. I hope your buddy gets well with nothing more than a memory of a lesson learned, but what happened to him was totally and completely his own doing. It's not a punishment for a poor choice, or bad karma, but a simple chain of logic that says when you do dangerous things you may very well get hurt.

[jaydog19833]

Yeah it's his fault, so why should it even matter to you. I post on this forum to share experiences in an attempt to prevent my members from doing the same thing. I post at the beginning about my friends because I know the second ANYONE hears about wheelies or accidents you look for whose fault it was if it was the riders; then he's an assh*le.

Yes it was his fault and irresponsible but I have a problem getting my point across because half of the members here only bash instead of learn and carry on the topic. I think it may be time for me to stop posting here because I find myself increasingly irritated with many of the comments from the "veterans."

I should have just said, "My friend has a destroyed knee and a totalled a $10,000 dollar bike." Would have saved me the hassle of typing more.

[themeatmanlandry]

jaydog, stay and hang with us. No one means anything by what they post. I pay so little attention anymore, that I can't remember who has said what when.

[Scourge]

Originally Posted by jaydog19833

First off I don't want anyone judging me or my friend with this occurrance.....bad things happen to even the most responsible riders.

.

I'm no veteran here, and I am certainly no expert on motorcycling, but when you preamble something about a guy getting hurt doing stunts on a public street, quiet backroad or otherwise, with a statement like that it kind of invites the soap-box riders (myself included) to respond.

I think the post was a good idea, in general, and you did mention I noticed (after rereading) that this WAS an example of how things can go wrong for an inexperienced rider.

I assume you posted this as a good example of a bad example, and that's why it matters to me. It is a good example of a bad example, but you cried the "victim" of bad luck right from the getgo, and that's not what happened. It wasn't bad luck it was bad choices that caused this accident.

[Scourge]

I don't hack on stunters, as long as they are doing there stunts off of public roadways. I actually appreciate the skill involved, and in my youth I used to do wheelies (poorly) in the parkinig lot of my workplace in the mornings before anyone else arrived. It ussually scared the hell out of me, and got my juices flowing all at the same time.

I hope you don't feel the need to run off over this issue. You have been here much longer than I have.

[Trapper]

Originally Posted by jaydog19833

I post on this forum to share experiences in an attempt to prevent my members from doing the same thing.

Maybe you have accomplished what you have set out to do. Seventeen posts in a day says you have opened a dialogue.

[themeatmanlandry]

Yes, yes . . . we're all "Holier than thou."

We don't wreck. We wear our helmets. We don't stunt. Bash all who don't agree with us!! Bash them, I say!!

How dare they explore a part of the sport that we don't? Off with their heads!

ALL HE DID WAS POST ABOUT SOMETHING. Now that he is feeling a bit hurt by our responses, we're going to continue the dog-pile? Nice show, fellow forum members. Nice show.

[Trapper]

Dog Pile? What do you mean? All I said is that if his intention was to bring awareness, maybe he succeeded. If everyone quit whenever they got dog piled (whatever that is) there wouldn't be many members left.