Rider Down....Should have stayed with the venture

[Mavrick]

Well....got the Venture 5 years ago and enjoyed over 50,000 miles.....The wife bought me a new Harley Ultra Clasic Peace Officer Special Edition.....What a sweet wife I have.

 

Left out for Colorado on Friday with my brother on his 97 Ultra Classic and made it 5 miles east of Snyder on US Hwy 180. We rode in the rain off and on all day and it had let up to just a sprinkle so we were feeling pretty good.

 

I hit a streach of tar that had no gravel on it and all of a sudden I fish tailed and was sliding down the road on my butt like a slip and slide. My HD was in front of me and the Comm cord was still attached. I pushed it away from me and turned to look and my brother was also sliding down the slip and slide on his butt.

 

I slid until I stopped and the road surface did not even tear my blue jeans. Rick slid to the shoulder and got some road rash from the rough gravel there.

 

Looks like Ricks Bike is totaled and my new HD is going to be close to totaled. Damn....just paid $250 for the 1000 mile service.

 

The good think is we are walking and talking with some minor road rash and Insurance will deal with the bikes.

 

Rode in a lot of rain on the old Venture and never had a problem but don't know if that would have made a difference on the road surface.

 

This was a US Highway and you would think it would be maintained but it was not. Our Angels were with us but please be careful out there.....especially when it is wet!!!!

 

My bike will be in the shop for about three months while they order special parts to repair it. It is the pitts to be down during the best time to ride but thankful that I am ok and looking forward to getting it out of the shop for another ride.....

[Squidley]

Mike,

 

Both of you walked away, any bike accident you can do that from is a good thing. Sorry to hear of your Harley, I know I would hate to have that happen to any of my bikes. Your angels were with you and you'll be around to ride another day, all the best to you both with the insurance companies. I think I would be bringing this to the attention of the state also.

[ddoggma]

Sorry to here about you get off. Glad your OK. Thank God. Hope them Ultra get back on the road soon.

[flb_78]

That happens on those country roads. The gravel will get pushed down into the tar and gets slicker then snot in the rain.

 

Glad to hear you're relatively OK. The bikes are just stuff and can be replaced. Skin is a bit harder to replace!!

[buddy]

Dang Mike hate hearing this

Glad neither one of you was hurt to bad. Hope you get things going again and as for the road that is a NO-NO around here our Street & Road Surp. is a rider as well and he makes sure the roads around here are not in that condition I would bring it to the Insurance co. attention about the road and with the State Road Dept. as well. Wont get anything from the State but it will be in the records for poor road conditions! Which they do not want!!!!

 

Sorry Mike for your mishap and hope you get your black beauty back sooner than 3mo.

 

Buddy

[Yammer Dan]

Sorry to hear about the bikes. Glad you weren't hurt any worse.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

That looks like seed or something on the road. What is that? Maybe it left something really slick on the road surface when combined with the rain.

 

Or maybe its just gravel and there was some oily residue on the road?

 

Glad your both OK...BTW, thats only a couple of hours from where I live.

 

[Midrsv]

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Is that type of road condition typical in TX, NM and CO? Heading that way next week.

 

Dennis

[Phoneman1981]

Hello: Greetings from Nebraska. Glad to hear you are okay. 25 years ago when I was in my twenties, I was one of 10 riders picked up in separate accidents on a slick piece of Intersate I-25 in Colorado all in the same weekend. After an absence of 25 years I am back in the saddle again on a 2005 RSTD. I have never forgotten my accident. Just learned today about an aquintance that went down on rain slick pavement last weekend. Hope you get repaired and ridig again soon. Take care....

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Did it feel like maybe it hydroplaned?

[jld1960tx]

Wow, my wife and I were going to Colorado on that same road a month ago. We turned at Snyder and almost got to Post. We were going to run into a wall of rain and lightning. We turned around and spent the night till it passed. Colorado is a great trip, however the rain really pushed us off our path. It worked out though, we just really do not like riding in rain. I am glad you came out in relatively good shape, one year ago I had a similar accident, that was when I got my RSTD!

[Aussie Annie]

Glad you are both okay.

[Grandpagak]

sombody was sure watchin over you guys.. now what are the odds of both of you walkin away from that?? glad that your both ok..

[Mavrick]

Did it feel like maybe it hydroplaned?

 

 

Did not hydroplane.....that tar was just like a sheet of ice. It was a slight incline and the bike fishtailed and then just slid out from under me. They need to do something to repair that streach of road.

[GigaWhiskey]

Glad you two made it out of that!!!!

[Kregerdoodle]

so glad ya`ll are around to talk about it...hope the ins. co. comes through...

[csogbk]

Glad you and your brother are ok!!!

[Twenty7Delta]

Wow! Glad you're OK, sounds like some warning signs at least should have been posted. Someone should get heck over that!

[davecb]

Sorry about your accident...Ummmm...Will your wife marry me???????????

[Drreb]

Dang!! Glad you guys are OK. That looks slick. I don't imagine it would have matter what kind of bike you were on. You were going down no matter what it appears to me. Riding abilites or what make bike does not always make a difference. :fingers-crossed-emoSometimes it is the luck of the draw.

[GaryZ]

A friend of mine had a similar incident on a stretch of brand new asphalt. Ridin' along fine and the rear wheel started coming around. He slid into the guard rail. Fortunately he was not hurt and the bike had only minor damage. He told a neighbor (a city cop) about the incident and the guy says there were a dozen accidents, including two bikes, on that same stretch of new road. The unofficial reason was the asphalt "sealer" was not properly cured when they opened the lanes to traffic on a hot summer day. The city and the construction company will not admit to anything, of course.

 

My point is . . . Be very careful on new asphalt!

[bj66]

looks like they need to chip seal that stretch of highway again. all the texture in the asphalt has been pushed down in the asphalt leaving it slippery.They chip seal up here in SD alot. They put down a thin layer of tar, then a thin layer of crushed rock (real fine stuff). You gotta watch you windshields for a few days, but with the summer heat the pebbles work into the asphalt rather quickly. Then you have a good road surface again.