My... uh...incident.

[DarkLeftArm]

Here is my story. And I'm stickin' to it!

So I was on a Tuesday ride with all my retired friends who belong to HOG(Harley Owners Group). I think there was about 11 bikes. All Harleys except for me. I was on my Yamaha Royal Star Venture. They must like me a lot to let me ride with them!

Ron Boyd heads up the group. The ride went up North to Globe, AZ for excellent Mexican lunch at La Casita.

After lunch, out in the parking lot, Ron had a safety talk about the rest of the ride. He said we were heading farther North through the Salt River canyon. He made a big disclaimer. He said he used to live up in Show Low, and worked in Phoenix. He said he used to commute through the canyon 8 times a week. For years. He said he really loves carving the twisties, so anybody not comfortable in the curves should go home now. A couple guys actually said they were going to head back. He said that if you were not pretty comfortable going pretty fast in the twisties should move back in the group. Let the faster ones go ahead. Well... I LOVE curves. I love salt river canyon. I love learning from a master. So I told Ron I was going to ride near the front with him. We ride staggered, so Ron was in front, My friend Mark was behind him on the right, and I was directly behind Ron. Ed was behind me on the right. Behind that, I cant remember. They all dropped back pretty soon. Ron really likes to roll. I felt totally in control. I was having a splendid ride. Every sweeper was just a blur. Ron and Mark would pull away just a touch in the curves, but I could always catch them on the straights. Until the last curve. I started to feel a little uneasy. I was going in to the curve just a tiny bit too fast. Just a tiny bit. Everything still felt totally under control until my left side floorboard drug. Just a little. Probably didn't scrape more than a couple feet. If that. On my Roadstar, That wouldn't have scared me. That thing drags the boards all the time. The RSV is a different machine, though. The boards are higher, and much harder to drag. 13,000 miles, and never drug one before now. Well let me tell you, that was the wrong place to discover lean angles. I over reacted to the sound and the feedback in my left foot. I straightened up a little, just a little. just enough to not drag... In essence, I made a fairly hard right into the guard rail. My right side slammed hard enough into the rail to bounce back away from it. Problem was that the pavement slopes down right next to the rail. So after I got away from it, the slope and remaining speed just sucked me back in for another taste of galvanized steel. I was trying to muscle it away by steering it, but I was slowing. That seemed to bring up the frequency of the slamming into the rail. No idea what gear I was in or if I downshifted, but I knew I had to power out. I may have downshifted, or may have been in a low enough gear, but either way, I twisted the throttle HARD. The bike woke up, and I was able to get away from the rail. By this time, I was damn near on the bridge. Mark & Ron were going up the other side. I took inventory as I rolled across the bridge. First, I didn't have a lot of pain. No blood running, or bones sticking out of my torn pantleg. In fact, My foot wiggled joyously when I worked it. The rear brake pedal was unscathed. There was a large piece of broken plastic from the shattered lower front Fairing laying between my foot and the bike. The radiator that is touching the fairing however, didn't seem to be leaking. If it was I would know in short order. I then decided not to stop. Ed behind me wasn't waving frantically or stopping, so I hauled ass. I caught Mark and Ron just a little way before the pullout a few miles up other side. I pulled up next to Mark and stopped, and he looked down and said "What the F@#K did you DO!!??" I laughed. I dismounted, and looked at my leg where the stinging had started. Seems the rail friction was too great for my summer mesh riding pants, and it melted. My shin just got a tiny bit of skin rubbed off, and maybe cooked a little from the rubbing. Only almost a week later did I notice some slight bruising in my ankle. Other than stiff muscles a couple days later, though, and a little rash, no injury. Ed had climbed off his bike, and was bee-lining towards me. I thought he was gonna teach me a few new words for stupid. Instead, he shook my hand and gave me kudos for pulling out. Said he couldn't believe I didn't hit the road. Other than the broken lower fairing and some slightly modified right side crash bars, and some very fast looking racing stripes on my right saddlebag, the bike was fine. Everybody patted me on the back and told me how lucky I am, and that they sure were glad I didn't get hurt. Most of the group went home after they all ooohhed and aaahhed and giggled about my misadventure. Mark, Jim, Larry and I all rode the rest of the way up to Show Low. Then on to Alpine, then down through Whiteriver, and back through the canyon down to Globe and then home. On the long downhill straightaway into Globe, my bike started sputtering a little. My fuel warning had been on for a long time, and was on reserve. I made it to the pump at the gas station, but not by much. Had only .4 gallon left. I don't know if that's all useable or not. Hope I never find out.

Very lucky day, indeed.

[friesman]

wow! good ride! better buy a lottery ticket!

 

Brian

[SilvrT]

That sounds like some very good control you had ... didn't panic, kept your head clear and rode your way out of what could have been a real bad situation! Not everyone can do that.

 

That "first time" scraping of the pegs or floorboards can be a little unnerving and when it happens, it's common to over react ... even if the slightest ... and then we get into a situation that could turn ugly if we go into panic mode. Experience becomes our savior.

 

Glad to hear you made it through that relatively unscathed.

[etcswjoe]

Glad you are ok.

[Snaggletooth]

wow! good ride! better buy a lottery ticket!

 

Brian

 

 

 

Glad you walked away. Could have gone south fast. Ya done good.

[XV1100SE]

Glad you kept your wits about you and sped up instead of slowing down further. You were probably trying to show off to the HD riders to let them know that even after taking a beating, you and your bike kept going.

[bongobobny]

Well, glad you're OK! I can defanately relate to the hard lean on an RSV! I entered a sweeping turn a little too fast and thought I would end up going down. I never expected it to lean as far as it did but I managed to make it thru with heart pounding! Couldn't tell you if the floorboard was scraping or not but if it wasn't it was probably only a hair of clearance! We were 2 up at the time...

[DarkLeftArm]

Hah! My partner, Susan and I joked later that it was all her fault!

If she had been there, I'd never have been riding like that.

Kinda funny but totally true.

[KIC]

Good save Bert ! Glad you kept it upright. Salt River is a fun ride but I take it slower... those steep side drop offs remind me that its not the fall that hurts but the sudden stop at the bottom.

 

The first time a drug the pegs on a friend's Vulcan 1600 on a Silver City run definitely got my attention.

 

Hey, I'm in North Carolina, but will be back Monday. I still have that center stand if you want it. I should be home all day Monday.

[DarkLeftArm]

KIC, you know, that's perfect timing. I am going on a ride all the way across to North Carolina/Tennessee border in about 10 days. That stand may prove valuable on a long trip like that.

I'll call Monday!