Yesterday (May 28, 2009) was a very bad day for the R80 (not so good for me and a buddy either). I share this hopefully to help others realize how easily we can let our guard down and get into trouble in the blink of an eye. And to just say never get complacent in your safety awareness/techniques and wear your gear.

As I pulled into the parking lot where I normally park each day, I pulled the clutch in and ’snap’ . I knew from recent experiences on the RT that the clutch cable had just broken. I already had it in first gear so just idled into my normal spot and stopped it and let it die. I got to my work station and contacted a friend that I knew I could rely on to help me get home. You all know the drill here; get it started in neutral, have your buddy get you rolling a little and put it in gear. Once rolling just hope you can time traffic lights, stop signs and yield signs so you don’t have to stop, kill it and start the drill all over again. Fortunately, we work in a facility with very little traffic if we leave just a few minutes ahead of the afternoon crowd. Leaving the plant I had to contend with only one yield sign and two traffic lights which we timed perfectly and did not have to stop. Once out on the public roads I had another 31 miles to negotiate with only one traffic light on the edge of the town where I live and three stop signs, one about 2 miles from the east gate, another about 8 miles later and then one just about a mile from home. This is one time I’m glad the Panhandle is flat and ‘tree-less’ as I was able to see for miles in each direction at each potential problem intersection. I was able to get all the way home without stopping with my friend following just in case I had to stop and needed help getting going again. I had thought to myself a couple of times that I wished he wouldn’t follow so closely. As I got into my neighborhood, I decided to take a bit different route than I normally do because I knew exactly where signs were situated and would be able to avoid them and not have to stop again until I got home. Here’s where everything went very badly; first off my friend was not familiar with the new route I had chosen so was totally unaware of where I would be turning. Next, I failed to give a turn signal on the second turn of this new route (very bad decision). Third, he was still following a bit to close for comfort. As I leaned into the right turn he had absolutely no time to react other than to swerve just enough so that the side of his bike hit my right saddlebag. The impact spun the rear of my bike around to the left so that when everything had stopped my bike was facing the opposite direction and on it’s left side. Seeing as how I had never ridden bulls or broncs, I wasn’t really prepared for that kind of ride and was thrown off in short order (wouldn’t have had a good score in a rodeo). His bike somehow ended up facing straight left of our original direction of travel on it’s left side with my bike laying next to it with the front tire pretty near the belly pan of his (R1100RT). The scary part of the whole deal was that I never blanked out or suffered any short term memory loss as is normally the case in accidents like this. I knew exactly what was happening as soon as he hit me and was aware of every tumble until I heard him asking if I was ok as I was still laying face down where I had come to an abrupt stop. I think at some point though I may have blacked out momentarily after stopping because it felt like I was waking up from a bad dream hearing him ask about my condition. I also remember laying there for what seemed like several minutes flexing muscles and very gently moving body parts to assess any damage before I tried to get up. I guess I was instinctively trying to figure out if the titanium rods in my lower back had suffered any damage — they’ve only been there since April of ‘05. Once I was able to answer him, I felt confident that I had only minor contusions mostly on my left elbow and shoulder. I also had a bit of light bruise on my left forehead with the imprint of my helmet liner some might say it’s an improvement EEK! — but that’s a whole ‘nuther topic entirely.

After I was able to respond to my friend, I got up fairly easily on my own and at the point he sort of went to the ground with intense pain in his upper left side. I helped him get to the side of the road and sit down, then went back to the bikes and shut off the key on mine; he had already done the same with his. I checked on him again and then managed to get my bike back up on it’s wheels as it was leaking motor oil and gas on the road. All the while this was taking place there was an elderly couple doing yard work about three houses down the hill from us and not responding to any of it. Finally as I was trying to assess the damage to bikes and bodies the lady wandered to the edge of her yard and asked if we needed any help. (duh)

We had already been trying to call for help but the cell signals in my area are very poor. She offered to transport My friend to the local clinic and he agreed. I stayed behind to take care of the bikes. The lady’s husband (must have been about 80) agreed to help me get the RT back up on it’s wheels but I think my adrenalin rush was responsible for most of it. I now had both bikes standing and still in the middle of the road (thank goodness for a VERY quiet neighborhood). I managed to get the RT started and drove it down the hill to the couple’s drive-way. The the old man helped me get mine into neutral and to the top of a very slight incline where I could get it started rolling and drive it the two blocks to home. I parked my bike in the shop, walked back over to the scene and retrieved the RT at which time I was informed the PA at the clinic had sent my friend to the hospital in Borger for X-rays. I drove his RT over to my shop and parked it then headed to the hospital to make sure he was OK. He has a broken rib high up on the left side and a few bruises and some road rash on his left elbow and knee. He was only wearing helmet and gloves for extra protection, no other gear. I came out of it OK with only the slight scrape on my left elbow and a pretty dark bruise on top of my left shoulder — the gear works. I had on Motoport Kevelar II pants, Joe Rocket mesh jacket, heavy riding gloves and my Nolan modular helmet.

LESSONS LEARNED:

the dummy in front needs to give a turn signal

the guy following shouldn’t be so close

make sure the route is predetermined and everyone understands where every turn will be

wear your gear — you never know when or where this might happen (even in the most docile of settings)

In the pics ( http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,40158.0.html ) you can see the damage to my R80 (could use some help in locating another fairing and windscreen like that one) and the red mark on the side of the RT is where his bike hit mine. I think if he had hit me more directly with the front tire, neither of us would have come out nearly as good as we did.

to borrow a line from Hill Street Blues: let’s be careful out there folks

guess I’ll start counting again as this ends my streak of accident-free miles at 340,945 (my first crash on the street)