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09-08-2007, 06:46pm
I guess seeing as something I said started all this I better post my off.
Only had one major off, but with the way I ride people might suggest that Iâ€m looking for a second.
The big one was up Latrobe Valley. Iâ€d had my Lâ€s for near on a month, I was 18 and I knew everything thing there was to know about being the best rider on earth. (I forgot it all as I grew up) The steed of choice at the time was a spankin new 92 RGV 250 Suzuki. Ring, ding, ding, ding, ring, ding, ding, ding, two stroker that had aspirations of growing up to be a 500 GP bike (shame it never had a chance) As for me, I didnâ€t just know how to ride like a racer, I even looked the part. Full single piece Dainese leather suit, boots, and gloves, even had a separate armadillo back protector underneath. On top of all this was a prize shoei helmet. So there I was, lookin like I was gods gift and out to prove it (Must note here that the knee sliders were pristine, not even a scratch) Then on one average Sunday I was tucked down under the screen on the little RGV, feeling the wind rushing over my neck. Boy, was I slipstreamed with that bike. So much so that I used to fly along and mind numbing speeds. Like this particular day, where I was getting right in there at 115 km/h. (I was a numb nut kid, ok. At the time it seemed quite fast.) So there I was leaning my bike over (would you believe I had my knee out. Straight out, the only way it woulda touched the ground was if I dropped the bike) I hooking into a cicaine starting with a left hander thatâ€s has a yellow diamond speed advisory of 80. Ignoring this I dove in having shed only 5 km/h off my speed. (wipe off five hey?) then as I exited the corner at the same speed I didnâ€t accelerate and leaned the bike the other way to enter the right hander. My mind focused intently on the task at hand, and my eyes focused on the road 5 meters in front of the bike. So focused that as I started to stand the bike up exiting the corner a large white bumper-bar entered my field of view. Yep, five meters away, and slap bang in front of me. Had I actually been a skilled rider and been looking ahead I would have had ample time to pull the bike in harder and go around the oncoming car on the right. Fortunately I wasnâ€t so bad a rider that I was on the wrong side of the road like most of you are thinking. In fact, it was the car that was on my side of the road. The poor woman had being distracted by one of those loud, frustrating devices that people strap onto back seats and had turned around to adjust the volume. I think they are referred to as children. She had drifted onto my side of the road and was still doing 100 km/h. Iâ€ve missed something…. Oh yeah, The enormous bang!!!! Yep, the bike met the Holden Camira wagon about an inch off dead centre of the front grill with the loudest, worst, (it really is a horrible sound) bang. By this stage Iâ€d panicked and was attempting to bail out. Iâ€d stood up on the footpegs, just, ready to leap to safety. Bloody lucky I had. As the bike was burying itself into the engine bay of the car the annoying law of physics regarding inertia took over proceedings and I found myself flying (full on superman style) head first over the smashing windshield of the bike. Had I still been sitting I would now be female (without testicles) and possible dead. (neither of which sound very appealing) Then I flew on, and over the windshield of the car, nearly getting over without contact, the toe of one boot hit. Believe it or not, Iâ€m telling this as I saw it. Everything slowed down. If a radio had of been playing I reckon the lyrics of the song would have slowed to a drone. I watched as I passed over the long white roof of the station wagon until I saw asphalt appear from beneath it. The asphalt continued to pass under me as I began too loose altitude. Damn that gravity. It was at this time my brain registered that impending pain and suffering were neigh and I went limp. (No, I didnâ€t faint. I think my body figured it was farked and why fight it) As I dropped lower to the hard blackness of tar and gravel it suddenly flashed to a vibrant green. The green of lush grass, and splat, contact. A perfectly executed bally whacker on grass. Laying face down I slid along. Not able to see anything anymore I rolled over just in time to see the bottom strand of a barbed wire fence gouge two deep scratches into my visor. Shortly after this I came to a stop. I laid there for a moment assessing the situation. I remember thinking… ‘No pain, a bit winded but the toes still wriggle, fingers too. Ok, sit up and have a look.†And I did. There were my legs, one pristine knee slider missing and the leather grass stained and muddy. Looking down, my gloves were still on so I put them by my sides and stood up. To my surprise I wasnâ€t even wonky. Steady as a rock. I looked across to the road where I saw that the car had only gone on a short distance off the end of the corner and had come to a stop in a cloud of steam. Realising I was ok I headed over to the car and made sure the mother and her child were safe and well. She was so good she began apologizing straight away but she didnâ€t mention at the time that she had no insurance, I found that out later. I then looked at my pride and joy (get your mind outa the gutter, I may have landed on my guts but my mind was on my bike). There it was, standing in the front of the car. There was little doubt it would be a right off as I watched oil dripping from the smashed engine casings. Bits of fairing were strewn everywhere. There were even pieces of alloy front rim on the road. The swing arm had bent and the rear wheel had impacted the back of the motor stoving it in and making it look like a love heart on itâ€s side. The fuel tank had ripped off its rear mount and folded into the handlebars and ruptured.
The end result was a ride to the cop shop in a divi van to give a statement while the mother and child got a cosy cruse to the hospital in the ambulance. I even had to get a mate to pick me and give me a ride home.
Well, that was it. My one and only, so far, accident. Fully kitted out with all the gear a totally and utter tosser would by, and I didnâ€t get so much as a scratch. Go figure huh? Iâ€m not as paranoid anymore, but I only ride in head to toe bike gear.
Hope this wasnâ€t too boring a read I got a bit carried away.
Cheers all
Geoff
Only had one major off, but with the way I ride people might suggest that Iâ€m looking for a second.
The big one was up Latrobe Valley. Iâ€d had my Lâ€s for near on a month, I was 18 and I knew everything thing there was to know about being the best rider on earth. (I forgot it all as I grew up) The steed of choice at the time was a spankin new 92 RGV 250 Suzuki. Ring, ding, ding, ding, ring, ding, ding, ding, two stroker that had aspirations of growing up to be a 500 GP bike (shame it never had a chance) As for me, I didnâ€t just know how to ride like a racer, I even looked the part. Full single piece Dainese leather suit, boots, and gloves, even had a separate armadillo back protector underneath. On top of all this was a prize shoei helmet. So there I was, lookin like I was gods gift and out to prove it (Must note here that the knee sliders were pristine, not even a scratch) Then on one average Sunday I was tucked down under the screen on the little RGV, feeling the wind rushing over my neck. Boy, was I slipstreamed with that bike. So much so that I used to fly along and mind numbing speeds. Like this particular day, where I was getting right in there at 115 km/h. (I was a numb nut kid, ok. At the time it seemed quite fast.) So there I was leaning my bike over (would you believe I had my knee out. Straight out, the only way it woulda touched the ground was if I dropped the bike) I hooking into a cicaine starting with a left hander thatâ€s has a yellow diamond speed advisory of 80. Ignoring this I dove in having shed only 5 km/h off my speed. (wipe off five hey?) then as I exited the corner at the same speed I didnâ€t accelerate and leaned the bike the other way to enter the right hander. My mind focused intently on the task at hand, and my eyes focused on the road 5 meters in front of the bike. So focused that as I started to stand the bike up exiting the corner a large white bumper-bar entered my field of view. Yep, five meters away, and slap bang in front of me. Had I actually been a skilled rider and been looking ahead I would have had ample time to pull the bike in harder and go around the oncoming car on the right. Fortunately I wasnâ€t so bad a rider that I was on the wrong side of the road like most of you are thinking. In fact, it was the car that was on my side of the road. The poor woman had being distracted by one of those loud, frustrating devices that people strap onto back seats and had turned around to adjust the volume. I think they are referred to as children. She had drifted onto my side of the road and was still doing 100 km/h. Iâ€ve missed something…. Oh yeah, The enormous bang!!!! Yep, the bike met the Holden Camira wagon about an inch off dead centre of the front grill with the loudest, worst, (it really is a horrible sound) bang. By this stage Iâ€d panicked and was attempting to bail out. Iâ€d stood up on the footpegs, just, ready to leap to safety. Bloody lucky I had. As the bike was burying itself into the engine bay of the car the annoying law of physics regarding inertia took over proceedings and I found myself flying (full on superman style) head first over the smashing windshield of the bike. Had I still been sitting I would now be female (without testicles) and possible dead. (neither of which sound very appealing) Then I flew on, and over the windshield of the car, nearly getting over without contact, the toe of one boot hit. Believe it or not, Iâ€m telling this as I saw it. Everything slowed down. If a radio had of been playing I reckon the lyrics of the song would have slowed to a drone. I watched as I passed over the long white roof of the station wagon until I saw asphalt appear from beneath it. The asphalt continued to pass under me as I began too loose altitude. Damn that gravity. It was at this time my brain registered that impending pain and suffering were neigh and I went limp. (No, I didnâ€t faint. I think my body figured it was farked and why fight it) As I dropped lower to the hard blackness of tar and gravel it suddenly flashed to a vibrant green. The green of lush grass, and splat, contact. A perfectly executed bally whacker on grass. Laying face down I slid along. Not able to see anything anymore I rolled over just in time to see the bottom strand of a barbed wire fence gouge two deep scratches into my visor. Shortly after this I came to a stop. I laid there for a moment assessing the situation. I remember thinking… ‘No pain, a bit winded but the toes still wriggle, fingers too. Ok, sit up and have a look.†And I did. There were my legs, one pristine knee slider missing and the leather grass stained and muddy. Looking down, my gloves were still on so I put them by my sides and stood up. To my surprise I wasnâ€t even wonky. Steady as a rock. I looked across to the road where I saw that the car had only gone on a short distance off the end of the corner and had come to a stop in a cloud of steam. Realising I was ok I headed over to the car and made sure the mother and her child were safe and well. She was so good she began apologizing straight away but she didnâ€t mention at the time that she had no insurance, I found that out later. I then looked at my pride and joy (get your mind outa the gutter, I may have landed on my guts but my mind was on my bike). There it was, standing in the front of the car. There was little doubt it would be a right off as I watched oil dripping from the smashed engine casings. Bits of fairing were strewn everywhere. There were even pieces of alloy front rim on the road. The swing arm had bent and the rear wheel had impacted the back of the motor stoving it in and making it look like a love heart on itâ€s side. The fuel tank had ripped off its rear mount and folded into the handlebars and ruptured.
The end result was a ride to the cop shop in a divi van to give a statement while the mother and child got a cosy cruse to the hospital in the ambulance. I even had to get a mate to pick me and give me a ride home.
Well, that was it. My one and only, so far, accident. Fully kitted out with all the gear a totally and utter tosser would by, and I didnâ€t get so much as a scratch. Go figure huh? Iâ€m not as paranoid anymore, but I only ride in head to toe bike gear.
Hope this wasnâ€t too boring a read I got a bit carried away.
Cheers all
Geoff