Don't know what else to call it. There I am, riding home from work on Hwy 101 northbound, I've got an open lane ahead of me with plenty of room, and BAM! A guy in a '95 Jeep Cherokee decides to barge into my lane without looking and proceeds to shove me across the lane. The loud crunch of my handlebar hitting his quarter panel and my voice yelling at him to F-ing watch where he's going (in far more colorful language at the time) finally raises him out of his cage-bound stupor and he jerks the wheel to the right. Amazingly, I don't go down. Visions of massive damage swam through my head and I heard my tires squeeling as I was shoved to the left. The bars were nearly slammed out of my hands, but somehow I held on. I think over 30 years of off-road racing gave me the right instincts to ride it out and not crash, but it was soooo close. As I write this I'm still amazed that the bike and I got away from it unscathed. The beautiful Tricolore is still beautiful; can't see a thing wrong with it. I will definitely take it to the shop tomorrow to have a more thorough look-see and take some measurements just to be sure nothing's bent, tweaked, or out of alignment. And I'm really hoping I don't start to feel the after-effects of any swelling or trauma caused by the bucking bronco motocross ride I just endured while riding out the impact. Score one for the Monster, and a big goose egg for the Jeep. The SUV has a nice scratch and gak in the left quarter panel so the Monster gave it a good punch to defend itself. If anything's amiss tomorrow, I've got the guy's information and I'll go from there. Beware and be careful out there, gang. You can be right alongside these cagers and they just don't look at all before they turn the steering wheel.
I hear ya on that one, I lost that fight back in april.......... :(
It sucks that people are that stupid. [bang] Glad you're okay. [moto]
Holy crap! I'm glad you're ok man. I'd have had to have my leathers dry cleaned after that one...
Yeah, that's a moment that'd cause some diamond poopin' later. Glad to hear you made it out with out going down. So did numb-nutts in the SUV pull over after bashing into you?
Glad your skills and reflexes didn't let you down when you needed them!!! Every story like this makes me even more wary of drivers whether I'm in my car or on my bike!
Thanks for all the well-wishes, gang. Yeah, it was definitely a self-defecating moment. After he pulled back into the other lane and I was sure I had my sh** together on the bike, I yelled at him to pull over and he did. I was able to get all his info so if I find anything wrong I'll have recourse. He was clearly stunned and seemed to have crapped his pants and wet himself simultaneously during the whole thing. He was constantly apologizing and saying how he didn't see me. Of course it would have helped if he'd actually looked before changing lanes, but that's a cager for ya. He was so nervous and freaked out he didn't even get out of his car the whole time we were on the shoulder of the freeway. He never even looked at my bike. He was calling his wife or gf or someone and freaking out about how he'd just hit a motorcycle. I almost felt sorry for him! Now starts the waiting game to be sure I'm really okay, and of course getting the bike checked out tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. Thanks again, guys.
So I guess I am not the only one to get hit by a sleeping driver... [coffee]
luck, skill, and experience pay off!
Great Job!!
I think perhaps the thought of actually dropping the Tricolore scared me more than anything else. You can perform miraculous riding feats when your beautiful new bike is on the line. I definitely don't want to be the first one out there to wipe out one of only 400 bikes. Number 187 is still in the game and looking fine!
WOW
Glad you stayed shinny side up. I would have had to stop and change my underwear after that.
Yikes. Makes me cringe just reading about it. Glad you are ok.
nice save... had a few close calls like that, but never had any contact made
Good for you mxwinky [beer]
nice ridin' there cowboy [thumbsup]
glad you and the tri are a-ok
Great job riding that one out. [thumbsup] [clap]
Interesting... number 187 was almost a victim of a (negligent) 187.
Glad you're ok...I had one of those incidents a few days ago, make the beast with two backsing jeeps. I barely swerved as this guy was pulling out of his driveway across my path...Lucky for me, he was doing a very poor job of turning out of his driveway (other than the fact that he wasn't looking at all). He was turning left, but not really turning, so much as he was angled across the road funny, so I had some extra room in 'his' lane to get the make the beast with two backs out of the way. Jucking Feeps!
Had the same thing happen with a cargo van, but luckily it was at lower speeds, and I had a paved should to run off on, but pounding on the side the van with my hand really got the drivers attention.
mitt
I had one similar, but not the same results. I was traveling at about 65mph in the far right lane on an overpass going around a good left turn as a cage decided that was the lane they wanted to be in. I saw it happening and started to shift over further right. I had the shoulder, but it still had a good bit of sand from the winter on it. You can see where this is going...My back tire slipped and I naturally stood the bike up and thus the problem...since I was going around a bend, when I stood it up I smacked into the jersey wall and started grinding around the turn...I decided to bail, but my momentum of going 65mph took my forward and over the jersey wall...Oh yea, did I mention that it was on an overpass...needless to say, it was a hard landing 40 feet down. It got worse, but that my experience with a dumb ass cage. Didn't even stop.
Quote from: ducpenguin on July 22, 2008, 08:08:05 AM
I had one similar, but not the same results. I was traveling at about 65mph in the far right lane on an overpass going around a good left turn as a cage decided that was the lane they wanted to be in. I saw it happening and started to shift over further right. I had the shoulder, but it still had a good bit of sand from the winter on it. You can see where this is going...My back tire slipped and I naturally stood the bike up and thus the problem...since I was going around a bend, when I stood it up I smacked into the jersey wall and started grinding around the turn...I decided to bail, but my momentum of going 65mph took my forward and over the jersey wall...Oh yea, did I mention that it was on an overpass...needless to say, it was a hard landing 40 feet down. It got worse, but that my experience with a dumb ass cage. Didn't even stop.
Holy shit!....Off the overpass straight down? What did you break/bruise/destroy?
Quote from: nkryptit on July 22, 2008, 08:26:34 AM
Holy shit!....Off the overpass straight down? What did you break/bruise/destroy?
I broke my bike... ;D
Here is the craziest part...Nothing broken. Good bit of road rash...I was going to pick up my jacket that was left at work...at least I had my gloves...The wall took alot of the skin on my right side...the fall, well that is where it gets funny. I fell into a compound lot, hit the only 6X6 portion of grass in the entire parking area and slid under a parked car (had it happend 3 seconds later, I would have landed on I95...yikes). I then realized that I was surrounded by barbed wire fence and my bike was still on the overpass. I had to climb out of the compound and find a pay phone about a 1/2 mile away and call my buddy collect...everything got ripped out of my pants. When he got to my bike, there were already two jack asses putting it into the back of their truck! I can't even begin to describe the luck it took to land square on my back and in the only soft spot.
Unbelievable.
hard to imagine walking away from something like that.
Quote from: ducpenguin on July 22, 2008, 09:06:00 AM
I broke my bike... ;D
Here is the craziest part...Nothing broken. Good bit of road rash...I was going to pick up my jacket that was left at work...at least I had my gloves...The wall took alot of the skin on my right side...the fall, well that is where it gets funny. I fell into a compound lot, hit the only 6X6 portion of grass in the entire parking area and slid under a parked car (had it happend 3 seconds later, I would have landed on I95...yikes). I then realized that I was surrounded by barbed wire fence and my bike was still on the overpass. I had to climb out of the compound and find a pay phone about a 1/2 mile away and call my buddy collect...everything got ripped out of my pants. When he got to my bike, there were already two jack asses putting it into the back of their truck! I can't even begin to describe the luck it took to land square on my back and in the only soft spot.
Man... people are dicks! So first, someone runs you off the side of an overpass, and just keeps going. Then you head back up, and some dicks are trying to lift your bike....What the make the beast with two backs, did they give any good excuse for stealing your bike when you confronted them?
Quote from: ducpenguin on July 22, 2008, 08:08:05 AM
I had one similar, but not the same results. I was traveling at about 65mph in the far right lane on an overpass going around a good left turn as a cage decided that was the lane they wanted to be in. I saw it happening and started to shift over further right. I had the shoulder, but it still had a good bit of sand from the winter on it. You can see where this is going...My back tire slipped and I naturally stood the bike up and thus the problem...since I was going around a bend, when I stood it up I smacked into the jersey wall and started grinding around the turn...I decided to bail, but my momentum of going 65mph took my forward and over the jersey wall...Oh yea, did I mention that it was on an overpass...needless to say, it was a hard landing 40 feet down. It got worse, but that my experience with a dumb ass cage. Didn't even stop.
holy crapola :o unbelievable... you are one lucky dude :)
Quote from: nkryptit on July 22, 2008, 10:02:48 AM
Man... people are dicks! So first, someone runs you off the side of an overpass, and just keeps going. Then you head back up, and some dicks are trying to lift your bike....What the make the beast with two backs, did they give any good excuse for stealing your bike when you confronted them?
I wasn't able to get back up there...my buddy was the first one there...and asked them what the hell they were doing..their response..ready for this..."Well, we just figured no one wanted it"...Are you friggin kidding me! Crazy world!
Quote from: DuCaTiNi on July 22, 2008, 10:13:57 AM
holy crapola :o unbelievable... you are one lucky dude :)
Yes I was! Not a day doesn't go by without me thanking God that he was/is on my side!
Sorry to thread jack mxwinky...I am glad you were able to control your beautiful tri!
Ya did good! I do hope all is OK.
Mxwinky......It sounds like you have nerves of steel and amazing skills keeping that bike up. Great work! Somehow I don't think I'd have had the same happy outcome if it had of been me :-[ .
and DucPenguin...That has to be the nastiest walkaway road accident I've ever hear of! Good on you!! [thumbsup]
Good one for keeping it rubber side down. There was a fatal moto accident this morning on the 5N - a 25yr old kid.
You were very lucky my friend!
Question
was the driver asleep at the wheel (for real) or just not paying attention?
GotDuc
If you're asking about my guy he wasn't sleeping, at least not any more than any other cager sleeps at the wheel normally. I guess that's actually a lot, eh? Anyway he wasn't asleep or on his cell, but he clearly wasn't paying attention, didn't look before changing lanes, and didn't check his mirror. I always look in the mirror of the car I'm passing to see if the driver is making any head movement that might indicate a possible lane change. This guy simply turned the wheel and didn't even glance to his left in any way. Nice.
On the good side, the bike checked out perfectly at the shop today and I'm feeling fine too. All's well that ends well. I'll be forwarding the bill for the bike inspection to the driver's insurance for them to pick up the tab, and then I'll chalk this one up to another wild riding experience. For all you guys out there that think you might have bailed in this situation, I say get out there and do some dirt riding. Get used to throwing a motorcycle around, sliding it, and dealing with it when it's flailing out of control. I'm not touting my abilities as some great rider, but I definitely credit over 30 years of off-road racing with saving my arse. I wasn't nervous, scared or freaked out when it happened, I just did it by instinct. I flicked the bars, I grabbed some throttle, and turned the bike off the SUV with knee pressure on the tank. It seemed sort of matter-of-fact at the time. Impact, reaction by the bike, and reaction from me. I don't discount a good bit of luck too. We can all use more of that. Of course once it was all over then the adrenalin came out and the anger welled up over the inattentive cager. Here's to hoping none of us ever have to go through this, and especially not as bad as the post above where he flipped over the rail. Gnarly!!! [beer]