Tarmac surfing for beginners...
Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:37 pm
Hi folks,
This will be short, since I'm typing with just my left hand at the moment...
Saturday afternoon, I was proceeding in a northerly direction up the M6, just past Keele services. Traffic was a bit stop start, and according to my trusty GPS I was travelling at around 60mph in the middle lane when the car in front braked hard. I slammed on my brakes, and the next thing I know, I'm sliding solo (i.e. without the bike) along the road. As I started to slow, I could see my formerly beautiful S barral rolling along about 20 yards ahead of me. B*gger.
My initial thought was that I had locked the front wheel and gone down. Sometime after the accident, it occured to me that I was travelling in a straight line and had no recollection of the bike falling. I went from panic braking to sliding along the road in what seemed like an instant. I now think that a car behind me hasn't braked, has hit me and knocked me off, but obviously this theory only occurs to me after I've manhandled the bike onto the hard shoulder (great stuff, adrenalin!) and told the passing motorists that I'm OK, so they have buggered off...
Luckily I had the panniers and tank bag on the bike, which took the brunt of the impact and subsequent rolling and sliding. The left hand cylinder head cover has worn through and the wing mirrors, screen and left hand front indicator are well worn, but other than that, it looks pretty good. I struggled to get the bike into neutral though, so I suspect that the engine & gearbox were not so happy with their tumbling experience.
I was wearing my Rukka jacket and trousers, which held up remarkably well. The outer shell has worn through at the contact points with the road, but not damaged the armour or the inner shell. No road rash or abbrasions received from areas protected by the Rukka gear. My Sidi Black rain Evo's were slightly less impressive... They wore through at one point on my left foot and I've lost the top layer of skin on a patch about the size of a 5p piece... Slight marking on my crash helmet but no major visible damage. Obviously none of the kit is fit to wear again and I didn't include it in my motorcycle insurance... has anyone had any joy claiming damaged kit on their home contents insurance?
As I waited an hour and a half for the Carole Nash recovery truck, my wife and kids passed in the car, and stopped to see the damage. We started the "oh you really should stop riding motorcycles" discussion at the side of the road, but I refused to be drawn into that at the time. That's one to look forward to on Wednesday when she returns from her mothers...
As I was riding back home in the recovery truck, my right wrist started to feel a bit sore. I went to A&E on Sunday morning and discovered a crack in one of the bones in my little finger and another suspected fracture in a bone in my wrist. I now have a plaster on my right arm, from my fingers to my elbow... Other tha that, I think I got off very lightly and am pleased that my "all the gear all of the time" approach has worked well for me.
So, does anyone want to buy some slightly ventilated panniers? and a re-profiled carbon front indicator cover? I'm waiting for the insurance assessors to come and collect the bike to decide if it's economically repairable or not. This could be the excuse I need to sidegrade to an F800S. Every cloud ...etc..
Cheers,
Paul
This will be short, since I'm typing with just my left hand at the moment...
Saturday afternoon, I was proceeding in a northerly direction up the M6, just past Keele services. Traffic was a bit stop start, and according to my trusty GPS I was travelling at around 60mph in the middle lane when the car in front braked hard. I slammed on my brakes, and the next thing I know, I'm sliding solo (i.e. without the bike) along the road. As I started to slow, I could see my formerly beautiful S barral rolling along about 20 yards ahead of me. B*gger.
My initial thought was that I had locked the front wheel and gone down. Sometime after the accident, it occured to me that I was travelling in a straight line and had no recollection of the bike falling. I went from panic braking to sliding along the road in what seemed like an instant. I now think that a car behind me hasn't braked, has hit me and knocked me off, but obviously this theory only occurs to me after I've manhandled the bike onto the hard shoulder (great stuff, adrenalin!) and told the passing motorists that I'm OK, so they have buggered off...
Luckily I had the panniers and tank bag on the bike, which took the brunt of the impact and subsequent rolling and sliding. The left hand cylinder head cover has worn through and the wing mirrors, screen and left hand front indicator are well worn, but other than that, it looks pretty good. I struggled to get the bike into neutral though, so I suspect that the engine & gearbox were not so happy with their tumbling experience.
I was wearing my Rukka jacket and trousers, which held up remarkably well. The outer shell has worn through at the contact points with the road, but not damaged the armour or the inner shell. No road rash or abbrasions received from areas protected by the Rukka gear. My Sidi Black rain Evo's were slightly less impressive... They wore through at one point on my left foot and I've lost the top layer of skin on a patch about the size of a 5p piece... Slight marking on my crash helmet but no major visible damage. Obviously none of the kit is fit to wear again and I didn't include it in my motorcycle insurance... has anyone had any joy claiming damaged kit on their home contents insurance?
As I waited an hour and a half for the Carole Nash recovery truck, my wife and kids passed in the car, and stopped to see the damage. We started the "oh you really should stop riding motorcycles" discussion at the side of the road, but I refused to be drawn into that at the time. That's one to look forward to on Wednesday when she returns from her mothers...
As I was riding back home in the recovery truck, my right wrist started to feel a bit sore. I went to A&E on Sunday morning and discovered a crack in one of the bones in my little finger and another suspected fracture in a bone in my wrist. I now have a plaster on my right arm, from my fingers to my elbow... Other tha that, I think I got off very lightly and am pleased that my "all the gear all of the time" approach has worked well for me.
So, does anyone want to buy some slightly ventilated panniers? and a re-profiled carbon front indicator cover? I'm waiting for the insurance assessors to come and collect the bike to decide if it's economically repairable or not. This could be the excuse I need to sidegrade to an F800S. Every cloud ...etc..
Cheers,
Paul
) to 'slightly enhance the damage' in order to get it written off once.
