SHIT HAPPENS¡¡

What was supposed to be a pleasant and enjoyable Sunday ride on a motorcycle ended in a nightmare...

This Sunday there was a classic motorcycle rally about 80km. from home.

I was going to go with my brand new ELR.

All night it had been raining, in fact I delayed my departure a little more than an hour on Sunday morning because it was still drizzling although the weather forecast announced clear skies.

I arrived an hour late at the meeting place, the organizers told me that the bikes had just left for the place where they were having a breakfast of brotherhood.
I paid my registration and with some unclear indications in my mind of where I had to go I took the road again quickly to meet the group.

I was almost there when I took a wrong road, after half a kilometer I realized it and decided to turn around.
The bike stopped when I maneuvered, when I pressed the starter button it barely turned the engine slowly, as if there was no battery charge, I had done it a couple of times some time ago but it ended up starting without any more problems.

I was at the top of a hill and decided to start the bike on the downhill road.

Contact, I go rolling and climb up to third gear, I press the button to help the initial engine spin and release clutch, nothing, no signal, the engine is spinning but no sign of starting, I'm getting to the end of the downhill, I reduce to second gear, the gas fist twisted to full throttle with the engine spinning but no spark.

I SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT THE RED START BUTTON HAD BEEN TURNED TO THE OFF POSITION.
I connected my thumb to the button and I had no time to react, disaster was served on a silver platter....
That was my undoing, a 100 hp bike with full throttle in second gear and going downhill....
Like a wild bull in a rodeo the bike reacted.
I could only continue to hold on tightly to the handlebars, a slight curve was coming and it was impossible for me not even to grab the clutch and brake levers but to keep the trajectory within the road, it took about 3 or 4 seconds, an eternity for me, to complete the disaster...

We hit the side of the road and fell down an embankment of about 3 meters.

This is the result.

 
 
 
   
 


As far as I am concerned, I fractured a rib with displacement, the doctor told me that it will be welded on, I have to be three weeks in absolute rest.
The leather jacket saved me from skinning myself as I fell on a bramble bush.

It has been more than 30 years since I kissed the ground on a motorcycle, it seems that now it is harder than when I was young.

I'm low morale, the fall hurts me today much more than yesterday...

My body too.

You're still alive and that's the blessing to focus on. Everything else can be repaired.

I had an opportunity to attend a motorcycle racing school for a 4 hour session so I could obtain a license to race on a motorsport track. The one thing I took away from that 4 hour session was "Target Fixation" When Shit Happens and you're about to get in an accident, human nature will have you focus on what's about to happen. What you need to do is realize that you are subject to target fixation and refocus on a way out of the eminent danger rather than accept what's about to happen. Don't look at the spot where the accident will happen. Look for an escape and focus on that and head for the safety of the escape. 
This lesson has carried me through more almost misses that could have been fatal. Keep your head on a swivel and be aware of your surroundings and always have an escape plan.. More than likely, it won't be you that initiates an accident but you may be the only one that escapes it.

A friend of mine was out for a ride one day and approached an intersection. No stop sign for him but the intersecting road had stop signs. A school bus came up on his left and stopped for the sign and then just as my friend was nearing the intersection, the school bus carried on through the intersection. My friend describes the incident as 
"I was approaching the intersection and what does the school bud do? He pulls out right in front of me and all I could think was What in the Fuck is he doing? Then I tee boned the bus. All I remember was waking up in the hospital. 9 Months later, they had to amputate my leg. It was so mangled that after 11 surgeries, it couldn't be saved.
My friend didn't see the bus start to move. He didn't anticipate that the bus might move and he wasn't prepared to act if the bus moved. Then he got fixated on the eminent target and asked himself the question rather than focusing on an escape and avoiding  the bus. In the blink of an eye, he lost his leg at the age of 38 and will spend the rest of his life in a limited capacity.

Strange that today's motorcycles don't have a charging indicator light to warn you of eminent electrical failure. I had a 1966 Honda 150cc Dream that had a red idiot light for the charging circuit. Had you had one of these lights, you wouldn't have left on the trip, or if it indicated during the trip, you would have considered where to stop and check it out.

Kawboy wrote:

You're still alive and that's the blessing to focus on. Everything else can be repaired.

Strange that today's motorcycles don't have a charging indicator light to warn you of eminent electrical failure. I had a 1966 Honda 150cc Dream that had a red idiot light for the charging circuit. Had you had one of these lights, you wouldn't have left on the trip, or if it indicated during the trip, you would have considered where to stop and check it out.

I replaced the battery a couple of months ago when I repaired the engine, it was finished.
With the new battery it goes perfect, there is no warning in the checking of the bike, the reading of the voltmeter of the tachometer clock is correct.
Only a couple or three times, without knowing why, it has refused to start, it could be a failure in the starter button or relay.
Now I will have time to check the faults.
For the moment I have already bought a front wheel by 
ebay.

About the experience you tell...
My target at that moment I guess was to be able to start the bike before the end of the downhill section of the road.
I left in the background to have control of the controls of the bike.
Such was the kick of the engine when starting that I was caught off guard.

Well like said above, the bike can be fixed you didn't lose any limbs and you are able to talk about it now and know what to expect if there is a next time.
How did you tell the wife?

Happy to read you will heal. To heal, one must be alive, right?

...and since you have a broken rib, let me tell you a joke. or Two!

Such was the kick of the engine when starting that I was caught off guard.

In dirt bike parlance, we call that 'Whiskey Throttle'... when your body is too far back, arms are extended, throttle is Wide F'n Open, and you're along for the ride!

Now then, spend some quality time with Christina and her girlfriend!

D


 

stocktoy wrote:

Well like said above, the bike can be fixed you didn't lose any limbs and you are able to talk about it now and know what to expect if there is a next time.
How did you tell the wife?

I phoned my wife and explained that I had fallen but that I was fine, that calmed her down, then I called the automobile club I belong to and they sent a tow truck to pick me and the bike up.

When I fell, I was in pain but I was even able to stand up the bike, remove the ignition, turn off the fuel tap and take some photos.

The real pain started in the waiting time for roadside assistance when my body started to cool down.

I could no longer help the tow truck driver to load the bike, I could hardly move, the trip home in the tow truck was an ordeal for me.

When I got home my eldest son put the bike in the garage and my wife took me to the hospital with the car.

My wife knows how great my passion for riding a motorcycle is and at no time did she scold me or anything like that, she was always concerned about my well-being.

On the other hand, my two sons did scold me for what happened because we have been out together on a motorcycle many times and they know that sometimes I lose my head even though I am wearing a helmet.