Accident #1 - Minor. Suzuki 450GS-TL Spring time in Central NY, pulling into neighborhood I caught some sand left over from winter sanding and salting. Bike high sided. Wasn't going fast at all. Bent a few things on the bike, and had an egg of sorts on my shin. I was wearing leather jacket, gloves, and jeans. Maybe had a couple thousand miles at that point.
Accident #2 - Summer time.. 1986 Yamaha Fazer. Accelerating through 65-70 MPH to get ahead of a pack of traffic from a light on a four lane. Nowhere near red line, engine throws a rod. Blows a hole through the bottom and top of engine casing and head. I have hot oil splashed out onto my leg, and metal bits stuck into my jeans. Rode it out and had to jump off at end - rear tire was locked up with the wet clutch and once the case ran out of oil, that tire started grabbing. Jumped off, and body never hit the road. Was wearing my leather jacket, jeans, boots, and gloves. Went down right in front of Harley dealer. How embarrassing. Had minor burns on my leg from the oil and some scratches from the metal cutting into my leg. Had about 12k miles experience at that point.
Accident #3 - Same 86 Yamaha Fazer with newly sourced motor. Came home after 3 weeks of vacation and wanted to charge the bike up with a ride. The day was one of the hottest that summer in South Carolina so I didn't wear any gear except my helmet. Jean shorts, no gloves... sneakers. On a freshly paved mountain road, in slow rush hour traffic, I entered a progressive turn and caught some loose pavement pebbles in the middle of the road. As I leaned her over at about 35 MPH ( That was the speed limit ironically ) and the turn grew tighter, I caught that gravel and lost the rear end until she high sided and off I went. I had road rash over just about every part of my body and went into shock. My helmet also had road rash - it was a non-helmet law state FYI. Taken by Ambulance to hospital. Note: If I had worn my jacket, gloves, full jeans, and my boots, I wouldn't have needed an ambulance ride at all. I think my knee still would have been banged up from impact though. Lesson learned. Had about 50k miles of riding various bikes at that point.
The thing with #3 was... It was a road I knew intimately. It was rush hour traffic on a single lane road... I couldn't have been speeding if I tried. The two variables were simply that it was freshly paved and had loose pavement nuggets on the road, and I felt it was too hot to wear my gear.
I now always wear my gloves, jacket, boots, and jeans. Jeans aren't perfect protection, but compared to the guys I see riding in flipflops/sandles and shorts... It is a big improvement.
Accident #2 - Summer time.. 1986 Yamaha Fazer. Accelerating through 65-70 MPH to get ahead of a pack of traffic from a light on a four lane. Nowhere near red line, engine throws a rod. Blows a hole through the bottom and top of engine casing and head. I have hot oil splashed out onto my leg, and metal bits stuck into my jeans. Rode it out and had to jump off at end - rear tire was locked up with the wet clutch and once the case ran out of oil, that tire started grabbing. Jumped off, and body never hit the road. Was wearing my leather jacket, jeans, boots, and gloves. Went down right in front of Harley dealer. How embarrassing. Had minor burns on my leg from the oil and some scratches from the metal cutting into my leg. Had about 12k miles experience at that point.
Accident #3 - Same 86 Yamaha Fazer with newly sourced motor. Came home after 3 weeks of vacation and wanted to charge the bike up with a ride. The day was one of the hottest that summer in South Carolina so I didn't wear any gear except my helmet. Jean shorts, no gloves... sneakers. On a freshly paved mountain road, in slow rush hour traffic, I entered a progressive turn and caught some loose pavement pebbles in the middle of the road. As I leaned her over at about 35 MPH ( That was the speed limit ironically ) and the turn grew tighter, I caught that gravel and lost the rear end until she high sided and off I went. I had road rash over just about every part of my body and went into shock. My helmet also had road rash - it was a non-helmet law state FYI. Taken by Ambulance to hospital. Note: If I had worn my jacket, gloves, full jeans, and my boots, I wouldn't have needed an ambulance ride at all. I think my knee still would have been banged up from impact though. Lesson learned. Had about 50k miles of riding various bikes at that point.
The thing with #3 was... It was a road I knew intimately. It was rush hour traffic on a single lane road... I couldn't have been speeding if I tried. The two variables were simply that it was freshly paved and had loose pavement nuggets on the road, and I felt it was too hot to wear my gear.
I now always wear my gloves, jacket, boots, and jeans. Jeans aren't perfect protection, but compared to the guys I see riding in flipflops/sandles and shorts... It is a big improvement.
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