I think I may be down to about 7 lives right now, but man what a close call.

On Sunday, October 22nd, 2006 at approximately 3:30PM I lowsided my motorcycle. It is about 4-1/2 Months old with 6,500 miles on it when I checked it after the incident. 2006 Yamaha R6 Raven. My second motorcycle and my replacement for my 2004 Honda CBR600RR.

The Pre-Story: There were three other riders behind me, a total of four. We had just finished a section of GA75. Tires were well warmed up and everyone was having fun. So we decide to hit another section. This section I'm very familiar with and the turns were very predictable. I have been up and down this section more than twenty times. It is the usual route we take to start our annual hike at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountain. So I knew this road like the back of my hand. We start to ascend the mountain to reach the Summit which had a scenic view. We reach the top of the scenic view and rested there for a few. We then start down the other side of mountain and turn around to come back up.

On our way up, we take turns taking lead. I started out towards the back doing some wheelies on some of the long flat straights. Of course no cars were in sight. I finally run out of safe room so I decided to chase down the rest of my friends. I past 2 of them real easily and get right up behind the last one. We're cruising at a moderate speed.

The upcoming turn is a wide 80mph-100mph left hander. He slows down and sets up on the outside to about 50-60mph. He looks back and I signal for the inside pass and he grants. I smile, setup for the pass and take the inside line. I accelerate out to setup for the next right hander. This is the tricky one. This turn is called "Gotcha" as I was later informed by the Fire Department and EMS crew. It's called that for two reasons. Since I have been up and down the road before, I knew the first reason. It was a technical one called a decreasing radius turn. It's the second one that I wasn't informed up until mid corner.

The Incident: I take the first portion of the right hander smooth, setup, weight distributed properly, lean in to kiss the mirrors, very comfortable and confident turn in. No problem. I tried to stay towards the outside of the turn as close to the double lines as possible to avoid some of the gravel that I had seen on the outside edge. As I go to lean further on the second portion of the right hander I noticed black specs on the yellow line. Of course I didn't want to lean over on the paint so I cut the turn a little sharper. The front tires strike a larger piece of gravel/rock and next thing I know the right handlebar pushes forward like a tank slap and there I went. Initial impact was the front fairing. Because the R6 has such a wide front fairing for the headlights, it ripped it apart. I decide to part with the bike and go my separate way. I hit the pavement and started tumbling. I tumbled three times and came to a stop. The motorcycle slid and made some nice pretty sparks before finally resting with the tail end of it underneath the guard rail.

The Damage Assessment: The entire front end of the bike is ripped off. Both sides of the fairings are completely scuffed up. So far it looks totalled. I got up, shook my head, looked at the bike, waved at the rest of the riders to watch the gravel and guided them to a stop. I then did the usual inspection from toe up. I noticed my back calves were sore. I did not get any road rash. However on my right knee, the friction of the jeans and the liner I was wearing underneath my jeans caused something similar to a carpert burn. The left side of my neck is sore. And I managed to jam my right pinky. I went to the ER to double check and find out that I also had a slightly bruised rib. Got some pain killers and went to work the next day.

Lesson I learned: Do not underestimate the unforgivingness of Mother Nature and Gear is good.

I will have the pictures up soon.

Cliff Notes: Went for ride, lowsided my bike, came out with minor injuries. Still breathing. Happy to be alive.

 

Good thing you put in cliff notes, cuzz I was about to hit the back button j/k
Good to hear your ok

 

no offense but I think you need to slow down on the street and start doing track days.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EngineNoO9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">no offense but I think you need to slow down on the street and start doing track days. </TD></TR></TABLE>

None taken. I agree with you. I'll be picking up the new bike in a week or two. Instead of winterizing it, it will be track prepped.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by backlash &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good thing you put in cliff notes, cuzz I was about to hit the back button j/k
Good to hear your ok</TD></TR></TABLE>

+1

What's the new bike?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sup gurl &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">+1

What's the new bike?</TD></TR></TABLE>

07 R6? Black or Blue?

 

Ouch! Poor new bikes...barely getting started in their lives before you thrash 'em.

Good to hear you're ok.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by len &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

07 R6? Black or Blue?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Get a triumph 675!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by marmaladeboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ouch! Poor new bikes...barely getting started in their lives before you thrash 'em.

Good to hear you're ok.</TD></TR></TABLE>

LoL. Well I was forced to sell my 04 RR. This is my first time ever totalling my own bike. I wrecked a friend's bike before.

Would 6,500 miles be considered virgin though?

AdeJong 03, it will be easier for me to get a replacement R6 since the price is the same and I can stick with my bank.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by len &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">LoL. Well I was forced to sell my 04 RR. This is my first time ever totalling my own bike. I wrecked a friend's bike before.

Would 6,500 miles be considered virgin though?
</TD></TR></TABLE>
That would depend...did it bleed...? Engine oil, that is...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by marmaladeboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That would depend...did it bleed...? Engine oil, that is...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Nope. Damit! You're right

 

damn Len. Glad you're alright.


*shakes head*

Poor bike

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by len &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">LoL. Well I was forced to sell my 04 RR. This is my first time ever totalling my own bike. I wrecked a friend's bike before.

Would 6,500 miles be considered virgin though?

AdeJong 03, it will be easier for me to get a replacement R6 since the price is the same and I can stick with my bank.</TD></TR></TABLE>

meh, steinway makes much better pianos

i have to admit that i really like the k5, k6 gixxer.

the new r6 is growing on me, just don't like the front end.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by len &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Nope. Damit! You're right </TD></TR></TABLE>

maybe you should consider just throwing some race fairings on this one instead of going through the trouble. is everything straight? judging by how you described the crash i would assume that only the fairings suffered damage. it would be highly unlikely that you damaged your forks, frame, or subframe.

so there you go make that one a race bike

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AdeJong 03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

maybe you should consider just throwing some race fairings on this one instead of going through the trouble. is everything straight? judging by how you described the crash i would assume that only the fairings suffered damage. it would be highly unlikely that you damaged your forks, frame, or subframe.

so there you go make that one a race bike </TD></TR></TABLE> +1

 

Sorry len.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AdeJong 03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">maybe you should consider just throwing some race fairings on this one instead of going through the trouble. is everything straight? judging by how you described the crash i would assume that only the fairings suffered damage. it would be highly unlikely that you damaged your forks, frame, or subframe.

so there you go make that one a race bike </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm taking it to get an estimate tomorrow. We'll see.

 

Ouch Len...at least you're ok. Bikes can be replace but you cannot.

btw - hows the ///M?

 

No rocks on the track.

Be safe

 

Glad to still have you around Len. What gear did you have on?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Home Skillet &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Glad to still have you around Len. What gear did you have on?</TD></TR></TABLE>


I had my armored Dianese Jacket, My Alpinestars SP2 gloves, and my Icon Helmet. The jacket sustained very light scuffs in various locations, but remained intact. The gloves disassembled in the palm area upon initial impact but for some very strange and odd reason, I did not get any road rash on my palms at all. Both gloves tore apart in the palm area. My helmet had one light rash on the right cheek. The only thing that I could think of that kept me from serious injuries is because of the fact that I tumbled instead of slid.

Big Pete, The M is doing well, but it is about to be replaced soon by a cheaper vehicle.

RebornGSR, I completely agree with you. Will keep everything off the road from now on. I really think that this incident was a message from someone to tell me to take it to the track. I'm just too stubborn to listen to people and had to experience the situation myself to fully grasp the risk and dangers. It's sad that it takes this much for me to learn, but I consider myself lucky and given a second chance. This particular weekend was so busy that shortly after I fell, cars were passing us as we stood up agains the guard rail waiting for the EMS/Police to arrive. Any sooner or later and I would have easily been killed. It also didn't help that 6 feet behind the guard rail was a straight vertical drop off the side of the mountain. I ended up approximately 4 feet away from the guard rail.

 

hey len good to hear your ok

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KoRE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hey len good to hear your ok </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thank You

 

You forget to mention about riding bitch on my bike! Down the mountain with you on the back leaning to apex all the corners, me trying to go slow and keep it wide...2-up FTL!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Eva01 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You forget to mention about riding bitch on my bike! Down the mountain with you on the back leaning to apex all the corners, me trying to go slow and keep it wide...2-up FTL! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Man I was dragging my knees riding bitch!! LoL