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RedRover5683 · 06-12-2008, 07:50 PM

I'm a physician, and I'm also among those who are orthodox practitioners of ATGATT. In addition, no one gets on the back of my bike unless they (1) own full protective gear from head-to-toe, and (2) they're familiar with 2-up riding.

I've been through two low-side crashes, and in both cases my full riding gear saved my bacon. In the first crash, I was riding solo, westbound on Ohio Rt. 56 in a very rural section of Vinton county (I'd been over this stretch of road many, many times, in both directions), when I momentarily spaced out while riding the last portion of an S-curve. I entered that last left-hand, decreasing radius curve way too hot, with a bad entry line, and I ended up low-siding to the right, destroying a new '07 BMW K1200GT in the process, but I was fortunate enough to walk away with only trivial injuries.

A very pleasant and kind Ohio State Highway Patrol officer soon arrived at the scene. He looked me over and the first thing he said was something like "I really want to congratulate you for wearing all of that riding gear...This is a bad stretch of road..."

He then took in the scene further: An expensive BMW motorcycle, trashed in a field; a rider wearing expensive, full gear, who has a full set of nice teeth, talks educated with good grammer like city folk... "You're not from around here, are you?" I said I live in the Columbus area.

The tow truck driver, Andy (who is a magnificent person and a life-long motorcyclist) said, "Is you a doctor or something like that?" I chuckled and said yeah, I'm a doc. Thank you so much for helping me! Andy was a great motorcycling "psychotherapist" and a source of comfort and encouragement as I rode with him towards Columbus with my dead BMW on the back of his truck.

My 2nd low-side crash occurred while riding my new 2007 VFR with a very experienced co-rider on Ohio Rt. 669, at Malta. Like me, my lady co-rider was wearing full gear from head-to-toe. We'd previously rode ~6000-7000 miles together without a hitch, when all of the sudden the rear tire (Metzeler M-4) lost traction in a slow, 90 degree left hander. We most likely hit a film of antifreeze or some such thing. (It was not gravel.) The policeman agreed, and so I was not cited for Failure to Control. The damage to the VFR was only cosmetic, to the tune of ~$1500.00.

At any rate, we both slid about 30-50' on our left side, and when we finally came to a stop, our Autocom link was still active. I said are you OK? She said I'm OK but my leg is pinned under the bike. I was able to free my left leg and get up, but her left leg was still pinned...

As it turned out, 400 firemen and medics happened to be close by because they were in Malta for a weekend training exercise. They immediately came to our aid (God bless them all), lifted the bike and freed her. Once they determined and were assured that we were both fine, guess what they said..? (Hint: The wisdom of choosing to ride while wearing full protective gear from head-to-toe... ATGATT!)

Both us of came through this low speed, low-side crash without a scratch to our bodies, but our left-side boots, pant legs, and jackets were pretty chewed up. Our expensive, well padded, textile riding gear (and Sidi leather boots) were pretty chewed up, just from this low-speed slide, but we came through this unscathed. Had we not been wearing full, heavily protective riding gear, both of us would've suffered severe injuries. The gear did it's job. Once we got home, we took off the gear, said a prayer of thanks, and tossed it in the trash. It was cooked. It did it's job. We bought new gear. (FirstGear TPG)

Lessons remembered and learned

1) Extreme RoadRash: Cause Effect and Lesson Learned*-*SpeedFreakInc.com You've probably seen this article before. It's always worth another look.

2) The term "Road rash" is really a very bad euphemism for the severe bodily injuries that occur when unprotected or inadequately protected body parts and skin are subjected to severe abrasions. The resulting injuries are not merely "rashes". In fact, they are actually much the same as 2nd and 3rd degree burn injuries. Our skin is best thought of as a vital bodily organ.

3) Young riders (and their co-riders) often feel as though they are somehow
invincible, as if accidents may befall others, but they are somehow immune. Young riders often have a poor sense of their own mortality and morbidity.

4) Among many riders from all age groups, there may be an unwillingness or inability to purchase full protective riding gear, from head-to-toe. Reasons may vary, but the fact is that acquiring and religiously wearing full gear is expensive, seemingly cumbersome and inconvenient, and in warm weather it's often hot as hell....

We have a choice... we can choose to adhere to ATGATT, or we can throw caution to the wind. Among those who scoff at the wisdom of ATGATT, get back to us and report in if you happen to require the services of a medical helicopter, intensive care unit, burn unit, etc.

Even if one chooses to do without ATGATT, what about your co-riders? In an accident, co-riders are more often maimed or killed than the rider.

06-12-2008, 07:50 PM	#23 (permalink)
RedRover5683 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Last Online: Today 07:17 PM Location: Ohio My Ride: 2007 VFR 800A View my Photo Gallery Posts: 255 Thanks: 155 Thanked 87 Times in 47 Posts	Lessons learned the hard way... I'm a physician, and I'm also among those who are orthodox practitioners of ATGATT. In addition, no one gets on the back of my bike unless they (1) own full protective gear from head-to-toe, and (2) they're familiar with 2-up riding. I've been through two low-side crashes, and in both cases my full riding gear saved my bacon. In the first crash, I was riding solo, westbound on Ohio Rt. 56 in a very rural section of Vinton county (I'd been over this stretch of road many, many times, in both directions), when I momentarily spaced out while riding the last portion of an S-curve. I entered that last left-hand, decreasing radius curve way too hot, with a bad entry line, and I ended up low-siding to the right, destroying a new '07 BMW K1200GT in the process, but I was fortunate enough to walk away with only trivial injuries. A very pleasant and kind Ohio State Highway Patrol officer soon arrived at the scene. He looked me over and the first thing he said was something like "I really want to congratulate you for wearing all of that riding gear...This is a bad stretch of road..." He then took in the scene further: An expensive BMW motorcycle, trashed in a field; a rider wearing expensive, full gear, who has a full set of nice teeth, talks educated with good grammer like city folk... "You're not from around here, are you?" I said I live in the Columbus area. The tow truck driver, Andy (who is a magnificent person and a life-long motorcyclist) said, "Is you a doctor or something like that?" I chuckled and said yeah, I'm a doc. Thank you so much for helping me! Andy was a great motorcycling "psychotherapist" and a source of comfort and encouragement as I rode with him towards Columbus with my dead BMW on the back of his truck. My 2nd low-side crash occurred while riding my new 2007 VFR with a very experienced co-rider on Ohio Rt. 669, at Malta. Like me, my lady co-rider was wearing full gear from head-to-toe. We'd previously rode ~6000-7000 miles together without a hitch, when all of the sudden the rear tire (Metzeler M-4) lost traction in a slow, 90 degree left hander. We most likely hit a film of antifreeze or some such thing. (It was not gravel.) The policeman agreed, and so I was not cited for Failure to Control. The damage to the VFR was only cosmetic, to the tune of ~$1500.00. At any rate, we both slid about 30-50' on our left side, and when we finally came to a stop, our Autocom link was still active. I said are you OK? She said I'm OK but my leg is pinned under the bike. I was able to free my left leg and get up, but her left leg was still pinned... As it turned out, 400 firemen and medics happened to be close by because they were in Malta for a weekend training exercise. They immediately came to our aid (God bless them all), lifted the bike and freed her. Once they determined and were assured that we were both fine, guess what they said..? (Hint: The wisdom of choosing to ride while wearing full protective gear from head-to-toe... ATGATT!) Both us of came through this low speed, low-side crash without a scratch to our bodies, but our left-side boots, pant legs, and jackets were pretty chewed up. Our expensive, well padded, textile riding gear (and Sidi leather boots) were pretty chewed up, just from this low-speed slide, but we came through this unscathed. Had we not been wearing full, heavily protective riding gear, both of us would've suffered severe injuries. The gear did it's job. Once we got home, we took off the gear, said a prayer of thanks, and tossed it in the trash. It was cooked. It did it's job. We bought new gear. (FirstGear TPG) Lessons remembered and learned 1) Extreme RoadRash: Cause Effect and Lesson Learned-SpeedFreakInc.com You've probably seen this article before. It's always worth another look. 2) The term "Road rash" is really a very bad euphemism for the severe bodily injuries that occur when unprotected or inadequately protected body parts and skin are subjected to severe abrasions. The resulting injuries are not merely "rashes". In fact, they are actually much the same as 2nd and 3rd degree burn injuries. Our skin is best thought of as a vital bodily organ. 3) Young riders (and their co-riders) often feel as though they are somehow invincible, as if accidents may befall others, but they are somehow immune. Young riders often have a poor sense of their own mortality and morbidity. 4) Among many riders from all age groups, there may be an unwillingness or inability to purchase full protective riding gear, from head-to-toe. Reasons may vary, but the fact is that acquiring and religiously wearing full gear is expensive, seemingly cumbersome and inconvenient, and in warm weather it's often hot as hell.... We have a choice... we can choose to adhere to ATGATT, or we can throw caution to the wind. Among those who scoff at the wisdom of ATGATT, get back to us and report in if you happen to require the services of a medical helicopter, intensive care unit, burn unit, etc. Even if one chooses to do without ATGATT, what about your co-riders? In an accident, co-riders are more often maimed or killed than the rider.