I uglied up my VFR, first wreck

[FearIsGood]

Well it finally happened, she went down. 4 of us rode down to SE Ohio to find some nice roads and enjoy the weather. We went down 146 and then had to get creative and took a huge loop around, very tight and curvy stuff. Everything went well, got to practice some trail braking and S curves.

About 4 hours in I was coming up over over a hill (warning sign, 15mph), slowed down to somewhere between 30-35, and without warning found myself on my side with the bike sliding away from me. Not a second later I hear a BANG and turn around to see my friend's ZX11r high side probably in an attempt to avoid me. Turns out that right at the crest of the hill there was a very thick patch of gravel in our lane that we very likely both went straight through, couldn't see it on the approach. Wow, that was instant. I went to push on my handlebar and was immediately wondering why I was on the ground. Scary stuff.

The damage to the bike is a horizontally split windscreen (ruined) and some seriously scuffed fairings. My buddy basically highsided due to the front lock up and that broke his windshield, right peg, popped his can off the pipe, and it seemed that his frame slider/stud stuck in the asphault which stopped the bike almost in place. We were both wearing gear and hopped right back up to check out the damage. However, my Joe Rocket textile jacket did tear revealing the forearm armor on my left sliding side (pretty disappointing). Tank to knee contact has me limping a little, but I'm thankful that's it.

If I had to go down eventually I'm glad I got it out of the way. My cell was dead so unfortunately I don't have pictures of the scene.

[FrankoQ]

Sorry to hear. I hope you recover well and get the bike back in shape soon.

[drewl]

I find these threads interesting for the debriefing aspects. Your insight into how fast you lost control is valuable. It will help me to remember to not get lazy. Not that you were, but that is what I will use it for.
Glad you had gear and got right up. Hope the bikes(yours and his) are repaired quickly.

[porcupine73]

Wow sorry to hear about the incident, glad you are both ok though. Blind hills like that can hide things. I almost lost it last week riding over railroad tracks, a slight incline leading up to them and then like a three foot sudden decline right after them, almost pulled the bars right out of my hands as the bike dove down the decline.

[vfourbear]

Very sorry to hear about your get-off. I'm glad you're both okay. I just bought a Joe Rocket jacket, so your comments on that were interesting. Its unbeliveable how quickly things can happen. I hate gravel.

[FearIsGood]

I'm sure the leather on the Joe Rockets are fine. Mine is like a textile mesh w/ armor, it's not going to do much good above the 35mph I was probably going.

[Michael D]

Sorry to hear about what happened, though glad you had your jacket on. This should remind us all that there is a lot that is beyond our control and reinforces the fact that we should all be wearing protection no matter where we are going. This is something that I need to keep reminding myself here in Phoenix where the temp is generally between 104 and 108 degrees at the moment.

[GreyVF750F]

Glad your ok. That's why they build race tracks like Mid-Ohio and such. You can go as fast as you want with out worrying about stuff in the road. Learned along time ago the street is the most dangerous to screw around on. Things you can't see like fine dirt, sand, grass, buzzards etc. Plus all the stuff you can hit like trees, poles, etc. I guess you learned not to take blind hills, corners at speed cause someday they'll get ya. Like the saying goes "There are those that have gone down and those that are gonna". Your past the gonna stage now.

[KC-10 FE]

Glad to hear you are OK. It also sounds like you have your wits about you since you were analyzing factors that contributed to the mishap mere minutes after it happened. Get the bike fixed & get back on. Life throws curve balls. If you're going to strike out, at least go down swinging.

I would also say you shouldn't be disappointed in your jacket.

Leather slides.

Textile rips.

Both do the same thing. Both do that thing in different ways. So ruined your jacket? Big deal. Any broken bones? Any road rash? Sound to me like your jacket did exactly what it was designed to do. A new jacket is a small, small price to pay to NOT be laying in a hospital bed.

KC-10 FE out...

[vfrredneckchic]

Glad everyones ok, except for the bike damage and jacket. All are alot cheaper to fix than you are.
Some of the roads in southern Ohio are really bad for having debris on the road.
If your ever in the area of the Hocking Hills try 664, 312, 374, 595, or 56. These are some nice riding roads and 664 was just repaved recently.

[mello dude]

Sorry about your mishap. Good that your ok. Curiuos - what road were you on. I get over to SE ohio off and on.

I always wonder if I was in that spot would I have made it. Lots of those roads are kind of whoop de doos. 555 is the worst, but fun. Do you think you were on the brakes?

MD

[ewryly]

Thanks for sharing, FearIsGood, and I'm glad you are all right. I agree with KC, the jacket did its job. If you helmet smacked the ground too, I think you need to consider that a loss as well, but it did its job.

[FearIsGood]

Thankfully my helmet didn't make contact, though better my helmet than my head. The jacket might actually be sown back together but with the warm season halfway through I might just stick with the leather one. The paint might not be professionally repaired for a little bit, but my buddy does paint and we might do a quick job to get me into winter. Thinking maybe black?

I can confidently say I wasn't on the brakes either, I had all my braking done, weight on my left side, and then when I started to push on my left handlebar it happened. I actually think it might have been Rt555.

In hindsight I also think that as I started cresting the hill I had already tried to look for the end of the corner, meaning that I had never actually looked where my wheels were at that moment. I don't know that looking down would have been a great idea either, best to just slow down. More practice, Mid-Ohio next year :).

[mello dude]

I've run rt555 a good 30 times or more. On that road and quite a few others over there you have to expect gravel and garbage in spots, super especially after a good rain. On crests I usually brake before the top, first glance for road condition, and then look for planning the line thru the next turn. Knock on wood, I havent been down, but I have a couple buddies that have.

I've been all over that area, and I think 555 is the meanest,nastiest 70 mile road of hell in Ohio. On a consentration scale of 10, you need to be up for 11. I love it!

Good luck,
MD

[derstuka]

Glad you came out of it ok. Repair the old girl and get back in the saddle!