Well, it happened. My first crash on my beautiful, clean 600RR.........and in the stupidest way too.
My roommate (Hamster) and I were headed to White Sands (where they filmed scenes of Transformers) to take pictures of our bikes in the sunset (and a damn great one at that). We just went through the border-patrol check station, and the entrance to white sands was down the interstate about a half mile to the left.
I applied the brakes entering the long turning lane doing about 70 mph, and before I knew it, I was on the ground sliding. Just like that. No warning, no time to react, nothing. Just riding.....loose gravel......low-side. I can't explain to the people who have never low sided before how unbelievably quick a low-side happens......blink of an eye. There really is NOTHING you can do about it. I had no idea what the hell happened the first 30 feet of my slide. (I slid for about 60 feet from what we counted........the bike about 100 feet or so.)
So, while I was sliding, all I saw (once I realized what happened) is my bike, sliding further from me, seeing all the debris and loose gravel flying up from under it. The only thing I could think of at the time was "F**K! This is going to be expensive." After I stopped sliding (thanks to my elbow grinding me to a stop), I jumped up, and ran over to my bike. I was on the interstate, but there was no traffic coming. My roommate David (who is an EMT-I) jumped off his bike immediately and rushed over to my aid. I told him I was alright as I brushed myself off, looking for missing limbs. My leg hurt a bit, but it wasn't missing, so I didn't think anything of it. He told me as he saw me hit the ground (and he's ran MANY fatal motorcycle accidents before) that he was planning to stop, start CPR and call in a Medivac. He told me I hit the ground violently hard, and thought that I would be unconscious for sure.
So, we picked up my bike, started it up and rode into the White Sands Guest Building parking lot. I checked myself over thoroughly, and when I found that I only had some soreness and scrapes, I turned my attention over to my bike, which didn't look so good. The frame slider did it's job though (which I was VERY impressed with.) It saved my front Rizoma signal (but not the rear sadly
). F-ed up my license plate, scraped up my rear view mirror, scratched up my swingarm, ground down my rear cowl, and ground up my side fairing a bit. But it saved my engine crankcase cover and all the vital parts from any damage. I was VERY surprised to find my peg and shifter was completely untouched.
It rode fine though, and I checked everything over, tires, brakes, alignment (as best as I could), etc. and all seemed to be fine. Me (happy because I was still alive and not badly hurt) suggested we hurry into the park to take pictures. Just as I said that, a park ranger blocked off the entrance, saying they were closed. What luck.
As far as gear, I was wearing my Leather jacket (thank God), Boots, Gloves, Helmet, and a backpack. I slid on my side, so the backpack was untouched, as was my helmet (somehow). My jeans (just regular Anchor Blue Jeans) had a couple holes, but nothing major. My Boots took a lot of wear and protected the ball of my ankle. The jacket was the BIG factor though. Without it, I would have had to go to the hospital for sure. I ground down through the leather (as you can see in the pavement pics) to the hard plastic underneath. My arm, which I was pretty much sliding on, is untouched, though a little sore. Same goes for my upper leg, sore with a few scrapes, but nothing serious. I can honestly say that it could have turned out much worse, and I count my blessings for coming out in such good shape after this crash.
Here's some pics of the crash.
[image]http://i106.photobucket.com/
