Posted by Jon D. on June 26, 2002 at 15:21:50:
Bad day for me yesterday...
My buddy just got a '02 Harley and we were heading to lunch. I'm a teacher and it was the last day for us to work for the school year. I planned to ride every day in the summer. We were excited to be riding together, on our way to meet more friends. I wasn't paying attention for a split second when a truck stopped suddenly to turn right into McDonalds.
Around noon I dropped my bike at about 10-15 mph when a truck in front of me suddenly stopped. I was accelerating to pass the truck and looked left to see if it was clear, it must not have been, so then I looked straight ahead and there the truck was--stopped! The drive-thru line was long and extended
out into the road apparently. My front wheel locked up and I fell over on the left side skidding. Onlookers said I was under part of the truck, so
had I not gone down I may have hit the truck and gotten ejected. People were telling my bud originally that I "got run over by a truck"! How's that for a scare! My elbow, knee, ankle, and head all made contact with the pavement. I had on a half helmet that got all scratched up. It sucks when your head whacks the ground. Gear is SO important.
It's a horrible feeling picking your bike up off the pavement: cars all around, busted parts all over, confusion of why. I felt (feel) like such a loser. My forks are now twisted a bit and there are some other damaged parts (peg, turn signal, tank, bars, etc.). Insurance adjuster is coming today to assess the damage.
It looks like I'll probably have to get rid of the bike to make my wife happy. She didn't want me to get the thing in the first place and is in "I told you so" & "your kids need a dad" mode.
I'm really upset about this. I'm obsessed with riding and always looked forward to my next ride. I've only had the bike since last Sept. I'd have ridden it home if it rolled straight. I'm starting to think that this may be a great opportunity to get my hands dirty working on it--I can't really screw up the bike now, can I!
Forget about the motto "keep the shiny side up." My muffler was looking up at the sun, can't get shinier than that. My new motto is, "keep your eyes on the road ahead." All I can say is never get caught up in the moment where you throw caution to the wind. I even took the safety course and I still blew it.