Re: Day from Hell

[Rick Damiani <triumph@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 31 Dec 2000 18:53:06 -0800, Richard & Lisa White
<RedRiders@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>hunting its destination.  Well, Richard was in front.  The car was
>slowing down and the damn thing basically stops, with no blinkers on
>(two lane road, no shoulder, in the wet).  Richard had just made a
>little glance to the left and looked back to see the brake lights,
>grabbed too much front brake, locked it and went down on his right, onto
>the asphalt, and into the ditch!  It happened so fast! I locked up my
>rear wheel because he scared me to death!!  By the time I got parked,

That crash mode always bothers me the most - it's hard to know what to
do to avoid it in the future, and once it starts it's nearly
impossible to save. Major suckage.

>To make a long story short, he has a broken humerous, not too far from
>the joint.  It is currently aligned correctly.  We are to go back on
>Wednesday for more X-rays.  If the alignment has changed, it means
>surgery to pin it.

Tell him to keep thinking straight and true thoughts. The metal body
part club is oversubscribed as it is, and the cost of entry is far too
high. OTOH, they *do* give you lots of morphine while you are
recovering...

>The bike is cosmetically damaged, from what I can tell. Mania will need
>to check out the front end, however.  Plastic on the right side will
>need to be replaced, as well as the scratched can.  Luckily no panniers
>were involved.  It could have been worse.  My brother-in-law and his
>wife went back with me to get the bike and load it up.  Though it would
>probably run, I didn't want to start it again since it ran on its side
>for a little while.  Best to let the shop look at it first.  My main
>concern, though is Richard, I hope none of you who ride with someone you
>dearly love ever have to see what I saw. . . . . .  Let us just say,
>I've told him I don't want to go through that again.

Running on it's right side won't do it any harm, so you are probably
fine there. It's laying on the left side that can be worrisome.
Because of how the crankcase is ventilated the airbox can fill with
oil if the bike lays on it's left side too long, and that can lead to
hydraulic lock and eat a rod or two.

>Be careful out there, and if you don't have armour, get it!!!  I don't
>know that it would have prevented this--we'll never know--but you won't
>have to worry about whether you could have done more.  Also watch your
>following distances . . . . 

Always good advice, that. Be sure to allow those who appear confused
extra room as well - once they break out of their fog they are liable
to do any damn thing and do it suddenly.

>At midnight, let's say that the slate is wiped clean, and we begin a
>brand new, hopefully crash free year . . . . 

You and me both. This has been a particularly bad year for me as well.
I hope nest year is better for all of us.


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