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My turn to eat some pavement.


swingset

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Been off the bike for a while with a pinched nerve in my shoulder, so today I decide to enjoy the great weather and see if I'm feeling good enough to handle a long ride...rode out east of Coshocton and was buzzing around the twisties...had some lunch and was enjoying 258 when it happened.

Came up to a flagged road crew trimming trees around a powerline. I was going about 45 when I came to them, the guy flagged me into the left hand lane past the trucks, and just as I started to go over around them I caught some movement on my right in my peripheral vision...but wasn't sure what I was seeing...just a blur moving in my direction, so I just intinctively got on the brakes a little and went further left towards the berm....as soon as pass the first truck a big dog darts out in front of me and another behind him at an angle about to collide with me, I am already pointed towards the ditch a bit and with nowhere to go but dog or ditch, I get on the brakes hard...hit the white line and some pea-gravel on the berm and slide sideways locked up...soon as I re-grab pavement I high side and go over.

Going fairly slow by the time I went superman, but enough to judo-flip me into the pavement, right onto my bad shoulder and the bike slides after me pinning my ankle into the ditch.

The guys on the ground didn't see it, but the guy in a cherry-picker did, and said the second dog hit me, grazing my side. I squirmed out from under the bike and lifted it up, didn't have any obvious pain or damage to me, so I pushed the bike into a driveway and sorted myself out.

The engine guards, handguards, brake pedal, footpeg, rear pannier and rear rack are fucked up. Scratched fairing, windshield and shroud. Hit my shoulder, knee, elbows, hands and a strike to the helmet, and the bike on my ankle. No rash or any real injuries.

Gear. Fucking. Works. I was in full gear, Teknic stinger jacket, Fieldsheer 4-season pants, Fox Comp5 shorty boots and a Caberg Trip lid. Gloves are Astars of some sort...all the gear did its job wonderfully. My shoulder has some ripping, but the kevlar lining and hard armor underneath are perfect. I was always a firm believer in crush-protection being important in boots, and why I wore an MX style boot and today it proved me right. Bike came down hard on my left ankle and the boot did its job.

I was able to bend stuff back into place and ride home without any pain or discomfort (tho I suspect tomorrow I'll be sore as hell). So, I consider that a victory as far as gear. A little ticked off, couldn't find the owners of the dogs, but I'm alive and well.

Unfortunately, I was preparing for a 3-day trip to Skyline/WV that is now in some jeopardy...but it could have been much worse.

Here's some pics.

Fairing/cowling/engine guards all scuffed (engine guards are pushed in and badly mangled...they took the brunt of it). Turn signal broke, aux. light stem mangled.

Wreck_Fairing.JPG

Panniers dug into, rear-rack broken and bent.

Wreck_Pannier.JPG

Brake pedal snapped, foot peg broken.

Wreck_Pedal.JPG

There's also scuffs on the handguards, windshield lip and front fender...but pretty small.

My gear faired really well for as hard as I hit. Pants are untouched, one small impact area on the helmet, the worst was the shoulder on my jacket, ripped through the outer layer but didn't get through kevlar or CE armor.

Wreck_Gear.JPG

Spent last night taking off broken shit and sorting things out....she's naked again.

Wreck_After.JPG

Edited by swingset
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That sux bro, the good thing is you had your gear on, otherwise you probably would be in the hospital instead of posting things. Hopefully it will not cost you an arm and a leg to get your bike roadworthy again, but money is money, comes and goes.

Ride safe :)

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First off glad your ok. Did you happen to be on a Silver DL1000? I recall tossing a wave to one today and I think it was on 258 and I also remember some kind of crew on the side of the road.Can''t remember which road. It was a long day. There were 3 of us together.

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First off glad your ok. Did you happen to be on a Silver DL1000? I recall tossing a wave to one today and I think it was on 258 and I also remember some kind of crew on the side of the road.Can''t remember which road. It was a long day. There were 3 of us together.

Yeah, Swing has a silver Dl1000.;) But he's a DS rider, we ALWAYS wear gear! :D

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Ah man Craig......I just saw your email and thought to checkout the thread too. So glad you are OK first and foremost, and so glad you were wearing your gear and riding so defensively. Not the first time the big DL has been down, but this time it wasn't a drop. If there is anything that Steve and I can do to help get things all fixed up, please don't hesitate to ask. You have a black cloud following you around so far this year, that is some bullshit!:mad: Don't stress over the trip, things will hopefully workout one way or another.

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First off glad your ok. Did you happen to be on a Silver DL1000? I recall tossing a wave to one today and I think it was on 258 and I also remember some kind of crew on the side of the road.Can''t remember which road. It was a long day. There were 3 of us together.

Yup, that was me. I saw you guys a couple times...I think you were stopped on 36 when I first passed ya.

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Glad you are ok! Didn't somebody else here have a situation with a dog? Can the owner be held responsible?

Yeah, one of the road crew guys mentioned that first thing (I wasn't thinking 100%, so good on him). So he walked to the only house nearby and asked about the remaining dog wandering around (the one that grazed me ran off). The lady there said she had a dog but it was inside and didn't recognize it, said the area is just full of dogs running loose.

I figured my chances of finding the owner, especially so far from home were slim to none. And, I'll be honest I figured anyone with those two fucked up nasty dogs wasn't going to cough up any money anyway.

I didn't file a police report, I know better than that. I have a friend who wrecked avoiding a bunch of deer, he got cited for failure to control. Not about to add insult to injury.

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That sucks, glad you are OK. Where aprox. were you on 258?

Ya know, I'm not 100% sure...it was a bit before it splits north again heading W. towards 77....because I took the south way down Salt Fork Road to 541.

I'd know it in a heartbeat if I see that area again.

I probably should have marked it on the GPS, but I was still a little rattled and not thinking as clear as I should have.

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So avoiding hitting deer results in failure to control. I guess because of no witnesses. But if you hit the deer and crash then what? Seems kinda messed up doesn't it? Another reason to have video. Heck, if you hit the deer with your motorcycle you can't use the meat can you? So, if you are gonna crash, miss the deer and come back next Fall and hunt him. Put that venison in your freezer and feed the family :)

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Glad ur okay! Time for payback on two dogs. I'm thinking paintball gun!

I was carrying today, and it did cross my mind looking at the ragged ass dog that I swerved to avoid.

I'd much rather shoot their owners...dogs can't help their instincts, but hilljacks can keep their mutts fenced or leashed.

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So avoiding hitting deer results in failure to control. I guess because of no witnesses.

It's up to the responding officer, in most cases. A statey wrote my friend, and I've heard they're notorious for doing so. Since I was on a state route, I thought better of tempting fate.

I know people who have crashed and nothing was said.

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