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Post by Sailor on Aug 22, 2006 16:53:56 GMT -8
Yea, yea....you guys were right. I was wrong.... what do you want from me?  Not getting killed your first season would be a good start. I'd say so too Mike. I saw one on a Riceburner today that made me think of the conversations you guys have had. The only safety gear this bird was wearing was a helmet, his only eye protection was sunglasses. Tee shirt, cutoffs and tennis shoes, running 80 in 60 mph morning rush traffic (55 zone.) The only thing I'd say he had in his favor was he was headed in the same direction I was, toward the hospital. A saying I remember hearing came to mind as I looked him over, "he's dressed for the ride, not for the slide." I know it sounds like I'm harping at you James, but I've kinda gotten fond of you. When you and physics disagree, physics wins every time as you've learned, twice. Third time's the charm. |
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Post by FightingFalcon on Aug 22, 2006 18:34:19 GMT -8
There was a short period of time where I stopped wearing my gear. I ride to work every day and it got so hot that I didn't feel like wearing my jacket anymore.
Both times I've crashed I've been fortunate enough to have my jacket on. Needless to say I'll never ride without gear again. I got some rash on my arm from where my jacket ripped and I can only imagine how painful it would be if I didn't have a jacket on.
Sure it might look "cool" to ride with nothing but a t-shirt and jeans (and yea its a lot of fun) but nothing is worse than road rash all over your body.
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Post by Sailor on Aug 23, 2006 8:36:07 GMT -8
There was a short period of time where I stopped wearing my gear. I ride to work every day and it got so hot that I didn't feel like wearing my jacket anymore. Both times I've crashed I've been fortunate enough to have my jacket on. Needless to say I'll never ride without gear again. I got some rash on my arm from where my jacket ripped and I can only imagine how painful it would be if I didn't have a jacket on. Sure it might look "cool" to ride with nothing but a t-shirt and jeans (and yea its a lot of fun) but nothing is worse than road rash all over your body. Wisdom. |
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Post by Far Rider on Aug 23, 2006 9:46:10 GMT -8
Not getting killed your first season would be a good start. I'd say so too Mike. I saw one on a Riceburner today that made me think of the conversations you guys have had. The only safety gear this bird was wearing was a helmet, his only eye protection was sunglasses. Tee shirt, cutoffs and tennis shoes, running 80 in 60 mph morning rush traffic (55 zone.) The only thing I'd say he had in his favor was he was headed in the same direction I was, toward the hospital. A saying I remember hearing came to mind as I looked him over, "he's dressed for the ride, not for the slide." I know it sounds like I'm harping at you James, but I've kinda gotten fond of you. When you and physics disagree, physics wins every time as you've learned, twice. Third time's the charm. I was out on a trip one time, wearing full leathers and a full face helmet. I had a Hannigan fairing at the time and hated going through town and getting stopped at lights because I would just about burn up. As luck would have it, I get stopped at a light and while I am sitting there trying to keep from spontaneously combusting when some kid pulls up next to me on some vintage looking Japanese standard. He had tennys, a bathing suit, a helmet, and nothing else on. He looks at me and nods, and I couldn't help myself. "Hey, kid" I said, pointing to my helmet; "why bother?" Embarassed, he just said "It's my head, man!" I said, "If you had anything worth protecting you'd put some clothes on." The light changed about that time. |
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Post by FightingFalcon on Aug 23, 2006 13:40:40 GMT -8
Reading about a rider who dies is always sad but it never causes me to think about giving up riding. But reading about road rash, or worse, is a constant reminder to wear my gear.
This one guy posted a story about he was on the highway with his bike, about 2500 miles and it was his first bike. Was wearing helmet, jacket and gloves. He WOT'd in 1st and 2nd but when he did it in 2nd, he started to get a violent tank-slapper. Couldn't regain control of the bike and started to go off to the right. Smashed into the guardrail and destroyed his lower right leg because he was just wearing sneakers. His leg was literally hanging on by a thread but they couldn't save it and had to be amputated.
Only 2500 miles the guy had on his bike and his lower leg had to be amputated. Simply for not wearing boots. I know guys get a lot of shit for not wearing a jacket but boots are just as important. I've learned my lesson with my two crashes - gear is made for a reason. And I don't mess around with that shit either. Both times I crashed I threw away all my gear. Gear is one thing I don't mind spending a ton of money on.
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Post by Far Rider on Aug 23, 2006 14:23:02 GMT -8
Hard to say if the boots would have helped but I have seen guys at the track get off at some pretty ridiculous speeds and walk away. Gear is never a mistake, IMO.
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Post by FightingFalcon on Aug 24, 2006 9:02:39 GMT -8
Update on my bike:
Well I got some rather shitty news from the dealer today. The dealer put the damages at $6,200, which is where I thought they would be. However, he also told me that the insurance company will usually total bikes if the damages are 70% of the total value.
I'm desperate to not have this bike totaled. I still owe $8K to HSBC and now it has $6K of damages. If the insurance company cuts me a check for the value of the bike (about $7K) I'm still shit outta luck.
I'm gonna call the insurance company today and offer to pay for some of the damages out of pocket. Anything to keep this bike from being totaled.
edit: o yea the good news. The good news is that that $6,200 includes some shit that doesn't count. $300 is the prep fee, which they drop if they get the deal. The dealer also quoted a new rear tire at FIVE HUNDRED FUCKING DOLLARS! I looked at him and I was like you have to be fucking kidding me. I can get PPs for $150. So he said he'd scrap the tire completely so that's another $500 off, which leaves me at $5,400.
I think if I offer to pay $1K out of pocket (my deductible is $500 anyway), the insurance company will agree to keep the bike. At least I hope.
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