I had to rely on my gear tonight

[VEGASRIDER]

Because my mental and physical skills failed or.........my new Pilot Pures Suck!

I was going around a corner near home and took it pretty aggressively and the rear tire slid out from under me. I have had my rear end slide out from underneath me a number of times and I usually just ride it out by applying a steady throttle. Any roll off I would be afraid of high siding. So I thought nothing different. For a second, I didn't even realize that I was no longer riding. It was a very weird feeling. My foot was still on the pegs and both hands were still on the handlebars while I just slid about 20 feet with my bike.

My right elbow hit the ground and because my hands were still gripping the bars, my elbows were locked underneath and I coudn't budge. My elbow landed right on the sweet spot with my armour, but as I continued to slide, the area where the forearm and elbow armour flexes pretty much disintagrated. I estimated my speed around 25-30 mph max. My right leg was sliding too, but thanks to my Motoport Air Mesh Kevlar, I didn't feel a thing. Ordinary jeans would have resulted in some major road rash. Nothing less than a jacket with armour would have resulted in a broken elbow, that's if I had an elbow left. Remember, my elbow was jammed underneath the handlebar stil being in a riding position.

Here are some pictues. The right side of my Fieldshear Air Mesh Jacket, it's four years old, it was time for a new jacket anyways.



My right elbow. Thanks to my jacket with armour, I still have one.



The corner, you can see the tire marks. Can't figure out the markings. But after the skid marks, there were another 10 or more feet of some sort of scraping.



Now you are wondering about the bike. LOL.....it faired a lot better than me. The Uncaged Frame Sliders did it's job. With the exception of a few scuffs on my belly panel, this is it. I can't believe it. My bike has suffered more damage from tipping over than after a 30 mph 20 feet slide on the roadway. Go figure.





I tend to push it from time to time, I certainly raise my risk level for doing so. That's the mental decision I choose to make. But I would never do so without the proper riding gear because if my physical skills fail too, that's all I have left.

I decided to go to a quick care and get my elbow checked out. They cleaned it up and gave me a shot. Took some x-rays. All the medical staff complimented on my decision to wear all the proper riding gear. It was the very first time that they had encountered a motorcyclist with such minor injuries.

So was this a crash? It was more of a slide, I never let go of the bike. I'm kind of glad that this happened, it's really the only review I had left to do on this forum.

[Stumbles06]

Yet another reason for wearing ATGATT .
Because of it, you're ok, it can happen to all of us (and probably will at some stage), and to go through a crash (yes Kenny... It is a crash, even if you didn't let go of the bars...lol), with as little damage to you or the bike, is a testament to how good gear is these days.

[Lefty]

Kenny,
Man, I'm glad you're o.k. I know what a good rider you are and these kind of incidents really make me scratch my head and wonder what the heck happened? Just goes to show no matter how good a rider you are always be geared up. Thanks for the reminder.

[rsw81]

Glad you turned out so well Kenny, but sorry to hear you went down. It obviously happens to the best of us sooner or later, but I couldn't agree more about the proper riding gear. When I wrecked in 2008, I was in full gear except jeans instead of riding pants. I really didn't have any road rash on me thanks to the gear and walked away with relatively minor injuries considering the circumstances.

This should stand is a reminder to any of those riders who don't feel the need for gear... This could have been much much worse.

[Humperdinkel]

Glad your OK Kenny & thats the main thing , gear & bikes are replacable but your not Could have been much much worse

[Wavex]

pushing it on the streets, and on cold tires probably... HOOligan!!!




Glad your OK VR!!!!

(that looks like a cool corner btw, let's do it again!)

[jtarkany]

Glad to hear you are ok

[Nick J]

I'd say you and the bike faired pretty well, considering. Thank god for that. But I noticed you said "new" tires. Were they scrubbed in yet? I'm really pleased with my Bridgestone BT-016's. Lotta grip there. Glad you're OK. Now take it a little easier on that corner next time.

[Motogiro]

Yes it happens fast! Sorry to hear you went down Kenny and glad you're okay. That elbow will be a little sore tomorrow.
Was just talking to my neighbor about the importance of gear as a rider passed us with tennis shoes and shorts on the freeway.

[VEGASRIDER]

Originally Posted by Wavex

pushing it on the streets, and on cold tires probably... HOlligan!!!




Glad your OK VR!!!!

(that looks like a cool corner btw, let's do it again!)

It's your fault David. I still haven't come off that high from last weeks ride with you down in Southern Cal. Thought about cold tires, but the pavement was about 120 degrees. Maybe an oil spot, but I went back and checked. It did rain earlier in the day, not sure if that would have changed the composition of the surface, if anything it would have helped.

Originally Posted by Nick J

I'd say you and the bike faired pretty well, considering. Thank god for that. But I noticed you said "new" tires. Were they scrubbed in yet? I'm really pleased with my Bridgestone BT-016's. Lotta grip there. Glad you're OK. Now take it a little easier on that corner next time.

The Pilot Power Pures are new, about two weeks old, but I already got over 4000 miles on them. Already broken in.

My choice to push it, but like I said, not without the proper riding gear, which also includes riding pants with armour. Let's face it, I'm just a better rider when I'm around traffic.