Me and a friend were going on a ride tonight before I fly out to PHX at 6am. He has a Triumph Sprint. We were riding along a back country blacktop, minding our own business, no speeding or nuttin, and out of the corner of my eye I spy this fresh new blacktop curving behind a cornfield. "Sweet!" I think and we turn around to go see where it goes. It has 4 or 5 turns in about 1 mile or so and empties onto a main highway. At the end of it we both have that grin, so we turn around and do it again. But this time we hit it a little bit harder, not much cuz, it's kinda tight corners, not those big sweepers or nothing. After a right turn I hammer it straight towards the last left coming up fast and hard. I tap my breaks quickly to warn my buddy to slow down LOTS like I'm doing, but going around the corner, in slow motion, my mind was racing, "Oh crap too fast, going in, LEAN DAMMIT LEAN, add brakes, LEAN MORE, okay it's a smooth ditch with lots of soft grass and some mud, it will hurt, there will be sliding but I've slowed down alot, ahh man the Busa's gonna go down!, keep leaning, 6 inches away from the gravel shoulder, you can do it" all that in like 1.5 seconds, and I made it through! I glance at my mirror to make sure my bud slowed down enough, only to see a spray of gravel and watch him slipping into the open soft ditch. I stopped looking as I scrambled for the kickstand after safely stopping, and ran back to teh scene. His leg was caught under the rear seat but nothing on him was broken. I lifted the bike off him and reached for the 911 but he said he was okay. It was a soft slider and he stood up.
about 30 seconds later I heard the roar of 120 mph wheelie comign down the road. I flagged the crew of 3 over and they helped me push the handicapped Triumph back onto the roadway. push started it a few times, and test rode it around... front forks twisted askew a bit, shifter bent back to unusable. Otherwise, drivable.
Longish story shortened, he rode it back in first gear, went to the hospital: shoulder sort of dislocated, couple ribs maybe cracked, ego bruised, wife very upset, Truimph for sale.
Sorry to bore ya, stuff happens like this sometimes, I think it;s theraputic to share it umongst people who understand..
Thanks for listening.
about 30 seconds later I heard the roar of 120 mph wheelie comign down the road. I flagged the crew of 3 over and they helped me push the handicapped Triumph back onto the roadway. push started it a few times, and test rode it around... front forks twisted askew a bit, shifter bent back to unusable. Otherwise, drivable.
Longish story shortened, he rode it back in first gear, went to the hospital: shoulder sort of dislocated, couple ribs maybe cracked, ego bruised, wife very upset, Truimph for sale.
Sorry to bore ya, stuff happens like this sometimes, I think it;s theraputic to share it umongst people who understand..
Thanks for listening.