So, I Went Down Today. Crazy Day.

[Quick281]

It is long but unusually humorous.



Where all the leaves pilled up is where the SV where the SV went under the rail. No relation to the giant dent in the guard rail.


My weak sauce.


Friend's weak sauce.


This is the guy who came to our aid about 20 minutes after he left us. This bike was completely fucked.


Cliff Notes:
Friend fails and low sides into guard rail.
I head back up mountain to find him, I wind up low siding while arriving at the scene.
Other guy who helped out drives off only to total his bike 10 minutes later.
Funny shit.

Gorgeous 60 degree weather today and not a cloud in the sky. My friend and I decided it would be fun to go ride the north Georgia mountains before coming home and watching the super bowl.

Since my friend had picked up his SV650s we had only ridden on terribly cold days, gotten caught in the rain, or on a post rain day. Either way, I was really excited that my friend could come out and ride in enjoyable weather. It was wonderful to be surrounded by bikes and let him enjoy the experience of waving and nodding at everyone through out all parts of the day.

As we began the mountain ride we found ourselves on a road full of gravel in the middle of the road. Pretty treaturous but as usual nothing that some patience and slow speed couldn't fix. We did however get our mirrors blown off by another rider that was hauling ass on the same road. I figured maybe he will just fly off the mountain or maybe as new riders my friend and I were just nervous about the presence of pebbles. None the less, I figured my fear of gravel wasn't unjustified.

Well skipping along to about an hour later, gravel would strike again. We were on a nice wide road that switches on and off from 2 to 1 lane on each side. Either way the road is very clean of debris but there is natural build up on the sides of the road.

This is where the story gets quite interesting and unusual. I was leading and my friend was tailing I went into the turn at about 45 mph and my friend was pacing along behind me. It was a series of turns so I wasn't checking my mirrors at the time and after the road straightened out I realized my wingman was gone. I quickly turn around and head back up the road about 1/4 of a mile to find his bike under a guard rail but he is standing and another biker had stopped behind him to help him out.

I pass through the turn and turn around to head back to the sight. As I pull over the white line (but still paved road) I notice I am on full gravel and with my friend and helper quickly approaching I had to decide between going off the shoulder and into the guard rail or hitting the brakes and washing out. I took option B and at about 26 mph the bike just washes out and I go for a free trip along the pavement. I quickly get up and "Yell What The Fuck" only to hear my friend explaining to the good cemeratin "Yeah it actually happened just like that".

So I upright my bike and walk down to check on my friend. He says he is fine but I could tell there was a bit of shock going on. By this time his bike was out from under the guard rail and wouldn't start. I suggested we move our bikes up the road to a driveway where we wouldn't be right in the path of this gravel hazard. I ride my bike up the hill and return to help my buddy with his bike. I thank the person who helped us and he complemented us on wearing our gear. He also said he had once been a victim to gravel. And off he went on his brand new 09 GSXR 750, dealer plate and all.

So we hang out for a while and look over the bikes. His bike had a bent handle bar, snapped the shifter peg off, tweeked the clutch handle, mirror, upper fairing is cracked and some how the tail busted open. On top of all of this the right side took a little damage from the bottom of the guard rail. On the bright side the woodcraft sliders he put on have already paid themselves off. He credits them with allowing him to slide away from the bike as it went into the guard rail.

My bike had minor cosmetic damage. Left side fairing was scratched up, mirror, left side tail piece came off, left side spool was long gone, and my woodcraft frame slider took a hard hit but I will look into it tomorrow. Much to the humor of my buddy, I rode home with my tail piece attached to my backpack like a fucking ninja. Plenty of people in traffic gave me big smiles and chuckles because they were obviously able to put the missing tail piece and my "spare" tail piece together to see what had happened.

Even while sitting on the side of the road several bikes almost did the exact thing by taking the turn wide and crossing over the outside line. A guy on a cruiser actually had the rear slide out but fortunately it didn't high side him. None the less we were able to see many people so narrowly missing the hazard. If nothing else it made my friend fell like less of a idiot. With the speed limit being 35, he didn't really feel that speed was the problem as much as his error of straightening the bike up and going wide. Several dudes were hauling ass around that turn and I don't think any of them were remotely aware of how close they were to washing out.

Well while we were sitting on the side of the road our new friend comes back to check on us. But as he pulls up I noticed his windshield is cracked and his mirrors are both broken. He shuts off the bike and begins to tell us that he made it about a mile before accidentally shifting into 1st mid turn, wobbling the rear loose and then getting going on a wild high side. He was in a full suit but didn't have any armor on so he was aching a bit. Literally the only thing on his bike that didn't have a scratch on it was the gas tank but it had in fact flipped and just destroyed every side of that brand new bike. I peeked at his tire wear and noticed that he had obviously been pushing it pretty hard. So he said he had an hour long ride home to make and he was going to head on that journey while we decided to hang back and rest up before riding home.

So the guy leaves and my buddy and I just start laughing at how ridiculously funny this has become. He had concluded that his left side boot had caught the ground a bit while leaning over the bike and that spooked him a bit which caused him to straighten up and cross the white line into the gravel patch which fortunately low sided him off the bike before going into the guard rail. So while the other guy his helping him up, he is literally explaining what happened when I come to his aid and just completely biff it making everything worse. This poor dude must have been very nervous when I showed up and my bike came sliding toward his brand new bike. My mistake was that I pulled over onto the outer park of the road assuming everything was clear based on where the third guy had parked his bike. And then this other dude probably rode off thinking he had just avoided two complete fucking newbs when 10 minutes later he would come to hang out with his totaled brand new bike.

None of us had any armor on and despite my bike falling on its left side I have a bloody right knee from the rash caused by my riding pants. Don't know how that happened by oh well. My friend's alpine star gloves and first gear jacket are pretty badly torn up but beyond being sore as hell he didn't have any rash. Neither of our heads actually hit the ground so our helmets are in good shape.

In the end, we rode an hour and a half home and watched the super bowl on his 106inch projector while enjoying our ridiculous day some good beer and great pizza. Nobody was hurt and we are already laughing about the entire thing. My friend learned about gravel build up outside of the painted line. I learned that when your friend fucks up you should probably NOT ride up to where he biffed it. And somewhere in Georgia, some poor guy will never pull over to help anyone because we gave him bad juju and he totaled a bike.

Pictures to be posted tomorrow when my friend sends them to me.