| Author | Message | ||
     Luftkoph |
one of the alumni had a spill,good thing he's ok http://www.mikef5000.com/2013-ride-and-crash.html | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Looks like ole Mike used up that yamahamer. Glad he's OK. | ||
| Dmcutter |
Ouch. A testament to the proper protective gear...I did the Dragon in my Boxster S some years ago, never done it on a bike. Four wide tires and traction control have their advantages. | ||
| General_ulysses |
Is it just me or is riding that aggressively all loaded down just...asking for it? Based on the extensive photographic evidence it's as if someone was even expecting it. Glad the guy's ok, obviously he's a good rider with experience. But that's why it's all the more surprising. (Message edited by general_ulysses on May 03, 2013) | ||
| Reepicheep |
Glad Mike is OK! That stretch of 129 is a quirky road. All the roads in the area are great for nice tight twisties, but that section is just a little tighter, and there are some sections that load the bike down a lot more in the middle of a turn. I can ride a Uly pretty aggressively. The only place I ever drug a peg on the Uly (not counting when I use deliberately bad body position to get more lean out of the bike) was on that stretch of road with a Victory cruiser and a different Super Tenere on my tail when we were passing through early in the morning. Accidents are accidents, that's why the call them accidents. Obviously, the problem here was that the margin between the peg feeler touch down and the hard part touch down was (a) too small and (b) unfamiliar. That's a hard thing to "test". Mike is being nice about it... and it is ultimately his responsibility. But the makers of a skidplate that is specific for a particular bike that eliminates pretty much all the margin between "feeler touch down" and "lowside" isn't exactly innocent either (IMHO). It's a good lesson to all of us as well about various farkling... there is nothing you can add to a bike that can't introduce a new problem. The skidplate here that was supposed to protect the engine contributed to the entire bike being totalled. So maybe, some risks, you just take and deal with if they happen (like foreign object damage to the bottom of your motor). Very nice that the Uly comes with an incredible skid plate right from the factory. | ||
| Luftkoph |
No disrespect to Mike,but I could not help but wonder if he had been on his old used up uly,most likely it would have been nothing dramatic going around that corner. I stopped an talked to mike and his bud as they were crossing back over the border on there way back from alaska the other year,and that uly looked like it had been drug to alaska and back,a very well ridden motorcycle it was, | ||
| Uly_man |
"Is it just me or is riding that aggressively all loaded down just...asking for it?". I am glad the Guy is ok but I would say he was. A well setup Uly will do this road easy, and fast, if you have the skill but not on a bike with a skid plate that looks like it came off a 1942 German Panzer tank and HUGE boxes. The new Tenere is a lard ass as well and nothing like the old Super Ten which was a great bike. | ||
| General_ulysses |
I read the rest of his blog post and it looks like professional photographers were waiting at that corner to capture whatever they could when he came riding by. I'm guessing they were probably expecting the possibility of a crash, just like at certain hairpins on certain infamous routes in the US (like "the snake" in CA). Add to that fact the rider sees the photographer and decides to hotdog it just that much more for the camera. This happens at air shows all the time. Highly experienced pilots, often with decades of flying under their belt, performing maneuvers they've done thousands of times before, but are unnerved by the presence of an audience and cameras...and end up flying right into the ground. | ||
| Ratbuell |
129 is always packed with photographers. Many sites like Killboy are kept online by their photo sales. Glad mike is OK. I too suspect he'd have been fine at that lean on a Uly. | ||
| Uly_man |
"...and end up flying right into the ground." Funny you should say that but I was at an air show, many years ago, watching a RAF pilot stunting a glider so low I could not see what he was doing past other peoples heads. I thought at the time he was going to have a problem? He flew into the ground two weeks later. I guess he had never heard of Douglas Bader. In the UK they call bikers "spare bin parts". Enough said. | ||
| Etennuly |
Mikey, Mikey, Mikey.....glad to see ya didn't get hurt!  I'd bet you were surprised when you felt that metallic "lift" from the skid plate! Had to be one of those "oh shit" moments knowing you had put it there.  Carlos' Uly did the same trip going that two hundred feet to the bottom. It faired pretty well. He fixed her up and has put a crap load of miles on it since. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Mike, Glad you lived through that spill. Pretty nice photos of the wreck. Looks to me that the aluminum bags were grinding and may have helped crash your bike. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Mike, glad you are okay. If that can happen to someone with the type of miles you put on, it can happen to any of us. Riding season is here or almost here. Please do what you can to mitigate the risk, have fun and be safe, all. B. |
