| Author | Message | ||
     Dmuz |
I want to thank everyone for their kind words, thoughts and prayers. My friend posted a link about the little tumble I took on Friday under my log-on as many of you read. I wish I could honestly tell you exactly what happened. The road was a little bit bumpy, but all I can say is that the steering head went into modulation, I tried to get it under control and a spit second later I was fighting full-on tank-slappers. I don't know when I was separated from the bike, but it nailed a fire hydrant and went to pieces. I landed ahead of the bike and tumbled for a bit and slid to a stop. I could have walked away with just a few tiny scratches (had all my gear on) except I slid into a guard rail and broke ribs. I'm going to be fine. I'm out of the hospital now and back at home. I should be healed up in 6 weeks. I don't think I'll be getting another motorcycle again. I love my wife too much to have her worry about the same thing ever happening again. Take care all... after everything is settled and I am back to work, maybe I'll get a project car to tinker on, but my days of owning motorcycles are pretty much done, sadly. I've been riding for many years. I've been in close calls before. This was the closest. I don't know exactly why the thing went so wacky, I was on the gas some, and the road was a little uneven, but I would never expect that kind of reaction out of the bike. Be safe. -D | ||
| Mookie |
sorry to hear about your accident and I am sorry to hear that you will be giving up riding. but I am glad to hear that you are ok. | ||
| Kaudette |
Dmuz, Glad to hear you are doing better and back from the hospital. Get some duely deserved R&R when you can and enjoy your 4 wheel toys. I, as many others I'm sure, would be interested in better understanding the dynamics of the crash and how the motorcycle went hairy on you like that - sounds pretty scary in any case - i've been in a few scary places while riding enduro so have an idea of the feeling... Take care. | ||
| Usapitbullz |
D, Have you ever thought of taking up skydiving? Your luck seems pretty good. A few of us with the KCMOB have a few jumps. Anyways, I can certainly repsect your decision to take a break from motorcycles, life altering events can bring clarity to your life very quickly!. Good Luck! Speedy Recovery! L8R, JM | ||
| Captainplanet |
Man, I am sorry to hear that. We didn't even get to ride together. Hope you feel better soon. JC | ||
| Rocketman |
I love my wife too much to have her worry about the same thing ever happening again. What lovely sentiment, we're all so glad you're alive Damon and wonderful to see you've got your priorities right. Good luck for the future and love to your wife..... Rocket  | ||
| Henrik |
Sorry to hear about your crash. Heal quickly and well. You may not have to give up riding entirely - there are other ways of enjoying motorcycling than hard riding on the street you know ... Henrik | ||
| Glitch |
I'm with Mookie and Rocketman. | ||
| Mikej |
Life is full of danger, driving a car to work is dangerous, we each make decisions every day as to what danger we are willing to endure. Ride your own ride, live your own life, make no excuses for doing what you want or feel you have to do. Life goes on, have a good one. (I feel like saying "live long and prosper" but someone might call me a trekkie if I do, so I won't.) I just saw you updated your profile quote. Take care. And give your family a big hug today. | ||
| Dynarider |
all I can say is that the steering head went into modulation, I tried to get it under control and a spit second later I was fighting full-on tank-slappers. Shit happens fast dont it? Mine was the same way last year, everything was going good & then the next ninute I felt the front tire slide just a bit, then the frontend went nutz & I was truggling with everything I had to regain control & then the rear end started to come around & that was it..bam, spit us off. Still wish I knew just what caused it, Im guessing diesel fuel was spilled & thats what I hit. Its a decent curve & you can see the wall where plenty of semis have "rubbed" it. As far as you & bike thing goes, I understand completely. We had the accident last oct & our grandson was born in nov, after he was born my wife freaked out, started crying about what might have happened. We tend to take things a little slower now days & dont push our luck as much. | ||
| Trusty748 |
It is a tough decision to make - credit to you for making it. I'm getting a XB9S later this week after not riding for 3 years. I stopped because my best mate had a head-on with a car on his TL1000R. He was killed outright. Chris and I had discussed giving up bikes if one of our group had a bad enough spill - I didn't expect it to be him. But time heals all wounds - and choices can be reversed. But doing what you think is right for now is a good call - an opportunity to discover new interests. Take care and good luck. Justin, Perth West Australia | ||
| Dmuz |
Checking in here and seeing all the responses... again, I just want to say "Thanks, Everyone." To be sure, it's not that I don't love bikes and riding... it's that my wife was nervous before I got my Buell. After this accident, I'd be very selfish and insensitive to make her worry even more again. So I'm not scared-off from riding. Just respecting how it scares my wife and family. So I choose not to worry them any more. Thanks for everyone's opinions and support. I don't discourage anyone from riding. Just be careful. Dyna... to your point. It's interesting to hear from someone else on this. I've begun to wonder if the lightning's steering isn't TOO quick and the rake too radical for the bars (or maybe it's the shorter dimensions of the "low" model). I was on a mostly straight section of road, on a clear day, with no debris or oil on the road. The road does have some slight dips and wallows... but my bike just got wacko on me GOING STRAIGHT. I've been riding since I was a kid on a little Suzuki DS80. It's not like I'm a noobie on his first street bike. This is my 4th (and my first wreck). After talking with the coworkers driving next to me when this happened, they said that it started after we went over a gradual dip and that I wasn't even going the full speed limit (limit was 55). Like I said before, the head shook, then went ballistic instantly. Turns out I clipped the left curb when the bike was in full crazy wobble then everything went airborne. By the Grace of God, I didn't stay with the bike as it made a bee-line to the fire hydrant. I'm at a loss as to why the bike was so skittish. | ||
| Dynarider |
I've begun to wonder if the lightning's steering isn't TOO quick and the rake too radical for the bars (or maybe it's the shorter dimensions of the "low" model). No idea at all, we can all guess but thats all it would be. Maybe there is a reason nobody else makes a bike with such radical geometry? | ||
| Boulderbiker |
There's an old test done by a renowned English bike builder. I'm spacing his name right now, but he did a test where he took an older beemer, r60 I think, and he did this funky crazy headstock and three versions of this bike. The jist of it is that he took the same bike, and did two versions other than stock, both of which maintained the trail and wheelbase, but changed the rake. One was a 15 degree rake, the other was a 0 degree rake. Despite the myth that a steeper rake make a bike more skittish, the bike actually got more stable. In fact, the 0 degree rake was so stable that would track straight, with no hands, down a VERY rutted road. One of the reasons I chose a Buell is because the XB series flies in the face of many conventions of motorcycle geometry. I was convinced after looking at the design of the XB's that Erik must have read up on this guys work. He's one of the most renowned people on the topic of chassis design and handling. I won't even begin to make conjecture as to what caused your accident, but the forks being too steep is almost certainly not one of them. | ||
| Apex1 |
Damon, First let me say that I'm glad you're o.k. & that I respect the decision you have made (even though we don't really know each other). This latest discussion between you & Dyna has got me wondering about the bike's suspension setup, tire pressures, steering head bearings, or even the axles. My Lightning has been nothing but dead stable at all speeds over all sorts of road conditions. I know the bike in question is now in pieces, but the items mentioned above may be worth investigating as possible causes for the violent head shake you experienced. I hope you mend well, and good luck to you in your future endeavors. | ||
| Leeaw |
I am more nervous about my wife when she is riding her bike than I am about myself; not to say there are not days when I ponder my own fate even though I don't believe in fate. Having 3 young kids keeps me in check more than anything but I don't drink, never smoked or touched drugs and live a very clean life. God forbid that I ever get into an accident, much less something like yours, but my only wish is to survive, whole, like yourself and be given the opportunity to choose whether or not I ride again. | ||
| Darthane |
Damon, Glad to see that you're doing all right. I've often wondered if I would continue to ride after a bad accident like that. I hope I never have to find out. My one good spill probably used up more than my share of luck. At this point I have no wife or children (g/f of four years, though), but I'd like to think that I understand your position, and I can definitely respect it. The important thing is that you're okay. Regardless of whether you ever get on a bike again, never, ever leave the house without telling your wife you love her. Cycling isn't the only unsafe activity - just walking out the front door takes guts anymore. Bryan | ||
| M1combat |
"Cycling isn't the only unsafe activity - just walking out the front door takes guts anymore." GOOD point... On the rake angle issue... I read a statement once that I believes sums this up. "Sport-Bikes don't make you a better rider, they amplify mistakes." I have no idea what-so-ever what happened in your case Damon, but I think this could be expanded to include amplifying situations where the bike was upset by external forces (Not rider input as such). I have a little experience with race cars and can certainly tell you that it takes VERY different suspension geometry AND theory to make a car work well on smooth surfaces vs. bumpy surfaces (especially dirt of course). Once you design a suspension that glues itself to a bumpy road, you'll find it doesn't handle too well on a purpose built racetrack w/o some major retuning if not a different geometry. I would say to all Buell riders maybe be real careful over the rough stuff... | ||
| S1joel |
Dmuz, Seven years ago an old man ran a stop sign in front of me and broke my pelvis in two places. My Seca II was totaled and I was in bed for a few weeks. Two months later graduated college and moved to Charleston with a pelvis still not healed. I was pretty down and was sure I would never buy another bike. Six years ago I saw an add for the Buell S1 and rode it home a few weeks later. As I rode home from the dealership I couldn't imagine how, less than one year prior, I had vowed never to ride again. Now I have a wife who has a Buell. I am always nervous about her riding, but I know how happy it makes me, and would never take that away. There are risks in everything, you just have to minimize those that you can. Revisit you current attitude six months from now, you may find that you can't get the bike out of your blood. But, then again, this is coming from a guy who is required to bring a gun and bullet resistant vest to work everyday. Keep your head up and do what you love. Joel (insurance premiums paid and will on file) | ||
| Kaese |
I too, have had the bucking sensation of the bike on a apparently smooth road. It turns out that the rear tire was loosing pressure from a screw that I had picked up. The rear tire had been loosing air for quite some time. That could have your front end out of kilter. | ||
| Loner |
I used to ride a Kaw Z-1 that did violent tank-slappers on occasion. This happened three times in about 52,000 miles of wringing the crap out of the bike. Luckly I rode it out and changed my shorts later. I never did figure out the cause but those frames did flex a bunch under load. After I whacked that deer on my X-1 back in May I always kiss my wife and daughter befor I leave for a ride. I lost a few friends in bike-versus-deer accidents and consider myself lucky to still be alive. Heal well and enjoy life,Loner...... | ||
| Docrecon |
Hey Damon, just reading about your crash, damned glad you got off as light as you did, I am so glad you were wearing gear and got clear of the bike. It's not like I know what I'm talkin' about, but I keep wondering if mebbe a dip unloaded the suspension & possibly had something to do w/ it??? (BTW, I'm up the road from you about an hour so I may take a S*L*O*W run down that road on my XB just to see what I can see...) Dmuz sez: The road does have some slight dips and wallows... but my bike just got wacko on me GOING STRAIGHT. | ||
| Tropicana69 |
Does anyone know how the Buell patented Breakaway Steering Head works?? | ||
| Court |
>>>Does anyone know how the Buell patented Breakaway Steering Head works?? Yes | ||
| M1combat |
Enlighten us Court... Can you at least point us in the right direction? | ||
| M1combat |
Oh, Dmuz... If you are interested in a little car to tinker on for track days I hear the old Datsun 510's work well. Also, check out www.corner-carvers.com | ||
| Court |
>>>Enlighten us Court... Can you at least point us in the right direction? A general "my guess" I fear is the best I could provide here. In a nutshell, the "system" is well a SYSTEM consisting of elements of the frame and some attached components. The most interesting thing to me is that the is the type of direct benefit that flows to consumers as a result of technology. It was but a whisker ago in time that computer were performing calculations at the rate of less than 10 a second. The science involved in bringing you the Bell frame at a commercially reasonable price, would have been impossible just a couple years ago. Has nothing to do with how smart you are, it's a simple function of how many calculations you can perform AND (this is where the "smart" comes in...Gads, I miss that ponytail) knowing WHICH calculations to perform. A team of no less passionate, and nearly as smart folks that sit 62' away, then take the info generated, put it in their pot and stir until a motorcycle results. The next "smarted than Court and DaveG put together" part comes in the virtual and real testing. One problem at Buell is that several of the folks are "alien driod smart" (remind me to tell you about Marty, the AMC Pacer test facility, how far an M-2 can fly and what "oh my God" sounds like with an inflection of Asian terror introduced) and were supremely confident in the design before sled testing. The finished design was tested at incredible negative "G" loadings and, without exception, performed flawlessly; replicating in the field precisely what the monitor had shown between games of Astral Invaders. Fact of the matter is, your XB is a virtual showcase of technology. As with women, the best parts are not always visible to the eye. That vague enough? Road Thing.....take your meds and take a breath now. | ||
| Glitch |
Kinda reminds me of when IBM thought that the market would be saturated with 5 computers... | ||
| Josh_ |
>As with women, the best parts are not always visible to the eye. Now that's a line I can use. Hmm, T-shirt or bumper sticker? Court, what do you want in the way of royalties? I'm sensing a new TeamElves motto in the making! hmm spell check didn't catch "like" for "line"? edited by josh_ on October 09, 2003 | ||
| Court |
>>>I'm sensing a new Team Elves motto in the making! Wrong-O, oh geekest of the geeks. But, I promise you a TEAM ELVES picture within the next two weeks that will, simultaneously, stir the soul, imagination and sense of adventure! That suttle enough? As you guys say..."Byte Me".  |
