Swan Song

[Dieselboy]

Wanted this here and not Face Plant for obvious reasons. I think I'm leaving the Parallel Universe.

25 September, sometime a.m.

I-79 North, West Virginia, mile marker 25, in the median

@ 70mph front tire deflated. Bike tipped right. I stood it up. It rolled violently left and crossed left lane into the median. I tried to stay on top. Bike went down on left side and spun. (EDIT: after looking at the damage, I believe the bike initially contacted left side, I pitched forward and left the saddle, and the bike flipped once to land on its right side. My head was direction of the front which was pointing back the way we had come. The back end planted because everything is bent that way and the seat was ejected.) I ended up parallel to it with the oil pan next to me. I think we slid.

I asked for a picture of the bike. This is what I got.



I had just cleared a construction zone and must have picked up something. Tire check was good at launch from the cabin in Kentucky. I had stopped for breakfast an hour back and did a walk around prior to rolling. All was good.
No cars around me. Not speeding. No warning at all. Once we stopped sliding I didn't move.

First person on the scene was an off duty state trooper, Bruce.
I hit the SPOT SOS. it worked. Dieselwife got notified with one push. She called the ER while I was there. I had put the unit on my belt for the first time just two days ago. It will be there from now on.


I was transported to Charleston General. Bruised but not broken. Everyone looked at me like I wasn’t supposed to be here.

True face plant.



Toe of boot gouged.


Because I wrestled her into the median we slid on dirt and not asphalt.




Bike IMHO is a gonner. It’s in a truck heading with me back home.










































The violence evidenced on the bike was not transferred to me. [EDIT: but 3 weeks after , I am still extremely sore and the back and chest (with help of their friends, neck and shoulder) are very much protesting the abuse.] I walked out of the hospital less than 24 hours later. Bruises only. Good gear. Rode her all the way down.



T-A-C

[SDDinNH]

Glad to hear you're ok. Sorry about the bike, but they can always be replaced.

[TowPro]

Glad your OK. What kind of tire is that? Its hard to see with the web size pictures but it looks pretty new.

[Dieselboy]

Originally Posted by SDDinNH

Glad to hear you're ok. Sorry about the bike, but they can always be replaced.

Thanks and too right!

Originally Posted by TowPro

Glad your OK. What kind of tire is that? Its hard to see with the web size pictures but it looks pretty new.

AnakeeII. Great condition with less than 3,500 miles on her.

[Ike Baker]

Sheeee-it! Glad you're okay. Testament to you and your gear - well done on all fronts. I hope the recuperation goes quickly and smoothly.


(the visor damage is bad-ass; may want to keep that as memorabilia)

[WoodWorks]

Woof! Man, that sucks, but it's soooooo great you're still here, and not where by all rights you could have been. Good on you for ATGATT. Heal fast. Enjoy this life!

[hamiamham]

Can you tell us what gear you had on? Seems like quite a fall and relatively minor injuries.

[Motorfiets]

Glad you're alright!! Atgatt huh?

[bodhizafa]

Damn that bike looks bad, good you made it though

[MonsterJ]

Glad you're ok, man! Sucks about the bike but it can be replaced.... hopefully with another F8 so you stay local. Rest up!

[Oso Blanco]

You're lucky dude! Glad you're OK. Too bad about bike.

[LukasM]

Holy shit man, glad you came out of this completely intact!!!


Maybe Woody can fix the wheel....

But seriously, have the frame checked for straight-ness and stress cracks, you might be positively surprised. These main frames are really super solid, I have seen 4 of them (one my own white bike) where the stem had been completely ripped out of the triple yet the neck on the frame was fine. Had mine measured on a Compu-track to make sure. That's the one nice thing about those weak suspension parts that BMW uses.

If you don't have insurance or you can buy it back cheaply from them it would probably be worth fixing up instead of buying new. Used parts are available.


Here is a before and after:

[JRWooden]

I just gotta say what everyone else has said....
Awesome that you are going to be OK
No need to make hasty decisions on anything else!

[machinebuilder]

I'm glad you're ok.

Too bad we lost our long distance test bike,

you don't have to leave the parallel universe.

[Dieselboy]

Well thanks for all the well wishes.

As to gear I was wearing BMW Street Guard III coat and pants, boots were BMW Savannahs, gloves were BMW winter (Not sure about model), helmet was a Nolan N104. Gloves are AWOL (EDIT: found gloves in riding pants...I had convinced the EMTs to not cut the jacket and coat ). Helmet was two weeks old and will go to my MSF site at SOCOM.

As to fixing her, I may try to buy back but considering age and mileage, that alone makes the damage significant in the "total" or not conversation. We'll see.

It was running great up to the tire failure. Engine does look intact. But almost every plastic part is broken.

With the bag damage, the sub frame must be torqued too. So just a quick estimate tells me several thousand just in what I can see. Even the rotors are bent.....

I'll get her in to the shop and see for sure.