Just about happened this afternoon. Perfect spring day. Got on the Strom and headed for Girdwood. New Tourmaster heated jacket rocks! Light traffic. Toast a SV 650 that thought he was going to run up on me wave and cruise by. Not! Get down along the arm, sun shining, getting a feel for the new suspension on the front end in the pot holes left from the winter. Nice. Maybe a different weight oil and the front end dive will be gone. Following behind a pick-up thats following a truck with a snow machine trailer behind it. Im actually a descent distance behind the truck, thankfully, when I see him make an evasive swerve. Looking for a rock in the road I dont see the drive shaft, yes DRIVE SHAFT, four feet in the air coming right at me. I move left, then right, it bounces off the road and is determined to take me out anticipating my every move. Then BAM! Thank the man above it not a direct hit. Take the first shot to the side of my front tire. Inch and a half size gash to the sidewall, instant flat. Under the bike it goes and takes out my bash plate then kicks off the side of my rear tire. I cant believe Im not putting my gear to the test skidding down the road! Ive never had an instant flat before but I can tell ya that the TKC's did not go squirrelly on me. Slight wobble as I stopped although I was mindful not to grab to much brake. Got to the side of the road and just sat there for a moment with a death grip on the bars. Dismount and start to access the damage. The pick up that was in front of me has made a u turn and is now pulling up in the other lane. "Sir you are one lucky son of a bitch". "I thought for sure I was about to see someone die in my rear view mirror". He sees that Im alright and have Tractor Rider (thanks Harry) on the phone and drives back to clear the projectile from the road. Harry gets a hold of HOH and they dispatch a truck. 50 minutes later its loaded up and were on our way back to Anchor Town. Barb hooks me up with new rubber and first thing tomorrow Gail will drop me off and I'll see if the rim has survived. Ive seen worse but wont know till it on a balance machine. Sure was a nice day for a ride!
Holy shit! Glad youre ok man. Cant believe the crazy stuff that goes on out there. We gotta be watching all the time and reacting properly when something happens as you apparently did. Good riding!
Glad you didn't get hurt. That's pretty damn scary. If it were me I would have needed a change of pants too (maybe you did).
Damn Brother, I'm gald you dodged that bullet! Thank the good lord you weren't hurt... or worse. Did any body see where the d/s came from or was it just laying in wait for the right time to fuck-up someones day?
WOW!!!!:eek1 You must be doing something right to come out of that one without a scratch. Glad you are okay!!!!
Holy Crap Troy ! I knew you had TALENT and it appears you also have an ANGEL riding with you also.... Glad to hear you are okay!!! Woof
WOW! Man, that's quite a story! Glad you're ok. :eek1 Now you got a good one for the 'Strangest thing you ever hit' thread. Good bike control and a bit-o-luck! Mark H.
I was just thinking about you, having seen the pirate Strom flying the colors out by Ft Rich about 3 this afternoon. Like the commercial says, life comes at you fast, riders come in 2 flavors, the quick and the dead. Glad to see you're one of the quick ones. Damn trash in roads anyway...how do you not notice missing a driveshaft?
Thankfully only the bike was hurt! Relieved you are still with us after something so crazy. :eek1 That's what I call situational awareness in action.
Wow, okay folks... lets have no more of that! how about we make that our one incident for the year, okay :eek1 :eek1 :eek1 but seriously, I'm glad your took over and you remained in control.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> <o></o> That is some scary shit, for sure... got the adrenaline going I'll bet...<o></o>
Those drive shafts can be trouble. Was it this kind? Glad you're ok, bud. That could've left a mark. :eek1
Rode to Girdwood myself around seven Tuesday evening and did notice a large wood block ( about 12" x 12" ) on the road. Your story brings to mind the poor bastard that caught a pipe from an unsecured load on the Denali Hwy a year or two ago. Yours was a much happier ending. Knock on wood or something.
Damn glad to hear you survived dood...amazing...you better go play the slots...luck is going your way.
Sounds like you have paid your excitement dues for this season and the rest of the year should be smooth sailing. Glad to hear that you kept it together.
Thanks all. The drive shaft came off the truck/trailer (that didn't stop) in front of the truck I was following. The good samertian that turned around said he saw it bouncing around a bit and was contiplating flashing the guy down when the trailer hit a good size pot hole and sent it my way. It had to be off something small cause any drive shaft Ive dropped or had to change U joints on were way heavy. If it had landed flat it would have rolled, but hitting its end with 55 mph of momentum sent it into the air end over end. The only thing I can credit myself with is the fact that I had some room between me and the truck. If Id been right on him youd be (hopefully) visiting me at Providence. All maneuvers after the first hit were instinct/luck cause I was myself. The damage to the bash plate would have been less if id had both front bolts securing it to the bike . Going down in about an hour to get her fixed up. I'll take my camera and get some pics. Last time the heart was pumping like that was a bit of a tank slapper I was fortunate enough to ride out of in front of Gus Gus. Thanks again for the goodwill.
Holy Crap dude:huh :eek1 well nothing like getting it out of the way early now you can haul ass. that reminds me of my close one on the same bit of road about 30 years ago (on my trusty RD250) I went to pass a semi truck/trailer and something said wait abit just then the spare tire mounted under the trailer came out:eek1 :eek1 :eek1 :eek1 :eek1 :eek1 :eek1 and bonched just by me man once is enuff of that shit.
