Where the f*ck is the bike?

[joefromsf]

We remount all my luggage and we're set to head off back to Price.



Hard to believe this was about 28 hours after my accident, and I would then be riding my bike at 60 mph for 30 miles on UT-10. I had no problem riding, but getting on and off the bike was painful.

Back to the hospital for another chest x-ray and a consult with the doc. X-ray showed no change. Not getting worse was actually pretty good news. The doc did not have a strong enough opinion to try to dissuade me from continuing our ride but told me to quickly seek medical care if I had any trouble breathing. We also talked about my medication. I could take the prescription drug for sleeping but not during the day as it would make me drowsy. He advised that I could take 800 mg doses of ibuprofin a couple of times a day.

Great. We took off to get Darrell's luggage and checked into the cheaper motel.

The next day we'll be back on the TAT. or should it be .

[Rob.G]

Wow, Joe! Quite the little adventure!!! I'm very glad you chose to share this with everybody. It's a great learning experience, it helps reassure (me at least) that SPOT is still worth the money (I've had one since they came out), and it's a huge testament to the durability and simplicity of the mighty DR650!!!! I thought for sure your forks were bent. Then I thought for sure your bars were bent. And turns out none of that was the case. I think all your soft luggage helped save the bike. If it had been MY DR650 going off that cliff, it would have been much worse with my hard (plastic) luggage. At the very least I would have had to hunt everything down and buy duffels to carry stuff. Maybe I'll be rethinking that for such trips. :)

And to think... the weekend that was happening, I was camping by myself up near Mount St. Helens.

Rob

[crofrog]

Originally Posted by sparklr

While I understand the logic behind your comment I don't necessarily agree with your perception of the event. If you would review the video again and consider the time interval that elapsed, between loss of control and the plunge there wasn't much time for a decision to be made that would have resulted in a more positive outcome. The brain has to make an appropriate response before the muscles carry forth the action. In this case perhaps the saving grace may have been the inability to slow down, which may have resulted in a different outcome altogether. Fate RULES once in a while.

It was 3.4 seconds from when the big sounded liked it started lugging. It was 1.7 seconds from when the bike slid sideways to going off the cliff. Either is well inside the reaction time.

It didn't look like he was in a good position to attack the terrain he was faced with both from a control input and riding style standpoint. So the terrain bit back. He very well could have just been relaxing and not expecting any problems when something unexpected occurred and the bike slide out sideways, but no action was ever taken to correct the slide.

Throttle stayed constant, brakes never came on and he never counter steered.

Had he been covering the clutch when the wheel started to spin up he could have cut the power and the bike likely wouldn't have oversteered nearly as much, same for covering the rear brake, and he wasn't travelling that fast so he likely would have been able to stop before going off the cliff if he had the brakes covered.

Covering the brake and clutch is great in theory, again not likely to have altered the outcome. I think this notion is more relevant for the street and track. Some of us like myself who have small hands find this almost impossible, not that we are white-knuckling but more comfort and security related. Couple that with a heavy and laden steed it becomes evermore increasingly difficult, especially on challenging terrain.

It's way way way more needed off-road than the track. On the track you know exactly where you're going to have to brake every single lap. Off-road is constantly reacting to what's happening and you need to be able to instantly manipulate and overlap all 6 controls (body position, handle bar input, front brake, rear brake, clutch and gear change). The faster or more intense the riding the more important it is to cover the main controls (front brake and clutch).

My response was meant to be informative not argumentative. I would hazard a guess that many of us here don't or can't continue the brake and clutch cover method for any lenght of time. This is more of a SHIT HAPPENS moment and there is something here for everyone to learn. Thus I wait for the OP's version of events.

I'd hazard to guess you speak for a very small part of the ADV rider community that rides off-road. Every or damn close to every serious off-roader and racer covers the controls at all times. When riding fast off-road you are required to make hundreds of control inputs a minute to stay ahead of the terrain.

With the exception of some of the MXers because once again they know when the brakes need to come on.

If you can't cover your levers you need to adjust them.


My intention wasn't to be harsh to the original poster, although it will probably seem that way. Shit happens to everyone and we all get caught out.

[TinkerinWstuff]

thank you very much for sharing your story.

[Thumper Dan]

How did the Wolfman Luggage hold up?? I have some myself and curious to see how much of a bashing around they can take??

Glad you're ok

[Rob.G]

BTW... Joe... can you tell us... what were you wearing in the way of gear? Specifically, did you have any body armor on other than what was built into your jacket?

Rob

[mikem9]

Wow! Thanks for sharing! Glad you are OK. OP - This must be you on the inside! :)

[Jayrod1318]

Am I the only one waiting for the bear to crawl out from under that ledge and eat you?

Watching that made me physically ill.

[itsatdm]

That was a very close call. That bike is as tough as you are. You got to stop knocking yourself silly.

Hope I get to ride with you again, you have some interesting tales.

[gofast1320]

Unfrickin believable!!! My jaw dropped. Camera stayed still, the moans, sit-up, falls over, oh hell!! Then you sit up, get up, speak emphatically and walk up to the trail. UNBELIEVABLE!!!
So glad it worked out for you. I thought I was lucky after falling over 3 times in deep sand today going waaaayy slower than you ( but I am old and fat). I am nothing. I guess just can't ride in sand. What is the trick for that.

Again glad you are okay.

[joefromsf]

Woo Hoo. We're on the road before 9 AM and have a 60 minute, mostly pavement ride back to the road at the top of Eagle Canyon. I've got a tough decision that's bugging me. Do I need to go all the way to the crash site to pick up the trail so I can say I rode the whole TAT, or do I could the quad ride up on the backboard.

I never had to finalize that decision. 6 miles outside of Price, my bike suddenly starts running like crap at speeds above 30 mph. It will start fine, idle fine, pull from stop strongly but just started sputtering at 30 mph. OK, we checked the small carb inlet fuel filter and various jets in the carb but don't find anything obvious and nothing makes it run better. I'd had occasional vapor lock on the trip but that wasn't it. It was getting hot by the side of the road so we rode back into town where there was a mini-mart gas station with shade to work on the bike and cold drinks.



We spent several more hours working on the bike. Was pretty hopeful when we found this.



But when I replaced it with a spare plug I was carrying, there was still no difference.

[Mercenary]

Originally Posted by joefromsf

Back story: My buddy Kawtipper and I were halfway thru a 32 day ride on the Western TAT, both riding well set up DR650's. On day 18 we were riding up out of Eagle Canyon in central Utah when I had a very scary crash. I had my GoPro running at the time.

Holy hell. I'm glad you're ok. That looked nasty as fuck.....

I'll be checking out the rest of the story as well....

[max2]

Oh crap ! !.....glad you're ok... That video sent chills up my spine....time for me to invest in a SPOT.

[woofer2609]

Just watching this made me thankful to be alive. You managed to capture on video what are the most gut turning few seconds I have seen since I did something close to that traumatic. The second or two before impact where you just know Sh!t is going sideways, and there is nothing you, or anybody else, can do about it. That moment where impact is imminent is the moment we stare our own destiny square in the face and realize how vulnerable we are, and who is truly in control. It humbles one to think about it. I tend to look at every day as a gift now, no matter how stressed out or what. It gives me a new perspective. The air is sweet, and just being alive is more than enough. I hope the rest of your ride is you in synch with the machine, and appreciative of every moment. Good for you for getting back on. Your friend sounds like one helluva guy. I had a guy rag doll in front of me last summer and there is nothing worse than seeing somebody get hurt.
I'd be interested to know what, if any, revelations you've had after this incident.
Be well my friend.

[BlueLghtning]

Amazing video. Thanks for sharing your story and look forward to the rest of it.