So.
I'm driving up our steep one lane "drive" tonight, going about 15 - 20 mph, when I come around the first corner met by an inattentive neighbor who's right in the middle of the road. The road is steep here and banked steep to the inside of the road, which happens to be the side I'm on.
I slow down and move it over as far as I can, but with the bank in the road it feels a bit squirrelly. So I stop and put my feet down. Or should I say, foot. Left foot touches ground, right foot is in air by a few inches, so I lean to the left, and for a second, I thought I was going to lean over to my left foot -- but no, bike goes over to the right and I can't stop it!
You see, right next to the pavement is a drainage ditch, so the farther I go to the right, the further I am from catching the bike!
As I go down, straining against the bars, I hit the throttle, the engine revvs up loud with my new Hooker which is about to be smashed.
The guy who ran me off the road -- doesn't even stop! And trust me, there's no way he didn't hear/see me. The bike revved to about redline with a loud pipe and he wasn't 20 feet away. F***ing A$$Hole!!
I didn't even try to right the bike, because there was a culvert pit 4 feet deep just behind my back tire.
Then, I start walking home. Steep driveway -- It's probably a half mile and about 400 feet elevation. Luckily, my neighbor is home to help out. The two of us pretty easily righted the bike, and to my amazement there was little damage.
My new pipe looks fine, the tank is fine, the case is fine..... Which is amazing because the tank was lower than the tires -- the handlebars and headlight bucket hit the steep bank, and because of the drainage ditch everything else was suspended. I couldn't believe my luck considering my truck is in the shop getting a new flex plate, torque converter, and tranny.
Only damage I see right now is the headlight bucket and the light cluster. Top of the headlight bucket is messed up, and there's a hole from a rock punched in the light cluster. Some scratches on the tach.
Anyway, I don't know what else I would have done. I had groceries in my tank bag and piled on my luggage rack, so I was a bit top heavy. And, I suppose it was more of a "dump" than a crash.
I was pitched into the culvert hole, but other than some scratches on my helmet I'm fine. I was wearing gloves, boots, and an armored jacket. That's the good news. I'm getting my knee scoped soon and that's all I needed was to screw it up more.
Should I try to find out who that guy was and get him to pay for the damages? What do you think?
out,
Clyde "zeke" Crashcup
