frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted September 12, 2002 07:38 PM
i'm so pissed at myself i feel physically sick...
in short, i busted up my 12 something good. if i went to insurance with it i'm sure it would be written off. i will have to see if the frame, forks, and swingarm are straight next spring. if so, i'll street fighter it & get back on the road cheap. the subframe is bent, but barely, all fairings are destroyed, and the hole front fairing/lights/guages exploded all over the place. brake lever is stuck on, but dont know why. looks like it iwll still run ok as i jsut about got it to start (prolly the fuel cutoff switch kept it from starting right up).
the full story is rather long, so i'll try to keep it brief for anyone who cares to hear what is in many ways a very funny story. first off (and here's where i'm so pissed), crash was a result of a very very stupid passing maneuver that i knew i shouldnt try. unexpected car in oncomming lane, i try to duck back into traffic between cars, but lock up front wheel after a second or 2 and get thrown to the grown in kinda a sideways lowside (i think i may have tried to steer while it was locked up). i slid down the road a ways but didnt hit any cars (3 cars there all stopped in plenty of time), but my bike slid much farther, as they do, and went off the side of the road since it was curved slightly to the left. down a steep embankment about 2 feet into a small tree, and came to rest on it's side right next to a stream in the most picturesque forest scene postcard i ever saw. fortunately nothing leaked out to pollute the stream. oh, i found the bike cause the taillight was still on & it was signalling left (lol!). anyway, told all the cars the 3 bikes riding behind us (not our group) i was fine & they went on their way. my buddy (mattie_k fomr the board here) rode to get the totruck about 12k's down the road while i waited just below the scene at a switchback. few minutes later, tribal cop in a explorer comes SCREAMING up the hill lights & sirens on. i think it's fer another accident higher up the street. he doesnt see me. pickup on way down later stops & tells me cop is lookin for me. nother cop (rcmp this time) in same vehicle comes flyin up the hill in a few minutes & i flag him down. i'm fine, sorry to waste their time & fer confusion i say. then ambulance comes. i'm fine, they r ready to leave in like 1 minute (didnt even touch the helmet down). then towtruck arrives. minute later, rescue (figherfighters) truck arrives. another minute the first cop comes back down the hill & stops. by now there's no room in the pulloff & the road is blocked. here's where it gets funny. ken (towtruck driver) says the cop's brakes r on fire! he was right. cop calmly gets back in his truck & moves it off the street. the 2 cops start lookin in their trucks fer fire extinguishers (calmly and slowly since there's no serious danger), tho neither even knows if they have em. firefighters just look on. cops finds his extinguisher, douses flames emenating from front rotor, then goes to other side to find that one flamin too! puts it out, all is calm. so we go to get the bike, pull it up the embankment holding it upright most of the time (FUCK that was alot of work) to minimise further damage. by the time we're done, tribal cop has left, ambulance gone, and rescue leaves. matt is back w his pickup & some fresh clothes and water (thank zeus!). i'm changing, and ken starts loading the rcmp's explorer on his towtruck with my bike safely hung from the sling. why? that cruiser (with the good brakes) overheated on the way up & wont start! lol! so i'v damaged 4 vehicles to varying extents in one go. obviously i wish i hadnt, but its still funny as shit! i have been bestowed a new nickname of "freek the destroyer". joy. get to the station to fill up accident report, the cop whose engine overheated (rcmp) doesnt know how to fill in the report cause he just tranfered from alberta. another cop helps but he's not 100% sure since they say they have so few accidents (hard to beleive!). now apparently my bike clipped a car on the way down (hence the people who called in the accident & got all the EMS folks to come). but they didnt leave a name or number so the cops cant contact them! good news for me in a way, tho i feel very very bad for causing damage to someone's car. but they havent called back yet & noone said anything at the scene, so i think it prolly just bounced off the tire & didnt do anything. hopefully they dont call bak, tho i would like the opportunity to apologize for the scare.
oh yeah, me. i slid a ways but didnt really tumble beyond transfering from my side to my back, so the fall was pretty ideal. slapped my hand enough to make my fingers numb, but that went away quick. small bruise on my left hip & skin is red, but not broken. thats it. pretty happy for a getoff that i estimate at about 80kph (possibly as high as 100, but proily not). but get this: i was wearing a 1 piece kevlar suit i jsut picked up 3 weeks ago. altho the first layer went thru in a couple places & the second layer was gettin worked, it didnt actually fully go thru anywhere. seams held up good too. had i been wearing my old 2pc (with no zipper) budget cordura suit, i would be writin from hospital waiting for skin grafts i'm sure. gloves & boots held togethre beautifully, i can even continue using the boots, and the gloves r just barely damaged enough to require cautiuous replacement. suit cost me ~$1000CDN, boots $150, gloves $150; best investment i ever made.
oh yeah, that's the first (honestly) and last stupid move i ever do. i go against my better judgement once & i paid for it. i dont have collision insurance ont he bike cause a) i figure if i bin my bike why should everyone else pay for it and b) i felt it would be motivation to not do stupid shit like this. so i'm really hopoin i can salvage the bike come spring.
hey, can someone who doesnt own a working 12r still be admin on zx12rzone.com? 
   
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fish_antlers
Administrator
The Truth is Out There
Posts: 21894
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posted September 12, 2002 08:01 PM
thank God you're okay man.
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Scooter
Zone Head
Posts: 899
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posted September 12, 2002 08:21 PM
Dang!
Don't you just hate it when that happens. At least you walked away virtually unscathed, Thank God. May be time to build a go-cart,...one bad ass go-cart.
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"Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional."
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ZHooligan
Moderator
Post Whore Extraordinaire!
Posts: 3829
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posted September 12, 2002 08:27 PM
Sorry to hear about your crash frEEk. That sucks. If there is a silver lining at least it is mid Sept and not the beginning of summer.
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To those who do not count their life in years, but in how life
has touched them in the past and how much it can hold in the
future; -- Youth is forever.
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted September 12, 2002 08:30 PM
yeah zhool, that was one of the first things that came to mind. at then end of a 600km ride in sept with my tires almost worn out!
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BA
Pro
Posts: 1592
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posted September 12, 2002 08:33 PM
Amazing story Freek-'the Destroyer'.  Really amazing! You had quite the spread of carnage there. Really great to hear that you are ok! The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, eh?
I hope you can get something good out of this,...a drag 12R would be sweet. maybe I should buy it from you.
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moodybluezx12r
Expert Class
Posts: 344
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posted September 12, 2002 08:43 PM
Glad you are okay..could have been worst.
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Raleigh, NC
Ride it! Like You Stole It!
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Zx23rr
Expert Class
Mahogany Bomber Pilot
Posts: 242
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posted September 12, 2002 09:14 PM
frEEK, glad to hear you are alright. Guess the suit came in real handy. Should see if you can get it repaired. You can honestly say you tested there product and it works. Where you by Mt Currie?
As long as the frame and engine is good, you should be good to go! As for tires, try the M1's. They are very nice! I can help get you a set if you need.
Later................................../
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JoshDunn
Expert Class
Posts: 373
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posted September 12, 2002 09:24 PM
Also good to hear that you are O.K....Looks like that suit saved your but..literally! I was going to try to get somebody to donate a mirror and a pipe to fix up your bike from the last get off but I guess it's too late now. I am startin to wonder If i Should get some better armor.
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Yosh Tri-Oval, PCIIIUSB Tuned by Nels
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BigJ12
Expert Class
Posts: 107
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posted September 12, 2002 09:39 PM
Glad your ok Freek!
It's alot easier to repair a bike than a body! you now have a "winter project" to work on. I hope all goes well.
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BigJ12
Expert Class
Posts: 107
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posted September 12, 2002 09:39 PM
Glad your ok Freek!
It's alot easier to repair a bike than a body! you now have a "winter project" to work on. I hope all goes well.
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"Blessed mother of acceleration, don't fail me now"
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jason370
Zone Head
Posts: 589
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posted September 12, 2002 09:43 PM
good news freek,
now you can be the first guy on the board to buy a 2003 zx12!!!!!!!!!
post lots of pics when you do.
jason
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted September 12, 2002 10:40 PM
thx fer all the well wishes folks!
zx23rr, yeah, it was on that short straight between teh first & second switchback just at the beginning of the duffy. interesting u shoudl mentioned tires, i fergot about that. i'm definitely not suggesting it was the tires fault, but i have been having problems with that front sliding too easily. i'm running the 010's and they grips just great in teh rear, & on the sides they feel better than the 207s, but hard and straight breaking....they'r not up to snuff. almost every stoppie i'v tried on these tires, even when nice & warm, results in a locked wheel and a small skid. fortuantely the bike has never threatened to go down since it was straight. but i think they locked just as i was beginning a countersteer or i steered just after, plus of course it was way faster. REALLY wish i had some footage (like if matt had an onboard camera, i woudl love to see that!). anyhow, point is i think the d207's wouldnt have locked up, and i'm rpetty sure the m1's or any of the other super stickies wouldnt have either. but of course they dont last, whereas the 010's have performed quite admirably in that department. i appreciate the offer of helpin to source tires too. i may take u up on that come spring. as to the suit, it did it's job, but in all honesty it didnt hold up as well as i'd like in an 80kph getoff. it almost wore all teh way thru (1.5 layers were toast), which makes me worry that it would have been completely eaten thru at 100kph. i'm disapointed, but will have to take a better gander before i can really make up my mind. if nothing else, it definitely did better than my cordura suit!
josh, yeah i fergot u were the first one to see the suit! i almost didnt wear it either cause of the knees bunchin up like i mentioend to u. but i took out the knoee/shin armour which have it enough room that i could put up with it. fortunately i didnt need that piece of armour in this case!
as to what to do w the bike, i'm gonna do the street ffighter thing i believe, & i'm actually really lookin forward to it. far as i know it'll be the first 12r done in that style. gotta think how i'm gonna do it tho. hmm....
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TurboBlew
Moderator
BUSY DOING THE SCHIAVO
Posts: 4590
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posted September 13, 2002 02:22 AM
Damn Freek...sorry to hear this!
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OZZY
Needs a job
need guberment cheese
Posts: 3172
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posted September 13, 2002 04:30 AM
Glad to hear you walked away!
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"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses......HIT IT!"
Blues Bros.
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SPEEDCRAVER
Expert Class
Posts: 183
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posted September 13, 2002 04:58 AM
Glad you are OK, and you now have a very kewl winter project.
Alwys wear your gear!
Alan
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I keep all of my guns loaded, to many people die from unloaded guns.
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jonwright
Needs a job
Posts: 2416
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posted September 13, 2002 06:31 AM
Glad to hear you were fortunate in your get-off.
I have an acquaintance that was not so fortunate.
He brought down his Gixxer 1000 from a wheelie at 130mph and got into a headshake. He was wearing a helmet, but no other protective gear (yeah, T-shit, shorts, tennis shoes etc.).
He has lost roughly 70% of his skin. He also had ruptured intestines. They didn't operate on him immediately because they weren't sure he would survive.
I realy didn't like to ride with this guy because I figgured he was an accident waiting to happen. Well, he was.
Everyone, check your mortality.
j
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FinalVelocity
Expert Class
Posts: 150
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posted September 13, 2002 12:19 PM
Wow - that was one close shave freek. Good luck to you. I just ride with a leather jacket,work boots,jeans and carbon gloves. And when on my RD350 I ride with a regular black jacket most times. I need to think about getting leather pants too methinks.
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redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted September 13, 2002 01:57 PM
Thankful you okay.
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There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
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mattie_k
Zone Head
hill-billy!
Posts: 545
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posted September 13, 2002 03:29 PM
The best part from my perspective was the 2 cops (or cowboys some might say) damaging their cars responding to the call. Oh yeah, and the sparks from the engine casing as it slid down the hill.
All said and done, I'm glad your alright! Next year get some leathers!
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God is an imaginary friend for grown-ups.
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TedG
Moderator
Posts: 8222
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posted September 13, 2002 03:30 PM
Glad you are okay.. Remember Ted's motto "I will not risk my life to pass a car". Hindsight is always so clear.
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Ted
2000 Green ZX12 sold
The fast color!!
Green 2005 ZX10R
2009 Concours Black ABS
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted September 13, 2002 07:30 PM
ya know what's the annoying part ted? that's my rule too. i very rarely pass on a doubel yellow; only when we're out fer a big day (some serious riding) and then only in places where it is obviously safe to do so (ie a "double yellow for cars & trucks only" thing). but this one time i took a chance & went in a place where i wasnt 100% sure that it was clear. and that one time i got bit.
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Dino
Pro
Posts: 1422
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posted September 13, 2002 10:06 PM
 ...Damn frEEk , sorry to hear 'bout the mishap! I was lookin' forward to a ride w/ you and Oz this weekend but looks like that ain't gonna' happen. Oh well, weather guessers are predicting rain for Sunday too. Glad yer' o.k.
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uh oh
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worm~hole
Needs a life
Miles to go before I sleep....
Posts: 10623
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posted September 13, 2002 10:17 PM
...street fighter, huh?...that'd be way cool...and quit taking those unecessary chances, ya'goof...yer' not gettin' paid to do those things...ride to ride another day...glad you're okay
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted September 13, 2002 10:45 PM
yeah, i'm sorry too dino. ya know how much i was lookin forward to ridin w u again. it's bin way too long. hope the weather holds out fer ya. it's bin beautiful most of the week so far. will still call ya. somehoe kept not gettin to it till it was too late.
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