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I'm kind of a quite private type and wasn't gonna say anything but I though I'd share this because I think it's a valuable learning experience.
I crashed my Ducati doing about sixty or so on the way home from work two weeks ago tomorrow. I was on RT40 in Groton, Ma heading toward Groton center. I'd been following this Ford Pickup since RT3 (about 10 miles or so). He was going pretty much the speed limit but slowing way down then going back up to speed then slowing way down then going back up to speed. I guess you get the picture. He was kinda driving me nutz. There is one passing area on RT40 between RT3 and Groton center and by the time I got to it I knew I was gonna pass em. That's when thing went wrong.
There's a slight "S" curve where the passing area starts. It turns to the right then to the left. I started passing at the beginning of the "S" curve to get a straight line to pass em. I got by him and tried to decelarate. nothing happenend when I rolled off the throttle. I fucked with the throttle quickly and got it stuck pretty close to wide open. I was still on the wrong side of the road when this was happening and another pickup was coming at me. Rather than doing what I shudda done (pull the clutch in or hit the kill switch) I panicked and tapped the front brake. First once, then again and yet again. Last time I hit the front break, the bike went into tank slapper mode. Before you know it, I was on the pavement rolling and sliding.
I don't know how I got off the bike. I didn't endo. I think it kinda flipped me off. As I was rolling on the pavement I got a glympse of the truck I just passed, The pickup coming toward me, and my bike sliding down the road ahead of me. The bike slid about 75 feet and I slid, tumbled and rolled abot 50 feet or so.
Finally I came to a stop. I sprang to my feet and was greeted by the guy in the pickup coming toward me. "Are you all right! Are you all right!", he asked. I had just gotten to my feet and was seeing stars. The back of my head took a hit on both sides. Coming out of a daze, I took a quick survey of the other body parts. I was wearing a Tourmaster riding jacket and Carhart jeans. My right pant leg was shredded. I notice some blood starting to leak through. Took a peak through the hole in my jeans and noticed I had worn a hole through my knee as well. The guy that I passed came up and asked if I was ok. I said I was fine. Just kinda rattled. Cars began to back up on either side of the road. We picked up the bike as I started to get myself back togeather and traffic started to move by.
I wheeled my bike down to the nearest driveway and contimplated what I should do. No one had a cell phone and the police never showed up. There were a couple of kids playing basket ball in their drive way so I asked them if they had any tools. I took the cover off of the accelerator housing that covers the throttle cable at the handle bars. The cable had jumped the cam that the cable rides on when you accelerate. I re-assembled the throttle housing fixing the cable and road the beast home.
There wasn't a lotta foot peg left to rest my foot on for the ride home. It got ground down to about an inch from sliding on the pavement. Couldn't use my right mirror cuz that got fucked up in the process. The tank got a small dent, and the front cowling got scratched a bit. I messed up my knee, elbow and thumb. No broken bones though.
I guess the moral of the story is that you never know when stuff is gonna happen so, be prepared to react properly.
Wayne-o
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Originally Posted by ThisBitch
