Norainy

I can't believe I crashed on my first ride with some from the Astoria group, how embarrassing

Anyways, it was a low speed, mid turn easy get off on Hwy 202. It has been many a moon since I last went down. One starts to get the feeling you are immune to that kind of simple mistake and then

There were several large rocks (2” diameter), in the corner and I should of easily missed them but I t-boned one just prior to the corner apex. It lifted the front tire off the ground and I fell over

The guys in the group were very helpful, but probably too nice. It would have been easier on me if they would of laughed some, rubbed it in my face a little and said "dust yourself off & mount up"

The bike was ridable, but I bailed from the rest of the ride cause the shift lever was busted.

The five bikes on the ride


Side of the road


At home on the rack

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95gst16g

I heard about this...I am so glad I didnt go on that ride yesterday because I would have probably cried for you!Glad you arent hurt though.

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knuckledragger

ACK! That sucks, man. At least the tasty Duc bits were spared, couldv'e dinged up a ton of stuff on that side, looks like the fairing took it all.

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Avboden

Hey that's what insurance is for! Glad you're okay ego aside. Maybe next time some frame sliders are in order.

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a109driver

^^^ His bike is so new, he hasn't taken time to put them on yet.

Don't feel embarrassed about going down. We've all done it before. As far as being too nice; I just hope that other riders would do as much for me if I were the one needing help. I was in the Army, and still believe you don't leave fallen warriors behind. We'll ride again, and the next one will be better. I hadn't even thought about it till the next day, but that was Friday the 13th. It probably wasn't a good day to push it. When I got to work that night, I found out Life Flight had gone to the Scappoose/Vernonia Highway to pick-up a victim from an SUV that rolled in a turn. I'm glad we weren't part of that.

Here are my pics from our ride:
Costco parking lot meet.




Bret's bike. I went by there again last night. This was just before MM 15 on highway 202. Of course, when I went by last night, the corner was clear, but I still took it real easy. See the pics below of my tire when I got to work.












In case you didn't get to see these two pics, they're from Steve's camera:


The offending rock.


Finished with my portion of the ride next to highway 30. The other three riders headed back to the coast from here, and I was only 5 minutes from work.










From Steve's camera again.


This is my tire when I got to work last night (14 Aug). I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get back home (60 miles), but I'm probably going to try.

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Devil_Doc

The yows.
Yow #1. Damn! Sucks about your duc.. Truly. Any scratches to the frame?
Yow #2. Nice tire. Do you burn out on it?

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95gst16g

Wow John that tire is toast! That will be a sketchy ride home. I am pretty sure he doesn't do burnouts.... Usually his street tires look like race tires will the sides melted off.... Lol

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Norainy

John,

I feel it is a little bit much to compare a fallen rider with a fallen war combatent. Not really apples and oranges, but I know where you are coming from and feel the same way

I am not superstitious at all, so this mistake would have happened on Friday as well as Wednesday, it was my fault.

All in all it was a good reminder to keep good riding habits and not get complaisant, which I did. I just assumed I would miss that rock after seeing it and focusing on the next rock in my path. The bad part was it was my "pretty bike".

We need to schedule a party (get together), down at my house where Dirty Bird can teach me to ride on on one wheel, like he does

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Norainy

No, no frame damage.

Left mirror, front fairing, left-side mid fairing, clutch shift lever, rear seat plastic, lower left-side fairing, coolant piping, left side grip and bar, left foot peg, helmet and jacket.

I have never used my insurance to this date and I am 48 years old. They better treat me right or I will get pissed

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dirtybird

ha ha, i would be glad to teach you. although its risky business and you could spill that awesome bike again!

sorry about the crash, when i heard the crunch right behind me i knew exactly what happened, i was totally bummed for you. but at least you have full coverage. when i wrecked my bike back in '02 i didnt have full coverage on it.

let us all know when you get that monster back together so we can meet up again.

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SamEyeHam

Damn that poor poor Duc. Oh yea i'm glad you are ok too Target fixation SUCKS.

Speaking of rocks....
Holy crap! Look at that SEAT! (Or lack there of).

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Devil_Doc

Friend of mine went down on his 1098 last year. Ended up being cheaper to replace the body panels with carbon fiber, than to buy OEM replacements. Looks bad ass too. Black bike with carbon fiber... www.oppracing.com Thank me later.

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a109driver

Not at all.

I bought that tire used from a guy who rode on the streets. It didn't have chicken strips, but the center was much more worn than the sides. I thought I would get more use out of it, but a couple of trips to work on Highway 30 ruined the center. I did rode Highway 202 a few times trying to wear the sides, but I think it was too late. At least my buddy mounted it for free, so it was cheap to use for a few weeks.

A fallen rider has some similarities to a fallen combatent. We were fighting and defeating those curves, but they got one good hit. We still won the war. You jumped up and continued the fight with an injured bike. You were still killing the curves for the next 15 miles or so even with a broken shift lever.

I'm ready for a get together at your place. When is Highway 53 supposed to open up? We could make it a riding get together. I'd like to ride on one wheel sometime too. I'm just as scared of the ticket as I am of the crash.

That would look awesome with his carbon fiber wheels. The black fairings on his bike are really nice too. I hope he can find a good deal on whatever he wants.

Here's Bret's bike at Seaside Bikefest last month.




In my driveway. I was just imagining it was mine.

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halfcab

53 opens back up in early sept i think.... Bret, if you have to crash, crash well and good to hear you aren't hurt. You'll start to feel better about it the more you think of how bad the off could've been (that's what i've felt when thinking about my crashes)

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a109driver

I just read that on the detour signs. Viva Sept 4th!

I wish you could have rode with Ron and I yesterday. About the only fun we had was on the Miami River Rd. I tried to come up and visit you in the station, but you had already headed out to the boat for another run. We stopped in Manzanita for food and to say hi to Bret. He's taking the Ducati to Portland tomorrow to get an estimate on repairs. Hopefully he'll have it up and ready for the grand re-opening of Highway 53.

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juanitotheclumsy

Just came up the coast from Calif. Do you guys in Astoria know why Seaside traffic is so bad? We were stop-and-go for 4 miles from the South side of town! Worse than Lincoln City stoplight hell.

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a109driver

It's the summer tourist traffic. The people of Seaside had an opportunity to have a faster, 4 lane road constructed through town with funds from the state or fed gov, but elected not to have it done. I would have been lengthy and probably killed several businesses along the highway during construction. A way to bypass is to take Wahanna Rd, which runs north/south and is east of 101. http://www.mapquest.com/mq/2-QeD6Ys3h9io1 Speed limit is 30, but it's still much faster than 101 with tourist traffic. This is one of my biggest objections of living near Seaside.

In Lincoln City, you can avoid the stoplight hell by using East Devil's Lake Rd. It has the benefit of being an excellent motorcycle road and it's very scenic. http://www.mapquest.com/mq/9-JGMe3xN2F6Yeja24dBmA

If you're going from Seaside to Astoria, or vice versa, don't use 101 on a motorcycle. This is much more enjoyable and you wont be cussing as you creep along behind the RV's at 40 mph. http://www.mapquest.com/mq/5-CoAqgR8DftKj

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95gst16g

Seaside sucks because its a tourist town...The warm weather comes and so do the tourists...I would hate to live there just because of that.

Damnit John beat me to it...

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a109driver

No worries Dustan. It took me a while to write that one above. Unfortunately, they come even in the cold weather. Seaside is pretty much a PITA all year long anymore. I know the businesses down there love it, but it's hard to get anywhere.

I went down to Garibaldi yesterday. It's a good thing I'm already bald, because I would've pulled my hair out following all the 101 idiots at 35-40 mph. The only enjoyable part was the Miami River Rd. I can't wait for Highway 53 to re-open.

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ronrdrcr

It was a faily decent ride yesterday John. I too can't wait for 53 to open up. It'll make my station visits to Tillamook much more enjoyable. I actually enjoyed the ride down there, but I left astoria at 5 am so I only had a couple cars that needed to be passed...lol

Ron

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