Post by o0syn on Aug 5, 2012 10:50:49 GMT -5
Hey guys just comin on to tell everyone my horror story that could have been much much worse.
I was headed to downtown Milwaukee and I was on the scoot enjoying a nice blast to downtown, topping out my scoot as usual. I was going down a hill at about 45-50mph when I noticed my RPMs were higher than normal so I let off the gas. Then I noticed I was not slowing down like i normally would after letting off. then I heard the dreaded flat tire flopping around sound from my rear and the rear of the scoot started to drift out to the right. I immediately knew i was in trouble when I heard the flopping of the tire so I started to engage the breaks slow, remembering that from when you have a flat on a car. Things got dicey fast. I was coming up on 4 lane intersection and had no chance of stopping. luckily the lite was green. As I came into the intersection my back end was snaking back and forth as I tried to hold her straight. As it got worse i decided to put my feet out to brace any fall. I was still going 35ish when my left foot hit ground to stop me from going down, it got me back up but my shoe flew off. Now i was back to drifting out on the right and I almost went down again so I threw my right leg out to try and stop my fall again, I sort of succeeded but my foot became pegged underneath the scoot near the exhaust. My foot now was becoming a brake as it scraped the pavement. Finally I got down to about 20-15mph and I decided it was time to bail but with my foot stuck my only choice was to go down on my right. So I went down and my leg stayed under the whole time until the bike came to a stop. I managed to somewhat stay on it till it was almost to a stop then I thrusted myself out and rolled scuffing my other knee and roadrashing my elbow. I immediately got up to see if any cars were coming from behind so I bailed onto the median to collect myself and check for damage. knee bleeding and road rash on my shin/calf so I limped my ass back over and picked up the scoot because no cars were coming. Luckily I was near a bus station so i had a spot to push the scoot and myself to safety. I called a few friends lookin for a ride home to get my truck so I could get me and the scoot home. After a stop at walgreens to get some hydrogen peroxide and much cussing and wincing i made it home with myself and the scoot in-tact.
My mistakes: Not wearing pants! It was 95 degrees so I never have pants on, big mistake. Mistake no.2, I noticed my valve stems were cracking and becoming brittle last year and I figured it was not a huge deal, figured I would just loose pressure slowly as they got worse and then I would just replace them when the leaks got bad. Big mistake. The valve stem is what failed, it rattled it's self and broke out when I was at speed causing my accident.
I am thankful though for the way it went down, that light could have been red. I could have been on a smaller road or in a curve, luckily I was on a dual lane street that was really straight with no real traffic around me. Also I am glad me and my girlfriend were not on it at the time.
This accident threw a major wrench in my plans for the weekend. We had Lollapalooza passes for all 3 days and a hotel room across the street. We did the same last year and it was fabulous. This accident ruined the whole trip, we still went down there but to sell our tickets and cancel our reservation. Needless to say it sucked.
All the pain started kicking in on the third day after the accident (day for lolla), my back both legs, my arm all hurt and sore. I toughed out the previous 2 days going out for my girlfriends birthday and doing way more then I should have because I did not want to bring her down on her day. So sh!t hit the fan on the third day and I was completely exhausted. Somehow I managed to walk around Chicago for an hour to sell our tix so I could go home and rest. Needless to say we were both really disappointed because we had been looking forward to this all year.
Don't make my mistakes! Always pay attention to parts that look like they may fail and replace them immediately! Always, always, always wear protective gear! Luckily I already wear a helmet and thank god it did not have to do it's job that day but I really regret not having a riding suit or at least jeans and a riding coat.
The scoot is scuffed like me but she still runs, so I will be looking for better tires + valved stems and a riding jacket + pants probably before I get back on again.
Again it could have been worse but this still sucks plenty.
Ride smart out there guys, its all fun until you get hurt.
-Jon
I was headed to downtown Milwaukee and I was on the scoot enjoying a nice blast to downtown, topping out my scoot as usual. I was going down a hill at about 45-50mph when I noticed my RPMs were higher than normal so I let off the gas. Then I noticed I was not slowing down like i normally would after letting off. then I heard the dreaded flat tire flopping around sound from my rear and the rear of the scoot started to drift out to the right. I immediately knew i was in trouble when I heard the flopping of the tire so I started to engage the breaks slow, remembering that from when you have a flat on a car. Things got dicey fast. I was coming up on 4 lane intersection and had no chance of stopping. luckily the lite was green. As I came into the intersection my back end was snaking back and forth as I tried to hold her straight. As it got worse i decided to put my feet out to brace any fall. I was still going 35ish when my left foot hit ground to stop me from going down, it got me back up but my shoe flew off. Now i was back to drifting out on the right and I almost went down again so I threw my right leg out to try and stop my fall again, I sort of succeeded but my foot became pegged underneath the scoot near the exhaust. My foot now was becoming a brake as it scraped the pavement. Finally I got down to about 20-15mph and I decided it was time to bail but with my foot stuck my only choice was to go down on my right. So I went down and my leg stayed under the whole time until the bike came to a stop. I managed to somewhat stay on it till it was almost to a stop then I thrusted myself out and rolled scuffing my other knee and roadrashing my elbow. I immediately got up to see if any cars were coming from behind so I bailed onto the median to collect myself and check for damage. knee bleeding and road rash on my shin/calf so I limped my ass back over and picked up the scoot because no cars were coming. Luckily I was near a bus station so i had a spot to push the scoot and myself to safety. I called a few friends lookin for a ride home to get my truck so I could get me and the scoot home. After a stop at walgreens to get some hydrogen peroxide and much cussing and wincing i made it home with myself and the scoot in-tact.
My mistakes: Not wearing pants! It was 95 degrees so I never have pants on, big mistake. Mistake no.2, I noticed my valve stems were cracking and becoming brittle last year and I figured it was not a huge deal, figured I would just loose pressure slowly as they got worse and then I would just replace them when the leaks got bad. Big mistake. The valve stem is what failed, it rattled it's self and broke out when I was at speed causing my accident.
I am thankful though for the way it went down, that light could have been red. I could have been on a smaller road or in a curve, luckily I was on a dual lane street that was really straight with no real traffic around me. Also I am glad me and my girlfriend were not on it at the time.
This accident threw a major wrench in my plans for the weekend. We had Lollapalooza passes for all 3 days and a hotel room across the street. We did the same last year and it was fabulous. This accident ruined the whole trip, we still went down there but to sell our tickets and cancel our reservation. Needless to say it sucked.
All the pain started kicking in on the third day after the accident (day for lolla), my back both legs, my arm all hurt and sore. I toughed out the previous 2 days going out for my girlfriends birthday and doing way more then I should have because I did not want to bring her down on her day. So sh!t hit the fan on the third day and I was completely exhausted. Somehow I managed to walk around Chicago for an hour to sell our tix so I could go home and rest. Needless to say we were both really disappointed because we had been looking forward to this all year.
Don't make my mistakes! Always pay attention to parts that look like they may fail and replace them immediately! Always, always, always wear protective gear! Luckily I already wear a helmet and thank god it did not have to do it's job that day but I really regret not having a riding suit or at least jeans and a riding coat.
The scoot is scuffed like me but she still runs, so I will be looking for better tires + valved stems and a riding jacket + pants probably before I get back on again.
Again it could have been worse but this still sucks plenty.
Ride smart out there guys, its all fun until you get hurt.
-Jon
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