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Dropped my Vulcan 1600 last night

1K views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  terr-bear 
#1 ·
Leaving my friends house in the dark and coming to a stop sign at the highway I entered a construction zone. Unknown to me, right at the stop sign they had dug two holes and covered them with smooth steel plates. Unfortunately I couldn't really see them as they were covered with sand. This made them slippery as ice and as I was almost stopping the front wheel slid out from under me with highway traffic just about 10 feet away.

I was able to slide off and get my folded leg underneath as she went down. The slippery steel plate made it impossible for me to get a foot hold and in this position with one foot available I had no leverage to lift the bike. The best I could do was hold it off the ground and wait for someone to come and help me. Thankfully a nice young man in the car pulling up behind me came to my rescue. With his help I righted the bike.

Luckily she suffered no damage at all with the exception of the right mirror which touched the ground and cracked under the stress and some very small marks on the edge of the floorboard. Not another mark. I couldn't believe how I threw myself under my bike to save her. Now that's love!
 
#5 ·
"I couldn't believe how I threw myself under my bike to save her. Now that's love!"

I can more than believe that, good people will always, with no thought sacrifice there own well being for what they love, and we all LOVE OUR BIKE done it many times myself. :wink:

Just reaction, later you may wonder WTF was is I thinking, don't let it toast your brain you did not even think about it. Besides think of all the shiny bits that might have been injured.

If a guy just abandons his bike what would he do for his friends, good friends like good bikes are hard to find.

Watch out for city traps(they are out to get us) and keep the shiny side UP.
 
#6 ·
Just out of curiosity, what kind of tires do you have on that bike? When I had the original dunlops on it, my tires were slippery as snot on anything but dry asphalt (or so it seemed). When I got the metzlers it was so much better! Not that it would have made a difference in your case, just curious!

Glad your ok- you could have hurt something! And that plate shouldn't have been covered with sand or gravel!
 
#9 ·
Just out of curiosity, what kind of tires do you have on that bike? When I had the original dunlops on it, my tires were slippery as snot on anything but dry asphalt (or so it seemed). When I got the metzlers it was so much better! Not that it would have made a difference in your case, just curious!

Glad your ok- you could have hurt something! And that plate shouldn't have been covered with sand or gravel!
I have the OEM tires, Bridgestone Exedra's. Not the original tires, but new ones that I went back to at the last change after trying another manufacturer. They've got about 2300 miles on them. Not sure how much better a different tire would have handled the sand. The contact point becomes the sand I guess and no traction between the sand and the steel plate.
 
#11 ·
I hope you make a complaint to your local or state highway department. They have a responsibility to keep the roads safe for all registered vehicles.
I called and got nowhere. They said I should have gone slower in a construction zone. HELLO! I was just about stopped. Believe me, Nevada DOT is the worst. The only thing they are good at is collecting money.
 
#13 ·
Similar thing happened to me couple years ago. While riding my 01 Nomad, going very slow around a corner my front wheel hit a patch of sand and suddenly shot out to the left, and bike started going over. I tried to stop it but my short legs would not give me enough leverage and thought I would have to slowly let it go down. To my surprise bike stopped goin over on its own and sat there on a 45 degree angle, the engine guard and bag protector stopped it from going all the way down. Only a minor scratch on bottom of engine guard! I do know that at a higher speed it would have gone right down. Just my 2 cents. Ride safe all!
 
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