Who here has wrecked their bike?

 I'm not talking about driveway downs - we've all done that. I'm
talking about outright wrecks - you hit something, something hit you,
you lost control and went down without hitting anything, someone else
caused you to go down and you still didn't hit anything... and who
among you were injured and.or your bike insured as a result?

I'll start...

Summer of 1973 (maybe 1974 - youth was somewhat hazy :). Just got my
first street legal bike (rode plenty of things that weren't street
legal before that). It was newly used with only a few hundred miles..

I got a ride over to the guy's house about 30mi away to pick the bike
up.

I rode the bike to the state DMV to get it tagged, inspected, and me
licensed, which back in the day you could do at one place. The license
test was real simple - go down a little path, make a u-turn, come back
and stop.

I then rode another 25 mi home on the highway.

Got on the bike to ride around the neighborhood and started down a
hill to a T-intersection. Stopped at the intersection - no traffic -
and took off, gunning the engine such that I ran right into the curb
and went head first over the handlebars onto a grassy incline.

I was 17 and made of rubber so nothing happened to me personally. The
bike however suffered bent front forks. i had just gotten the bike
inspected and in that state, bikes were a one-time, lifetime
inspection.

Having no money, I didn't get the forks fixed; the bike still ran
well; just made it a little harder to ride at 55mph and above; felt
like a jackhammer.

How about you?

Greg

 
Then there was the bus.  IIRC, I had moved across the river to S.
Jersey, and was headed home from Philly.  I was running along Vine St.
headed for the Ben Franklin Bridge when a transit bus merged onto the
road from the left.  Not really wantiong to slow down for a bus, as he
merged right, I went left.  Unfortunately, he shot left again to get
off at the very next exit, and I just couldn't quite stop.  Boom.
Right in the back of the bus. Picked myself & the bike off the
street.  No serious damage to either vehicle, except I broke my clutch
lever (again).  The bus drived stopped & walked back, saying, "I
*thought* I heard a bump."  Very funny. To those who ask, "How do you
run into the back of a bus?" I can only say, you had to be there.

 
Okay, then there was this fine, crisp fall morning.  Nurse #2 from
previous story, now my steady girlfriend, had spent the night at my
place in Jersey.  It was a fine, beautiful morning, and I romantically
thought I'd fix us some breakfast.  Being the bachelor pad it was, I
had no food in the house.  No problem, I'll hop on the bike & run to
the nearby convenience store.

Admittedly driving at grossly excessive speeds, I shot through the
development to the store, got my stuff, & shot home again with the bag
of groceries on my lap.  Almost made it.

Just before my turn, I came to an intersection with a stop sign to my
left.  The guy didn't stop.  He clearly couldn't have seen me; and I
braked hard.   I was going to die.  Fortunately, he didn't stop and
cleared the intersection before my bike and I, now separated, both
slid through the intersection, me on my butt, the bike on the brake
lever, leaving a cool trail of sparks ahead of me.

We both came to a stop eventually, with surprisingly little permanent
damage to either.  The most amazing part was that I had bought a dozen
eggs, and not one of them broke.  Until I set the bag on the seat
afterward & it fell off.

 
Your stories are entertaining; I'm waiting for #4 and #5 now.

Greg

 
LOL.  Thanks.  #4 was boring.  Slid out on another grease slick at a
city bus stop.