On the East Coast of the USA for a few days, I'd had the bike shipped in from LA and had three great days of riding from Connecticut through Massachusetts, back through Vermont, down to New York where I got to actually ride through the Bronx, in and around Times Square, and across the Brooklyn Bridge (and yes I also got to spend a couple of hours in traffic jams, but never mind). Sunday morning was magical, I got up at 0630 and cruised around New York City looking at the skyline, terrific!
Unfortunately, after riding a couple of hours down I-95 to check into the hotel and get ready to start work, I got rear-ended at a stoplight. Miss B and I got shunted forward maybe 30 feet, pushed forward from before the white line out into the intersection which fortunately was empty, the bike and I went down on the right side.
On the plus side, I always wear "all the gear", and while my right Olympia glove was shredded, right Sidi boot torn, Shoei helmet scarred, and leather jacket scuffed, I came through reasonably intact. A fractured wrist, a right forearm like purple sausage, and impressively rainbow-colored anatomy [the colors are impressive, not the anatomy :-) ] from right mid-thigh to right shoulder. Before the ambulance arrived I managed to get clear of the spreading gas pool, a guy helped me get my gear clear of the gas, and I got out my camera to take a couple of pictures. The police showed up equally quickly, were very efficient, tho' the ambulance took me away smartly so I never got any driver details.
2 days later I went to where the bike had been taken by the garage with the towing contract, and unfortunately, while I was hoping the bike was repairable, the insurance people told me it's likely to have to be totaled. The cosmetic damage didn't look too bad at first glance, but the impact has bent the frame and the swing arm, and looks to have torqued open the swing arm mounts in the frame itself.... I was hopeful we would both rise to ride again, but that may not be the case for her. The doctors tell me there'll be no twisting the throttle for a few months with my wrist either.
On the plus side, my Guardian Angel kept me mostly intact so that I am still one-handedly mobile if only by foot, the helmet did keep my brains unscrambled, all in all it could've been a lot worse. I really liked my 502, she and I have done 23,000 miles across America together in the past few years.
Ah well. Anyone you walk away from.... I will ride again!!!
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Originally Posted by Jane Omorogbe from UK MSN on the KTM990SM
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