navydavy

"Towing a trailer will be a nice help your peace of mind. It helps you keep pointed straight." I can tell you from personal experience that is not the case. My experience happened in a down pour of hail with hail covering the road too, but it doesn't take much. Increase your following distance even more due to the trailer, and use as little braking as possible, especially on a curve. I only slightly touched my front brake to try to get off the slick road, and I almost immediately felt the trailer pushing the rear of the bike to the side. I learned real quick you can't correct the slide like in a car. Of course I was on a curvy mountain road and not the freeway, so you shouldn't have it too bad. Just be aware.

My sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Brian for your loss, and my gratitude for your sacrifice. May God bless you in this difficult time and give you strength. My eternal gratefulness Sgt Brian Walker for your service to our country, and your ultimate sacrifice for freedom. Rest in peace young brother. Standing by in Seal Beach …

Seriously? When I first read this, I thought it was the beginning of a joke. Iv'e been riding a lot of years, have had a variety of bikes, and I have about a 29" inseam. I never realized I had to conform to a size that "fit" me. There are some bikes out there I guest I wouldn't even try, but my latest bike is an '06 Suzuki V-Strom 1000. I'm on my tippy toes at stops, and I can comfortably flat foot one at a time. I'm more cautious of the road level when parking, and if needs be I'll push it back before getting on it. But I guess I have more than enough experience to ride the bike as intended. And I have enough experience in life to not suggest that "height challenged" riders should not ride touring bikes.

I am so sorry for your loss. May God be with you.

Just be very careful of some of the cheap junk on eBay. I learned the hard way and had to replace them again in less than 4k miles on my little Honda 250. Sorry, I don't remember the seller, but if they seem too cheap in price..... they're cheap. I ended up buying the second set from Drive Systems in Huntington Beach, CA. Excellent quality, decent prices and good people to work with. They are local for me, but they're on the internet also.

Hey Rev'n, where in Africa, and what were you doing there? I grew up a missionary's kid in Liberia in West Africa. We rode a lot of mini bikes and scooters over there.

At 14 I shared a 1974 Kawasaki 100 Enduro with my brother that I sometimes rode on the streets. First street bike I bought new at 18 y/o was a 1980 Kawasaki 550 LTD. I rode that over 24K miles the first year I had it in Michigan. That included a 1200 miles ride from St. Augustine, Florida to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 24 hours before the IBA even existed.

I'd be interested.

May God's grace and comfort be with you.

I think it looks like it could be set up too (but why?!). Don't think it's England though. Not a lot of pick ups in England, especially full size. Could be Austrailia.

Hey Rick, glad you're not more seriously injured. Reading your post was a little de ja vu for me. It was almost a month ago I tapped my front brake and went down sliding too. Pretty sure the hail on the road and fairly heavy trailer in tow didn't help my cause much. As you did, I learned some lessons (that I already knew too). You also remind to be so thankful. In my situation the bike is a total loss, but I walked away with minor bruising. Heal quickly.

First of all, thank you all so much for the support and kind words. Except for a bruise on my lower leg, I'm feeling much better, and even it is getting better. I've had the insurance investigator out to see the bike, and he said it is at least a "near total loss" from what he knows, but he acknowledges his experience with bikes, and the RSV in particular is limited. They have requested that I take the bike to a repair shop to get a more detailed assessment of the damage and repair cost. I've dealt with total losses on vehicles before, but this is a first time with a bike. The investigator came up with an estimate of about $2000 in damage and considers that at least a "near total loss". I priced the damaged parts (standard and some accessories) on some Yamaha web sites, and I was at $6000 and counting. I'm pretty sure it's a total loss. In addition to taking it to a shop, the claims adjuster asked me to provide a list of accessories and costs of them. Besides being a Midnight, I have a LOT of chrome on the bike. So here's where I could use some help. I need a web site that lists a lot of the little chrome stuff. Just for example, I have the billet rider and passenger floorboards, billet air cleaner covers, shift covers, oil cap, etc. Even a bunch of the little nut covers are chrome. Ironically I'm not even a huge fan of that much chrome (don't hate me), but I bought the bike used and it was all on it. All I've added is the Utopia rider backrest and the tow hitch. One thing I can't find is the saddlebag "crash bars". I've found the "trim", but that is not what I have. What I have is bolted to the frame, and actually did a darn good job of protecting parts to a degree. Oh yeah, and I had just replaced my front brake pads the day before the accident. From what I understand, the adjuster requested this to get a better idea of the value of the bike when it comes time to come to a figure. Another "blessing" of sorts in this happening is that I have a kind of nasty loan on the bike that I don't mind at all getting out of. So I am hoping that I get enough to not only pay off the loan, but have a little to put towards a replacement. It will still be a while to be able to do that, I just want a little help. So the more I can come up with on the value of the bike, the better. I have KBB and NADA values, but I actually could use more actual prices of similar bikes that are for sale. Mine is an '05 Midnight with 55k miles. If any one could tell me about similar bikes for sale with links or whatever, I would appreciate that as well. And just any advice regarding dealing with insurance from folks that have experienced it. By the way, I'm with State Farm, and they were real good with me with the 2 cars I've had totalled. Again, thank you so much for the support from this fine group of people. By the way, my son is still riding, although not as much yet as he was, and I'll be back on my little Honda 250 when my leg feels a little better.

I pulled a trailer years ago and used the standard hitch. I bought an older camper trailer earlier this year and it has the swivel hitch. I never had any problems with the standard. When I went down last Sunday on a mountain road, the bolt inside the swivel unit broke off, leaving just the chains securing the trailer. As it turned out, it did not affect the accident at all, but it did give me cause to wonder. I will be replacing the busted swivel hitch with a standard one.

Just don't tell my daughter because we love the LA Galaxy.......but I did it anyhow!

I've been riding (at times off and on) for 34 years on 10 different bikes. I'd guesstimate I have close to 200K miles in that time. I've obviously had my share of close calls, and in fact I've been hit (slight bumps) three times quite a few years ago, but I have never been involved in an actual accident or gone down. Until Sunday afternoon... My 17 year-old son and I were headed to one of our local mountain areas to do some camping. I was towing our Cycle-Kamp trailer, and Matthew was riding what is now his Suzuki Boulevard C50T. It's only about a 150 mile ride, with the last 60 or so on Hwy 38, a scenic twisty mountain road. It was a nice sunny day, just very hot at the lower altitudes. It's not uncommon for a late afternoon thunder storm in the area, and we had seen the clouds indicating we may run into it, but I was hoping to miss it. But the rains did get us, and it was pouring down pretty good. Kind of a bummer to deal with, but certainly nothing new. Then it began to hail. The size of marbles, and it was coming down hard. And we were less than 10 miles from our campground. I was more concerned about my son, so I was looking for a suitable spot to pull off. I saw a potential area and started to slow down. I was going about 40 mph, on a slight decline and into a sweeping left curve. As I tapped the brakes, I felt what I think was the trailer probably coming around to the right behind me. Not necessarily jack knifing, but it was pushing the back of the bike to the left. I knew immediately I was in trouble, but for a second I thought I could correct it and ride it out. But I didn't. I went down to the right, and I came off the bike then, sliding about 40 or 50 feet. The bike apparently flipped over to the other side and slid a little more as well. I remember thinking to keep my head up and my hands up (I was wearing fingerless gloves), and I remember seeing me and the bike going towards a Chevy Tahoe coming the other way, and praying that he would stop. As I came to a stop I appeared to be unhurt and was able to get to my feet right away. Thankfully my son had been able to somehow stop safely, but he was a mess. I could hear him screaming as I was sliding along. Then I guess he didn't see me for a couple seconds, and he panicked even more. He came running to me balling, and just held on. He couldn't stop crying. The Tahoe not only had stopped, but he pulled across the road to block traffic. And several cars behind Matthew stopped. I had heard a woman in a car that was in the pull off saying "Oh my God, he's getting up!" The man driving the Tahoe came over to help me pick up the bike and push it to the side. At first glance the damage looked significant, and it was difficult to push. The floorboards were pushed up so I couldn't get it out of gear. Part of the coupler had actually broken, so we just had to remove the safety chains to separate the trailer. Once everything was off the road, I looked where it had all just happened. I was amazed at the conditions I was looking at. The hail was still coming down and the road appeared to be almost snow covered. Of course it stopped about that time, but it continued to pour down rain for another 20 or so minutes. And there was nowhere to take cover. I wanted to take some photos of the bike and road conditions, but I didn't want to ruin my phone. So here we were, on a mountain road 150 miles from home, in pouring rain, and with one bike unridable and a busted trailer. There are some awesome people in this world still. The couple in the Tahoe were those people for us that day. Steve and Kathy live in the mountain town of Bear City, and they were just out for a Sunday afternoon drive in the rain. They too were both soaked after helping me get the bike and trailer off the road. Steve told me he had a trailer and would be willing to go get it and trailer us into town, or even back down the mountain to the freeway. I humbly and thankfully accepted his offer. I had already contacted my brother that was going to head up to get us, but that was going to take a while. Steve and Kathy returned with their trailer in about 30 minutes, and we were able to load the RSV and the trailer onto it. By now they offered for us to come to their home to wait for my brother. Did I say these people are awesome? Once at their home, I made some phone calls. I cancelled my camping reservations, and notified family and friends about what had happened, but assuring everyone we were okay. I had to talk one of my daughters into staying put till we got home, she wanted to come up to make sure I was okay. We changed into dry clothes and Kathy even threw our wet ones in the dryer. And I inspected the bike more thoroughly. I must admit, I was now starting to feel some bruising, and the emotions were coming on. It was a bit of a scary ordeal. I have rambled on enough for now. I'm not sure, but I think the bike is totaled. I'll add to this later and include some details on the damage and some photos. I'm pretty bummed at the ruined camping trip and the potential loss of my bike, but I obviously have a lot to be thankful for. I am so thankful that it was me and not my son that went down. It was so hot when we left home, and I normally would have been without the jacket and wearing just a t-shirt. For some reason I wore my TourMaster mesh jacket, and it did do its job. I also tend to wear either my 3/4 or even half helmet in that kind of heat, but I had my full face modular helmet on. Not a scratch on the helmet, but you never know. Although the hail probably was the biggest cause of me going down, it also provided a slick "sheet" for me to slide along on. The Tahoe was able to stop on time. Kathy said from looking at me coming at them, she really thought I would be seriously hurt or even killed. Steve said he didn't know what to think as he saw me and the bike and trailer coming at him. Said it looked bad. I thank God I was not seriously hurt. And of course the kindness and hospitality that was given to us by Steve and Kathy. And thank you to all on here for letting me tell my story, and for all the kind words I know I will get.

Thank you Freebird. You stated that much better than I would have... although I was proud of myself for not saying (posting) something when I read the post last night.

Hey MongoE9, I'd be interested in attending something like that, but I have to admit I'm not much good mechanically except the very basic stuff. Just getting together could be a good thing tho. Let me know what you come up with.

Aloha. Just don't get the one at Walmart.....

As for the cup holder at Target, it's Bell and in the bicycle accessories aisle. Less than $6.00 and just as good as the one I paid a lot more for at a bike shop.

I do agree it's a bit silly to get all worked up because someone doesn't return a wave, but I would hate to see it dwindle away just because there's more bikes out there nowadays or whatever reason. I remember when I started riding in the 70's, it was that camraderie, and the wave, that was a big part that lured me in. I always loved that ad from Honda that said "You meet the nicest people on a Honda (motorcycle)". The ad included a couple on the highway, and yes, they were waving at a passing biker. When I drove a Jeep a few years back, there were some other Jeep drivers that would wave as you passed, mostly out in rural areas. Now the Jeep is so common, I doubt there's that camraderie with them anymore. All three of my kids loved doing the waving from the back seat as they rode along with me, and now my son rides his own and he loves the waving stuff. I've been riding my little Honda 250 dual purpose around town more lately, and it's funny the difference on who waves or waves back depending on what you're riding. I must say, it maybe used to be the Harleys that were more "snobbish" about it (and I mean years ago), but nowadays I don't think it's as much the bike model as it is the rider. The only time I feel kind of silly is when I've waved and then see it's a motor cop. But even they will normally wave back though. Anyhow, I'll keep waving at fellow (or sister) riders at least most of the time, but I won't take any offense if they don't wave back.

I find this topic interesting, probably for a slightly different reason. Here in California where it's legal to share (split) lanes with cages, I do it often. Some times splitting means you're actually riding on the lane marker literally splitting the lane, but probably most of the time we are actually sharing the lane with the cage. When I come up on another bike, I don't automatically pass using the same lane. Unless of course he acknowledges me and "allows" it. I am more apt to pass a bike actually using the other lane. Seems crazy since the bike is so much smaller than the cage that I will likely share a lane with. It's probably because I'm aware of most biker's feeling about their "space" on the road. I've been taken by surprise a few times by bikes passing me in the same lane, and it's not a great feeling. But then again, when I see them coming up behind me and they are going faster than I am, I will gladly move over and signal for them to pass me in the same lane.

Very interesting thread, and I'll go ahead and add my 2 cents in also. I normally wear my FF modular, and it's probably my favorite. Second is the half helmet with leather lower padding zipped in, and a 3/4 once in awhile. As to riding in states that don't require, I went without for about 100 miles in '07 through Utah while doing an Iron Butt with my son SoCal to Denver. About 10 minutes into taking the helmet off, it began to rain, and then it turned into hail for about 5 minutes. Think someone was trying to tell me something?! Anyhow, I enjoyed going without, but it was not smart on an Iron Butt. I had the complete opposite experience of what someone just wrote about. Going without more protection from the wind, it fatigued me more. I guess a difference is I normally wear a helmet, and I don't even notice a neck issue. My 17 year-old son is riding now, so I am doing my best to encourage him to wear the proper gear by setting the example myself. Regardless of what I may or may not wear, I do insist he wear most of the ATGATT (I guess MoTGMoTT), but I'm the dad so I'm allowed to do that for at least another year.

Ooppps. I hope that one doesn't stink.

It sounds like you are going inland before hitting the coast anyhow, but just a word of caution. I had heard that Hwy 1 was closed due to landslides up about 40 or so miles south of Monterey. As beautiful a ride as it is, you would not want to get caught in any detours in that area. It might be cleared by now, but it would be worth it to check first if you go that way.

Another honored and proud Patriot Guard Rider here. Thanks for posting this. I've never known a better group of people. We'll be welcoming home an American Hero this coming Friday in Southern California.