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Wet leaves are evil
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Well, I think this tells most of the shameful story:
I knew wet leaves are a serious traction problem, but I didn’t realize just how bad it it could get. In this case, it was a layer of leaves resting on hidden mud, and the result was dumping the bike.
Roads until this point in my ride were in great shape–three days of rain had washed things clean. But this was a heavily tree-lined back road, and the rain, leaves, and dirt on the side of the road had instead added up to a mess. I slowed way down… about 10mph before I hit this in a turn. As soon as I hit the leaves the bike started washing around and clearly wasn’t about to hold the turn. I straightened the bike and braked as absolutely slowly as I could without going into the oncoming lane (classic MSF mid-turn stopping). No luck. Just a woosh and out it went. Again, felt just like ice with the leaves and mud, and I even had a tough time getting enough traction just to lift the bike up.
Thankfully, the bike started right back up and was rideable. Most thankfully, other than a slightly bruised tailbone, I’m totally uninjured. I was wearing full gear that isn’t even scuffed (but I think I’d have had more bruises and a little road-rash without it) , Head never touched the ground, so helmet is fine. Like I said, I was being very cautious and had slowed way down before reaching this turn.
I’m waiting for the final estimate on the bike, but went over it with the mechanic and it doesn’t look all that bad. Side plastic to replace, bar-end, right peg and brake arm, and I should be back on the road in a week.
I’ve been going over what I could do differently. I got the important stuff right to avoid this being serious–slowed way down before the questionable road condition, wearing all my gear, and when I had to resort to braking I did it straightened up and gradually. In retrospect, it was simply a bad road to be going down. As soon as I saw all the leaves on a wet backroad, I should have stopped and found a different route.
Anyway, I thought I’d share my rotten day so others might avoid the same mess.
Hey man look at it this way, it makes your Kawasaki logo look much more rugged. It’s like a pair of ripped jeans, it just makes you that much cooler
Well, I dunno, now that she has a few scrapes, keeping rust back is an even bigger issue. I guess I’ll need to redouble my efforts at working on that motorcycle oil jacuzzi for the backyard.
I haven’t gotten the final repair estimate yet, but I’ve already decided not to do every little thing to bring the bike back to showroom-new condition. All mechanical and the major cosmetic stuff is going to get fixed, but the bike is still going to have some permanent scuffs and character from the wipeout.
A day later I’m in much better spirits about it. I was skittish when first hoping back on the bike to ride it to the shop (having only one peg, no access to the rear brake, and a big rainstorm starting on the ride didn’t help). But now I’m actually just laughing about the whole thing. Lots of old riders I’ve talked too in the meantime have had “and then I bit it in the leaves” stories. And now crashing the bike isn’t some abstract concern, and I know from first-hand experience that it’s not fun, but it ain’t (or at least doesn’t have to be) the end of the world.
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