[Bloodbought1]

Just a few words about my Sat. Wingstock ride.
I rode with Steve{Daddysbike},Sheila{motorcyclemom40},Roger{Panther} and Jamie{Jamie}.We were headed for the Gap-Cherohala Parkway..etc.
I headed into a left-hander too fast for my experience and saw that I was headed into the ditch.I then did the wrong thing and fixated{sp} on the ditch...Running into the ditch...followed it about 15-20 feet...popped back into the road and by the grace of God kept it upright...Sheila was behind me and able to avoid me by going across the line and around me...Thank God there was no own coming traffic.
I remember seeing the ditch and saying Oh Lord....hearing the gravel flying and then seeing Sheila come past me.I don't remember seeing anything as I was traveling down the ditch.
Long story short I was riding over my head.I'm not used to riding the twisties and wasn't paying good enough attention.

I want to thank all you who was with me.They were and are some fine folks.
The left foot peg bracket broke off and the kickstand spring jumped off.We found both items.
Steve called "Depot Power Center" in Blairsville.George the manger there was gracious to take the bracket off of his"one and only GL1800".
George you're the best.
We didn't get to go where we were headed,but we still road some great roads without any further mishaps...LOL

Thanks guys for the gracious way you all took care of me...
Steve,Sheila,Roger,and Jamie.

In Christ
Bloodbought1

 

[dicepilot]

Glad you are OK. Let mine be the last for a long time. See you on the road soon.

 

[mr.b]

Maybe you came away with another perspective on riding after your mishap. Pace yourself to your own skill level, no matter who you're riding with.

To be totally honest, you're the kind of rider that made me choose Not to do any more group rides. Don't miss it one damned bit!!

Glad you fared well this time!!

Good luck in the future.

 

[Bulldog]

Blood, Glad that you didn't spill any !

Ones comfort level in riding, should be the limit. Sounds as though you got away with some cheap education, and a good lesson.

You were with good people and it would appear that your Guardian Angel was with ya.

Glad it worked out and nobody hurt, cept maybe a bruised ego.

Ya done good Blood.

Dawg

 

[azblackbird]

Hate to say this blood, but if you had ABS on your wing that would have prolly never happened. ABS is the greatest thing you can have on a gold wing. It will keep you from crashing. Glad you wern't hurt... :yes1:

 

[jburd]

azblackbird....................I don't see any mention of brakes in the post. ABS doesn't work any better than conventional unless you apply them.
Maybe I missed it.

 

[Snoopy]

I too didn't see anything in the post about brakes but maybe I missed something. A smart rider in the twisties will only ride 80% this gives you room to compensate for unknowns. Glad you were able to ride it out with no injuries to yourself and little damage to the bike.

 

[Green Horn]

Blood thanks for your honesty. I will take your advise and hopefully learn from your lesson, again thanks for your honesty

 

[daddysbike]

I was leading the ride, Bloodbought1 was behind me so I didn't see what happened. We had been riding for ~2hrs, mainly 4 lane hwy then mostly straight 2 lane. We had just past the left turn for 129 into Robbinsville, NC heading toward 28 then to Deals gap. The road was getting real twisty and going downhill. I think maybe Bloodbought1 was still in the zone of riding staggered and maybe got caught a little off gaurd by the quick change from hwy to twisties. I don't think we were going too fast, maybe 10over like we had discussed. Anyway it got a little steep and twisty plus he had a peg lowering kit on his bike which may have added to him hitting when he got off line and corrected by leaning back hard left into the corner as he should have and did not freak out and abandon ship or "lay her down". I saw motorcyclemom40 behind him swerve into the other lane and thought "what the ?". We all pulled over checked for damage and soiled shorts and called my trusty folks at Depot Power Center in Blairsville GA who agreed to let us ride over, pull the peg/bracket off a showroom bike and ride off! great folks over there. I've been going there for years, its not the closest Honda dealer for me but the best.
Anyway we had a great ride and a great day despite the early setback. I'll be adding a thread with photos shortly.
I hope there is another Wingstock!

Steve

 

[dicepilot]

Hate to say this blood, but if you had ABS on your wing that would have prolly never happened. ABS is the greatest thing you can have on a gold wing. It will keep you from crashing. Glad you wern't hurt... :yes1:

I think you have ABS confused with the bumper rails you use when bowling.

 

[jamie]

ABS would had made no difference on what happend, in fact if he had hit his brakes it would have been much worse as it was soft dirt, he most lilky would have gone down.


Jamie

 

[robeth]

Glad you are OK.

With those lowered footpegs you'd better just stick to the straight roads! It seems your bike and twisties aren't meant for each other.


Bob E.

 

[motorcyclemom40]

I was directly behind Michael and feel I had the best view of what happened.

We really wasn't going very fast. Believe me, I have just started to learn how to ride the twisties in the last month and at no time did I feel that there was really any pressure to ride over our limits. From what I seen it was a combination of the group still being in a staggered formation when it should have been single file, (This was not one's person fault, it was more because none of us were really used to riding in a group) and the fact that his pegs were lowered. Mike was riding the outside track when he leaned into the left hand curve, went wide, hit his driver peg, stood the bike up some and went off the road. He did a great job of keeping the bike up right and getting back on the road without more mishap.

My first instinct was to hit the breaks, but soon realized that it was better to get completely out of the way. I have seen this happen before where the rider coming back onto the roadway takes out the next couple of bikes. I knew the left lane was clear and hit the headlight modulator and let off the brakes all at the same time. I was parked on the left shoulder before Mike had even got his bike stopped. Steve seen my headlights and turned around.

I think it was a great lesson for all of us. I usually don't ride with anyone, little lone a group. I learned a lot about group riding but also learned that sometimes it is a lot of fun when you have others to ride with. I don't think Mike likes that he had the accident but I for one am sure glad that we all went for a ride together.

 

[Brian in Abilene]

Glad it was nothing serious. I've been involved with group riding for many years, both as a member and a leader. For those of you that are new to it I'd like to offer a suggestion that may resolve this problem in the future. Get everyone together and conduct a preride briefing. Spell out everything, including things like "when we hit the twisties everyone go single file, ride your own ride and if you fall behind we'll catch up later."

I usually end up leading a large group every year at the Texas Gathering and have found this resolves many problems before they start.

Just a suggestion......ride safe.

 

[Arn Butt Bill]

When I saw Steve's group at Turner's Corner later I didn't know what to think....
They were supposed to be at the Gap.

I'm so glad that he pulled it together and found that last 1/10 of edge.

 

[MadCow]

Re: Blessed to be here..In and out of the ditch..Sat. Wingst

Just a few words about my Sat. Wingstock ride.
I rode with Steve{Daddysbike},Sheila{motorcyclemom40},Roger{Panther} and Jamie{Jamie}.We were headed for the Gap-Cherohala Parkway..etc.
I headed into a left-hander too fast for my experience and saw that I was headed into the ditch.I then did the wrong thing and fixated{sp} on the ditch...Running into the ditch...followed it about 15-20 feet...popped back into the road and by the grace of God kept it upright...Sheila was behind me and able to avoid me by going across the line and around me...Thank God there was no own coming traffic.
I remember seeing the ditch and saying Oh Lord....hearing the gravel flying and then seeing Sheila come past me.I don't remember seeing anything as I was traveling down the ditch.
Long story short I was riding over my head.I'm not used to riding the twisties and wasn't paying good enough attention.

I want to thank all you who was with me.They were and are some fine folks.
The left foot peg bracket broke off and the kickstand spring jumped off.We found both items.
Steve called "Depot Power Center" in Blairsville.George the manger there was gracious to take the bracket off of his"one and only GL1800".
George you're the best.
We didn't get to go where we were headed,but we still road some great roads without any further mishaps...LOL

Thanks guys for the gracious way you all took care of me...
Steve,Sheila,Roger,and Jamie.

In Christ
Bloodbought1

Glad to see you learned a valuable lesson here..ride within your skill.

A bike is nothing without a rider.

 

[Snoopy]

Two things to remember when riding that is to ride your ride and also ride your bikes ride. You ride a sports bike different from a wing, you ride a wing equipped with high way pegs different than one not equipped. Then only ride 80%

 

[Dorian_Blue]

Sometimes you can't know your limits until you've exceeded them. You must have some outstanding skills that enabled you to ditch it without dumping it! Kudos to you, and we are all glad you stayed upright. The lessons learned from this one will add a lot to your arsenal of skills.

 

[Get busy living]

reply

Thanks for the information and for the reminder. I am not preaching or talking down to you, but, excessive speed will do you in faster than anything. The Gl 1800 handles great, especially for a big bike, which makes it tempting to ride too fast. When you ride, take your time and enjoy your machine and all the beauty God has placed around you. Excessive speed will do you in quicker than anything else you will ever face...................................

 

[Duane in Bakersfield]

Michael, it takes a lot of guts to come on here and 'fess up to making a mistake so others can learn from it. I'm sure you had already figured out right after it happened what you needed to do, and not do, in the future to avoid a recurrence, so I think you posted mostly to thank the others that were with you for their help in a public way. Good job.