[Intuit]

So you know the physics game. We loose.
Got mowed down today.
Only reason I'm not using "rear ended" as a description is because I'm told the vehicle kept going and had to backup (on the highway) to revisit the scene.
Other than memory loss (concussion), some scrapes, bruised knee and mildly bruised elbow, muscle tension related "pain", I'm (VERY) fortunately fine.
I look at my phone, see phone calls and a text following the event that I don't remember making.
My text read, "Rear-ended I'm okay but I don't remember anything. I'm on 75 South I think".
Bits and pieces I recall; some of which has come back hours after.
I recall noticing a minivan in my side mirror that didn't look like he was slowing. By the time I looked forward to throttle, it was already too late. Powerless to effect change. I don't know how I didn't end up under the vehicle.
I recall fighting to quickly get my leg out from under the bike. Tried popping up a good three times, failing, before just taking a second to gather (some of) my wits and assess traffic, whereabouts, injury. Popped up and rush-hobbled across highway traffic to reach the shoulder; hopped up on the wall.
I recall looking around and not seeing any nearby vehicle that I could easily identify as being responsible.
A trail of debris was behind my bike, headlights now facing against traffic, still idling. (tip-over sensor was probably damaged in the crash and never tripped)
Vaguely recall talking to someone, their appearance... male light beard. Memory picks up again with me stating something about moving it out of their way... counting to three beside the bike. Apparently I helped roll it to the shoulder... think I recall putting the kickstand down.
Memory picks up again with the start of the ambulance ride... seeing my bike with a fractured rear wheel... noticing my boots off, questioning the paramedic while trying to reconstruct what happened. I recall picking up my helmet to inspect the damage. I don't recall unloading from the ambulance. I recall arriving to the ER front desk. Memory of events is mostly solid from there... I think. But Ingrid, one of the nurses said I was kind of spacey.

These photos were taken by my Brother.

So, the heavy weight contender...

...and in the other corner...

Photos of my clothes to come.
Snell certified HJC helmet did its job.
Steel toe boots, did their job.

 

[whoang40]

I’m glad you’re able to make this post after what you endured! Glad you made it out alive. Its odd the car has way more damage. Have a quick recovery and stay safe bro!

 

[Barnes2721]

So you know the physics game. We loose.
Got mowed down today.
Only reason I'm not using "rear ended" as a description is because I'm told the vehicle kept going and had to backup (on the highway) to revisit the scene.
Other than memory loss (concussion), some scrapes, bruised knee and mildly bruised elbow, muscle tension related "pain", I'm (VERY) fortunately fine.
I look at my phone, see phone calls and a text following the event that I don't remember making.
My text read, "Rear-ended I'm okay but I don't remember anything. I'm on 75 South I think".
Bits and pieces I recall; some of which has come back hours after.
I recall noticing a minivan in my side mirror that didn't look like he was slowing. By the time I looked forward to throttle, it was already too late. Powerless to effect change. I don't know how I didn't end up under the vehicle.
I recall fighting to quickly get my leg out from under the bike. Tried popping up a good three times, failing, before just taking a second to gather (some of) my wits and assess traffic, whereabouts, injury. Popped up and rush-hobbled across highway traffic to reach the shoulder; hopped up on the wall.
I recall looking around and not seeing any nearby vehicle that I could easily identify as being responsible.
A trail of debris was behind my bike, headlights now facing against traffic, still idling. (tip-over sensor was probably damaged in the crash and never tripped)
Vaguely recall talking to someone, their appearance... male light beard. Memory picks up again with me stating something about moving it out of their way... counting to three beside the bike. Apparently I helped roll it to the shoulder... think I recall putting the kickstand down.
Memory picks up again with the start of the ambulance ride... seeing my bike with a fractured rear wheel... noticing my boots off, questioning the paramedic while trying to reconstruct what happened. I recall picking up my helmet to inspect the damage. I don't recall unloading from the ambulance. I recall arriving to the ER front desk. Memory of events is mostly solid from there... I think. But Ingrid, one of the nurses said I was kind of spacey.

These photos were taken by my Brother.

So, the heavy weight contender...
View attachment 380157

View attachment 380162
View attachment 380164



...and in the other corner...
View attachment 380161


View attachment 380165


Photos of my clothes to come.
Snell certified HJC helmet did its job.
Steel toe boots, did their job.

Damn... I'm glad ur ok bro🙏.
Was it an elderly driver?!
My buddy slammed into a van with elderly driver taking left cutting in front of him.
These old ppl aren't aware and reaction is to slow! Or I bet it was someone on their damn phone!
I'm glad ur still with us man.

 

[Kevap]

Woah... hate seeing things like this. Great to see you survived. A little tweak here and there and your bike will be good as new.

 

[Cipher_R6]

Damn, glad that you are relatively ok and recovering. That’s the main thing.

 

[mordantly]

Holy shit man. That is a blody miracle you walked away from that crazy impact! How is your noggin doin? Safety gear does have a record of saving us from some heavy duty stuff.

That bike looks more tore up then my civic that hit a mountain at 90mph then I rolled 5 times. would trade my paid off r6 being totaled if it meant no broken back.

 

[R6Ruckus]

You get an estimate on repairs? I got a subframe you can weld together if you are missing pieces on yours.

 

[mordantly]

How are YOU healing up?

 

[Intuit]

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone. More memory (still gaps) of the event has returned.

I haven't had any contact with the driver/passenger and the crash report I obtained from Highway Patrol doesn't include statements. The driver provided a statement and a witness that remained on the scene provided one. The trooper followed me to the hospital for a statement but the concussion at the time prevented me from providing much information. But they were cited for 'safe assured following distance' or similar. If someone is following too close, that always catches my attention (increasing my reaction time) so I don't think that's really what happened. The report listed my speed as "0" and theirs at "65"... the posted limit. The owner of the vehicle is listed as the passenger so there were two occupants. They may have been distracting each other... dunno. But I began to recall just barely beginning to release the clutch when they made contact. No audio or visual memory but I do recall feeling a "surge" after initial speed... and with their foot over the accelerator that would make sense. When your foot is over the brake and you impact something, your foot gets pushed into the brake. In this case that was the accelerator. I also recall the feeling of my butt getting lifted up and a "rolling" rapid vibration increasing with frequency. (the fractured wheel) Vaguely recall someone on the scene telling me they heard my engine revv and that's what caught their attention so the bike probably propelled me out of their path and that's where I smashed my face into the pavement in the next lane over... fortunately not hitting anyone anything or getting runover.

Photos of the back and health saving gear as promised...

Mobile Edge backpack. (had two laptops, tire kit, ear plugs, paper towels, li-ion batteries for heated gloves, caliper locks in side-pockets plus a bunch of other miscellaneous items)

I've been experiencing some "tightness" almost between the shoulder blades when lifting heavy items such as my wheels earlier this week (switched to my snow tires)... probably from my face smashing into the pavement... but this backpack saved my lower and upper back.

Steel toe leather boots...

Tid-bit of flatness at the tip there. Hard to photograph that.

Stitched sole Wolverines are solid.

I wear layers. Lower-left shirt... side. What's really odd is, the white pleather jacket + black material jacket + polyester vest worn over this shirt, showed zero damage there.

Lesson: Genuine quality leather is wwaayy more abrasion resistant than pleather. No comparison. This is the left shoulder, neck, arm - backside. Didn't yet damage the polyester layer beneath the pleather.

Very thin pair of jeans. I had one other (thin) layer of sweats underneath. Normally I'm thicker down there during the cold. Sweats took no abrasion damage though, my knee certainly did.

Brand new genuine leather Highway 21 Heated Li-Ion Thinsulate Gloves show minimal evidence...

 

[Intuit]

You can see where the visor was ripped out of the gear plate...

Deep indentation on the forehead from glasses...

Blood stain on crown...

Back of the helmet. No other evidence of damage besides the external scrapes. The styrofoam shell appears to be all intact from the inside.

 

[Intuit]

Despite the advanced mileage that bike was in great shape. If you look closely at the photo you'll see that the subframe was literally ripped from the chassis. It's a good chance the chassis was tweaked in the process. All of the bikes wiring runs through that subframe so the wire harnesses will be fubar. Then it needs a new tank. Swing-arm and wheel. If FleaBay were reliable I'd consider rebuilding it, but I already know from past experiences it would be wwwaaaayyyy too much of a headache to get quality parts. The aftermarket rear seats fracture without anyone even sitting on them and don't expect the front seats to be any better. For that reason I had my OEM seats reupholstered. The chain and rear brake disc are OEM brand new. Don't think I could trust the chain after that. Fuel leak indicates possible damage to OEM hoses; along with wire harnesses. If FleaBay were reliable I'd consider rebuilding it, but I already know from past experiences that it's basically where everyone goes to get rid of their junk.

 

[mordantly]

Damn, this again proves safety equipment does work. And if you still get mangled, the extra 50 layers of skin buys you some extra slide time. I wear my steel tie work boots because theynare too big to transport otherwise. Now it never occurred to me the abrasion factor for the toe box, in a manufacturing job dropping over 20# will probably cut my toes off. I take it none of the lithium batteries punctured strapped to your back? I can't say I have ever heard anyone tell me a chiropractor actually made them better, only same same or worse.

 

[Intuit]

Yeah I don't anticipate any of the pains lingering beyond 6 months. I only say that because it took a chipped tendon/bone for my big toe, that long to "completely" heal. I may try fish oil supplement to aid lubrication back there. The batteries were actually in those nets in the photograph. Somehow they took only cosmetic abrasion damage.

Normally the R6 has a "pocket" of sorts so the full weight of the bike doesn't land on your leg. The rear mount for the tank went with the rear sub-frame. So part of that "pocket" went with it. Much of the weight of that bike landed on my left leg. Deep bruises are still visible on the side, back-inside of my knee; and ankle still hurts if I turn or/and load in particular ways. Knee swelling from impact with the pavement improves day-by-day. I suspect the many years of cycling has benefited by helping to limit injury, and accelerate recovery.

Was debating between R1, R7 and FJR 1300ES. Since I lost my R6 I'm no longer considering the R3 at this time. I vowed never to go R1 because the R6 has gotten me in enough trouble as-is. I use the acceleration not just for fun, but also to (reasonably) minimize time in blind spots and get myself wwaayy ahead of normal traffic from a stop; decreasing surrounding threat level. Even the R3 will do the latter but probably won't be quite as fun. Like the R3 I just don't expect the FJR to be as much fun; plus being a featherweight, there will be some challenges in muscling that thing around a sloped driveway. What I like about the FJR is, better security from carry-offs, the ability to haul more cargo and more mass/metal between myself and a cage.

Think I'm settling on the R7... blue.

 

[mordantly]

My step dad has a 2009/10 era fjr1300. It's heavy and big compared to the r6. But handles just fine. Not much different than my zx9r. Nice being a shaft drive and upright seating and electronic windscreen that does actually do something raised. But.. his is only a 5 speed. Newer certainly went 6 by now? My next purchase will be a fjr or similar posture shaft drive. Nearing 40, I won't be able to fold into rockets forever. I have had a limp for a couple months chipping a knee on two different moto accidents.. they suck to heal when standing all day.

 

[Intuit]

Yeah 6 speed. Some of the first 6-speeds were recalled for a transmission problem. The work to replace those parts is non-trivial so even though it's free, the work can be risky when someoen else is doing it. 44 as of five days before the crash. When you're lightweight, people think you're younger.

Found riding the R6 between cities that the upright position isn't all it's cracked up to be. I had an overloaded 39lb backpack. Upright basically turns your back into a shock-absorber for your melon. 😅 With the overloaded backpack, leaning forward made the trip bearable... barely. But the storage is required for longer trips. The backpack offers a level of protection that I find important. So I'd wear even with the onboard storage of an FJR.

 

[mordantly]

Yeah I have one of those ninja turtle backpacks that might do something if it was between the spinal and the asphalt compared to the jansport style ones I wore out twice per year. I custom built one from mil spec 1050d ballistic nylon and a mil surp recon ammo belt. It took some loading, balancing, and revising to learn that 50 pounds on your back really SUCKS!

 

[Intuit]

Some other details. I found out a couple of weeks ago from the insurance company that the person who hit me on the highway, also hit a parked vehicle that same day. Also turns out there were three people in that minivan, the third person a child.

Think I'm settling on the R7... blue.

Decided against the R7. Just too stripped down though, I wonder what if any front/rear R6 parts are transferable? Really, really dislike the idea of getting a new machine, only to have to start hacking on it; in addition to the adding a relay, wiring system and mount for GPS. Also going with a white color to help compensate for the fact that the lighting (including rear) on the 4th Gens is much smaller vs the 2nd Gen I had. For an R6, this appears to be a unicorn... unfortunately. The prices they're posting are only getting more insane... any thousands beyond MSRP for used and even hacked-on bikes. One Florida dealer wanted $1,600 over MSRP for a bike with drop-damage and an ABS light. The right side caliper had some odd corrosion on it.