I haven’t posted for a while, and it’s time I came clean.   I’ve been suffering from severe cases of wounded pride and deflated ego.  Unfortunately, that’s not the worst of it.  Last month my wife and I were on our long anticipated ride from Washington to her nephew’s High School graduation in Pleasanton, CA. 

We were having a great time in our third day when I made a miscalculation on curvy Highway 1 about 40 miles from San Francisco.  I was in the middle of a sharp left hand turn when I anticipated on-coming traffic was way too fast for the curve so I tried to adjust my line farther outside.  Big mistake; there just wasn’t enough room.  We hit the road edge and the bike slid out from under us.  We weren’t going very fast so we didn’t slide far, but, we went over hard on the left side.  Carmen, my wife, suffered the most.  Her helmet visor hit the road and then the left side of her head hit the visor.  She was conscious and talking afterwards, but she wasn’t making much sense so she was transported by ambulance to Marin County General Hospital.  At the hospital, it was determined that she had a fractured left shoulder, a concussion, and a small bit of road rash on her left side.  Since Carmen’s injuries didn’t seem severe and I was only suffering some stiffness around my left rib cage (it would soon become more like, ‘don’t come near me, it only hurts when I breath pain&rsquo I stayed with the bike and one of California’s finest Highway Patrol Officers  for a long wait for a tow truck.

In the immediate aftermath of the accident, after tending to Carmen, some Good Samaritans, who had stopped to render assistance, and I tried to stand the bike up to see if it was rideable.  Note to everyone:  If you slide off the road onto a heavily leaf covered shoulder, check the surface under your bike before you stand it up.  Seems we had slid right over the top of a completely obscured concrete lined culvert.  When we stood the bike up the front wheel promptly fell into the culvert (guess the leaves couldn’t support the weight; Duh!).  The front of the bike almost, almost fit perfectly.  If it hadn’t been for the front fender, the front fairings, the left side tip over protection and the left floor board it probably would have.  So even if it was rideable after the mishap, it wasn’t after the fall into the culvert.  

It has been a harrowing experience, but, could have been a lot worse and I can’t say enough good things about the kindness of all the people who stopped to help, the professionalism of the EMS, the Law Enforcement Officers, and even a couple of Park Rangers who responded to the scene.  Special thanks should go to Officer Beard of the California Highway Patrol.  He waited with me for the tow truck, helped load it and tie it down on the truck, helped me unload all of my belongings from the bike to his car, and gave me a free ride to the hospital to meet Carmen.

The worst part has been dealing with the insurance company.  They seem to be coming around, but, I’m skeptical about Progressive since it took them a week to do anything and that not until I nagged the Claims Rep repeatedly.  The Arlen Ness shop in the Bay area even refused to repair the bike because of past experience with Progressive, so, the bike is at Scuderia West in San Francisco.  If all goes well, and they can get all the parts, I may have my bike back in 3 weeks or so.   We’re having great riding weather in Washington and I really miss our Vision.  It’s a great sign that Carmen seems to miss it even more.

I am so sorry to hear of your accident. You and Carmen are in my thoughts and prayers for a full, speedy recovery.

My hubby & I used to have Progressive. After being in an accident (hit by another rider, who also had Progressive), and fighting with them for over 8 weeks before they finally let my bike get repaired, we cancelled and went with Foremost. Haven't had to use their claim service yet *knock wood*, but they dispatched a locksmith within 20 mins. after my hubby lost his keys to his Gold Wing at Daytona Speedway, after he had been arguing with Honda's road side service for over 2 hours. (They didn't think that key could be made except at the dealer, and this was after a race... he would have to wait until Monday morning)

Thank-you, everyone, for the well wishes and words of encouragement.  Carmen and I are mending very well and the Vision is still on track for being ready for me to pick up on Aug1-2.  Wayne

Wayne & Carmen,

There's not a rider on this forum who thinks it couldn't happen to them.  Thanks for coming clean.  It sucks but it's good for all of us.  Deer strikes, off-roading through a pile of sheetrock, laydowns and all of the other near misses posted here are great reminders to be prepared and ride within our limits. 

The bike is so fun and just begs to be pushed.  It makes me stupid on a regular basis.

Even Chuck Yeager had his share of bad days.  Hope you guys are flying again soon.