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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 14
| Just wrapped up a trip that I had been planning for a couple of months. Left Providence RI early Friday am on my 08 steel gray Vision and headed to Chicago to see my new grandson. From there I traveled down through St Louis and stayed over in Oaklahoma City...had a great steak at the Cattleman's Steakhouse. Of course I had to pick the two hottest weeks on record to do this run but the Vision held up very well. From Oaklahoma City I went across 40 and hopped on parts of old route 66 and headed across Texas through Amarillo. Once I hit Amarillo I took a southwest turn and headed to Roswell NM across the White Sands Missle Range...108 degrees. Stayed over in Las Cruces. Left Las Cruces and went north across 152 to Silver City(Trail of the Ancients) to 191 north...Coronado Scenic Byway...talk about demanding scenic roads.....from here headed to Sedona with a quick stop over in Winslow AZ....took pic of Vision "Standin on the Corner". 89A through Sedona, Jerome, and Prescott is just spectacular with great views around every corner. After getting through Prescott Valley I ran across 40 so I could make it to San Bernadino and a new Victory dealer who did an oil change for me...I had already put 3500 hard and very hot miles on the Vision and just wanted to treat her to some new oil...great dealer and did the job in an hour ....stayed over in San Bernadino. Leaving San Bernadino early in the am and got on to the Angeles Crest Highway which is a very challenging, scenic, and newly paved road which takes you over 50 miles through the San Bernadino Forest into Hollywood and Ventura. From here I ran over to the PCH and travelled from Morro Bay up to Santa Cruz....Great views and nice drop in temp from the 100plus I had been travelling in. Proceeded to San Jose where I spent the night. When I thought the riding couldn't have gotten any better, the best was yet to come. Left San Jose early am and went into Yosemite and rode the Tioga Pass....what a spectacular road with d wildlife everywhere....even though it was a saturday the traffic wasn't bad at all. After crossing over Tioga I then rode south on 395 through the Sierra Nevada range...It was getting later in the afternoon and I had a reservation at the Furnace Creek Inn in Death Valley for that night.......Running Death Valley at 4pm was a BIG MISTAKE!! Halfway across the temp started to climb until it eventually hit 121 hotter than hell degrees...never happier to stop than that night!
The next day was probably the best of the trip...I left DV early in the am (still 111 degrees....happy to get the hell out of there) went down through Vegas to the Hoover Dam...what a spectacular piece of engineering. From there I went north into Zion national park, Red Rock Park, and ended up in Bryce Canyon.....these three parks were worth the trip alone. The next day had me travelling up to Steamboat Springs via Arches and the Colorado Riverway to meet up with my brother in law and a few of his friends to finish out the trip.
Headed from Steamboat across the Rocky Mountain national park road to Estes Park. This is where things got ugly for me....As we were leaving the visitor center a truck approached me as I was pulling out of the lot...it looked like he wasnt going to stop so I let off the throttle for an instant as I was pulling out and my foot got caught under the floorboard and the bike went down. The good news is there wasnt a scratch on the Vision as the tip over bars did exactly what they were supposed to. The bad news was that my left ankle broke in two places and I had to leave my bike in Denver and head home for surgery. Thank god that this happened where it did and I had a support team of family and friends around me....also I had a leather jacket on and a helmet only because it was cool at the summit ....this Im sure, helped in no head or back injury during the fall.
The accident sucked but the trip was spectacular...the only thing I would do differently in the future is to not ride alone....if this accident, as minor as it was in motorcyle terms, happened in some of the remote areas I had been riding in alone then things could have been alot more serious.
I'll post some of the pics as soon as I get my bike back...had left it in there lol!! |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | Rd, thanks for sharing your trip, I really enjoyed your write and woud have loved to been on that ride with you. I'm hoping to have the opportunity to ride to Barstow in the next year or so for business, I want to make it somewhat a song ride. Like going through Lukenbach, Winslow, Wolf Creek Pass, Teluride, Jackson, etc.
It's a bummer you broke your ankle and wish that Victory would put a warning out about the rear tip overs. I've got my foot caught under there as well, and so as others. I read a tip that I have incorporated and that is to keep the rear floorboards in the down position. The calf will make contact with them first, warning you that your foot could go under the tip over.
I would recommend all Vision riders keep the passenger floor boards down.
Edited by varyder 2009-07-24 9:36 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 177
| I have no choice but to keep them down. My wife is short so we installed 2 sets of risers, one stacked on top of the other. Sounded like an awesome trip, so sorry about your ankle. Well look at it this way when you get healed up you can go back, get your bike and still have a nice ride home. Best of luck and wish you a speedy recovery. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| Nice writeup and like the others have said sorry about the broken ankle. My only question is how the heck did you get your foot stuck under the floorboard while you were moving????
Ok now this isn't a bash on anyone so please don't take it as such. Everyone who has not read proficient motorcycling, twist of the wrist, and/OR worked on the "Ride like a Pro" series, should do so. Many of the folks here are "return" riders, or new.... a few are long time riders, BUT regardless of which category you fall into these will improve your riding and knowledge of riding. This is really important given the size of the bike we are riding.
Oh and I don't just talk the talk. I take a MC related course every few years and practice the ride series stuff weekly. It will save your hide and/or life at some point. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | rdrunner,
What a trip. I almost did that once to my ankle but thank God for my short feet. Heal fast and get back out there!
Floor Boards down is a great tip. You do not want to jump when a rear floor board hits the back of you leg while the wife is on the back.....then drop the Vision on the tips. BTDT |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 14
| My mistake in stating that my foot was caught under the floorboard...it was actually the left rear tip over protector. I was pulling out making a sharp left exit and as I put my leg out to balance the angle of the turn forced my foot under the tip over bar and brought us down at very low speed. Just be careful especially if you have long legs of keeping that foot clear of the rear tip over bar in a tight turn. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 14
| Thanks for that advice and I will certainly use it in the future |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | rdrunner - 2009-07-26 4:38 PM
My mistake in stating that my foot was caught under the floorboard...it was actually the left rear tip over protector. I was pulling out making a sharp left exit and as I put my leg out to balance the angle of the turn forced my foot under the tip over bar and brought us down at very low speed. Just be careful especially if you have long legs of keeping that foot clear of the rear tip over bar in a tight turn.
I knew what you meant when you first post, been there, done that but don't have a broke ankle, just a scared boot. Also, the dealer's son rode a vision and sprained his ankle on the tip over.
When I read to keep the rear boards I've done it ever since, and it works. Not that I would dare allow my feet to get there again, my calf's will touch occassionally making me realize that it could happen again before I know it. |
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Fountain Inn, SC United States | rdrunner - That sounded like a great trip, something I've wanted to do for a long time. As for the rear tips, I wrote about that very thing in my review 2 years ago. So sorry it happened to you. I agree about riding with someone, besides the safety factor, it's just better to run a great road and then relive it with a buddy. Glad you're on the mend. There's a bunch of Vision Riders in CO, can anybody help him get his bike back? |
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| Ah the tip over! Thanks for clearing that up and still sorry to hear it happened.
JAM great idea maybe a relay or someone trailering?? |
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | More about this post from thevmc.com.
http://forums.thevmc.com/bb/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=75713 |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | and now you know..... the rest of the story...
PHA 1918-2009 |
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Tourer
Posts: 520
Simi Valley, CA | Thanks for sharing!
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Iron Butt
Posts: 669
Peachtree City, GA | Heal quickly - sounds like it was a great ride up to that point. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 140
| Sounds like a trip almost worth a broken ankle. Thanks for posting, and heal quickly!
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Vision Coast to Coast