Last Monday Could Have Went Better

[Big IV]

Honestly, last Monday could have went better, but it could have went worse. By comparison this rainy day in the office seems nice.

I've been pulling long hours for quite a while trying to make ends meet. I've been working 12 hour days for years, but it is finally starting to catch up to me. The long days are not condusive to good sleep or a proper diet. Instead, I'm running on little sleep, exhaustion, and a diet of fast and cheap when I can get it.

Last Monday, at 9:00 pm, I checked out of work and  headed home hungry. Flying down a stretch of road that I know fairly well I was ignoring the speed limit. The Valk was responding like a dream.  Then the deer stepped into the center of the road.

I pulled to the left (heading behind the deer) on the quiet road in the middle of nowhere.

The deer sauntered on. I wasn't quite paying attention to where.

Somewhere in the intervening second I found myself sliding across the asphalt watching my bike drive off without me. I watched the bike drive about 100 yards down the oncoming lane before veering off into the ditch and out an embankment.

I could tell right away my right foot hurt, so I slid myself off the road into the wet grass.

A truck came up the road a few moments later. He had been behind me at the last stop light, I'd pulled off spiritedly, and he was watching for me. As a local fire chief he knew that road was frequented by deer. I did too. I've seen plenty on that stretch.

He pulled off the road and started shouting out the window at my motorcycle. The lights were on but no one was home. I called back to him and eventually he realized where I was and walked back to check on me.

The fire chief wanted to call an ambulance. I didn't want to. I told him I was fine. He asked if I could stand. I politely said I'd prefer not. After a few moments he convinced me to call an ambulance to at least check out my ankle. It was already throbbing.

While we were waiting on the ambulance, several people stopped to ask if I needed help. That was nice of them. I just sat tight. I did manage to call my wife and asked her to get Dad and a trailer to pick me and the bike up.

While we were waiting on the ambluance the fire chief introduced himself to me. While we were making small talk about the warm night and the rain clearing up, a truck ran off the road  and nearly ran over my motorcycle. The truck was spooked by the police chief's lights and swerved off the road as if it was an oncoming car in his lane. The truck managed to hit the speed limit sign that my bike had missed.

The ambulance came and asked questions. At one point they asked if I was riding alone. I said I was. Then they asked where the motorcycle had landed, my response was "she's over there." The medics were convinced that I meant I had a passenger. Nope. I meant my bike is a gal. We were able to clear that up.

The medic was in the middle of her warning that removing my high calfed boot was most likely going to hurt when I asked her to unzip the back of it. As it turns out, boots that zip down the back are much easier to remove from a sprained ankle.

My wife and dad, and a countless number of state troopers, volunteer fireman, and other assorted folks eventually showed up. Dad knew I was in pain when I didn't even want to walk over to the bike and check on it. Instead, I hobbled on a wrapped foot to the awaiting van.  Dad oversaw getting the bike onto a wrecker and towing it home. They had to lift it like a crane to pick it up. 

All in all. It could have been worse.

Friday we began straightening the bag rails and looking the bike over. She needs a few things sorted out but should be fine.

I've already ordered some new engine guards from PinWall  from a bike that doesn't need them any more. The wrecker drivers were impressed that the Valk engine guard actually protected the engine instead of snapping off and being shoved into the casing. That is a plus.

I've ordered a few miscillany from BikeBandit and Honda. I'm just waiting on a few things to come in so I can l get to work putting the bike back together. The ankle needs time to heal before I try to hold the bike up anyway.

Luckily, I had Thanksgiving week as a down time to sit with my ankle in the air. It did make it harder to hide from the in laws on Thanksgiving. Oh well. It could have been worse.

I'm fine. I'll heal. The bike will even heal.

[RainMaker]

WOW!  Glad you were not hurt more seriously and that your Fat Lady is repairable.

[MacDragon]

Sorry to hear about your dilema... I, also just missed a deer a few nights ago at dusk... fortunately, did not go down.  i slowed down to a crawl as 2 more went across the road with the doe.  Heal well and hope the bike is back to riding again soon.

[Popeye]

Glad to hear that you are OK.  It could have been so much worse, trust me, I know.

The bike can be repaired and you should be on two wheels in no time.

Nice that you had so many people to help you.

[Serk]

Uh... OUCH!

Glad you're here to tell the tale!

[Liberty Bell]

Glad you and the bike were not hurt worse.....

Do wish the state would keep better control of their stilt wood rats.....

My cattle  gets out on the road and causes a wreck, I am liable...
Why isn't the state more liable when THEIR animals get on the road.

[RTaz]

Glad your okay, it could have been much worst. its amazing how fast these things happen, a few years ago I hit a deer going 60. Devon and I were two up on the Valkyrie when the deer came out of the ditch I barley had time to hit the front brakes we just grazed the deers hind end wobbled the bike real good but we stayed up....knocked the deer down but it got up too. Man all I could do at the moment was laugh and count my blessings.

[old2soon]

The good news of your post is that you are able to relate it to us. Everything and i do mean everything will fall into place cause yer still sucking wind-thank GOD. Your ankle will heal up-you've already ordrered your parts and when you is up to it you'll put er back together.  Tha main thing is you are still with us. RIDE SAFE.

[The Anvil]

Could have gone worse too. It's all in how you look at it.

Glad to hear you're relatively okay.

[the inspector]

Big Guy, glad your OK, be careful out there, forest rats are a running. Heal fast Brother.

"the inspector"

[Oss]

guardian angel was watching out for you

lifted you off the falling bike and rolled you off the road

heal well and fast

oss

[YoungPUP]

Glad you're ok, sucks about the bike though, But thats repairable.

[Chiefy]

Heal fast!  Take it easy on that ankel or it will take forever to heal.

[Big IV]

Big Guy, glad your OK, be careful out there, forest rats are a running. Heal fast Brother.

November, or there about, is rutting season for our local deer so I should have known on a warm November night to just crawl home, but I was in a hurry to find dinner.

The bike will be repairable. It sucks that I have to wait for the foot to heal, parts to come in, and time to roll around for me and Dad to work on the bike. It is probably for the best that time is built in to the process to force me to heal, but I'm impatient. Logic and passion do not always wind up agreeing.

Oh well.

Yes, it could have been worse. I'm glad I could limp away to ride again another day.

[rmrc51]

You clearly had someone looking over you. Glad you're feeling better and the Valk is repairable.

I have one of those electronic deer units on my trike. I have no idea if it really works but what the hell, better to have something than nothing. Here's the link;

http://www.xp3hornet.com/

I can tell you that when I have it turned on, you can just about make out a very high pitched sound.

[olddog1946]

Glad you are ok and the bike itself doesn't sound to be in that bad a condition..Take the time to heal before you start taxing that ankle..the bike will wait for you..

[Big IV]

My crash bars arrived in a parcel yesterday. That is one of the pieces that I need to put the bike back together again. I'm hoping Saturday will be a pretty enough day to spend some time straightening the bag rails, straightening the windscreen back up, and switching crash bars. That won't put me back o the road but it will make me ready for the box of rear brake parts.

The original set of Crash Bars did their job, now it is time to retire them and replace them with a pair that I hope never do anything.

[Rowdy]

Dang deer 
One forced a friend of mine off the road last week, broke his arm in 3 places 

[hubcapsc]

That won't put me back o the road but it will make me ready for the box of rear brake parts.

I have a perfect rear brake pedal, and maybe some levers... do you need any of those kinds of
doodads like that that a bunch of us might have lying around... ?

-Mike

[Big IV]

I have a perfect rear brake pedal, and maybe some levers... do you need any of those kinds of
doodads like that that a bunch of us might have lying around... ?

Not at the moment Mike. I needed to clean the rear brake caliper because it had been sticking before the crash. So, I'm going to pull it, put a rebuild kit in it and then reassemble. I think my pedal is fine but I will be double checking it as I bleed the brakes.

This in part is deer related. In part it was a little minor maintenance that had been ignored during long work weeks and too short of time. I'm going to try to rebuild from both while I'm putting it all back together.

My next semester should have shorter hours and let me rest more and tend the bike some more. Hopefully that will help too.

[highcountry]

Wow, close call!  Glad to hear that you and your girl will be OK.  Heal quick!

[Big IV]

Let's see. We had a decent day of work. The bag rails are back together. The crash bars are not quite new but they are better looking than mine and are now on.  We lubed the brake pedal pivot points and that was long needed.

I am waiting on the seals for the rear caliber. Might as well rebuild that while I have the bike apart. I'm still waiting for the parts but they should be in soon.

[GreenLantern57]

Glad you are OK, what are you attending school for?  If you don't mind me asking.
We just moved to Charlotte area for my job and have really been enjoying the times I can ride the bike.  If I knew the weatherman would be so wrong about the rain, I would have rode today.

[Big IV]

Glad you are OK, what are you attending school for?  If you don't mind me asking.

Green, I'm in school working on my PhD in Literature and Criticism very slowly. I am also in school teaching at Gaston College (West of the Charlotte area but just barely). We will have to get together and ride sometime in 2012.

In general news, I haven't been in a rush to put the bike back together. My ankle feels fine now most of the time which is a plus. I've been working on the Valk slowly and doing a little long over due preventive maintenance. My dad and I have been working on it together which is nice.  So far, we've fixed the bag rails, reattached the windshield, and taken care of what we can from the wreck. We've also lubed the rear brake pedal pivot-which was long overdue-and rebuilt the rear master cylinder and brake caliber. We finally changed the timing belts. It has been over ten years and over 100,000 miles so it was time.

I just need to change the oil and reinstall the saddle bag. I might do that in the morning.

In the meantime, my wife and I have recommitted ourselves to finishing the master bedroom. We've been in the house 5+ years now so it is time to finish it up. My brother helped us put in some shelves and closet rods in the master bedroom closet. That is my wife's closet. My closet is in the hallway between the bedroom and the laundry room. We also hung bifold doors on both closets. My wife's closet is now fitted with a more or less set of matching doors that still need to be painted. My closet has a set of doors recycled from somewhere else in the house. Now, I'm trimming windows, staining, and polyurethaning the wood. It is a bit of a distraction from working on the bike, but it is nice to be making progress. When we finish the master bedroom we'll move into it despite still needing a master bath in the master suite.

The outbuilding/carport project is almost finished. I still have a little wiring to do, but it is already holding tools and lumber for the interior project so that is a success.

The F-100 project is still on hold awaiting me to get back around to it. It's painted but it doesn't run. It also needs the bedliner finished. I'll get to it. I want to get back to it soon, but we've put the bedroom up on the priority list.

Meanwhile, my wife has me using my time off doing projects around the house. She's still unemployed, but she did finish her internship and graduated with a counseling degree. She is going to start looking for a job with more earnest effort in the new year.

Overall, we've had a productive end to 2011. I will soon be back up on the road and riding in 2012 with many of the long term projects settling in toward completion.

[Big IV]

I have a perfect rear brake pedal, and maybe some levers... do you need any of those kinds of
doodads like that that a bunch of us might have lying around... ?

Not at the moment Mike. I needed to clean the rear brake caliper because it had been sticking before the crash. So, I'm going to pull it, put a rebuild kit in it and then reassemble. I think my pedal is fine but I will be double checking it as I bleed the brakes.

The rear brake pedal was sticking. In 2012 I will make a better effort to lube that more often. I recommend everyone lube the brake pedal if you haven't recently. It's not hard and is worth the time and effort.

[Big IV]

My wife's honey-do-list was in the way of my working on the bike so it is not finished yet. I did get the oil changed. I fired the bike up and it is running on all cylinders. I still need to tweak a few things before I can commute to work on Monday. Perhaps I'll be able to finish it soon.

I'm stuck at work uselessly at the moment and still not working on the bike. Happy Happy Joy Joy.

[Big IV]

Finally finished the bike and headed out down the road.

Afterward, I worked on the honey-to-do list again. It was a long day but everything is back rollin' before I need to head to work Monday morning. I even pulled the bike down into the new carport where she'll now live. My bike finally lives at my house. Nice.

[Hook#3287]

Big IV, glad your back in the saddle.
Good story about a bad time.

The only thing that scares me, on the road, is our four legged friends.

Good riding to you.