WOW! What a day! . . . and I don't mean good . . . .

CaptainScott · Post by **CaptainScott** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 11:00 pm

Firiday evening my daughter had a bible study group at our house. She invited a couple of friends to go out on Destiny with us Saturday morning. We leave at ten. Normally this is great but . . . . .

9:45 found us getting ready for our guests to arrive when we got a call. The call. You know . . . our middle child Doug . . . Went down on his motorcycle. WHAT? OMG! Details and I want them NOW.

Well, it seems he went down in rain and slippery roads. No shock there.

OK, in short he is fine. Maybe a broken wrist. We'll see as the swelling goes down.

Daddy ( me ) and mom, made our way through downtown Seattle in the Green machine, Our pickup, to resuce our middle child. We retrieved his Ninja (sp?) motorcycle and him and brought both home.

His girlfriend a wonderfull sweetheart promised to make him go to the hospital and get checked out so we delivered he and his bike to his home knowing he would be checked out.

Back to sailing. we headed to Destiny. We arrived to find her AC power disconnected and sitting cold in the water at the dock. WtF? Now what? Well per our neighbers ( boat that is ) she lost her AC power in on of the many recent wind storms. OK, that's cool. We boarded her and founf all 5 batteries dead! Dang. Cant even go out in this balmy 45 degree day and enjoy the expected 15 knots of wind for sailing!

I fired the generator but the girls lost all desire to wait the 45 minutes it takes the honda to charge the batts enough to fire the engine.

While I thanke GOD that my son is basically OK, I missed a day of sailing too.

Dang, why am I here . . . Let me go THANK GOD again my son is ok.

Scott

PS: as a daddy who rides, how can I explain how dangerous it can be . . .

Beady · Post by **Beady** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:36 am

Keeping your family in our prayers.

Brian

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 6:25 am

Glad everything seems to be ok !

LeatherneckPA · Post by **LeatherneckPA** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 6:36 am

Scott, glad to hear your son is ok. As a year-round rider in northern PA and a former MSF instructor I can relate to your dilemma. Sadly, there is no substitute for experience. Although I will say that if someone does go down and get back on, they usually are a better rider (more cautious) for it. That may be the silver lining you are looking for.

lecker68 · Post by **lecker68** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:25 am

Scott glad to hear everything is ok with your family. Most regretful to hear you lost a day sailing and our prayers are with your family as children usually think they know everything until experience tells them otherwise.

Traveler · Post by **Traveler** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:40 am

Scott, Good to hear your son will be fine. What a wake-up, huh? I have been riding for many years and (now I am knocking big time on any available wood) have been extremely fortunate to never have had a street accident. I remember taking a riding course several years ago and the instructor said it is a matter of when not if as to a fall.

I have become very careful in my older age and hope to ride trouble free for the rest of the time. But, on the other hand, riding is still a great feeling and still lots of fun after all these years. Tell your son to always stay on the high side.

Regards, Jeff

Bhacurly · Post by **Bhacurly** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:55 am

Glad to hear he's ok Scott!

Did he lay it down properly? Picked up lotsa bikers over the years and that type of accident at least has the odds in his favor. Bikes scare the heck outta me, mostly cuz I have no self control

cs3079 · Post by **cs3079** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:08 pm

So glad you son's OK. I used to be a daily rider for a while in my young and..... well, when i was young. Never had a fall but did have a couple of hair raiser experiences in Detroit I75 traffic. Had a '75 Honda 550 I rebuilt from a wreck. (geez, a buying pattern was already set. In my next life, I'm buying nothing but new!) I loved riding, but I thank God that my son never got into it.

Here I am, the mid western 1979 version of easy rider. Learned a lesson about riding in cut-off shorts from a bee later that day.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:41 pm

I learned about riding in shorts when my '52 Harley Hummer came around a corner & I goosed it on gravel. The back end tried to pass the front end and a case of road rash was the result.

I've owned around 6 bikes from 125cc - 1100 and loved each one. It seems to be part of the human condition (especially for we guys) that excitement is equated with some level of danger. Hence, my flying gliders (no engines), rapelling down cliffs, driving my 914 around the Pacific NW, etc, etc. Glad your son's OK, but when I delivered my grandson's first tricycle I told my daughter, "You need to know that this will be fun, but he will get hurt on it." This was sort of the topic of the sermon I gave today when I invited people, not to church, but to an adventure!

Paul

Dallasbob · Post by **Dallasbob** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:44 pm

Wow Scott . . . that was a bummer of a day. Things will get better. No water for us to sail safely in around Big D so you're still ahead . . . at least you're in the water.

Bruce . . . Love the socks! I wish I could find some like we wore back in "The day" so I could embarass the kids. Can the double thick stripe knee socks still be found?

Lucky Jack · Post by **Lucky Jack** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 6:00 pm

Good he's gonna be alright. After a few close calls in Dallas traffic, I reluctantly sold my big Suzuki V-Strom and will have to wait till retirement I guess to renew that pastime.

CaptainScott · Post by **CaptainScott** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 6:49 am

Thanks for all the kind words!

Doug is fine albeit very sore. The bike is pretty ugly though. Mostly cosmetic.

After further review it looks like a panic stop situation where a car stopped short in front of him. He locked up his rear tire in wet conditions and went sideways. The bike hit a bump or whatever and he went over.

Destiny is still sitting at the dock with the charger on full. It'll take a few days to get her to full charge so we let her sit on Sunday.

Sheesh, I don't need weekends like this! LOL!

Either way, all seems to be well again and Doug received a harsh lesson on riding and panic stops! He'll not forget this one anytime soon.

With a nice shot of my beast I'll return you to your regularly scheduled forum!

This was taken on a nice day when we decided to ride to MT Baker in Norther Washington.

Again, thanks for all the support!
Scott

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:33 am

Sounds like what the road racers used to call a 'highside' ! Lay the bike down, wheels catch, bike stands up and off you go..

Many (many many) years ago I laid my little Honda 250 commuter bike down in an intersection, slid out from under me while swinging right thru a 90 degree right turn/yield. We slid across a road and thru the parking lot of a convenience store..separately....in a blink of an eye.

Years later I when I shaved off my Kenny Loggins beard (lol) I found I had a vertical mystery scar on my upper lip. Best I could figure it came from the wreck and I just never noticed it under the mustache !

Again glad all is well.

Dallasbob · Post by **Dallasbob** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:15 am

Wow . . . a beautiful shot like that makes me wonder if it might just be worth it to suffer 10 months of rain a year.

LeatherneckPA · Post by **LeatherneckPA** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 3:47 am

Gorgeous scenery and a nice looking Heritage Classic.