Thanks for all the well wishes you all. It was me that went down.  According to the GPS tacks I was going 76 mph and for some reason when I braked for this turn the rear tire started to skid which has never happened before on me except in extreme panic stop practices.

Here is what I think happened. I was braking with the rear brake as I do going into a turn and usually through a turn. I applied front brake and may have given too much front brake but got a lot of dive on the bike as you can see in the video, more than I have ever gotten before.  When the front dived this much there was a lot of weight transferred to the front and off the rear tire which allowed the rear tire to skid and break loose and the tank slapping started. In a corner it is really hard to recover from a tank slapper. I was then headed for the ditch and the first reflector pole which I swerved to miss and did but then started going sideways in the gravel and then over on the tip-over protectors. I was then sliding towards the second reflector pole which I could not avoid.

If I would have not hit this reflector pole I would have not gotten hurt at all and the bike would have been fine to continue on the trip. The tip-over protectors worked awesome and are really designed well.

What did I do wrong? I could have been going slower. I shouldn’t have braked as hard as I did. I think I was taking in the scenery and the corner surprised me and I over reacted. I could have just let up on the gas, braked lightly and counter steered around the corner.

Before going on the trip I was complaining to my dealer and had a conversation with Kevinx about what I thought was an excessive amount of dive in the front forks as well as a lack of damping compared to what a new Vision has.

I have just over 38,000 miles on the Vision in just 18 months and have been riding since I was 9. I have put over 160,000 miles on a bike in just the last 8 years. I ride aggressive and have never had an incident on a street bike, not even in a parking lot.

My thoughts; I will probably go with ABS brakes on my next Vision. I am looking into purchasing a Traxxion suspension upgrade for my front forks on the Vision. I will slow down some. I am really glad I was riding a Vision as Vision really protected me and the bike. I would have hated to have this wreck on any of my other bikes.

I first thought I should have had a full face helmet to further protect my face but the doctor in the emergency room that stitched my face up and has seen a lot of motorcycle wrecks said the full face helmet might had been a lot worse. He said the pole would have shattered the plastic and with 1 to 2 inches of room in front of the face the pole would have driven those sharp pieces of plastic into the face and it could have been much worse.

I have a fractured left shoulder and 10 stiches under my left eye with some more cuts at the bridge of the nose and on top of the left eye. The pole hit me across the face and went in between my left arm and side. The pole drove my sunglasses frame into my cheek bones and bridge of the nose.

Thanks for the update Craig.  So glad it wasn't any worse.  Really sobering to watch.  When I think about some of the roads I've been on and close calls I've had it's easy to put myself in your shoes. 

It took a lot of guts to put that video out there for all to see but it will hopefully make us all better riders.  I look forward to riding with you someday.

DesertJim - 2009-09-15 5:46 PM Spock -Thanks for the report! It was good for us to know the details that could possibly help all of us given a similar situation. I know several, me included, were curious as to the situation you encountered. Do you think the ABS would have had a more positive effect? Hope you can get back on the road soon!

 I do think the VBS brakes would have helped and I will get them on the next Vision I buy.

Here are a few more pictures of and after the wreck. Kevin Ferguson and Bruce Bricker who were riding with me, Kevin was in front and Bruce in back of me. One of the funny things that happened was that after sitting up after the wreck you can see me pushing the mic button on the CB control on the handle bar to tell them I was down. Kevin came back, “what do you mean you are down you are talking on the CB” I replied I am down believe me.

In the video it looks like the bikes and cars went by an never stopped but they had to either park a little further down the road or turn around to park safely.



(Pole hitting Craig's face.jpg)



(Craig - wreck site.jpg)



(Craig's face - wreck site.jpg)



(Craig's arm - wreck site.jpg)



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Pole hitting Craig's face.jpg (26KB - 5 downloads)
Craig - wreck site.jpg (79KB - 3 downloads)
Craig's face - wreck site.jpg (71KB - 1 downloads)
Craig's arm - wreck site.jpg (69KB - 1 downloads)

smadge - 2009-09-15 7:31 PM Spock, Glad uou are doing OK,(in a manner of speaking) Hope you have a speedy recovery. I appreciate the narrative and believe it will help me and many others in our future riding. My wife and I winter in Texas (Kerrville) and hope we can link up for a ride in the near future. Our prayers are with you and hope all else is well with you. Smadge

Thanks smadge, we were in Kerrville the day before this wreck on Sunday. I really like that area and I would love to meet up with you and ride the great roads down there.

Travelin' Man - 2009-09-16 9:31 AM Spock, Hoping you have a speedy recovery, shoulder injuries can be a bear to get healed up from! Not to diminish my concern for your personal recovery, could you tell us what kind of damage happened to you Vision? Did it need to be towed or was someone else able to ride it to a repair/storage location?

Most of the damage to the Vision was caused by the reflector pole. We had the bike towed but with a little work it could have been ridden. The left front tip-over protector got pushed up and it pushed the floor board up to the gear shifter so you could not shift the bike. We could have used a hammer, rock or come-a-long to straighten it out enough to shift and rode the bike. If I had someone to ride the bike we probably would have done that.

ibking - 2009-09-16 10:09 AM That was a must see video if only to make you think about your own riding habits and/or the lack of skills we all have as riders. I have done the same thing about 6 years ago. I was going into a turn too hot hit the brakes hard the bike stood up and off in the dirt I went off rode, the ABS saved me from going down. This not a plug for ABS I have had many bikes after and did not get the ABS. The point is I would not have gone off rode if I did not panic and I could have made that turn if I would have just leaned over more. I was lucky there was a dirt run off and not a wall. As far as the oscillation go's on the Vision I could not make the Vision oscillate for the life of me. I got the bike up to 90 and hit the bars and wiggle the bars and try to get it to oscillate but on go. The frame on the Vision is so rigid the could not get it to flex at all. Try this on other bikes and you'll see what I mean. Spock will get all healed up and be a better rider, yes he'll still ride hard and fast as ever, it's in his blood. The next time he pushes it hard into the corner he'll remember the video he was in. You see I too ride, just like Spock and I'll remember his video. IBKING

Thanks Joe,

The Vision is rock solid and I have never gotten it to oscillate until now. The oscillation was caused by huge transfer of weight to the front wheel and the rear tire loosing traction and skidding while cornering. Any bike will do this under these circumstances.

The front suspension now that it has over 38,000 miles on it even though I had the fork oil changed at 31,000 miles it still dives a lot more than a new Vision and the dampening of the front suspension is not what it used to be. I am thinking of having Traxxion in Atlanta, GA do a custom front suspension for the Vision to give it much better ride and handling characteristics.

I agree in that I could have made the corner without heavy braking and just applied strong counter steering but I was caught off guard, taking in the scenery, panicked, and applied to much front brake too fast. If my front suspension was like new and I had ABS brakes I think I would have been regardless of my actions.

I hope none of you do what I did.

ElroyJ - 2009-09-16 10:57 AM Spock...glad you are good! Go forth Number 1 and get your ship out there, fight the good fight and win! BTW - My other road name is Shatner! LMAO! All, I read through ALL of the posts so far and there is one glaring thing that I never heard mentioned. Yes, everyone mentioned the posts on the road. However, one thing to keep in mind and the thing that Spock did do was try to avoid the first one. Of course, the 2nd was another story. PLEASE keep in mind that any posts on the side of the road will tear a car in half giving the correct circumstances. That being said, PLEASE avoid these at all cost (trees and other near non-movable objects too!). Why do I say this so directly? I have a buddy that has been an EMT for many years now. Many times he has told me about yet another rider that didn't respect the grip (not a dig at Spock at all) and was riding WAY outside their limits. They hit a post and severed a limb. In one bad case, a head. He explained in no uncertain terms that these posts are must like a hot knife through butter. I asked about the square ones that is prevalent in the video and he told me at that time that it didn't matter. Its a post and it will rip and tear things more than you can imagine. So, with that above, I am EXTREMELY glad the 2nd post only caused minimal damage. Spock, I am SO glad you were wearing a helmet or we may not be able to say, GET WELL SOON and GET BACK ON AND RIDE LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW! I too watched the video and could not believe how well the bike handled a bad situation (when it left the pavement). I wondered if the bike was actually sitting on you at one point because it seemed to take forever for you to get up. When you did get up, I was glad you had your wits about you in order to make a radio call!

Thanks James,

You are so right about the posts and near non-movable objects. I swerved to miss the first pole and was successful (see the picture below) but I could not miss the second one. It is really freaky how the pole hit me as it did. The impact to the face was terrific.

When I sat up and noticed my fade was covered in blood the pain was from the mouth area. I was feeling for my teeth as it felt like I had lost them all. I thought the blood was coming from the mouth. The teeth were a little loose and soar but the blood was coming from the cuts on my face and my nose as the left sinus area had really taken a lot of impact. It took 6 days for the sinus area to totally heal up. 

Avoiding first pole.jpg (39KB - 4 downloads)

pollolittle - 2009-09-16 9:13 AM radioteacher - "When I looked through the video I did not see any Sheetrock on the side of the road. I knew then that was not "pollolittle" with his Sheetrock seeking Vision." OOOOHHHHHHHHHH, AAAWWWWWWW! Such a memory, however, mine fortunately, never made it onto its side. Had that been me, I would have just took into the dirt and rode it like a dirt bike. That's how I ROLL! Now, that would have made for a video, of sliding across, then going through the ditch and then jumping back up on the road. YEEHAW!! Spock, did you even let it cross your mind to ride it through the ditch. Just curious!

My first thought was to ride it though the ditch after I realized I could not make he corner with the tank slapping but I could not get the bike back under control to ride it out. Once I hit the gravel with the tank slapping going on the rear end slid further to the right and out from under me and onto the tip-over protectors I went sliding into the second pole.

trailbarge - 2009-09-17 10:19 AM I already wished you well, Spock, so I hope you take this in the right spirit... I noticed that the cupholder didn't break off. Did it spill? ---- that a$$h0l3, trailbarge

LOL, Good point, I had it full of water and it never spilled a drop and worked perfectly.

Many thanks to everyone for your thoughts and good wishes, I really appreciate it!

As many of you have stated it is important to always be alert when riding. It is really scary how fast things can go wrong. I bet I have watched the video over 100 times and many times frame by frame. I really am glad I had the video to analyze and learn from. I will be slowing it down some.

Another interesting aspect is that while I had a ¾ face Arai helmet on it never got a scratch on it. The pole hit me across the face but did not scratch the helmet and the helmet never touched the ground until I came to a stop.

I am on my way to get the 10 stiches out of my face below my left eye. I should get a feel for what level of scaring I will have.

Thanks again and I will keep you all updated. Keep out of trouble you all and I look forward to riding with many of you somewhere soon.