Victory Vision crash

[bobhamlin]

This was posted on a Victory site. A driver goes down in a solo loss-of-control.



As of yet, there is no explanation of what caused the lack of control. That's what is scarey to me. All of a sudden the front wheel starts wobbling.

[nomad561]

It looks like he hit a groove in the road and caused the wobble.
I've had that happen to me and somehow managed to keep it upright.

[dabull]

Originally Posted by Wandering Nomad "Darksider"

It looks like he hit a groove in the road and caused the wobble.
I've had that happen to me and somehow managed to keep it upright.

thats what i thought too....or something went totaly wrong with the bike....

[cactusjack]

It looked to me like he ran into that trough or gutter along the shoulder. Damn, that sucks!

Maybe someone who's ridden that road can chime in?

[ringadingh]

Hitting some of those cracks in the lanes can make for a scary moment sometimes.

[MarkG]

Watched the video multiple times and I agree that it looks like an uneven road in the corner. As it starts maybe he wasn't paying close enough attention and initially over compensated a bit, then things really started to go wrong. The road might be one of those shallow double U's (for the lack of a better description), where the center is slightly higher than where the car tires go all the time. Add the uneven pavement and it wouldn't take much to lose control.

One of the things that concerned me was the Victory rider that went by at 1:24 and never looked or slowed down. The first indication that somebody stopped to help this guy was almost 4:00 minutes into the video. How sad is that.

Maybe one of our group has ridden this area and can give us a heads up about the road.

[mdgeorge]

That was what got me the most. The other rider just left. A car stopped and then left. Finally a couple of bikers stopped and helped the guy.
If I see someone down, I'm stopping. I don't think I will ever be in that much of a hurry. I sure hope someone would stop for me.

I would agree, the road contour seems to have leaned the bike to the right and the rider was not prepared for it. It appears to be a pretty bad road even before the fall.

[strobe]

I also noticed that no one seemed to stop. It appeared that at least 2 bikes went by. The other thing that really stood out to me is the lack of proper riding gear. Doing those speeds, short sleeve shirt, jeans (may have been armored, who knows), 3/4 helmet, and fingerless gloves. I just think that proper gear would have made a difference to the amount of blood we saw.

[trip]

Where did this happen? After looking at the vid several times, It looks like he's on the River Road here in Texas (Hwy 170).

For the likes of me I really can't figure out why he started to wobble and go down. There wasn't anything in the roadway to cause it, that I can tell.

[gghost]

Does look like rider error. Bad road and too much speed for conditions. Of course, now I will be informed that the front tire blew...No matter what, I hope everyone that passed him by suddenly has Dan's luck with police.

[bobzinger]

Originally Posted by markg

One of the things that concerned me was the Victory rider that went by at 1:24 and never looked or slowed down. The first indication that somebody stopped to help this guy was almost 4:00 minutes into the video. How sad is that.
.

I thought the same thing

[psychocycle]

Originally Posted by Trip

Where did this happen? After looking at the vid several times, It looks like he's on the River Road here in Texas (Hwy 170).

Your Bang on Trip, good eye, here is the text posed with the video: "A buddy of mine had a pretty severe crash on RR 170 west of Lajitas, TX (just west of Big Bend National park). He had a video camera on his helmet and got the whole thing including the aftermath. "

[skimo]

At the beginning of the video the title caption says west of Lajitas, TX on RR170, Looks like the road breaks to the left on the crest of a hill and the road bed appears to have a negative elevation/banking for a left curve. In other words the banking of the roadway is the opposite of what you typically find for a left curve. Roadbed appears sort of course, it isn't new for sure. At about .33 you can see the left curve sign with speed warning of what appears to be 35mph. Looks like he clipped the metal roadside reflector post with his face between .39 and .40.

[kawgirl]

Here is the rider's comment.

cedland:
I was riding the Vision when it went out of control. As I was entering the turn I applied front brake and rear brake but this time as you can see in the video there was a big shift in the bikes weight towards the front end and you see the bike diving. With this transfer of weight the rear tire began to skid and slide which put the bike into a tank slapper going into a corner which is really hard to recover from. I have never had the rear tire skid on me like this before even in panic stops.

[tazfl]

One of the guys on the delphi vulcan forum i post on rides a vision and posted this on our forum, these are the words of the guy in the video....

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.


The worst part is not being able to ride for 8 to 10 weeks while my shoulder heals. The bike will probably be ready in another week or two.

-----
Ride Long and Prosper

Craig "Spock" Edland
Carrollton, TX
2008 Victory Vision Tour Premium Midnight Cherry
Bought 3-1-08 and 37,300 miles as of 9-1-09