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Sarge crashes his M1030

Sarge

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Well boys, this morning Sarge crashed his motorcycle.
Here is the story…….
I have started to ride my M1030 (Kawasaki KLR650) to the Ranch instead of my Suburban in order to save gas.
Instead of taking my normal route to the Ranch, I thought a change of scenery would be pleasant. I took a narrow twisty county road through overhanging trees. Lovely! Around a corner, a narrow bridge warning sign. Whoops! Slow down to twenty. Instead of a narrow bridge, it’s a ford. Not a Ford like a car, a ford like a low water crossing. Ten feet into the water, I’m no longer riding, I’m flying. None of that slo-mo stuff, all of a sudden I’m face down in the river with the bike on top of me. I don’t know how other people’s thought processes work, perhaps at this point they would be thinking “did I kiss my girlfriend goodbye?” or perhaps “Crap, I’m gonna die!” Well, what really went through my pea brain was; “My new boots have filled up with water!” Strange but true.
Although the temps have been in the hundreds for the last week, the water was icy cold. I lifted my head up to breathe and noticed several things right away. I’m face down in a river. Several hundred pounds of motorcycle are on the back of my right leg and left arm. The water is very fast and cold. If I stay here, I’ll probably drown before some superman in a pickup rescues me. I turn my head and look at the bike. A lot of gas is on top of the water, kind of pretty rainbow colours. A lot of the water under the gas is tinted red. Where’s that coming from? It’s coming from under the bike from my right leg. Not good. Another weird thought hit me, if a tree hugger stops his/her car now, they will probably berate me for polluting the river. Well, now is not the time to contemplate an EPA fine, now is probably the time to get with the program. My left arm comes free pretty easily, the front of the bike is not too heavy. I try to do a push-up, but my right leg won’t move. I try harder. There is a snap from my right ankle. Bollocks! That really hurt. Well, I could either lay around crying about it or I could do something about it. I twisted the upper half of my body around and heaved up on the bars. Nothing. Still lots of gas and blood. Am I going to die of blood loss or drowning? Then a thought occurred to me, a cigarette always helps me think. I pulled the pack out of my left trouser pocket. Soaked! Now I knew I was really in deep trouble! I heaved up on the bars again. Nothing. Then another thought. I twisted the bars to the right as hard as I could. The back raised up about a half inch. It was enough to get the bike off of my leg. So now I’m standing next to the bike in rushing water, on one leg. Fear of the environmentalists, more than strength, got me to get the bike upright. Thank goodness that I no longer rode Harleys!
Now I have to get out of the river. The gearshift is bent under the motor, so I cannot put it in neutral and push it. Not very practical on one leg anyway. The rocks are so slippery that I will probably fall down again anyway. Hmmm…. So I start it and ride it out. I stopped on the dry road and sat down for a few minutes. There is an ammo box bolted to the back and dry cigarettes are inside. That’s called ‘planning ahead’. I hop back to the ford and check it out. The surface under the water is as slick as deer guts on a doorknob. I won’t ride over that anymore. The adventure is over, I think I’ll go home and have a cup of coffee. All the way home, the handlebars are pointing in one direction, the front wheel in another. My right foot is flapping in the breeze. That’s really going to hurt in a couple of days. Get home, put coffee on, sit in the shower. Wash the little stones and bugs out of the wounds and apply lots of salve.
My M1030 is trashed, but nothing that a few bucks and some bending won’t fix.
Today, I think I will drive my Suburban to the ranch, the hell with the gas cost.
 

Desert Deuce

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Are you a previous member of the "Over the Bars Club" or new one. In any case, welcome to the OTBC. Glad you're able to write this. I used to race Bultaco's many years ago and then moved on to Honda Thumpers (nothing like a big bore thumper). Your story brings back many memories.

Again, glad you're up and around.
 

Sarge

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Sarge is a such a drama queen!

You guys are hilarious!
This thread is worthless without pics?
What should I do? Strap a video camera on my helmet and go do it again?
Wait a second, that sounds like a good idea.....not!
I guess a little clarification is in order;
I didn't exactly plan on crashing today. No bones are poking out. My leg is wrapped tightly in Brawny paper towels and duct tape so that I don't bleed on the carpet.
Here's a trivia question; if the bike landed on the right, how did I bend the gear shift lever all the way under the engine? The one second between the slide and the landing are a total blank. Total. Of course, Mangus, if I had a camera with me, perhaps it would jog my memory.
No, this is not my first crash, I joined the OTB club about 35 years ago. I've had a few m/c flying lessons since then, the most spectacular one at 85mph followed by 3 weeks of intensive care and a year of plastic surgery. The only good thing to come of that crash was that whenever a family member kissed me on the cheek, they were really kissing my a**. Tee-hee.
Anyhoo, I feel kind of dizzy and puky so I think I'll get horizontal for a while. I'm a big tough guy, so I'll get over it.
Now where did my teddy bear go?
 

Foreverunstopable

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Good to hear your ok. I first joined OTB in January and hope I'll only have to pay the dues once. Yeah anything going wrong on a bike happens so fast you don't have time to think about it until a week later when you remember it. I had just enough time to take a picture in the ambulance before I passed out from the pain. Hit and run...

I take it when the bike landed on the right it must have rolled over at some point to catch the shifter. Another possibility is when you hit the water your foot slipped off the peg and put your full weight on the shifter, which isn't designed as a load bearing structure. If the water lever ever gets low enough there, look for a gouge in the cement.

Just make sure to dust your self off, and get back on two wheels.

:wink:
 

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jimk

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No, this is not my first crash,
Sarge,
Anything under 10mph, or in your own driveway, or during a blizzard, or with more than 3 persons on board - doesn't count as a crash. Sounds more like a bad day fishing, or a bike wash mishap. JimK

89' KLR 650
79' SR 650
 

steelsoldiers

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Dang Sarge! Glad you are OK buddy! That sounds like a nasty experience. All of my OTB experiences were off-road. One was on a KX80, then on a YZ80, then finally on a XR500. I don't brand discriminate when crashing.

ForeverU, was that neck brace just a precaution or did you break something?
 

mangus580

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Sorry Sarge.... didnt mean it to come accross like that! When you are mobile again.... A few pics of the bike is what I was after. Maybe one of the water crossing? No biggie... would just help us visualize the damage.
 

2027Deuce

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Sarge glad you are ok. You must be on the mend because you already see the humor,and you can't keep a good man down. I joind OTB when I was 15 and I am trying to keep my boys from joining. The humor on this site is great and it usually gives me learning examples for the boys. Alot of examples of what not to do but mostly good stuff. Scott
 

WillWagner

The Person You Were Warned About As A Child
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Re: Sarge is a such a drama queen!

Sarge said:
You guys are hilarious!
This thread is worthless without pics?
What should I do? Strap a video camera on my helmet and go do it again?
Yes please! Man, Paper towels and duct tape will work for a "get me out of the woods", but you should get it looked at. If something is broken, you will hate it if the docs need to re break it to make it right. Glad you were able to get home OK. Gonna go back and post that road? We need to do that to a mine out here in the desert! Keep us up to speed on your injuries...just to make sure you are OK.
 

ARMYMAN30YearsPlus

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RE: Re: Sarge is a such a drama queen!

Sarge, glad you are OK, that sounds so like a motorcycle diehard scene. Make sure and watch for infection like previously mentioned.

My OTBC indoctination came on a 550 Suzuki in the Berkshire Mountains, it involved unexpected water on the road around a curve I always took at a higher speed than I should have. I almost caught the slide but the back wheel dropped off the edge of the pavement and OTBIW not before making a perfect stike with my head on the tank top right where it met the seat. The front wheel took out two wooden guardrail posts and my first reaction after it was over was to laugh despite the broken collarbone because I was looking over the side of the mountain and knew God had kept me from going over.

Then the dumb part of me kicked in and I thought I could ride it back home if I took it easy and didn't use the front brake since the front forks were bent back a few degrees. Going down the rest of the mountain road was OK until I hit a bump in the road and the front wheel made contact with the frame and locked up dumping me over the bars again. This time I was near the bottom of the mountain so I just laid there a while. I finally got up and walked to a house about a mile away to call my friend to come pick me and the bike up in his truck.

I was working in a truckstop then so after I got my shoulder Xrayed and billed a hundred bucks I took the two front fork tubes off and took them to work. I pressed them out out as straight as I could on the big press we had. There was still a little rib where the tube bent so I just raised them in the fork about an inch so the rib was in the bottom clamp. Rode it that way for a long time and the dent in the tank made a good place to hold my coffee cup.

Sorry no pictures this was before digital
 
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Hey you were real lucky, man. Somebody was watching over you.

This July - three days before taking off for 5 weeks in Malaysia / Borneo - I was riding my Suzuki DR650 home from work. It was raining badly und I was taking a left turn across some cross roads, when suddenly tha car in front braked sharply to a standstill for no obvious reason. Had no chance, I was too fast, not enough space to go around, and that was it. I braked sharply well aware that I will go in the horizontal mode, which was what instantly happened. Better than crashing into the car.
My Bundeswehr Jungle Boots saved my foot, because the sole was hard enough to withstand the weight of the falling bike, but the knee got banged / bended and was sore. Amazingly the bike or clothes were only slightly damaged. I leave it that way - that's real "battle damage" :)
Its amazing what a big load of adrenalin does, btw. After lying there for a second or two I jumped on my feet (even though I felt that something was not right with the leg), picked up the bike just like that, bent the steering straight again, and drove away to a safe spot to do a BDA. The whole thing took about 20 seconds, not more.

Get on them wheels soon again!

Mark
 

OPCOM

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Sarge I am glad you are OK. A dirt bike accident >20 years ago is why I don't walk well today. When you said you were digging things out of wounds, that I can feel for ya, I did the same, only I was in an inaccessible place and used a knife to cut a stick and peel it clean, to dig the dirt and pebbles/pea gravel out. I didn't have any duct tape and paper towels, but managed to get to my friend's truck, and started searching for something. About then he rode up, and I told him we needed to go cause had a big hole in my knee. He says "ok, I'll be back in a few minutes", and rode off !!! So, 30 minutes goes by.. I don't want to take off the motocross boot because I can feel my ankle is swollen. so I sit there with blood dripping out of my knee, and I'm helping it bleed more since there's nothing to wash it out with. Well I decide I have to bandage it so I cut open my pants leg more and, well.. the only thing clean enough in that filthy truck to use as a bandage is his brand new motorcross jersey. heh.. that and some electrical tape. Now it's an hour and he aint back.. I decided to go back, get the bike and ride it back to the truck, ankle permitting, thinking it would force more blood and dirt out of the wound. After a while it felt better. he sure was mad about the shirt though. Again I am glad you were not seriously hurt. The best wrecks are the ones we can walk away from.
 

KVFC_241

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Mine was a 660 Raptor. Buddy of mine on his brand new polaris scrambler decided he was gonna show off and zip passed me on the right, unfortunately when he came back in front he did it a little too soon. Ran up over the front of his new quad. Hit him hard enought it broke my tie rod. When it came back down off the left side it nose dived causing me and the raptor to go for a roll. Ended up with major bruising on my right leg (where the 4 wheeler ended up coming to rest) a concusion and a seperated cv boot or cv shaft, something like that in my left arm. And worst off all it bent all 4 wheels, broke the tierod, bent the axle, busted the wheel spacers, lunched a mufler and busted my rear plastic! Pretty expensive day of riding to say the least!
 

houdel

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steelsoldiers said:
ForeverU, was that neck brace just a precaution or did you break something?
Head immobilization and strapping to a rigid backboard are SOP in MV crashes, falls and any other type of injury where there is the slightest possibility of a neck or back injury. While the spine is quite strong, it can be easily injured by a comparatively minor force applied at an odd angle to the spine.

I personally know one person who fractured a vertebrate in his neck by spinning his head quickly at an odd angle. He felt a pop in his neck and some pain. Wisely he did not try to move his head and was taken to the hospital where the fracture was found in a x-ray.
 

Claymore

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Hey all, I'm new to the forum so forgive me if this is in the wrong spot. This is the only place I found mention of the M1030. I am desperatly looking for a way to obtain one. I see that the corps replaced all of the old M1030s based off of the 1991-model Kawasaki KLR 250-D8 with the new M1030M1s based off of the Kawasaki KLR 650. I am hoping that means that there a bunch of the old M1030s available, but I have been searching the net without finding a thing about them actually being available anywhere. Does anyone know anything about them; how to get at one?
 

saddamsnightmare

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March 13th,2008.

Sarge:

I guess they never taught you in the Army that motorcycles are neither fish nor fowl, although you made yours a little of both!!! I guess the cuts on your leg were the good red meat..... I will give you credit though, you saved gas from your suburban or duece and lost it on the bike and human repairs... I'm glad you seem to be in one piece (I guess), but between you and I, I'd a rather forded that LWC in a Deuce or at least an M37.....
Should we chip in here guys and buy Sarge whatever passes for a Michelin Man Suit (OH, NO---- IT"S MADE BY THE FR---H!!!) or whatever M---- it would be called so he'd bounce and float a bit better??? Pity it wasn't St. Patrick's day and the creek was nothing but green beer, I'm sure as an old GI you could've drunk your way out of the predicament! For all the good you've done to others, I guess the motorbike didn't take notice of it, but all the rest of us have...

Good luck on the recovery, and remember to list that bike as a Texas version of a Katrina bike when you sell it.....

Cheers, Sarge, and stick to the M35A2 for your water sports,

Sincerely,

Kyle F. McGrogan

1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/W "Saddam's Nightmare' desrt Storm and Vietnam Veteran Deuce Truck
--??-- M105A2 Johnson Manufacturing 1-1/2 Ton Cargo Trailer, 4 color woodland scheme
1963 Swiss Army Cargo Unimog S404.114, Mercedes Benz.
 

gunner01

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my first road rash came when I was 15. Having started in Motocross the year before I became quite comfortable with riding wheelies. So one weekend when my parents were conveintly gone I held a party at home. A little drinking and a few dares from some very CUTE girls brought out the stupid in me. I started riding wheelies up the street, when shifting from 2nd to 3rd (so I thought) actually 1st to 2nd I wheelied over, not wanting to let go of my bike it drug me down the street till my butt went across a manhole lid, needless to say at that time I let go and rolled a little bit and the bike went into the neighbors yard and hit a tree. getting up I felt like my butt was ground hamburger. I limped into the bathroom where my best friend told me to pull my pants down so he could see how bad I was hurt. Well that same SOB took out of the medicine cabinet some mediquick spray and proceeded to spray my butt. Everyone in the house could hear me screaming like a girl cuz that *^%#$^%* spray is 60% alchohol by content, (let me tell you here and now it hurt like hell) Well the moral of the story dont be stupid especially for girls......

Gunner one bruised ego and very sore @ss in the past....
 
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