He left work early Friday to fly from MO to CO, to pick up his new Harley and meet with his Dad, then both of the were riding to Sturgis and then back to MO.

Well he didn't show up today, never called in. His old man just called the office and let us know he wrecked his bike, broken collar bone and wrist.

No idea when or where. Doesn't sound like he made it out of Colorado.

I don't believe he has ever owned a bike but I Know he grew up riding his dads bikes, he told me he broke his collar bone before riding a bike...

Well now he has done it twice.

I doubt he even had MC license. Not sure tho.


I was telling him Friday everyone I Know who rode a motorcycle has wrecked. That's when he said "yea me too, I broke my collar bone"


Edit, I know he paid 9 grand for the bike, brand new. He said it was a smaller bike.

I guess his dad said the road was wet and both dad and son crashed but I guess the son was only one injured.

If anyone can find a news story his initials are RM, he is 27, in a hospital in CO. I'm guessing the wreck happened yesterday on the way back from Sturgis.


He nearly shit when I told him that first oil change would cost $600 because they send it away to get tested on. He said "shit I will do it myself"....I let him know he would violate the warranty that way.

I texted him but I'm sure he is doped up or getting worked on.

Damn I've heard that before people buy brand new Harleys and crash them on the way home.

His "plan" sounds like it was multiple levels of Bad Idea if your description is accurate.

Ouch!

There was a guy here last year that wrecked his brand new bike while waiting to get it financed

Must be the Harley speed wobbles.

I hate it for him but it sounds like several bad choices were made. 

Yep

That was hilarious! 

That thread was hilariously awesome. Hadn't his wife also essentially said "if you get that bike I'm done"? And then he wrecked it on the first turn after leaving the dealership.

Buddy's ex-wife bought one.
Hit a car head-on with her Son and Nephew in a truck behind her.

He bought his first motorcycle, skipped the novice/beginner riding and went straight to the well-experienced stuff.

Snort.... I'm sorry, but it's funny

Must be a stupid over confident low ability rider that has never ridden heavy motorcycles before.  

Damn did she survive? Was she wearing gear?

I've seen bikes dropped or wrecked in the dealership parking lot, how embarrassing that must be. I took an advanced rider class and a girl was trying to take the class on her brand new Sportster, she dropped it several times then ran into a fence. No clue how she got in that class since there were prerequisites, she obviously didn't pass.

A long time ago, I almost had an accident on a bike.

The guy I sold my Street Glide to laid it down about 5 days after he bought it.

Bellmore Harley in NY had a guy crash about 10 feet out of the parking lot 2 weeks ago.

I've never understood people who buy new bikes, have no experience riding that bike (or riding at all) and then decided to take a HUGE road trip.  They don't get the suspension set up for their weight or riding style either.  It takes at least a couple of hundred miles for an experienced rider to get use to a new bike.

I hope he got a good deal on his HD clothing and accessories though.

A buddy of mine was an Army recruiter when he bought his Harley.  He went straight from the dealer to the recruiting office (multiple branchs at location) pulls up and starts hitting the throttle in the parking lot, showing off with the loud pipes to get everyone's attention...
All the different recruiters file out to see his new ride.

Well... after showing off, and a small military crowd gathers to admire his beautiful bike, he hops off and.....

He forgets to put down the kickstand

I had a coworker that had about 3 hours between buying a crotch rocket and being loaded in an ambulance.

Years ago a co-worker (experienced motorcyclist) was riding up to Sturgis for that rally with a friend and that friend (another experienced motorcyclist) was killed in an accident on the drive up there.

What is that from?

Same. My first bike was a Honda Shadow 750. It weighted about 560 lbs wet. I rode it for 7 years, and resolved to not buy a bigger bike until I was completely comfortable on that bike. When I took the ARC on it, I spent the whole day scraping floorboards while taking the turns. I traded it last February for a new Indian Roadmaster. It weighs about 980 lbs wet. Fortunately, it is a well-balanced bike...but at parking lot speeds, if you hit that tipping point, you Frozen that bitch and just let it go. I did that once, but it was a combination of trying to take off into a left turn (which I can do) and my left foot getting caught between the floorboard and the pavement with my toes folding towards my heel. I felt the lean angle increase, thought to myself "self, we are about to drop 980lbs of motorcycle on our left foot and break that fucker in half", and subsequently yanked my foot out, which suddenly increased the lean angle more and killed the forward momentum. Fortunately, the crash bars caught the bike.

Now, six months later, I did the "box" while teaching the BRC-2 with no issues.

Nope. Her son watched her die.

I figured when I read head on collision. That is horrible.

I watched a man take off from inside of the dealership garage on his brand new Harley and T Bone a car parked in the lot. He never let off of the throttle and as the front forks went sideways, the front axle nut cut the car door like a can opener. Had it not been for the sheet metal edges slicing his leg open, it would have been exceedingly funny.

Shitty way to spend a vacation with family.

Probably should have picked it up in SD, along with a trailer.

Trailer bike to just outside Sturgis - ride in the rest of the way. Trailer it home to MO.

Might still have wrecked, but he'd have increased his odds...

A guy died a few years back here within a mile of the dealership.  Had never ridden before.

Middle age is not the time to start riding

My oldest son worked at a local motorcycle dealer during college. Stories like this were at the very least a monthly occurrence. In the parking lot, leaving the parking lot, less than a block away....crash bang boom. R1's and ZX10's/14's and "Busa's" for the usual suspects.

We repaired two collision claims on a Harley Road King for a customer, his first bike ever. He drove 800 miles to pick it up on a trailer. Had it tied down nice and tight with tie down straps going over the lids of the saddle bags to keep the rear from bouncing around on the trailer, (like that happens a lot?). He made sure to put a wash cloth under them which blew out probably 5 miles down the road. 800 miles later he had grooves worn halfway through both lids. First wreck happened when he got home and unloaded it. Drove straight to his friends house to show it off. Leaving the house with one friend following in a car, he came to a stop sign and proceeded to stop. Didn't bother to put either foot down and fell over. Minor damage, but still cost a couple grand to fix. Less than a month later he decides to lean through a corner on the highway with zero input into steering. Barely missed the guardrail as he slid down the road at 50 mph. One time when he picked it up he basically did a U-turn in the parking lot with both feet out for balance. Was difficult to watch...

People have this idea that riding a motorcycle is as easy as riding a moped/motor scooter except it has more power.
MSF class is great. You get to know how to ride with a basic motorcycle and get control with a lower powered motorcycle.

A coworker sold his Yamaha touring bike last summer to a guy that rode it straight out his driveway and straight in to the side of the truck that his buddy dropped him off to pick up the bike in.


Coworker closed his garage door and went inside his house, I guess the buyer ground him up pretty hard over the sale.

LOL

My sportster has this 

I know of 2 local cases where the rider was killed on his way home from the Harley dealer.

Riding a motorcycle on the street isnt something you just go out and do, kinda like flying a plane, or going down the advanced hill your fist time on a snowboard(fuck my friends for that one).

There's only two kinds of motorcyclists. Those that have been in a wreck and those that will be in a wreck. I've been in two wrecks so far by fucking cagers making left hand turns into me. I still ride. When your number is up, your number is up.

Why?

The problem is people need to be honest with themselves about their skill level. There's no shame in learning on a lighter smaller bike and upgrading later when you outgrow it in the skill department.

I got my license last summer.  Took the MSF course, which for an experienced dirtbiker was a very humbling experience. My dad let me hold onto his Harley roadking as he doesn't ride anymore. I've had to set it down twice now backing out of the garage .

I'm not afraid of riding but experience very little enjoyment being out on the road.  Too many idiots

This is why, when I sold mine, I counted the cash BEFORE the test drive.

This, and take a fucking MSF class. Hell, there was a time that dealerships would throw a basic class in with the sale if you asked.

You'll learn some great skillsets, the capabilities of your bike and yourself, some confidence, and you'll meet some people who share your interest.

No thanks

I was on my thirtieth year of riding experience when I had my second accident.

Accidents happen on bikes, no matter how much experience you have.

Did he buy it from that Thundercunt dealership in Loveland?

I used to live down the street from there, and on good days there were so many idiots who had never ridden a motorcycle before wobbling around on the roads taking test drives, or taking their bikes home.

I rode for over 40 years everyday to and from work. Weather did not matter. Before 3 people in Memphis tried to kill me, and I thought God was trying to tell me something.... So I sold it. Still miss riding.

Figures say that most fatalities happened with in 6 months of starting to ride. After that it drops off.

Had one of these idiots headed to Sturgis damn near pull out in front of me on US 80 in a construction zone. The construction zone had the highway down to one lane and 65 mph speed zone. This twit is on a nice Harley touring bike of some kind coming down the on ramp. I guess he thought that people on the highway had to stop for people coming down the on-ramp. WRONG!

I locked up my Dodge 2500 right behind him and he went off road and took the pylons when he pulled out in front of me at the last minute doing around 10 mph. It wouldn't have been so bad if he was the only one on the bike wanting to commit suicide by Dodge, but he had his girlfriend / wife on the back with him. Judging by the look on his face, I think he had to change his panties after hearing my tires screaming to a stop behind him.

When I road motorcycles, my head was on a swivel watching out for people on the road. You don't live too freakin' long if you're stupid on a motorcycle.

I don't understand the mentality of a novice rider wanting to immerse himself into that clusterfuck.

So it didn't really have much to do with the brand of bike, but more the lack of skill and brains on the riders part. Got it.

Double tap

I rode motorcyles for almost my whole adult life.
I started out as a kid with a Honda 90 street model in the late 60's.

I then went in the military and was away from them for about 10 years, but jumped back on one, a Honda  Scrambler 350 after that.
Graduated up to an XR500R for desert and offroad stuff, and also had a Yamaha 850 triple.

Then I had a Yamaha Venture Royale 1200, all 900 pounds of it.
That was a tourer, which I called "The Couch" because of it's cushy ride, adjustable suspension, and when the bags were removed, more or less a semi-sport bike. It even had the V-boost which made it almost fly.
But, it was not a bike for a novice rider, you had to pay attention or it would eat your lunch.
I fell over once on that beast, and was lucky there was someone around to help lift it.
Almost got taken out by a guy near Mendocino, Ca, who was hammered and turned left across in front me with my wife on behind me.


In my mid- 40's I got tired of the cushy ride and the wife got tired of going, so I sold the Couch and bought 2 BMW's one 800 Air-head, and a single 650 for whatever I wanted to do.
Then, had a couple of near death incidents with other drivers, so I sold both, and went to a Kawasaki KLR 650 for just casual riding.

The final straw was some severe shoulder injuries from duty related incidents, so I went to a Polaris Ranger.
I have not looked back.

Between 1972 and 2013, I had 4 crashes on bikes, none very severe but all due to my own dumbassedness.
I had numerous drivers try to kill me, and which ended in 2 other riding partners having to drag me off one piece of shit in 2003, before I killed him.
(Hammered ass hippie in Mendocino, Ca)

Motorcycles were fun, but not something you can just decide one day that you want to go play with.
If someone is over 50, rethink it before you go and buy a big-ass Harley or Sportbike.
For anyone who wants to ride, go take the safety courses, all three of them.
The STARS program has two, one beginner, and one advanced.
Then there is sort of Tactical Motorcycle Operations class offered by an outfit in Washington State somewhere.
That will open your eyes becuase they use moving obstacles, like cars and trucks crossing in front of you to get your attention.

(Sorry for the hi-jack, since this was originally a Harley thread, but I tried a couple, but did not like the rake, the noise, or the ride)

This man speaks the truth about Thunder Mountain Harley!!!