My Blue Ridge Parkway Ride 2016

[cowboyup3371]

After some careful planning and saving, I decided to take off Sunday, October 2nd, on a trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway with the intent of stopping in Manassas, Appomattox, and the Wheels Through Time museum then returning home on Saturday October 8th. Almost 1700 miles over 7 days I have been looking forward to this for weeks.



I started off on one of my normal routes through Corwin Bridge to Ohio Hwy 124 which is pretty nice all the way to where I got onto US-33.







Traffic was fairly light for the most part and what little I encountered was easily passed when the time was right. I managed to travel back in time as I found Antiquity before leaving Ohio but missed the picture opportunity the first time and had to turn around before leaving the small village on the riverbank.



After running through some fantastic roads in West Virginia on US-33 and encountering some strenuous switchbacks (not sharp but long to get around), I stopped in Weston for my last fill up before leaving for Elkins WV where I planned to stay the night



As I turned on WV-92 for the last 7 miles to Elkins, I stopped to adjust my headlight (sitting too low), climbed back on the bike, and then encountered an experience I had hoped I would never have and don't ever want again.

 

[cowboyup3371]

When I stopped to adjust the light, it was on a wide spot of a dark two-lane road and was already purely focused on arriving at my hotel after realizing I probably should have reserved it in Wellston instead as I was already getting tired after a 8 hr riding day. Consequently, I rushed myself when I remounted the bike and took off. The first curve I came to was fine as it was a sweeping right hander but once I started back I realized I could hear the side stand scraping the ground. Yes, I was stupid and in my rush forgot to pull it back up before leaving the side of the road. I immediately got on the brakes to slow down and move to the side of the road. Unfortunately I hit the edge of the left hander just enough that the side stand caught and threw me off.

After a couple of seconds following my rolling around, I got up and started back to the bike where a gentleman had already started to pull it off the road. A check over of the bike found that the clutch handle had busted. As we moved it to the side, I found the front tire was flat and a Parks Resource officer that had stopped soon after the wreck called a tow truck for me. I called the wife to tell her of the accident and asked that she grab the truck and ask Steve for his trailer so she could come get me. Through all of this time I was feeling pretty much okay but was definitely winded and chalked that up to my nerves so I told the officer I would probably go to the hospital after I got to my hotel.

However, as we waited for the truck to arrive, my adrenaline finally wore off and I started feeling light headed and queasy. I then told the officer that I needed that ambulance and sat down near the guardrail. The ambulance took me off to Elkins where a contrasted CT was done and I was diagnosed with severely bruised ribs on the left side (same side I fractured in 2011). The ER nurses were fantastic with me and one even took me to the towing company, McDonalds, and my motel after her shift ended that night. Once we arrived at the motel I realized the hospital still had my driver's license and another ER nurse volunteered to bring it to me the next morning. I was in awe of their kindness and wish I could have done more than just say thank you (they wouldn't take anything else).

The wife finally arrived in Elkins late Monday night after attending a job interview and we loaded the bike up. We left for home today and my trip to the Blue Ridge is now delayed until spring time.

Pictures from yesterday and today revealed more than the busted clutch handle and flat tire. The exhaust is scraped up (no big deal beyond looks), rear turn signal mount is bent, and I think the front axle or forks are bent. I'll also need to replace my helmet but won't worry about the jacket despite the cuts in it as the armor is actually in the mesh portion and not the textile shell.















I'm pretty upset with my lack of attention to detail at that moment especially when I am always looking down to check my stand as I take off during the day. I really need to make sure I pay better attention so I think I'm also going to add a side stand idiot light on both mine and Charmayne's bikes here soon. I'll try to do it in such a way that it will get our attention. I'm not sure I want to shut the bike off as I have read plenty of articles about their failures and stranding people.

I am also already planning on making this trip for mid to late April as I really want to do this.

 

[bonanzadave]

Ugh ! That sux ! Not the kind of story you want to tell. I guess, heal up and get the horse fixed and get back on.....

 

[mnferwerda]

Too bad. You'll probably never make that mistake again. Winter is coming and you'll have time to fix your bike and be ready in the spring!

 

[dorkburger]

Man that's a bummer.... And on the first day out! Glad that you're relatively ok though.
I hope you're able to get a redo soon.

 

[Guest]

****ty end to a story....glad it wasn't worse than it was. Second accident from a side stand in the past few months that I've heard/seen.

 

[Dogma]

Sorry Scott, I didn't realize I was contagious. Gladly, your attack of the stupids resulted in only bruises, no breaks.

I wonder if the ignition cut-off could be done with modern solid-state hardware instead of mechanical switches. If so, I should probably add one as well.

 

[indybob]

Scott, I'm sorry for your rough go but very happy to hear that it wasn't worse. I've made that mistake before on one of my previous GS's but lucked out and didn't go down. Heal up and get the bike ready for the spring trip. That is a trip that I've wanted to make as well on the Blue Ridge.

Bob

 

[allojohn]

Ugh, sorry Scott. **** happens mate. Brush yourself off, heal up and look to the Spring.

 

[850GT_Rider]

Thank goodness for the ATTGAT! The helmet can be replaced. Would have been a whole different story without it.

Glad you're mostly OK

 

[TxGSrider]

That suks... I have ridden with the kickstand down a few times and all it ever did was startle me some... I never really realized how dangerous that it could be.
Take care of yourself, I had an ATV accident back in Feb that landed me in the ER with a concussion and several bruised ribs. The ribs healed up in a few weeks, but I still don't think Im healed up completely from the concussion. I still get dizzy sometimes when I roll over in bed. So take it easy and let yourself heal.
On a more positive note... it looks like you had a great ride with some good pics before that happened.

 

[pano]

That stinks...When you started the story I was imagining maybe a bear or moose came out of the woods at you. I too have pulled away with the side stand down, but have been lucky to have been able to flip it up. I hope for a speedy recovery.

 

[Who Dat?]

Like virtually everybody else here, I have done that more times than I care to admit. Usually, a GENTLE application of the brakes (to prevent nose-dive) will get you to the side where it can be safely raised. However, if circumstances require that you keep moving, hang off the left side of the bike, which puts the bike into a lean to the right. That will give PLENTY of clearance to raise the side stand.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Thank you all. I'm definitely feeling the soreness now as almost every muscle in my upper body seems to be screaming at me. I've bought stock in Icy Hot and still waiting on my local doctor to call me back on a telephone consult as he doesn't have anything available right now (retired AF on Tricare Prime living within 50 miles of the base means I have to go to them first for my care). I want to get a referral to physical therapy so I can start on it as soon as the ribs allow.

In the meantime, I started in on proving to myself I can build out a side stand light. Yes, it's very basic to most people but much of the electrical stuff is out of my knowledge despite taking Physics in HS. I understand the very rudimentary basics but l lack the experience of building out full circuits like this. So, I ran down to Parts Express this morning and picked up three LED lights, a package of resistors, and a couple of switches for about $7. I then ran back to the garage and retrieved some wire and Charmayne's battery then assembled it. I now understand the difference between normally open (circuit not activated until switch pressed) and normally closed (always active) at least in this application.

The switch



The resistor



The Flashing Red LED



Circuit activated (picture only caught the one flash but it does flash)



The switch is not technically waterproof I guess but the folks there were told what I wanted and this is what they handed to me. I'll try to figure out how to make a mount for it and where to put the light. But, I am going to post up a thread on where the resistor should actually sit as one thought I have will be to cut a hole out in the tachometer for the bulb. I also know I'm going to need to solder my connections when I make this permanent but that creates another question I'll ask in the other thread - do I build out a separate circuit board for the whole setup?

 

[Dogma]

Solder the resistor directly to the LED, then epoxy them both to whatever your mounting them to. The epoxy will insulate them electrically and also help protect them from vibration, which will eventually break the leads on those components. But you can get panel-mount LEDs that should be weatherproof (as well as switches). Check out places like SparkFun and Adafruit for parts in hobbyist oriented quantities and maybe some instruction too. My preference would be to not put a hole in the tach, but that's my preference. Don't forget to add a fuse on the positive side, so when something goes wrong, it doesn't hurt the rest of your electrics, start a fire, etc..

Probably the best advice I can give is to tell you to ignore my advice and consult with Steve. But I get the motivation to take it as far as you can first. You're getting something done, and that's more than I can say right now.

 

[robertbarr]

Wow, tough break. Probably every rider on this forum has gotten away with a sidestand 'error' at least once. Several times, for me, but all it cost me was embarrassment.

For that switch, perhaps look into an OEM Suzuki part for a model that used the idiot light. I'm about 99% sure my '82 GS850 had the warning light, so dig up a parts diagram. All you'd need to do is fabricate a bracket -- and a simple photo of someone's '82 would give you a good idea of what you're aiming for.

Good to see someone actually adding a safety warning. I always cringe when people discuss bypassing safety switches like clutch & sidestand. I guess they think they're the exception to the rule that someday, some time, they'll make that little mistake. Same reason pilots go through that checklist every single flight -- they're professional enough to understand that they're fallible.

Sorry your BRP adventure came to such a crummy premature ending! I've ridden it twice in the past three years, starting from Chicago, and it's worth every mile & dollar. I'm already thinking about next year...

 

[cowboyup3371]

For that switch, perhaps look into an OEM Suzuki part for a model that used the idiot light. I'm about 99% sure my '82 GS850 had the warning light, so dig up a parts diagram. All you'd need to do is fabricate a bracket -- and a simple photo of someone's '82 would give you a good idea of what you're aiming for.

Thank you for the tip Robert; the switch is still available and expensive at $63 from Parts Outlaw for the 850G model

 

[robertbarr]

Thank you for the tip Robert; the switch is still available and expensive at $63 from Parts Outlaw for the 850G model

Ebay? .......

Yeah! I searched on "Sidestand switch" and got about a million hits, with neat photos of every variety of sidestand switch imaginable, some with universal-looking mounting bolt patterns. Ten, twelve bucks, most of them.

 

[Guest]

Sorry to hear of your downfall, but hope you get mended soon.

I'm yet another who has had a reminder or two about the sidestand being left down, but they were at low speed.

Don't know why I do it with the GS, I never did it on my previous bikes and none had a stand indicator.

 

[2BRacing]

Sorry to read about your mishap Scott, just glad that it was not worse and you can still tell us the story. Best wishes for a speedy full recovery!