I very very nearly died on Saturday...

I very very nearly died on Saturday due to an insecured load on a truck!

Hubby and I were travelling south on HWY 9 just outside of Harriston Ontario on our motorcycles. He was riding in front and I was behind in staggered formation... a truck was approaching in the oncoming lane when suddenly it launched what appeared to be a BIG piece of wood (4x4 by 8ft?). Well the thing was flying through the air end over end... Hubby swerved a bit as it passed over his head, but there was no avoiding it for me... so I ducked down tight against my tank and held on!!! I imagine I was going around 90km/hr when I hit it... or rather when it hit ME! It struck diagonally across the fender/beak/headlight/windshield of my bike. It and everything mentioned exploded on impact.... BUT I KEPT HER UP!!! We pulled over and then Phil chased down the truck and called the police etc. Luckily the damage is mainly cosmetic and I was able to ride the bike home. A split second earlier and it would have been tangling with my front wheel with tragic consequences. A split second later and it would have been tangling with my head, with equally tragic consequences. The cops were in total disbelief that I came out of this ok and kept the bike up. The driver of the truck claims he did not have any wood on his truck, only equipment.... so charges are pending the investigation by the cops.
Here are a few pics. A couple of thousand dollars of damage I expect...










And the victory shot from when I got home....




In retrospect I think I am very very lucky and this wood could not have hit my bike more perfectly to not kill me! And, I'm glad I have a beak on my bike!!!

glad you're ok.


saved by the ADV sticker methinks.

Yikes! I too am glad you're ok. It further convinces me that when yer time's up,it's up,when it ain't,it ain't.

Oh my gosh! That's simply terrifying. The title of this thread is not an exaggeration. Heartiest congratulations on keeping it upright. That took some finesse, I'm sure. Glad you're fine, too.

I started reading the original post with caution and am so glad to hear you are well.

You're a ninja to get through this like that! Great job, and I hope they can make it painful for the truck driver.

Play the lottery!!!!
Glad you're OK.

So glad you are ok!

OUTSTANDING JOB staying with it - that was an incredible story.

I hope the driver will be covering the repair to your bike.

Glad you came out without any injuries.

Where is the pictures of the piece of wood? I wanna see how big the missile was.

Unfortunately I honestly never even thought to go get the piece of wood (although I did collect the pieces of windshield from the road).... I guess I was probably in shock! I wish I had walked back to find it!

Thanks everyone for your kind words. It really blows me away how lucky I was!

Looks like the GS will take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. Glad that you weren't injured. One of those random events. I guess that it wasn't your time.

One other thing... I thought that Canada was metric. Wouldn't that piece of wood have been a 10x10 about 2.5m long?

Wow! this could have had a very tragic outcome. Glad it worked out the way it did! You are very lucky!!!!

Congrats on keeping your cool and keeping the bike up!

Amazing story! thanks for sharing it. Glad you were around "to" share it!

wezul said:

Play the lottery!!!!
Glad you're OK.

Click to expand...

+1000! No kidding.

Way to go. I do hope that the truck driver or his company take some sort of responsibility for this incident.

Good job on keep the bike up.

Kristi, congratulations on surviving that! I'm so glad you are ok, and I truly admire your ability to stay upright.

Holly

I want to add to my initial post. The event (the wood from the truck) was a low probability event with potential high consequence to you. When you saw the wood coming toward you, you exercised prudent consequence mitigation (perhaps your only effective strategy at the moment) by bending down over the tank.

The front of the bike (and perhaps your helmet) were therefore positioned to take to brunt of the force.

Keeping the bike upright and making a controlled stop was another effective mitigation strategy.

In retrospect, I'd say that you helped make your good "luck" through quick thinking and skillful riding. Good going!

Good on ya for keeping the bike up!

Nice Skillz

The serious side:
Glad your are not injured. You did it right and you survived, the bike IS sacrificial and must be treated that way at all times. Body not so much.
I am unsure how I would react if Paul Bunyans tooth pick was hurled at me while riding at 60MPH. Also glad it missed your husband.

Joking side:
How come you posted to ADV rider first?

More serious: I know you'll learn from it, thanks for sharing with all of us so we can learn too.
My Dad lives way up North in WI. About 10 years ago our fishing buddy got killed when a logging truck had his load shift and a 36"r was hanging out on the left side of his rig around a corner. Our buddy was in a PU truck.
To this day when I see a logging truck coming I scan that load quick as I can and get low on the bike. Scared ? Maybe so, but alive yes, still kickin.

Amazing on both counts, that you're unhurt and that you didn't drop it. Wow!. Glad for you on both counts.

Dang, you get the survivor of the year award for sure.

All is well that ends well. We are so glad you were not injured/killed.

Good skills on your part to stay upright.

Good on ya!