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Aerostich and Shoei

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srankin
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Aerostich and Shoei

Post by srankin »

I want to give a great thanks to Aerostich and Shoei for making the finest protective gear on the market.

Both of their products reduced the impact of my flying 35ft at 6ft altitude, 45mph with a hard landing.

Cracked a vertebra in the neck but things could have been much worse. The back armor and helmet did their jobs very well.

Don't go cheap for gear, it pays in spades to go the best. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 78, R100RS

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schrader7032
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Re: Aerostich and Shoei

Post by schrader7032 »

Sorry to hear about your short flight! Glad you are doing relatively OK.
Kurt in S.A.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.

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Slash2
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Re: Aerostich and Shoei

Post by Slash2 »

Jesus. Did this just happen? How are you feeling? Hope for a speedy recovery.

How's the bike?
Western Pennsylvanian - Airhead Extraordinaire

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srankin
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Re: Aerostich and Shoei

Post by srankin »

Took my eyes off the path for a few seconds to wave at a group of riders, when I looked back forward, a car was stopped making a left turn in front of me. I ran into the rear of her and went flying. Stupid, but lucky.

Not sure about the bike, still waiting to get it to my friend's airhead shop to have the insurance guy look at it and determine if it is totaled. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 78, R100RS

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Re: Aerostich and Shoei

Post by Slash2 »

Sorry to hear it but glad you're okay. Seems that most crashes are usually a combination of bad luck, bad timing, and a temporary distraction. Sounds like your incident checks all three boxes.
Western Pennsylvanian - Airhead Extraordinaire

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srankin
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Re: Aerostich and Shoei

Post by srankin »

LOL, they don't call them purposes, but accidents. I sure as heck didn't want to crash. Lesson learned, don't wave at other bikes on the side of the road, keep eyes forward for the most part, or pay attention.

I am kind of disappointed I just checked with Aerostich and they said they don't make my size jacket anymore. That is sad. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 78, R100RS

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Re: Aerostich and Shoei

Post by jwonder »

Wry happy you are still good and I wish you a quick recovery. I hope your back riding soon.
James Wonder
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Long Island, New York

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srankin
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Re: Aerostich and Shoei

Post by srankin »

Oh man, I need to read things before I write letters, lol. For years I assumed I had a size 60L Aerostich jacket, well they told me they never made a size 60L, and they don't do custom sizes. So I dug the remains of my jacket out of the bin and lo and behold, it is a 54L, The biggest jacket they make but not a 60.

Clothing sizes are a pain in the butt sometimes because I have a size 54 Vanson jacket and there is no way I can wear it.

So most likely I will be going back to Aerostich for a new one or send the cut up one in to see if they can repair it. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 78, R100RS

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Re: Aerostich and Shoei

Post by Slash2 »

I was out riding with a friend a month back and I saw him waving in the rear view mirror so I pulled over and he pulled up behind me. We were cruising a very rural road in Western Pennsylvania with very little traffic to speak of and thought nothing of stopping. Once we removed our helmets and dismounted our respective steeds, (I on my 1968 R69US, and he on his 1971 CB500) he explained that he began hearing a rhythmic humming sound coming from the front-end of his motorcycle and was concerned there may be an issue, hence the stop. So we put his bike up onto the center stand and as I suspected his front disc rotor was dragging. Old disc calipers that haven't been recently rebuilt are notorious for not releasing the piston to return to its fully-seated position. He wanted to know if it was okay to ride home like this and as we were only about 10 minutes from home I said that it should be fine.
Just as we were concluding our quick stop we heard a few bikes coming upon us from ahead and I looked up to see a boxer engine in the lead, as it approached I could see that it was modern GS being followed by another GS bike. The lead rider waved, then recognized the looks of my vintage BMW and began slowing to stop. In my mind I assumed he either wanted to chat about my bike, or perhaps was just concerned about two potentially stranded motorcyclists. At any rate the second rider did not realize that the first had stopped and to our shock came barreling down upon him, squealing brakes, last moment swerve and they clipped panniers and so very narrowly missed a full on rear-end collision at approximately 25-30MPH. I was stunned momentarily and the impact sent the first rider ahead and off the road into a small ditch at the right and the second rider somehow kept his bike up and came to a stop about 50 yards down the road.
It all happened so fast and we were all relieved to find that everyone was unhurt, and even the bikes barely showed a scratch. I helped push the first rider's GS up and out of the ditch and after a quick chat, they were on their way. I don't know what became of them or how much finger pointing ensued. Once they left, we got back on the road and made our way safely home. I have since rebuilt my friend's front brake caliper to resolve this dragging issue but a similar nagging issue has remained. Were we at fault? Did we distract these two riders and almost potentially cause a catastrophic accident? What could we have done differently?
Even though this road was very rural and not frequently used by many, our timing was potentially perfect to cause a bad accident. In the future, I think if at all possible I will try to find a place to pull off the road that gets my bike further from view and further from causing a potential distraction. I share this story because like you, this lead rider may have found himself seriously hurt or worse simply because he was concerned for a potentially stranded fellow rider. Your impulse to be polite and wave sent you hurtling through the air, miraculously avoiding serious injury but resulting in significant damage to your motorcycle. It is unfortunate when we pay a price for being polite but the moral of the story is avoid distractions and always be aware of your surroundings. When you're riding in a group always give the rider behind you plenty of time to stop and increasing the riding gap is also probably a good idea.

Safe riding.

Chris
Western Pennsylvanian - Airhead Extraordinaire

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srankin
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Re: Aerostich and Shoei

Post by srankin »

Chris, we can both think over and over again the accidents and hindsight is 20/20. I took a MSF advanced course years ago and part of the training and advice was you will go where you are looking. One of the drills was a guy standing in a parking lot arms at his sides, we on the bikes would head straight at him in second gear doing maybe 25 to 30mph, maybe even faster, he would then quickly point to the left or right and we were supposed to dodge around him in that direction. LOL, no one in my class ran him over. For years I practiced as best I could using a saddle bag as an object and dodging at the last second around it. Sadly to say, I stopped this ten years ago. So, now I am second guessing myself, could I have dodged right and missed the car? I KNOW I went were I was looking, I was "target fixated" on the car. The one thing that drill tried to overcome.

In your case, perhaps the two fellows were just too close to each other. When I ride with someone I tell them stay well back, and I will look for your headlight in the mirror, don't get on top of me. LOL, I don't do well in group rides because I like a LOT of space around me. I am sure as heck not going to chat with my buddy on his bike while riding so I don't have to be close enough to yell anything. When we get home or to the destination, then, get close.

Anyway, I learned, keep my eyes on the path, and get back to practicing evasive maneuvers. Thank God I am walking and talking, it could have been much worse. Always Thank God for what you have good. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 78, R100RS

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