Wrecking the Ural

[elizilla]

Last night around 6:30pm, we set out to bike night. I was in the lead on the new Super10 outfit with greyhat in the chair, Greg was following on the Ural with his gf Nicole in the chair, and Steve brought up the rear on his Honda F6B. We were on the outskirts of Ann Arbor, on Miller Rd rolling up to Maple, when I ran over a lot of terrible potholes. As I braked for the light I glanced in my rearview and saw Greg making a SHARP left. Then cars going the other way went off the road, and Steve pulled over, jumped off his bike, and ran across the road. This could not be good. I made a U-turn and went back to see.

Greg had hit those potholes and lost control of the Ural, went careening off to the left, and hit two cars on the way to rest in the mud on the far shoulder of the road. The bike was at a right angle to the road, facing towards the road.

Greg was up and jumping around, but Nicole was on the ground. He said that they spun around, then were both thrown gently off the back of the bike at the end of the spin, and the bike fell back forward after dumping them. Nicole got the worst of it. She ended up taking a ride in the ambulance, on the backboard. She was checked and released; no injuries beyond being badly bruised and shaken. Greg is at work this morning but Nicole is taking a sick day. They were both wearing full face helmets, and Greg was in full gear. Nicole had helmet, motorcycle jacket and gloves, but other than that was just bundled up heavily because of the cold.

We had the Ural towed back to the house. I predict it will be totaled. The sidecar is dented in and the sidecar wheel is at a crazy angle; not sure what is bent but that whole side is toast. On the other side, the valve cover got ripped off as it smashed through the cars, which can't be good for the motor. It's stuck in gear; we could not shift it into neutral for the tow truck to winch it up, but Steve was able to get it to roll by holding the clutch lever.

One of the cars was towed away from the scene as well.

I have been on the phone with the insurance company, and I have a police report. I have full collision on the Ural. We'll get through this.


Updated to add: Greg tells me Nicole was diagnosed with concussion. So, some injuries, but hopefully not serious.

Pictures here.

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Glad no one was seriously injured. Too bad about the Ural. :( Hopefully the legal and insurance stuff ends up not being too painful.

[ckd]

Gay! Glad everyone is okay (for reasonable values of okay), and I share the hope that the various paperwork-y things come out as easily as possible.

[motomuffin.livejournal.com]

This blows. Glad everyone's mostly OK, but... this blows. :-(

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Boo.

[bigblued.livejournal.com]

In Illinois, we can file an insurance claim with the state for vehicle damage caused by potholes. Might be worth checking to see if MI has a similar policy. Also, your local ABATE group would have useful info. ABATE of Illinois has a lawyer on staff that does free motorcycle related law stuff for the members, your local ABATE chapter may have something similar.

[elizilla]

If the normal insurance doesn't come through, I could look into that. But I'd prefer to let the gov't spend that tax money on fixing the darn roads, rather than to pay for damaged vehicles. Even when the vehicle is my own! If I went after them I'd be going after them to fix the road before someone gets hurt worse, not to nickle-and-dime them for vehicle damages.

[elizilla]

Thanks for all the good wishes. Greg reports that he is sore today, so he didn't get out of it unscathed either. He's young; I hope and expect that the soreness will pass quickly.

He's also smoking again - I hope that passes too. :-(

[khaylock]

Only just seen this, sorry to read about it - but it could have been a lot worse! I've only ever ridden one sidehack, and I'd swear it had a mind of its own - shut the throttle and it turned one way, open it and it turned the other... I'm sure I could have learned to get from A to B without weaving like a drunk given time but I fear that too many years riding solos would have equipped me poorly with the instincts necessary to try and recover if it ever got itself out of shape while I was sitting on top of it, assuming it even was recoverable...

[elizilla]

Yes, that is really the thing that makes sidecars challenging. Turning left and turning right are such different skills. There's also the fact they don't countersteer, but IMHO that is easier to get used to, at least for people who have car driving experience.

[khaylock]

A friend of mine decided that when he had his first baby, the answer to still being able to go to rallies 'en famille' was a (ural, natch) sidecar outfit. So he bought one, went to collect it, had a play in a car park near the shop that was selling it to him, and headed off to take it home. Apparently, if you've gone into a fast left hander a bit too fast for your empty sidecar and it is starting to lift off the ground, stepping on the rear brake pedal to try to slow it down is not a great idea. Because it turns sharp right and then barrel rolls. Who knew? He was lucky to get away with that one with only minor injuries, but the bent sidecar outfit sat rusting on his driveway for about 18 months as a terrible warning to others who might be tempted...

[elizilla]

When you are a newbie on two wheels it's good to have a light bike and avoid carrying passengers. When you're a newbie on three wheels you should have a heavy sidecar and don't go anywhere without a passenger. Because sidecars don't countersteer, until you lift the chair, and then they do. Eeep!

[khaylock]

Yeah, he pretty much discovered that the hard way... a couple of years later the only sidehack rider of my acquaintance, who let me have a crack at his hideous conveyance one day in the relatively safe and open space of Jurby airfield on the Isle of Man, offered the same opportunity to the above mentioned friend of mine. I've never seen anybody decline the offer of a ride on somebody elses bike with such horrified visceral emphasis :-). He's good with two wheels, or four, but I doubt he'll ever touch three again...