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We walked away: 55 mph into a ditch.

5K views 50 replies 18 participants last post by  AZgl1800 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
So my 1985 Aspencade is toast. Day 5 on a month-long tour of the Pacific Northwest with my sister - who says she will ride only with me because she trusts my skills - the kickstand came down just before a curve. There was nothing I could do. It was a gentle curve so, because of the camper/trailer, I was in the center of the lane. I wasn't able to jog to the right, kick the stand up and back to the left with any hope of staying in control. Neither of us was dressed appropriately - 30 years of riding with close to 500k miles; over 60k on this bike made me invincible... (Yeah, right.) - lightweight clothing with lightweight wind breakers. We'd just stopped to put on the jackets and were accelerating back up to 60. I'm sure I put the stand up (had to to be able to get back into traffic) but I think it bounced back into the down-position.

If you've never seen your face go through a bike windshield, take it from me that, although it was definitely exciting, it's not an experience that one would wish to repeat. I felt the road as it took my skin off. The scary part was not knowing what was happening to my sister. Neither of us passed out, but we both blacked out at certain points during the slide and sudden stop. When we "came to" I immediately called for her and she called for me. Once I took stock of my body to enough to realize that all parts were still attached and I wasn't losing massive amounts of blood, I looked for her and was able to tell within a minute or so that she wasn't in dire straights. At that point, I calmed way down (thanks to many years of meditation) and saw that the bike was a write off. Looking to my right, I saw that my trailer had somehow become loose about 30 feet back down the road. It looked okay from where I was. It was about then that I started feeling the sensations of having been in a crash.

My sister crawled to the road and held her hand out at the cars driving by: three drove by without slowing down. That's something I don't understand too well: she's a middle-aged, white-haired woman who is obviously no threat. Her face was filthy and streaked with tear tracks. She made no effort to hide her distress, fear, and pain. Finally someone stopped, then someone else. It took 40 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, and another 70 minutes to get us to the hospital as we were close to the Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic Peninsula.

If you ever have to go to the ER in Aberdeen, don't! As far as I have experienced, that ER is the worst one in the country - although I'll admit that it may've just been the two shifts we happened to encounter. They totally missed the 4 small broken bones in her back, and didn't clean the wounds very well at all. Vicki wound up with n infection in one finger (within 24 hours) that they said might make her lose her finger. I'm happy to report that, when I took her to a hospital in Bellingham, it was taken care of as was her back. It took a week of two antibiotics a day, but her finger healed fine.

So, at this point in the story, I'm homeless (the bike/camper rig was my home) and my future has changed dramatically! But so what? I'm used to abrupt changes in my life and people all over the world are in worse situations than I am. For years I have been saying, "The Universe (my word for God) has no idea how to wraps presents: It always wraps the best gifts in the worst wrapping." This is true here, too. My mother loaned me $3k and I have $700 of my own. Time to upgrade to a 1500!

So, I'm looking for the best deal I can get on a 1500. I'll hitchhike to wherever I need to to pick it up. I have located a good buy (it seems) in Colorado Springs and another in Chicago. If possible, I would really appreciate it if someone from either of those areas would be willing to go check the bike(s) in question and see if they are as they seem. I'm also open to any help locating another bike from any member or guest of this forum. I've told you how much I have to work with (which will leave me without even gas money to fill the tank) so if anyone is willing to go check the bikes or knows of a good deal, please let me know. You can call or text me at three6Oh, eight 15, one7six5. Thanks for listening!

PS, sorry for the sideways pictures: that's not how they show up on either my phone or the computer, before I posted them.


EDIT: Flipped them



















 

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#2 ·
OUCH!

Glad y'all are nearly OK. Having done a come off at 70 in 1977, I know the moment of thought before all goes black "this is gonna hurt" and then awakening in the left lane face down in a FF helmet wondering why someone is trying to cut the strap .... then later having a flashback of "sky-road-sky-road ... etc" as one tumbles.


Kickstand fell down?


... Ummm .... has it done so before?
 
#12 ·
OUCH!


Kickstand fell down?


... Ummm .... has it done so before?
Ouch right back at ya! No, this was the first time. I've taken off a couple times before through the years, but this was the first time one came back down. I'm not one to leave my body, mentally, at any time, and especially when riding with one up.
 
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#6 ·
In Bandon, Oregon. In about a week or so, we'll be headed towards Ohio. The path to get there hasn't been mapped out yet, so there's a wide range of possible locations. I found what seems to be a great deal (43k miles on a '94 1500 SE, garaged) but it is being sold by a private seller and since I don't know him or his level of honesty, nor does he know me or mine - makes it tough to buy. Haven't figured out how to arrange it.
 
#19 ·
Willing to help If I can.

I'm 17 miles north of you in Coos Bay, OR. I'm tied up until noon tomorrow, the 3rd. Give me a call if there is anything I can do for you.

five-four-one-two 9-7 one-seven-zero-three
OR, 541-269-nine-three-four-zero

I'm retired, so I'm free most of the time. I used to work at the local Honda dealership. The have a great Goldwing mechanic that could check out the bike for you.


Rayjoe

Just went back and reread your posts. I thought you had found a bike in the local area.
 
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#15 ·
Pulled that picture and pasted it here, lot of folks don't have FB.
There appears to be two faces to a Farcebook account, public and private/friends only.
This face is public so anyone can see it.
Not having a Farsebook account I have no idea how or if someone logged in to Farcebook can tell the difference.
 
#17 ·
Thank God you both are ok. Complacency is a bitch. Everyone gets into feeling confident and Murphy’s law Catches up to you.
Sorry for all your pain, hopefully others like me can take something from this
 
#20 · (Edited)
I want to thank everyone for their well-wishes and their help and offers of help. I think (for those of you who don't know) the story of how I got the bike might be interesting. I have been a street performer - balloon artist - for decades. When I turned 45, I realized that my life was most likely more than half over. So, in considering my life, I realized that I have never been good at staying in one spot or in accumulating money, so I decided to just give the rest of my life away, living simply, using my entertainment skills to try to spread a little happiness and maybe have a positive influence on children and teens. So I got rid of everything and moved onto a 1981 Yamaha 650 Special that I picked up for $500 (Borrowed more than half the money for it) and hit the road.

I love my life experience! I get to tell other people's children just how awesome they are on a daily basis. I get to watch the absolute wonder on a child's face while they watch me make balloons for them...and I'm skilled enough that I never have to watch my hands. If you haven't watched a kids face from 3 feet away while they get a balloon, you are much poorer for it! I recommend that you find a good balloon twister, stand behind them and watch the faces of the kids. It's a real treat!

Anyhow, I like to make some fancy thing like a bunch of flowers, walk into a random business, find someone who looks like they're having a tough day and hand them the balloon, along with the words, "They asked me to give you this and to say, 'Thank you for being so nice, generous, and helpful. You have a lovely day!'" Then I turn around and leave without answering any questions or taking any tips. They are left to wonder (for years) who thought they were so awesome. The tears of surprise and appreciation lets me know that I'm doing something right.

I stopped at a Golden Corral restaurant just North of LA and made balloons for whoever I thought might enjoy them before I went up to get my food. About half an hour later, a young man came up and said, "I saw that little bike you're traveling on. Ever wish you had more room?" He wound up giving me the '85 Aspencade! I asked him why he gave it to me and he said that he couldn't see his way clear to give money to panhandlers or street people, but he could support someone who is working to make others happy. The bike had 64k miles on it then. He was a 32 year old night security guard living in a trailer on a construction lot with his family. I had made his 10 year old son a single balloon motorcycle! And that's the story of my first Goldwing.
 
#24 ·
You can check me out on Facebook as Yogi Kai. I love what I do. I have to do without a lot that many in the US take for granted, but that's my choice. Some of what I do without would be really nice to have in this lifestyle, but it's not important enough to be to stop my present course to work to acquire those things. I just figure that, sooner or later, I will be useful enough to the world that those few things I want will be provided. In the meantime, I'll just keep doing what I do until I can't do it anymore. Hopefully, that time will be a long way off!
 
#30 ·
Received a message from Yogi Kai that they are going to head to Ohio in a couple weeks as soon as they are able to travel....

He is hoping to find a replacement bike, a 1500 that he can afford....
So, if anyone knows of something, please post it up in this thread.

As soon as he has a new bike, he is heading south for warm weather so that he can earn a living.
 
#40 ·
Thank you so much for looking for me!!!
 
#35 · (Edited)
Just checked the local board, KSL classifieds, and there is only 1 1500 for sale and it's an 89. Has landing gear though, $2200. There are quite a few 12 and 1100's for sale on it though. A month ago there were lots of 1500's for sale. Guess they're going into storage because the prices weren't all that great. If I still had my 94 I'd sell it to Yogi with a discount. I'll keep looking but it seems that the cold has hidden lots of bikes for the year.
Edit: Changed the state to ID, no bikes at all. Changed to Wyoming found a 95 for $3300 in Afton. Not close enough for me to go look at it but it is on the way to Ohio. Can be seen at: https://www.ksl.com/classifieds/sea...To=$3,500&city=&state=WY&zip=&miles=25&sort=0. Says he wants it sold ASAP so he's ready to bargain. Worth looking at.
 
#38 ·
I really appreciate you looking for me. I am really hoping for a lower milage bike. I live on my bike and will be putting more than 15k miles on it a year. Since I haven't much money, I need a long-term reliable bike. And although "wings last a long time, 110 k miles is still quite a bit. I've heard that a lot of 'Wings last into the 2-3k mile range, I have yet to see one in person, nor are they offered for sale online very often at all.
 
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