The Adventures of FriarJohn on Two (and Sometimes Four) Wheels

I’ve detailed elsewhere the calamity that was my July Vacation, and my friend’s accident. I’ve posted on Twitter about his recovery but I don’t believe I’ve blogged about it so here you go.

Not only is he up and walking (hobbling is more like it) without a walker or cane, but he’s back to work and driving (has been for a few months now). Pretty remarkable recovery after a fractured pelvis.

Here is the final bit of that recovery: Next week he travels to Billings (I’ll probably tag along) to pick up his new bike, a 2007 Speedmaster. This is probably the most desirable year: still has carburetors and the better looking gas tank. It’s deep red, low miles, loaded with accessories and a heck of a price. The best part is I get to tease him about only buying bikes that I ride first.

In the Fall of 2002 I rode a cardinal red demo Bonneville America while mine was getting its 4000mi tuneup at Tingley’s in Missoula. That’s the bike John bought and eventually wrecked (Here is John and our bikes in 2008, while we were traveling to NW Washington):

When the current owner of the ’07 Speedy came through Helena for lunch, he asked me to take it around the block because he thought he “heard a weird noise.” Sure thing. That was the largest block I think I’ve ever ridden around.

I know what John’s plans are for customizing this bike and I can’t wait to see it. Even more I can’t wait to see him riding again.

Well, after a mere three-and-a-half weeks, the friend of mine who crashed in British Columbia is going home to Thompson Falls from Spokane this Wednesday (tomorrow). His bones (pelvic and femur) are still knitting together so he won’t be doing any serious moving around for 6-8 weeks yet. His mother flew in yesterday to take care of him for a while. The community has pulled together and outfitted his home with grab rails everywhere. Gotta love small towns. Sherri and I are going to stop by Thursday on the way to Spokane.

Worst vacation ever, including the trip I took in 1978 with my family from Orange County, CA, to Dallas, TX, when my parents made me listen to Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond the whole way.

• Several electrical problems plagued (and still plague) my bike
• Day One saw rain most of the way to Thompson Falls
• Day Two involved trucking my bike to Spokane from Thompson Falls because it just wouldn’t run
• Day Three was probably the best, picking up the bike in Spokane, riding back to Thompson Falls, loading up and then straight on to Nelson, BC, skipping Jasper and Kamloops.
• Day Four saw more electrical problems, running on one cylinder
• Day Five brought a speeding ticket, 118kph in a 90kph zone. After early payment discount and exchange rate it should be about $100USD.
• Day Six made me watch my good friend total his bike in front of me and nearly total himself
• Day Seven was loooong, going through Spokane to see said friend after he was air lifted there the previous night for surgery

The actual route definitely looks a lot different than the planned route.

View Larger Map

Of course, one and a half of those trips between Thompson Falls and Spokane were in a truck, not on the bike.

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The story:

I was traveling solo to Spokane, WA, in August. I decided to take the road less traveled. In 2003 or 2004, a friend clued me in to the absolutely beautiful but somewhat remote road from the top of St. Joe’s pass, approximately 14 miles from St. Regis, MT, 100 miles to St. Maries, ID. That 14 miles was gravel, but it was beautiful black asphalt from the top of the pass as you cross the border into Idaho, Or so I thought. Map.

Half to a dozen miles down from St. Joe’s pass, a little way past the “C” marker in the map I linked to above, I got a little wild at about 55-60 over some frost-heaved asphalt. It had only been a year or two since seeing fresh asphalt there so I was not expecting problems. My bike started bucking and bouncing as I went over the bumps. I had my hands full keeping it straight and upright so that I didn’t run off the road and down the 40-50′ embankment into the St. Joe River. As I passed the bad pavement and got it back under control, I noticed a grinding noise. I was dragging my right saddleback behind me.

Near as I can tell, as I was bouncing around the bike bucked me up a little out of my seat, then another bump shoved the bike up into me. That was enough to pop the right bag off the Easy Bracket posts. The only reason I didn’t lose the bag to the river is that in addition to the Easy Brackets I had a rear bracket to support the bags, bolted to the rear fender. Turns out I had an old style of lock from the Easy Brackets folks. They replaced the locks but it was up to me to fix the bag.

So once I got stopped on the side of the road and inspected the damage, it was as you see above. There were multiple impact and scrape marks. I was able to wrench the bag around and up, bending the rear bracket into shape. I forced it back onto the posts and I was able to continue on to Spokane.

The Damage

After the initial impact on the lower front and the front surface got all scraped up, the bike pole vaulted the rear end over the upper front corner as the bag rotated down and back. Then it got dragged behind the bike, attached only by the rear bracket (not visible), grinding off the inside-upper corner.

The Update

I was able to sand the bag down, both the plastic sides and the aluminum trim, and have the former repainted. The damage isn’t completely gone but it is minimized quite effectively.

This happened less than a mile from my house. There is PLENTY of visibility in both directions from that intersection. Via NBCMontana.com (emphasis mine):

EAST HELENA (AP) – The driver of a motorcycle was killed when a pickup truck pulled out from a side road onto U-S Highway 12 and hit the motorcycle. The victim was identified as 56-year-old Dennis Lucas of Shelbyville, Kentucky. The female passenger was 52-year-old Barbara Lucas. She was taken to St. Peter’s Hospital with several broken bones. The collision happened late yesterday morning, just outside East Helena at the Intersection of U-S 12 and Lake Helena Drive.

Montana Highway Patrol officer Shawn Fowler says the woman driving the pickup told officers she didn’t see the motorcycle. It was westbound on Highway 12 when the woman pulled out from Lake Helena Drive to turn east. Fowler says the pickup driver likely will be cited for failing to yield to traffic. The death raises the state highway fatality toll to 130, compared with 112 at this time a year ago.”

How about manslaughter? How about negligent homicide? Here is that intersection on Google maps, now that they hit it with Street View:

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Motorcycle Tips and Techniques

This is one of the few major fears I have about riding a motorcycle on the backroads of Montana (or anywhere else), Deer hit story