Rear Ended a Cherokee

So yesterday i was leaving college on 06 KLR650 to go do some dirtbiking and unfortunately never made it there.

On the way home a jeep in front of me slammed his brakes to avoid hitting another car in front of him and i couldnt stop in time and I hit the back of the jeep pretty good.

I took a trip over the handlebars and bounced my head off the tailgate of the jeep. I cant remember the minute before i hit the jeep but i was filled in by the other driver, but i took my own helmet off and stood my own bike up and was talking to the other driver after the blackout went away. Then i realized I had no idea what was going on around me, I had no idea what month it was, where I was, what I was doing, or what happened.

Within about 20 mins to a half an hour the rest of the day came back to me but I still cant remember the last 1 minute before the crash.

I took an ambulance ride to the hospital where they gave me 3 cat scans one for my face head and neck. I ended up getting a clean bill of health and walked out of the hospital a few hours later.

My bodily injuries are very minor, i got a fat lip, bruised chin, sore throat from the chin strap of my helmet, and a few scrapes on the inside of my thighs from the trip over the handlebars.

The bike damages werent bad either, i broke my front fender off, smushed my front fairing and bent my shifter and two small dents, 1 on each side of the tank. Thats about it, the headlight is still intact, and the bars werent bent.

The bike was driven home and i walked away so all is well.

thankfully you were wearing a helmet. Good to hear your ok

Good on you for wearing a helmet.
Shame, shame for following too close or not paying enough attention.

You should probably scrap that helmet and get a new one, the retention system has probably been compromised and quite possibly the internal padding as well.

When you do get a new one, get a pro to fit it for you. You shouldn't have suffered those injuries, especially the sore throat. Either the helmet was too big and shifted too far or you had the chin strap too loose, or both.

Get well, oh but what did you expect !
Stock brakes on a KLR suck,you have to improve the front brake ,oversized rotor and a stainless brake line.
Get well, and keep the distance.
Paul

Glad to hear you came through OK!

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Shame, shame for following too close or not paying enough attention

yea it was my fault, he may have hit his brakes hard and fast, but in the end it is my fault

Would question the integrity of your forks, how the forks attach to the bike, where the tire attaches to the forks etc etc.

this area would have taken a blow and since your forks look normal at a glance in the photo then the forces may have been taken in other areas instead of bending them.

Man, glad to hear you're a okay. get that rim checked, and check that the forks weren't tweaked. Just sayin''

Would question the integrity of your forks, how the forks attach to the bike, where the tire attaches to the forks etc etc.

this area would have taken a blow and since your forks look normal at a glance in the photo then the forces may have been taken in other areas. So instead of bending forks you might have some cracked mounts for example.

Hope not but it's best to look and not assume

Glad you're okay there, dude.

Seriously. Check out the front end of the bike very carefully. In the photo, it looks like the front wheel has been pushed back a couple of inches towards the engine.

Glad your OK. Good job on not blaming the Jeep.

Bullshit. He admits he wasn't allowing enough following distance. The KLR is perfectly safe as it is; you don't "have" to do anything.

Heal fast & learn well, brother.

Heal well. I am happy to read that you were not hurt worse.

The good thing about the cheep KLR is it is also cheep to repair.

Live and learn and RIDE RIDE RIDE.

Find and buy a copy of Proficient Motorcycling by David Hough. There are a lot of good pointers in it to help you become a better rider. (You can find them at that online Amazon store used for around $14.)

+1 for wearing the helmet. You'd be in a world of hurt had you not been wearing it.

Glad to hear you're Ok!!

I disagree, I had a similar situation this summer. A NYC bus cut off the Toyota in front of me.. the bus was just pulling out of the bus stop and ignored the Toyota (we were only going about 20 mph). I tried stopping the KLR but it didn't stop on time and hit the Toy. Fortunately we were going slow and I didn't fall off the bike (that was my first and probally only stoppie ) I felt the rear tire lift off the ground. No injuries and just a dirt mark on the rear bumper of the Toyota. I couldn't believe I couldn't stop on time, there was enough room and we weren't going very fast.

After this incident I decided to fix the front brakes on my KLR. I installed new brake pads (EBC) and swapped out the SS brake line off my Tengai. I also bled the brakes with the help of an inmate (Jdaniele). What a difference!!!! I finally could lock up the front brakes.

BTW, I commute all year round into NYC and go thru brake pads every 3 months.

Feel better!!!

Stoppie: Happens from a momentary lock-up of front brake, so the brakes are fine for stopping.

Distance is the key for any motorcycle. A full 360 degree pillow of space, I give myself atleast 2 seconds in the car and more like 4 seconds on the bike. Just in case that jackass behind me isn't watching I have time to avoid traffic in front and the car running on my ass.

I am not saying brake upgrades are not a good idea, but do not blame brakes that were tested for the bike on the bike for the reason of stopping.

double that stopping distance for klr brakes. The bike looks better without the fender. Glad your ok. Cool hand guards.

If you do a stoppie before hitting a car that did nothing more than stop in front of you, I'd say that the front brake is not the problem. Might want to look at your following distance.