Wherever I May Roam - One Woman Livin' on a DR650

[GypsyWriter]

Originally Posted by Scott_PDX

Good lord Feyela! I bet that scared the crap outta ya - gives me the willies just reading about it. Glad you were able to walk away from the accident. Hope you can get to the bottom of the wobble as well. Hang in there, and hope it doesn't ruin your trip.

Originally Posted by Irish1

Now we need an ADVRider or two from Phoenix to help Fey get her bike suspension sorted so she suffers no more effects from wobbleys. There's gotta be twenty ADVRiders near her parents' house that can help sort the bike as she recuperates from this wreck. Glad your spirit's intact!

What they said!! Glad you're okay, sounds like one heck of a crash! "Adventure" or not, thatll stick with you. Rest and recuperate, hope all else is well!!!

[NomadGal]

Glad you are still in the land of the living Fey! Hope your wrist is only sprained!
Glad there are people near your folks that might be able to help with your forks. Strange these bikes don't come with fork braces of any kind. Heal fast!

[ThumperStorm]

My thought go out to you Fey.

[Jettn Jim]

Whoa!!! Been there, done that, and soooo glad yer ALRIGHT!
Alex is in Phoenix right now but may be too busy preparing to work as a chase truck for Baja... you may wanna ring him up?

Peace girl,
JIm

[breakouttathemould]

Wow! So glad you're ok Fey - don't hesitate to visit a doc to make sure tho!

Sendin you healing thoughts from across the pond

[Irish1]

Fey, if you're willing to post a PayPal address I'd be willing to help with a little loot. X-Rays and Bike parts cost a bunch.

[cruiserbiker]

Originally Posted by Irish1

Fey, if you're willing to post a PayPal address I'd be willing to help with a little loot. X-Rays and Bike parts cost a bunch.

I agree, some people would like to help you so they can continue to read about your adventures.

[Feyala]

Awwww, you guys are so sweet! Thanks for all the get well soon messages!

Yesterday I rode 300 miles to Phoenix on the sprained throttle wrist. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After showing my parents the destroyed riding pants and hugs all around, I got to sleep in my old bed, which is always a bit surreal.

Wrist is even better this morning, still a bit tender and unhappy with certain motions. The fact that it's recovering this rapidly suggests it isn't a break, which I'd frankly been a bit concerned about, just sprained or hyperextended. I'll take it easy and keep an eye on it. Road rash has scabbed over. I've got bruises everywhere, but those are harmless. I need to fix the screwed-up mermite can and figure out how to get the rack back into shape, it's a bit tweaked to the side. I also need to do some bike TLC, oil change and rear tire, and get my passport renewed.

The good news is that typing doesn't seem to bother my wrist for the most part, and I've got access to a desktop, so I should be able to crank out replies and get everything up to date pretty quickly. I've got nothing but time to relax. It's nice.

[NomadGal]

I was thinking maybe you could get some fiberglass cloth and resin. Wrap it around the can and coat it with several layers of resin. I made some humongous 7 foot animatronics puppets for a TV show a couple of years ago, and used the resin to make the round 2 foot heads. They were rock solid! After coating it with some more of that hammered paint it might not even look too bad.....

[JJM]

Boats are made of fiberglass (and resin). It's really tough stuff. Heck, I've seen entire panners made of fiberglass.

[Ed~]

No need to wad a lifetime of riding experience in one month!

I've never had a "get-off" at that kind of speed before on the highway in traffic! It is likely the panniers combined with the large truck you were passing did you in aerodynamically. Those big trucks push a lot of air to either side of the front that you can feel even in a car when you pass. But even without a sudden uneven gust, I've experienced a similar tank-slapper on a heavily loaded KLR accelerating past 80 before. After regaining control I actually played "test-pilot" to carefully bring on the same slapper a few times more to find the cause -finally taking the boxes off to find the bike very stable past 90.

I suspect nothing can be done to avoid that problem while traveling heavy and wide aside from the trouble and expense of installing a steering stabilizer. The potential may be inherent in the tall, willowy design of our dual-sports when more weight is distributed up and to the rear so caution is often the best solution. As for surviving surprise tank-slappers, vigorous praying such as, "Oh God Oh God Oh God!" sometime helps.

Really amazing you came out from that accident rather intact, got back in the saddle immediately and even rode to Phoneix on a sprained wrist. You are correct that your riding gear saved your bacon. Watch the swollen joints though and be sure the road-rash doesn't get infected. If it needs to be said, Fey, you've earned the right to take it easy for a while...

Glad that I read this update upon returning from our trip to visit Yuriko's family and my friends in Japan for the past few weeks. It would have sucked to learn about your accident from another country for some reason -felt more helpless? Weird, I know.

But even more, I'm happy to know you came out of this without having broken your bones nor your spirit.

[smash81]

Holy crap... Glad you're alright! Rest, heal up.

[dfhepner]

Good to hear that you are mostly OK.

Check with some one on how you have the bike loaded. I have heard that when you have too much weight on the rear and the front unloaded that can cause a tank slapper. So be careful about how much you put in the cans that you have mounted to the back. You might want to carry some stuff in a tank bag.

[Ratman]

Fey, I'm glad you're, ok. Get well quick. Now you have time to get caught up on the paperwork.

....You sure know how to keep an RR interesting.

[drdubb]

Check your steering head bearings. When they wear, you can get wobbles in the front end.